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One of the few guns I have parted with in this life was a WWII relic I got for $25 for deer hunting in ‘68. A Jungle Carbine. The thing was barely shootable and my father was a sadist for buying it for a 14 year old boy. LOL.

For grins I fired it in a high power match once and was told by the guys on either side of me to “never bring that rifle back here”. The next morning my shoulder had a giant bruise on it. I was not sorry to see that rifle go. Maybe a full size SMLE would be better but I don’t regret letting the Jungle Carbine go one bit. In fact I feel sorry for the guy who bought it.

LOL!!! I had an uncle who was the family clown.When I was in my 20s, he said I needed a deer rifle -- and gave me a cut-down SMLE. It had all the front band with bayonet hardware removed, and the stock cut back to the second band, and shaved down to minimum. And it still had the original steel buttplate.

First time I shot it was from a bench rest on our club's range, with a cut-off utility pole set in the ground for a seat. It was a little low, so I couldn't really get a comfortable hold on the piece -- but, I shot it anyway.

I fired three rounds of .303 Norma hunting load-- and, for the first and only time in my life, recoil shock literally nauseated me!

I cleaned it and put it back in the safe -- until my teenage son wanted to shoot "the SMLE". (He since collects and shoots old military rifles and has held "Expert" ratings on almost any Army weapon that goes "Bang!" -- including TOW, Grenade, and Mortar.)

So -- I took him and couple of his buddies out to our place in the boonies and let them shoot my 11mm Mauser -- and "the SMLE". (Dumb move: the original paper-wrapped 11mm rounds are now worth more than the rifle...)

But, it was fun! I had them shoot the 11mm from a sitting position -- and, after the huge "BOOM!" and the monster cloud of black powder smoke cleared -- each of them wound up flat on his back, with the muzzle pointed skyward. (Leaning back to counter the weight of that big, long barrel shifted their C/G -- and the long, smooth "push" recoil -- got 'em...) '-)

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Then, I let my "macho" son shoot the (<Jungle Carbine weight) SMLE.

After the first round, I could see the pain on his face and his eyes "watering"! When I said, "You were breathing. Next shot, use proper breath control", he replied,

"Nah, the other guys came out to shoot too -- let's let them have a turn!"

'-) We did; they did. (Each, a single round.) One actually dropped the piece after firing...

My son cleaned "the SMLE", and it went back in the safe.

It's been forty years since a round was fired in "the beast". My son will inherit it. Wonder who its next victim will be... '-)

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.303 Jungle Carbine? NO, Thanks!