SOG international Enfield Jungle carbine
- Thread starter TABING
- Start date
The latest batch
were imported by Century from some Indonesian country, supposedly Malaysia, and are the real thing. These are the ones SOG and Big 5 Sporting Goods are now selling, with the shiny varnished wood. If you're ever in doubt as to whether you have a real, honest-to-Gawsh No5Mk1 Jungle Carbine, there are several identifying traits.
1. It will be electro-pencil engraved on the left side of the receiver with No5Mk1, the date of mfg, and the factory that made it.
2. There will be lightening cuts made in the receiver beneath the rear sight ladder, as compared to a No4Mk1 or Mk2.
3. The bolt knob will be hollowed out to some extent.
4. The chamber area of the barrel will have four scalloped lightening cuts. (Not visible until you remove the handguard)
5. The triggerguard will be "pinched", with metal removed near the front action screw to lighten it up.
6. Of course, it will have the black rubber buttpad, and the side mounted rear sling swivel.
7. It may or may not have a metal nosecap on the forend.
There are more than a few No4Mk1's out there that were also assembled using lightened bolts and triggerguards, as they used up the excess bits from No5Mk1 production.
This latest influx of Jungle Carbines has put a crimp in Navy Arms and Gibbs' sales of their ersatz Jungle Carbines, which they cut down from No4 rifles. The real carbines are selling between $200-$300, depending on condition and matching numbers status.
If you'd like to learn more about these little rifles and their big cartridges, head over to the GunandKnife.com forums, particularly the Lee-Enfield area.
were imported by Century from some Indonesian country, supposedly Malaysia, and are the real thing. These are the ones SOG and Big 5 Sporting Goods are now selling, with the shiny varnished wood. If you're ever in doubt as to whether you have a real, honest-to-Gawsh No5Mk1 Jungle Carbine, there are several identifying traits.
1. It will be electro-pencil engraved on the left side of the receiver with No5Mk1, the date of mfg, and the factory that made it.
2. There will be lightening cuts made in the receiver beneath the rear sight ladder, as compared to a No4Mk1 or Mk2.
3. The bolt knob will be hollowed out to some extent.
4. The chamber area of the barrel will have four scalloped lightening cuts. (Not visible until you remove the handguard)
5. The triggerguard will be "pinched", with metal removed near the front action screw to lighten it up.
6. Of course, it will have the black rubber buttpad, and the side mounted rear sling swivel.
7. It may or may not have a metal nosecap on the forend.
There are more than a few No4Mk1's out there that were also assembled using lightened bolts and triggerguards, as they used up the excess bits from No5Mk1 production.
This latest influx of Jungle Carbines has put a crimp in Navy Arms and Gibbs' sales of their ersatz Jungle Carbines, which they cut down from No4 rifles. The real carbines are selling between $200-$300, depending on condition and matching numbers status.
If you'd like to learn more about these little rifles and their big cartridges, head over to the GunandKnife.com forums, particularly the Lee-Enfield area.
Desert Dog
New member
Tamara...
Big, fat, goose egg, same as me...
I have thought about making my own from an Ishapore so it would be chambered in .308, but I just can't bring myself to cut one down...
Bummer eh?
Oh well, I missed the dot com frenzy too... Always a day late and a dollar short...
Big, fat, goose egg, same as me...
I have thought about making my own from an Ishapore so it would be chambered in .308, but I just can't bring myself to cut one down...
Bummer eh?
Oh well, I missed the dot com frenzy too... Always a day late and a dollar short...
You may be in luck.
Last word I had was that more were either enroute or had made it here, and the prices are still fairly low, in some cases even lower if you're not big on the bolt's serial number matching the receiver's.
TABING, I blew right past your original question about these boomsticks, YES, they're the original No5Mk1 Jungle Carbines, not cut-downs made from No1MkIII's or No4Mk1's. Here's what mine looks like, including what I did to get rid of the supposed "wandering zero" that the No5's have:
The stock was hardcore glossy from the varnish, and the bore was dark, rifling was strong but I had to spend quality time with a brush and applications of JB Bore Paste before I saw shiny metal in there. The stoving, which was basically black paint, was almost totally gone, leaving the oil-quenched metal finish underneath. Easy enough to fix with the Brownell's black epoxy stuff and the kitchen oven. This was one of the "hand-select", extra $20.00 cost specimens, I steel-wooled the wood, then went with a mahogany stain, and hand-rubbed in the linseed oil finish. As you can see by my diagrams, I glass-bedded the little guy for consistency. The front sight blade was way too tall, so a shorter one was ordered and installed. Now with the good S&B ammo, she'll shoot into 2" at 100 yards. But you'll need a good shooting jacket or be built tough to run a lot of that stuff through the JC, it's a stout kicker. For fun, I just load .311" 123gr AK bullets in my Remington .303 brass, it takes the jab out of the gun, but is still accurate enough out of all my .303 Lee-Enfields to warrant making up good-sized batches of the stuff.
Last word I had was that more were either enroute or had made it here, and the prices are still fairly low, in some cases even lower if you're not big on the bolt's serial number matching the receiver's.
TABING, I blew right past your original question about these boomsticks, YES, they're the original No5Mk1 Jungle Carbines, not cut-downs made from No1MkIII's or No4Mk1's. Here's what mine looks like, including what I did to get rid of the supposed "wandering zero" that the No5's have:
The stock was hardcore glossy from the varnish, and the bore was dark, rifling was strong but I had to spend quality time with a brush and applications of JB Bore Paste before I saw shiny metal in there. The stoving, which was basically black paint, was almost totally gone, leaving the oil-quenched metal finish underneath. Easy enough to fix with the Brownell's black epoxy stuff and the kitchen oven. This was one of the "hand-select", extra $20.00 cost specimens, I steel-wooled the wood, then went with a mahogany stain, and hand-rubbed in the linseed oil finish. As you can see by my diagrams, I glass-bedded the little guy for consistency. The front sight blade was way too tall, so a shorter one was ordered and installed. Now with the good S&B ammo, she'll shoot into 2" at 100 yards. But you'll need a good shooting jacket or be built tough to run a lot of that stuff through the JC, it's a stout kicker. For fun, I just load .311" 123gr AK bullets in my Remington .303 brass, it takes the jab out of the gun, but is still accurate enough out of all my .303 Lee-Enfields to warrant making up good-sized batches of the stuff.
I'm a big enough fan of these...
...that I did a home-brewed "Jungle Carbine" on my first Enfield, back when I was 19 or so.
Ask me how far the first attempt at a homemade, tack-welded sheetmetal "flash hider" flew downrange...
Friend (looking downrange): "I think it's keyholing bad; look at the target."
Tamara (looking at muzzle): "Where'd the flash-hider go?"
...that I did a home-brewed "Jungle Carbine" on my first Enfield, back when I was 19 or so.
Ask me how far the first attempt at a homemade, tack-welded sheetmetal "flash hider" flew downrange...
Friend (looking downrange): "I think it's keyholing bad; look at the target."
Tamara (looking at muzzle): "Where'd the flash-hider go?"