No. 5 Mk. 1 Why?

[Terry Hawker]

Fellow collectors,

As Peter says, there was never a codified Mk. 1/2, but, what probably comes closest to this designation are what are usually referred to as the Grenade Trials No. 5 Rifles. Page 245 of Ian's "The Lee-Enfield", shows a photo of how the action of these No. 5's has been reinforced with a pair of brackets from which the trigger is hung. Externally, the rifle appears to be a perfectly standard, 1945, BSA, Shirley, No. 5, until one notices the odd marking on the receiver - "No.5." over "D5E 171/X/8". The only other tip-off that this isn't a run-of-the-mill No. 5, is what appears to be a front trigger guard screw, (much larger than the screw in a similar location on the No. 4 Mk. 2), going through the rear of the fore-end, about 1/2-inch in front of the butt socket. The two I've seen appear to have been drawn from BSA's regular production run for conversion, with the example in my collection being serial number BB 1498.

Cheers,

Terry