No. 5 sling

[KarlJ]

I recently acquired my first No. 5 Jungle Carbine. The rifle is an all matching but is missing the upper hand guard (I've been waiting for Numrich to have them in stock) and a sling. I currently have a Enfield sling with black webbing and black steel buckles. What would the correct sling be? Would it be OD green, dark green, brass buckles or steel?

Information

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[John Sukey (Deceased)]

Slings yes. any of the above. However most folks would go with the tan sling with brass fittings, or the P44 green sling.

[KarlJ]

Slings yes. any of the above. However most folks would go with the tan sling with brass fittings, or the P44 green sling.

Thanks John. I've got my eye on a 44 dated tan sling with brass buckles.

One other question, looking at No 5 hand guards, some of them seem to have a straight nose to them and others seem to have a channel cut for the barrel band. I know places like Numrich offer cut down No 4 hand guards to fit the No 5. Does that explain the difference? What one is the original?

[Peter Laidler]

Don't diapair KarlJ about the missing handguard. The No4 handguard can easily be shortemed and modified to fit a No5. They were supplied for No5 rifles from modified No4 handguards in Malaya as late as 1969 or so. Get an ungrooved No4 handguard and cut it to length. Then get someone that's good at woodwork to carefully cut the upper band loop so that the band is JUST below the level of the wood and bobs your uncle!

The only way to tell the two apart is by the larger gap between the handguard and the barrel. But only an Armourer would probably notice.

There, another little bit of Lee Enfield info....................

[gew8805]

Concerning the correct sling for the No.5 rifle, any British webbing sling would be correct. Also, there is no Pattern date for the British sling used from 1901 until at least 1991 when the kahki slings were seen in use by British troops during Desert Storm. The correct terminology for the standard sling is "Sling, rifle, web, G.S." So any color sling you care to use would be correct, though the kahki colored sling would be the most common.

For more information on the British service rifle sling see:

Pattern 1908 Web Equipment

The above is part of the excellent website, "Karkee Web" at:

Karkee Web

The collector's terms P08, P37 or P44 sling do come in handy but are inaccurate.