Hey everyone I just bought a No.5 dated 2/45 from a pawn shop a couple days ago one downside is it's missing the top handguard rear retaining band which holds the handguard to the barrel I've been looking around and all I see are the no. 4 ones, are they interchangeable? Or can it fit with some machining?

I think they're the same, but it won't fit over the flash hider. I have a converted No. 4 that was missing the same piece....I had to cut the band to get it to fit over the flash hider. Just snip it in two at the very bottom...you can always weld the cut back together after installing the band, but I found that the handguard holds it in place just fine.

No ... the No4 and No5 barrel bands are not the same; you can use a No4 band if you can't find a No5 band but it is not the correct part as the No5 band is wider and because it is further to the rear in location on the rifle body it has a slightly larger diameter. The no4 band can be made to fit but it's not a good fit.

Tiki.

Thanks for the correction...wasn't sure. Will a true No. 5 band fit over the flash hider or does it also need to be cut? And I should have said that the forestock holds the cut band in place, not the handguard.

do you know any suppliers that have that part handy?

Your better off making one from a unmarked NO4 band which are easy to get have not seen anyone that supplys them [NO5] most people use a NO4.
I will put up some pics so you can see the difference between the two.Watch for them. MAX

Far left is a NO4 LB,Middle NO4 FAZ,Far right NO5 FAZ.

[Bottom right corner of browser you can reduce pic to 75% size]

I ordered my upper hand guard and barrel band from Numrich. The have No4 guards that have been cut down to fit a No5. They also recommend using a No4 band. Both the hand guard and the band fit perfectly. The band fits easily over the barrel and needs to be finessed a little but it fits both the stock and the hand guard well.


It's funny how many No5 you see that the upper hand guard is missing. My rifle wasn't sporterized but the guard was missing and the band was bubba'd to conform to the top of the barrel without the hand guard.

Aren't those pics of the sling swivel /upper handguard band? I thought he was talking about the little ring that goes up against the front of the receiver that the rear of the handguard slips under.

First things first boys ... if we are going to talk about parts it sure helps to describe those parts correctly and using the proper British nomenclature. There are two totally different parts being discussed and confused here. To put it plainly ... there is the Barrel Band which goes around the upper hand guard of the No5 and holds the fore-end furniture and upper hand guard together and then there is the Rear Handguard Retaining Ring, which butts up against the receiver itself.

Now we have the two parts clearly identified, hopefully the OP can instruct us as to which he is specifically referring.

Tiki.

yeah I just found one from e-gunpart hopefully it fits

http://cgi.ebay.com/SMLE-NO-4-MKI-NO-5-Jungle-Carbine-Rear-Stock-Band_W0QQitemZ220414903860QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3351c08634

Right ... so you wanted the Rear Handguard Retaining Ring. It must be said that the Gunparts catalogue listing for that part is incorrect and misleading which leads to confusion when discussing the parts themselves. They have the part listed as a "rear stock band"; it is not a Band at all, but a Retaining Ring as per the official British parts manuals.

Tiki.

I used a #4 Rear Handguard Retaining Ring on my #5 parts gun build and like was mentioned by Gunblade, it needed to be cut to fit over the front sight. I tacked it back together with a wire feed wielder, just make sure you cut the bottom so it can't be seen when it's put together.

Hola Tiki

G'day Os ... nice to see you here mate!