WWII special assault rifles built for the SAS only

[GeeRam]

If, and it's a big IF it's a genuine locally modified in the field No.5 by the Regiment, it certainly wasn't during WW2....for obvious reasons.
If genuine, likely during Malaya ops in the 1950's perhaps, but, still not convinced.

Information

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[skiprat]

The "SERIAL NUMBER" label has a very 70's look, reminds me of the SUIT sight label,

[Roger Payne]

I can't pretend to know much about oddball No5's but it just screams out 'Lash up' to me. Surely, even small scale but approved mods would have been marked cleanly, probably with a pantograph, not stamped with individual letter stamps like this?

And they added 'SAS' just in case you needed telling.......but were so professional they couldn't get all three letters in a straight line? Or am I mis-seeing it?

It also seems odd that they couldn't find a forend to butcher that hadn't already had an 'Ishy' screw through it.

It looks to me like someone got creative with a sporterized No5 & an old I/R sight they had lying about.

And if it were just to be a genuine locally extemporized unofficial one-off set up, unless someone kept photographs &/or other documentation to confirm it, there is no way of ever proving it, so it probably comes down to whether you want to believe it is what it claims to be or not!

Just MHO.

[Seaforth72]

I agree that the No. 5 Mk. I modified as shown is likely a "Bubba" creation.

[Lee Enfield]

The action appears to be dated 1946 so it probably wasn't issued during ww2.

[green]

Noticed the caliber stamped on the body.
A highly speculative item.

[Daan Kemp]

The brutalised No 5. Nobody in their right mind would fire that more than once, the knife edge supposed to be the butt will see to that. The recoil will definitely bend the dodgy removable stock. Getting your cheek to use the sight close t the stock invites stitches to your cheek. Etc, etc. The SAS aren't stupid.

Comparing the period from the disbandment of the SAS to the reforming will probably date that monstrosity to when the SAS didn't exist.

[TomH]

The more I look at it, the worse it gets. This is Sub Bubba work. Why the apparent sleeve on the Butt Socket when a perfectly usable original thread could have been used? The shortening of the barrel. You would have removed the Flash Hider assembly, shortened the barrel and then reinstalled it. But no this has had its Flash Hider removed from the Bayonet Lug/Sight and then what looks like a dummy Flash Hider fixed by an internal thread into the barrel.

[CINDERS]

Just thinking of that scoped weather beaten example just visible in the left of frame first pic.
Stall owner "Oh yes that one, well would you believe that was the very rifle that Carlos Hathcock crawled for 3 days getting into a firing position then 2 days crawling out after killing that General its a POA sale cash only if you please."

Just move on if you have not already the whole thing is a bit of a joke the bottom wood left side near the socket is shot anyway, who knows what else is wrong when you open it up, imagine firing it two handed with the butt stock removed

[mrclark303]

Just had the chance to apprise the "Special Army Soldier take down No5 Sniper rifle".

Well ... NO, not on any planet is this lash up anything but a figment of someone's imagination. In my opinion...

As mentioned, the recoil would be horrible on the shoulder. You wouldn't fire it more than once!