O.K., before all y'all jump my ####, 'rifle' doesn't rhyme with 'fun' and I wanted a little poetry in the title.
We had many thousands of rounds of ammo about to be TX'd (time expired) in our armory which would have been sent back to Canada to be disposed of if we didn't use it first so we NCOs came up with an idea to form a CCUNDOF (Canadian Contingent United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) Rifle Team. We took our idea to the brass and they blessed it so in our off-duty time we spent many pleasant hours on the rifle range in Camp Zouani shooting both Semi-auto and Full-auto as we became expert shots with our C7s. We competed among ourselves initially but eventually we wanted to test ourselves further so we invited the Austrian, Polish, and Japanese contingents of UNDOF to form rifle teams to compete against us. It was problematic for the Austrians to bring their Steyr AUGs across the AOS (Area of Separation) and the AOL (Area of Limitation) from Camp Faouar in Syria so they begged off and the Japanese needed an act of their Diet (congress) to expend even one round of their ammunition (Which is 7.62 NATO Light – more on their ammo later) so they were unable to compete. Fortunately, PolBatt (Polish Battalion) accepted our challenge so the team leaders met and the specifics hammered out. Both teams would shoot the course of fire with their country’s service rifle, then we would swap and reshoot the same course of fire with the other team’s service rifle. Practice times were set up so each team could familiarize themselves with the other team’s weapons. I looked forward to firing the Karabinek wzór 1988 (Carbine Model 1988) Tantal which was chambered in 5.45 X 39, a cartridge I had never fired before.
Practice Day:
I have to admit I’m a Full-Auto addict so I had to get that out of my system first. It was recommended we shoot one shot at a time until we were used to the weapon but to HECK with that! I stuffed the pockets of my combats with loaded Tantal mags and stepped up to the firing line and awaited the command to load and fire. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Drop-click-rack “Oh Yeah” BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Drop-click-rack “OH Yeah” BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Drop-click-rack “OH YEAH!” BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! “OH HELL YEAH!!!” The Master Corporal R.O. came up to me and said, “uh, maybe you should try shooting it on semi now, Corporal Bloggins.” Of course, his ####-eatin’ grin was at least as large as mine. Anyway, we were given ample opportunity to get to know the rifle on semi, burst, and full-auto. My impression of the Tantal was favorable. It was very controllable on Full Auto and was surprisingly accurate when shooting prone or from a rest. Even with the short sight radius of the Tantal’s iron sights it was easy to keep groups within 3-4 minutes of angle.
Competition day:
The day of the competition arrived and we (Canadians) were keen to win. Y’see, the Polish were members of a crack Mountain Division and were all Infantry. We Canadians were a mix of Logistics, Engineers, REME, Signals, MP’s and Armoured some of whom only saw the C7 once a year. There were some good-natured, and some not-so-good natured comments from the PolBatt members about “cooks’ and “chauffeurs” not being able to hit the broad side of a ‘stajnia’
“Yeah! Well we’ll show you!”
Our rifles were C7A1s with the 3.4X Elcan C79 optical sight mounted. Now I’m here to tell you that if any old timer tells you how he pines for the good ol’ days of humping C1s and their ammo around you can tell him he’s nuts. The C7 is an excellent rifle: light, accurate, reliable, and lethal. Anyway, we bore down and shot well. The CO and RSM were out with us watching and not only was national prestige on the line, so was free beer! Now, I‘m not quite sure which is the greater motivating factor for young Canadian men, but since both were on the line, all bases were covered. Anyway, to make a long story short, we shot, cleaned and secured our weapons, and retired to the junior ranks mess. The Polbatt RSM and our RSM appeared a few minutes later with the results: CANADA WINS! Yup. We showed them highly trained Mountain Division infantry types that when it comes down to it, Canadians are natural born shooters. Centuries of living off the land and surviving by our skill and bushcraft is imprinted on the genes of every Canadian family that been here for a few generations.
We were all awarded challenge coins from the event. I’ve still got mine, safely ensconced in my ‘hero’ cabinet along with my medals and military ephemera. It’s my most prized possession.
