Did you see the vintage WWII Enfield 'Jungle' carbine?

You might not care unless you like reading about firearms.

Costas Mandylor's character, mercenary hunter Dick Sydney, carries a vintage WWII, military surplus, Enfield bolt-action 'Jungle' carbine. Where did the movie studio's prop department find that?

Towards the end of WWII, the British military research and development authorities devised a handy, so-called, 'jungle' version of the venerable bolt-action Enfield MK III and MK IV rifles. This carbine version of the bolt-action Enfield sported a 17-inch barrel versus the 24-inch original. The wooden forestock had been cut back, exposing a length of barrel. A small funnel-shaped flash-hider tipped the barrel. The 'Jungle' Enfield carbine was intended for the Pacific Theater of Operations. As might be expected, the recoil from the shortened, lightened carbine was fierce. A small, hard rubber buttstock pad did little or nothing to soften shoulder recoil. The R&D scientists also shaved away what they thought was unnecessary metal inside the carbine action. This may have been responsible for the carbine's 'wandering zero' problem which was never solved.

After WWII, the British government seriously considered replacing the standard Enfield rifle with the carbine version. But the wandering zero problem and the fierce, painful recoil contributed to the final decision against it. Also, the day of the military bolt-action had passed in favor of the semi-automatic or select fire military assault rifle. Nonetheless, the British Jungle carbine was sexy to look at and lightweight to carry, as long as the holder didn't intend on shooting the carbine too much. Years later, surplus Enfield Jungle carbines hit the civilian market and proved popular sellers. In fact reproductions entered the firearms market back in the 1990s. I've had the luck to actually hold a vintage surplus Enfield Jungle carbine in a gun store. It is all that to behold although I would prefer a CZ-525 bush carbine bolt-action chambered for the 7.62mm x 39mm round. And I would much rather tote the lighter, handier American M1 carbine, despite its much weaker round.