How I learned to Shoot Service Rifle

Hungry

Hungry

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Memory lane time boys and girls....

I was just sharing a chuckle with Keith and Linda of 3W.Milcun.com back in October while we were running a Tactical Carbine clinic and I could not help but share a funny moment in Battle School with my beloved 4L6178 C1A1.

Here we were at the 25 m range learning the group with our C1A1's. It had been a long 2 days trying to shrink the groups down inside an inch, all the while recieving "hamburger face" that the FN buttstock was notorious for giving one's cheek from the punishing recoil. :runaway:

That physical abuse was enough to throw off one's feeble sense of mental management (natural position, hold, aim, sight picture, breath , squeeze, follow through). All the time, our groups became progressively larger. :eek:

I fondly recall getting whacked on top of the helmet by the DS (directing staff) and his stick. They commanded, "Shoot better groups!", Whack !! :rolleyes: "If you plugs cannot shoot better groups, then we are gonna transfer the whole lot of youse to Shotgun Platoon." :D "So FZCKEN shoot better, right now!" "Whack or Bonk to the steel helmet".... LOL

So here I am 29 years later (1977 in Battle School Wainwright) teaching marksmanship at an Operational Shooting Association Carbine Clinic with this story on my lips. Giggling once in a while about my DS beating me (and my fellow candidates on the course) on the helmet trying to encourage finer shooting skills.

Damn, I was a shztty shot back then. Thank the Lord I never had to shoot any hostiles while overseas... well, could one call those dogs in Nicosia 'hostile"? We did shoot quite a few of them, but that's another story....

:dancingbanana:

How did you CGNutters learn to shoot Service Rifle ?
 
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Very similar to you except at Borden as a cadet.The exception being that the Sgt/M would put his drill cane, brass ball end down, between your thighs order you to make a better shot. This was going on during the shot indicating relay so you couldn't lie and so he would not be seen striking anyone. At that time no hitting was allowed. He explained it as learning to shoot under pressure.
Dave
 
Learned to shoot

Not exactly a learned to shoot story but relevant to the topic since it was keith that taught me if you want to win "train all the time and under all conditions". I remember a pretty hot and muggy canaught day some years ago when I was shooting with one of his teams. Occasional torrential downpours throughout the day made it seem like shooting in your shower would be easy. I was down in the butts and we were running up fig 12 handhelds practicing a snap when a huge black nasty thunderstorm came rolling through. You could see the lightning strikes coming down on the ottawa river behind the bullet catch. Then this voice comes over the radio "start the match" and the designated butts NCO yells targets up. Not being totally stupid I looked at the guy beside me and said " you put yours up first". Needless to say it was not a very smooth running match practice at that moment and all shooting came to an immediate halt with a quick visit from range control. Since the storm was obviously interupting our comms and we did not hear the the order to shut down and take cover. Although I grumbled like everyone else back then since keith was such a hard ass but the message was clear and I still live by those words of wisdom when working with competive shooters. "train all the time under all conditions".
Oh and no matter what anyone says I have aged way better than keith has.
 
This thread brought back a few memories of shooting the C7 on my Basic in Shilo.

Like the candidate who had trouble with his groupings and had a few instructors "helping him out". :D

Then his scope fell off :eek:

I also miss having bullets flying overhead in "The Butts", having Warface competitions to get more range time, and shooting at "Combat Condoms" which are the big, green waterballoons used as targets.

Good times, good times....
 
16-17 yr old infantry-recce reservist @ good ol' camp dube (valcartier), gagetown & farnham mostly.
That is: the C7 with the elcan and guess which other... also with the elcan.

re: Rammer Jammer, I liked the "butts" too - they safe way to get shot at.
 