We had many thousands of rounds of ammo about to be TX'd (time expired) in our armory which would have been sent back to Canada to be disposed of if we didn't use it first so we NCOs came up with an idea to form a CCUNDOF (Canadian Contingent United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) Rifle Team. We took our idea to the brass and they blessed it so in our off-duty time we spent many pleasant hours on the rifle range in Camp Zouani shooting both Semi-auto and Full-auto as we became expert shots with our C7s. We competed among ourselves initially but eventually we wanted to test ourselves further so we invited the Austrian, Polish, and Japanese contingents of UNDOF to form rifle teams to compete against us. It was problematic for the Austrians to bring their Steyr AUGs across the AOS (Area of Separation) and the AOL (Area of Limitation) from Camp Faouar in Syria so they begged off and the Japanese needed an act of their Diet (congress) to expend even one round of their ammunition (Which is 7.62 NATO Light – more on their ammo later) so they were unable to compete. Fortunately, PolBatt (Polish Battalion) accepted our challenge so the team leaders met and the specifics hammered out. Both teams would shoot the course of fire with their country’s service rifle, then we would swap and reshoot the same course of fire with the other team’s service rifle. Practice times were set up so each team could familiarize themselves with the other team’s weapons. I looked forward to firing the Karabinek wzór 1988 (Carbine Model 1988) Tantal which was chambered in 5.45 X 39, a cartridge I had never fired before.
Practice Day:
I have to admit I’m a Full-Auto addict so I had to get that out of my system first. It was recommended we shoot one shot at a time until we were used to the weapon but to HECK with that! I stuffed the pockets of my combats with loaded Tantal mags and stepped up to the firing line and awaited the command to load and fire. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Drop-click-rack “Oh Yeah” BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Drop-click-rack “OH Yeah” BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Drop-click-rack “OH YEAH!” BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! “OH HELL YEAH!!!” The Master Corporal R.O. came up to me and said, “uh, maybe you should try shooting it on semi now, Corporal Bloggins.” Of course, his ####-eatin’ grin was at least as large as mine. Anyway, we were given ample opportunity to get to know the rifle on semi, burst, and full-auto. My impression of the Tantal was favorable. It was very controllable on Full Auto and was surprisingly accurate when shooting prone or from a rest. Even with the short sight radius of the Tantal’s iron sights it was easy to keep groups within 3-4 minutes of angle.
Competition day:
The day of the competition arrived and we (Canadians) were keen to win. Y’see, the Polish were members of a crack Mountain Division and were all Infantry. We Canadians were a mix of Logistics, Engineers, REME, Signals, MP’s and Armoured some of whom only saw the C7 once a year. There were some good-natured, and some not-so-good natured comments from the PolBatt members about “cooks’ and “chauffeurs” not being able to hit the broad side of a ‘stajnia’
“Yeah! Well we’ll show you!”
Our rifles were C7A1s with the 3.4X Elcan C79 optical sight mounted. Now I’m here to tell you that if any old timer tells you how he pines for the good ol’ days of humping C1s and their ammo around you can tell him he’s nuts. The C7 is an excellent rifle: light, accurate, reliable, and lethal. Anyway, we bore down and shot well. The CO and RSM were out with us watching and not only was national prestige on the line, so was free beer! Now, I‘m not quite sure which is the greater motivating factor for young Canadian men, but since both were on the line, all bases were covered. Anyway, to make a long story short, we shot, cleaned and secured our weapons, and retired to the junior ranks mess. The Polbatt RSM and our RSM appeared a few minutes later with the results: CANADA WINS! Yup. We showed them highly trained Mountain Division infantry types that when it comes down to it, Canadians are natural born shooters. Centuries of living off the land and surviving by our skill and bushcraft is imprinted on the genes of every Canadian family that been here for a few generations.
We were all awarded challenge coins from the event. I’ve still got mine, safely ensconced in my ‘hero’ cabinet along with my medals and military ephemera. It’s my most prized possession.
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Not that I care. We had that kind of fun too...
