Weight,

Also loss of weight forward which increases barrel rise and will feel like more recoil.

The shape of the stock and fit of the stock will have as much to do
with felt recoil as anything.

Thanks - I was just thinking of the bullet dynamics not that the gun was lighter.

I paid in the neighborhood of $350 for it. Which compared to the prices for an Enfield just a few years ago is high I know but the reality is that those days, and those rifles are gone. Given it's condition after being in use since 1945, I feel pretty good about it's durability. I won't be using it nearly as much as it was meant to be used.

Counting for inflation $350 is a very good price for one in good shape. Jungle carbine always was a rarer item and a bit of a collector's piece.
At one point people were cutting down mark 4s and selling them as jungle carbines.

About the person who mentioned how they kick. Yes, they sure do!

The question of accuracy is another thing, Am Fear mentions 800 yards. You might be able to hit something at that range, but they were not really made as a sniper rifle.
They were meant to be light enough to carry through the jungles of Burma and south east Asia. The expected range was about 100 yards and they were much more than accurate enough for that.

Jungle carbines make good hunting rifles for bush/forest conditions.
Even though putting a scope on them is a PITA because you need a special scope mount to deal with the shape of the receiver, at least you don't have to change the shape of the bolt handle or anything like that if you really want a scope.
For quick shots at less than a hundred yards a scope isn't really needed.

How's ammo availability for taht where you are?

I have a 30-40 Krag which is a similar cartridge, tho uses
.308 bullets instead of .311". It really likes the heavier bullets,
especially the 220 grain by Hornady. Their reps say it will work
fine on any big game, so thats what I use. Also it likes 170 grain
lasercast lead bullets which will work good for practice and small
game. Gotta handload both tho.

I would stick with the diameter made for the rifle for best accuracy potential.

Although the barrel length of the No5 is 100 mm shorter than the No4, with some half decent optics (that can handle the recoil forces) and some Mk8 .303 boat tail ammunition, you should be able to get reasonable groupings out to 800 metres @ around 8 to 12 inches. You should be able to get somewhere near to the sniper performance of the M25 system with the No5 being couple of lbs lighter than this specialist SOCOM weapon.

Happy shooting.

Yes, I guess you would need to be rolling your own ammo for the 30-40.
The 30-40 Krag-Jorgensen round is very similar to 303 British.
As for the rifle itself, they are beautiful rifles, very well machined with extremely smooth actions.
The magazine is a bit different, loading from the side instead of through the top. I think it was actually the inspiration for the .303 Lee-Enfield
The ones I saw were very accurate and they made Enfields look like trash as far as fit and finish went. They really were pretty, kind of like the .303s made by BSA.

I would agree with staying with the designated bullet calibre as a general principle, but as I mentioned Enfields are interesting.
During the war years they accepted wide tolerances on the bore diameter in favour of increased production.
The bores can be anywhere between .308 and .318.
So if you are handloading and can't find .311 or .312 bullets trying a box of .308 and seeing how it groups makes good sense.

Somebody mentioned Mark VIII (Mark 8) ammo.
If you run into Mark VIII leave it alone. It was made for Vickers machine guns and had more powder in it.
I think it stresses the action too much in a rifle and it tends to burn the barrel more too.
Besides that it will be really old surplus FMJ and you don't want it for hunting anyhow.
If you are going to shoot surplus ammo stick with Mark VII (Mark 7)

The only other thing about ammo is most of the current surplus ammo from Eastern Europe uses the Berdan type of primer which you can not reload.
That is fine if you are not reloading or if the shells are cheap enough to throw away the brass, but if you are reloading you might as well by reloadable brass if you can. That means Boxer type primers, most shells made in the west use Boxer primers.

Just some final bits of trivia, SMLE (smelly) stands for Short Magazine Lee Enfield.
Some of the early .303s were made as calvary carbines. They were shorter and had a slide to shut off the magazine.
>.303 Savage is not the same as a .303 British, even though the bullets are the same diameter.


I think I have mentioned almost everything I know about .303 in this thread now.

I'd say might, not should, it is an rather exceptional battle
rifle that shoots 1 moa.

Thanks again for all the tidbits of knowledge, some of you obviously know your Enfields very well, far better than I do!

As for ammunition, the shop I got the rifle thru, (a local dealer had to receive it and do the paperwork as it was bought online) usually carries .303 ammo. It's also pretty easily found online, I've purchased some from 2 of the larger online gun/outdoors suppliers. Have a box on order that should be delivered either today or tomorrow in fact. I don't like paying the shipping but there's no sales tax so it pretty much equals out.

Thanks for the tip about the reloads. I'll look into that. The range I hope to be shooting it at this weekend has a pretty well stocked reloading shop onsite, I'll be talking to them about my options.

Off to buy a slip on recoil pad...;^)