Jungle style

Ethiopian soldiers deployed with U.S.-made weapons somewhere in Korea, 1953.

Sig SG 551 with three magazines held together.

The term "Jungle Style" usually refers to the practice of taping or securing two gun magazines together, with one taped upside down while the other is inserted into the rifle. However, a rifle may also be jungle styled by using plastic divider or cradle in which the two magazines sit, usually upright. Jungle Style is used to speed up the process of reloading, since the other magazine is attached to the exhausted magazine, as opposed to being in a pouch, or other ammo storage unit. Also, some firearms manufactures have designed their magazines with studs that allowed them to mate together without the need of tape or clamps, such as the Heckler & Koch G36 and SIG SG 550.

Origins

The practice of "Jungle Style" magazines was developed during World War II with the introduction of 30-round magazines for the M1 Carbine, Thompson submachine gun and M3 submachine gun "Grease Gun". After the introduction of the 30-round magazine for the M1 Carbine, it was so common for the troops to tape two 30-round magazines together for speed reloading, that the Military introduced the "Jungle Clip" which was a metal clamp that would hold two magazines together without the need of tape; this was henceforth called "Jungle Style".