No. 5 Mk I, 'Jungle Carbine' 1945.

[Seaspriter]

I struggle to appreciate the drive to understand meanings of the many inspection and manufacturing marks that appear on some classic military arms. Most, after all, were simply stamped to indicate one or more stages of manufacture had been completed, inspected, or viewed - and sometimes by whom performed. Most have no bearing on the quality or utility of the arm and are pretty inconsequential from a utilitarian or historical perspective. A few, like the "M47C" identified above, provide interesting information. For the vast majority of small, usually-hidden markings, I don't get it. Why do we need to know about the ones with no apparent value? (This is a sincere question, not a rant.)

While many may wonder about the almost obsessive interest in these codes, for some guns, like the Jungle Carbine or Snipers, there are many fakes out there. One of the means of separating the fakes from the real deal are these codes.