No5 Jungle Carbine. Is this a copy?

[Peter Laidler]

They're out there Smithy........ They LOOK very similar to the common L1A1 bayonets. Similar but different..........

[Simon P]

I have one in the collection, It also has "Sterling" etched in the fuller.

Came straight out of the Sterling factory at Dagenham, as apprentices we used to trade various things, the lads from Sterling had Bayonets, we had digital verniers.

One digital vernier got me two of these bayonets.

[Peter Laidler]

Armourers always had a No5 bayonet tucked away in their tool boxes or under their work benches as a sort of 'currency' that could be traded on the 'old boy net'. Many old Armourers will remember the old boy network. It was a bit of a trading system all through the REME technical side. It was described as a bit like the wartime lend-lease, only on a bigger scale! A replacement boat engine for your Bedford engined boat...... no problem

I came across a No5 bayonet that had just gone through the phosphating tanks many years ago. It was extremely well made but as the original finish had been bead blasted away, the original toolroom markings, DD(E) engravings and a (presumably a matching/mating) number were now clearly visible on each part. There were several small differences between it and a standard one including grip bolt holes being radially countersunk and the male part of the catch (the bolt) being machined for a forked screwdriver as is the standard practice for the female nut. Someone in Australia wanted it so I let him have it for a song.

While I'd seen loads of single screw hole grips and catch bolts withoug screwdriver slots in Malaya, I'd never seen or certainly noticed a forked screwdriver slot variation.

There, another small variant if you're ever idly browsing through a pile of them. Incidentally, we refurbished 70,000 Sterling SMG's and bayonets for war reserve stockpiles

[tankhunter]

I've a plstic gripped No5 but never seen a steel gripped one.

As an Armourer & avid collector myself. Like Peter, I have handed, Inspected & Repaired MANY Thousands of Bayonets of all variaties over the years!
In all my years of collecting, I have NEVER encountered any No:5's with Plastic grips. However, I have just acquired a matching PAIR of Black Plastic grips for a No:5 Bayonet.
I know that India manufactures a variant with the wood grips. But I am wondering if they also now have gone over to plastic rather than wood?
Anyone know?