In practice, the carbine was not an outright success for its operators did not appreciate the still-heavy recoil effects of their smaller, lighter guns - though conversely they appreciated the more compact and lightweight form that was offered to them on long marches through the jungle. The flash hider was also instituted in an effort to help conceal the firer's position - normally this flash was somewhat contained by a longer barrel but this was not the case with the revised Jungle Carbine. 303 round so the pad was intended to absorb some of this force before imparting the remainder against the operator. The reduced length firearm still retained the ferocious recoil of the. Two other modifications followed - one being a conical muzzle attachment at the business end of the barrel to serve as a 'flash hider' and the other being a pad added to the shoulder stock.

As this shortening procedure took away from the effective range of the original rifle design, the sights were appropriately modified for the new carbine role (out to 800 yards). 303 British chambering) save for the shortened barrel assembly which, in turn, forced a reduced-length forend to be used. The No.5 was a replica of the No.4 in every way (including its. This led to a new model being introduced in 1944 derived from the Lee-Enfield line - the 'Rifle, No.5 Mk I' which came to be informally known as the 'Jungle Carbine'.Īs a carbine, the No.5 was nothing more than a purposely shortened form of an original long gun, in this case the Lee-Enfield No.4 SMLE. and the inherent effective ranges it offered, did little in areas where trees and mountains consistently broke up the landscape - meaning more short-to-medium-range fighting was to be expected. By 1943, it became apparent to British authorities that its forces, and those of the Commonwealth, operating in the jungles of the Pacific and Southeast Asia required a more compact gun for the confines associated with jungle warfare.

The line survived in frontline service for decades and was still in use by the time of World War 2 (1939-1945).

The original versions were known as 'MLE' for 'Magazine Lee-Enfield' and these were followed in 1907 by the 'SMLE' signifying 'Short Magazine, Lee-Enfield' which gave excellent service during World War 1 (1914-1918). The Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle to emerge from Britain in 1895 became one of the classic service rifles of its time - joining the likes of the Russian Mosin-Nagant, the American Springfield M1903 and the German Mauser.

Lee-Enfield Rifle No.5 Mk I (Jungle Carbine) History

2 Lee-Enfield Rifle No.5 Mk I (Jungle Carbine) Specification.

1 Lee-Enfield Rifle No.5 Mk I (Jungle Carbine) History.

Lee enfield jungle carbine stock