Real or Fake: This No. 5 "Jungle Carbine"?

[capt14k]

No chance I would trade an SKS in America. In Canada I would.

[AD-4NA]

As others have said in general they seem to run from $300-800 here in the US based on condition if they are legitimate.

They are always a hot ticket item that everyone wants for the looks or the handling to shoot until they actually try shooting one for the first time and get a nasty surprise.

[5thBatt]

Rather odd for the marks to be so heavily xxxed-out. Lined through seems to have been a typical and sufficient procedure, thus enabling the origins of the parts to be traced if necessary.
And, if I recall correctly, Peter Laidler has written somewhere that the receiver was the fundamental item of the rifle's identity and was therefore never replaced - i.e. a new bolt should have been marked to match the receiver, not barrel and receiver marked to match the bolt, which was a replaceable part.

Peter, are you out there? Is this OK or a bit "iffy"?

But receivers were replaced, i have 2 examples in my collection a 1890s EFD MLM MkII with a 1903 Sparkbrook receiver & a 1918 BSA MkIII* with a 1939 Lithgow receiver.

[englishman_ca]

PatrickC and 5thBatt. Yes and no.....you are both correct.

With muzzle loaders, the barrel was the master component and carried the serial number (if it had one). This carried over to breech loaders where the barrel was still the master component. If the receiver was changed out, it would be marked to match the barrel.

Then in around 1925 this rational officially changed in that the receiver became the master component, so if the barrel was changed it would be marked to match the receiver.

This got me puzzled where I had a rifle with an BSA manufactured receiver and barrel but with a prefixed four digit EFD serial number on both barrel and receiver in BSA style font. Huh?

I did note that the rifle had several 'Crown BR' inspector markings which suggested that it had been through the Birmingham Repair facility at Sparkbrook a number of times.

The scenario was probably that an Enfield made rifle needed a new receiver, so it was replaced pre 1925 with a BSA made unit and marked to match the master component, the barrel.
Then later on in its life, post 1925, it needed a new barrel which was changed out with a BSA made unit and marked to match the master component, the receiver.

[5thBatt]

A "prefixed four digit" serial number does not necessarily mean its a EFD number, yes, most likely if it has a letter suffix as BSA also stamped 4 digit numbers.