Jungle Carbine Bayonet

[Littlejohn]

No.5 MK1's are cool. I bought one in 1977 for $45.00. Traded it and some cash for an IHC M1 a year later. I found this one in the LGS a couple of years ago.




Paid a little more than $45.00 for it though.

[butlersrangers]

Nice looking carbine, Littlejohn!

I started collecting as a teenager in the 1960's and focused on British military stuff. It was a lot cheaper than U.S. Arms and some good gun books (in English) were available and inexpensive.
Neat things showed up at Michigan shows, coming into the U.S. from Canada.
A little bit of knowledge and not too much competition from other collectors, made it great fun!

I lost interest in the Lee-Enfield rifles, as shooters, because a lot of them were tough on Brass. I have sold off some of the rarer things, I lucked into, as my interest in other arms grew.

I came to the sad realization there were too many variations of Lee-Enfield rifles and too many 'Holy Grails' that were out of reach.

I have kept these example rifles, that were acquired before 1968, and some bayonets picked up along the way.

My youngest son would like to have these someday.

[butlersrangers]

Funny thing about bayonets ... they use to be a relatively low cost accessory you bought to go along with a military rifle.

Now, a fair number of bayonets are rarer and more valuable, than the rifles they attach to!

[Dick Hosmer]

Is there any truth to the old story that many, if not most, of the "jungle carbines" were NOT originally made as such? I seem to remember an article in "Man at Arms"?

Had one in the 1970s. NASTY to shoot (and I'm not particularly recoil sensitive) as I recall - right up there with the Moisin-Nagant M44 carbine.

[butlersrangers]

From my observation, a lot of bogus "Jungle Carbines" started being manufactured in the 1990's and until 2010.

They were initially marketed by importers as 'replicas', but, soon were being passed off as the real thing. They are easily detected by an experienced eye, but, cause confusion to the inexperienced.

[Littlejohn]

Nice looking carbine, Littlejohn!

I started collecting as a teenager in the 1960's and focused on British military stuff. It was a lot cheaper than U.S. Arms and some good gun books (in English) were available and inexpensive.
Neat things showed up at Michigan shows, coming into the U.S. from Canada.
A little bit of knowledge and not too much competition from other collectors, made it great fun!

I lost interest in the Lee-Enfield rifles, as shooters, because a lot of them were tough on Brass. I have sold off some of the rarer things, I lucked into, as my interest in other arms grew.

I came to the sad realization there were too many variations of Lee-Enfield rifles and too many 'Holy Grails' that were out of reach.

I have kept these example rifles, that were acquired before 1968, and some bayonets picked up along the way.

My youngest son would like to have these someday.

Nice trio of British rifles. I'd like to have a No.1 MKIII. Haven't found the right one yet.
My other Enfield is a No.4 MK1* made in 1942 at Small Arms Ltd. Long Branch, Ont. CA



Currently set up with a Weaver v4.5 scope due to "old eyes syndrome".



To kind of stay on topic, here are a couple of rifles with bayonets fixed. 1945 Izhevsk Mosin M44, and Chinese factory 636 SKS.

[Local Boy]

Cool looking bayonet Whig! Not sure if it is...but the Aussies would paint their bayonets green for camouflage purposes. The scabbard almost looks like a Carcano bayonet scabbard that had the rounded top ground flat? Looking forward to seeing pics of your Jungle Carbine.

Butlersrangers, your Jungle Carbine bayonet is superb and a beauty to behold!

Wonderful Enfield sniper Littlejohn!

A few years back I should have, would have, could have purchased very nice No5 bayonets for $190-$230. Now, similar bayonets are bringing $350-$450! :'(

Here's my first GOTO sight when ever I have bayonet questions:

http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/Britian__WW_II___Post-War_/britain_ww2_post_war_2.html

...and some more Enfields and bayonets (Pattern 14 thrown in for good measure):

Top Jungle Carbine is a 1947 BSA.

Bottom is a 1945 Fazakerley. It's my second rifle refurbishment that I had ever done. Almost everything is original except for the reproduction front stock and flash hider.

The No5 bayonet is a reproduction

[Whig]

I'm surprised at the number of reproduction Jungle Carbine bayonets but I didn't realize the going price for originals when you can find one. Nice to have with my dad's Enfield No. 5 collection. Thanks for helping find this info!

[Whig]

Finally got a chance to get a few pictures of my dad's Jungle Carbine Enfield No.5 SN:T101 and the accoutrements that came with it. I haven't dug through the paperwork files to find the original receipt but he paid a whopping $17.50 for the lot in the late 60s or early 70s at a hardware store in Maryland somewhere.

The stock is almost unblemished.

The rifle looks unused. The bore is pristine and I have only shot non-corrosive ammo through it and not much. The 30 cal ammo box below came with the purchase (he paid extra for these on a different receipt) and the sling and small ammo/mag pouch and case all have markings. The carbine has all matching parts including the barrel and bolt. The magazine has green paint on it like the bayonet, interestingly. The mag does not match the serial number of the carbine.

I also wonder if it is unusual for this serial number to be only three numbers after the first letter. Everywhere I look says all jungle carbines have a 4 digit number after the letter.

There are no import marks anywhere. I doubt this is a bring-back carbine because it looks unused. But, I don't know how things worked with these.

Thanks for all your help in identifying this stuff. I have other Enfields I'll get pictures of soon to share. Lots of fellow milsurp collectors out there!

[Whig]

More carbine pics: