Lee-Enfield Rifle No.5 in 7.62mm

From the Charnwood collection - The 7.62 Nato calibre No.5 rifle is shown for comparison

below a standard Fazakerly manufactured .303" No.5 rifle of 1945

The barrel, at 21", is 3" longer than a standard .303" Rifle No.5.

Disassembled

Civilian barrel proof marks are for 1974 (see Date Your Rifle) as the rifle was re-proved at Birmingham because this was necessary when the rifle was sold into the civilian market.

This was barely 3 years after the 1971 conversions of the .303" No.4T Second World War sniper rifles to 7.62mm, in the form of the L42A1 rifle subsequently employed in the Falklands War.

A 7.62mm NATO calibre service rifle was first introduced to British Forces on the approval for issue of the L1A1 Self Loading Rifle in 1959.

The barrel is considerably tapered, and the barrel reinforce is without the lightening scallops seen on the .303" No.5 Rifle, it is probably a re-profiled barrel from a batch manufactured for the post 1960 conversions of the No.4 rifle from .303" to 7.62mm calibre for reserve stocks after the introduction of the NATO cartridge and the new L1A1 service rifle.

The electro-pencilled markings show that the conversion is of a Fazakerly produced No.5 Mk.I rifle of early 1947 manufacture.

"AC" is the serial no. prefix. The number itself has been removed by the machining of the slot for the fitment of the special spring-loaded ejector.

The bolt handle carries the full serial number.

The bolt head is a Fazakerly manufactured item, but carries only the BNP nitro-proof civilian proof mark

The receiver and ancillary parts, as you would expect, bear a number of military"crown" inspection and "Broad Arrow" acceptance marks.

The original crossed pennants military mark, on the rear of the action, is shown above.

Above: the 7.62 chamber and extractor slot

Evident above is the machining of the magazine well to accommodate the special magazine.

The ejector spur can be seen towards the rear of the lower (LHS) of the receiver.

Above and below: the fabricated "in-the-white" 7.62 magazine, to accommodate which the trigger-guard plate magazine-well aperture has been re-profiled.

Should you have any knowledge of what is represented by the initials "O.T.", on the bottom rear corner of the base, please let us know.

When this rifle was sold out of the Charnwood collection at Bonhams in 1997, the catalogue write-up by an acknowledged expert stated that the magazine was believed to have been a one-off prototype perhaps made by B.S.A. (the Birmingham Small Arms Company), or Parker-Hale. As of August 2024, we have been advised by the contributing owner of a Parker-Hale .308" sporting rifle that "it is built on a .30"/'06 length Mauser-type action: the magazine platform of the No 5 appears identical to that of the Parker-Hale rifle, apart from the fact that the No 5 platform has been shortened at the rear to fit the 7.62mm magazine case.  The ejector on the No 5 is similar in principle to that included in the Sterling 7.62mm conversion kit but differs in detail."

The machined magazine follower can be seen, as can the spring-loaded ejector stud

Above: handguard markings

Fore-end mark behind barrel-band

Butt-stock marks

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The .303-inch calibre No.5 rifle was known to have an accuracy problem described as "Wandering Zero" cause by the reduction in strength of the action as a result of the removal of material to lighten the weapon, particularly for use by paratroops and infantry in the jungles of the Pacific theatre.

The subject was covered in a handbook issued in 1963 by the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock detailing the conversion of .303" No.4 and No.5 rifles to the NTAO 7.62mm calibre. The section (7) is reproduced below.

The complete handbook can be found at the bottom of the page covering the

7.62mm L39A1 target/sniper version of the No.4 rifle.