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I don't really count basic as when I learned to shoot. But when I got to the RCR battleschool in Meaford Ontario.While doin the run down with some SGT in your ear whispering sweet nothings. Or in Battalion, on the sniper course, shooting all day... From 8 in the morning to 1800 at night. Recording every shot. Or on the field firing range, looking through your spotters scope, or the optics on the rifle all day, till the point that it gives you a head ache, and your eyes start to throb.
I think the army pretty much takes the fun out of most shooting. Except live fire attacks, live fire vehicle contact drills, Live fire aussie peel backs and all that stuff. Of course when you have to do it for real, you loose a bit of the fun factor there too. (Actually it was kind of fun)....
 
Not to steal anyone else's wind...but my "lesson's learned" the same way.

Pretty much perfectly the same Hungry!
Your story brings back many fond, and not-so fond memories...

Now we can chuckle, as we has the luxury of time past, in less than normal circumstances.....
 
Much the same as you Hungry except it was Aldershot and we weren't getting hit with a drill cane. I was getting beat up bad with my fn though. They issued me one with a small butt and although not a lot different then the normal or long butt, the psychological factor told me it was going to hurt..
I got to the point I would aim center of mass, pick my head up off the butt and squeeze the trigger..
When we did the conversion course for the C7 I was a Master Jack and did more ammo, butt party, safety NCO stuff then shooting.
I never touched one again till Ferguson suckered me into service rifle about 5 years ago..
 
I learned on the C1A1 and suffered from hamburger face many times. No matter how much I prepared, the first round always got me. I remember the one time on a shoot somebody had put a matchstick under the sear from an earlier ex and didn't take it out. Want to talk about hamburger face. All the others complained why he got to fire the full auto one and they didn't.

Ahh the good old days
 
I fondly remember doing a rundown in Wainwright from 500 to 400 and in the typical PPCLI fashion, we were gassed halfway down.

I have the 2 CDO instructors from my R031 course in Vernon 1975 to thank for the lessons on how to be a master gas mask installer under stress. Their lessons sure came in handy during my 031 Crse with the PPCLI. yuk yuk yuk

Striker: Now that I'm competing with an ACOG on my flat top AR, no more hamburger face, more hits, more DCRA gold medals and my self-esteem was restored!! Yeeeha. I'm thankful to my DS because now I have few funny stories to tell.

sarge: Ah yes... the old matchstick trick. I employed aluminum foil found in the IRP's. You younger punks (attested in the 80's, 90's and 2000's) won't know the meaning of fzcken heavy until you have carried the IRP's along with their "burn, bash, bury" policy. The foil under the sear was great for FA while on advance to contact exercises and blank ammo, that's when we were actually issued blank ammo. Many times, we had to shoot "PPCLI bullets". At least we did not have to struggle too much with "Government cutback blank ammo", since our rifles remained clean after an EX.
 
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The way we learned was to first fire the .22 cal conversion kits out of the FN's in an indoor range. The instructor wasn't bad. What a shock firing the real ammo. I agree the rundowns were always a pain in the a__. When ever you went to ground and fired the rifle always hit you right in the cheek. More worried about getting a round off then accuracy.

Hungry: IRP's... baked beans and the canned bacon yummmm
 
Back (way back) in 1969 I was a 13 year old kid in an army cadet camp near Oromocto, NB. We did a few stints at the range with the FNC1. This was quite a thrill for a kid who had only ever fired his grandfather's .22 at the shack in the woods. The only time I remember someone getting a whack was when one of the cadets removed his helmet while in the pit because it kept falling down over his eyes.

Several years ago I got the chance to buy an FN-FAL (L1A1) and did so. It might kick a little but it is still a favourite gun to shoot, if I was allowed to shoot it, that is!
 
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The best I ever shot with my 50's vintage fn c1a1 was a 6" group at 200 yards. Not great by todays standards but for a worn out old rifle in front of a kid..not bad.
A pic of the good old days. I'm second from the left.

Range.jpg
 
looks like Aldershot? Or maybe Debert? Except the flags are usually on the other side. Left side of the mound...
 
It might very well be Debert. They had the flag poles near the center of the mounds too. We kinda broke the one on the 200 yard line one time...:redface:
 
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