Shooting the Service Rifle
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Growing up in Southern Ontario, in the Fifties, was a great time for someone who liked to shoot. At about 12 years old, I liberated an old Cooey single shot from my old man, and basically taught myself to shoot.....and stalk those big Woodchucks.
At High School, I wanted to join the Army Cadets. However, the High School I attended had Air Cadets, and the other one across town had the Army Cadets. So, an Air Cadet I was........never regretted it as I got my Pilots Licence from that, and I got to run the shooting program. We actually had one .22 Lee Enfield that was kept at School ( GASP), but did our shooting on the Militia indoor range at the local Armories. The old Sergeant Major who had an apartment in the Armories and took care of the place would open the range and give out all the .22 ammo you wanted to shoot. He sometimes sat in on the sessions, but never really said much. As I recall, there were eight shooting positions, four on the bottom, and four on the top, much like a bunk bed.
About 1956 or so, the Militia was getting down in numbers. The Government started a "Student Militia" program, so I joined for the duration (summer). There I learned about the Bren, Sten, Browning 9mm, and the 25 Pounder. At the end of the summer, live firing of the Small Arms was at Cedar Springs, and the 25 Pounder at Petewawa and Meaford.
If you wanted to, anyone from the Student Militia could join the Regiment after the summer was over, so I did. The next summer found me on an NCO course at Woolsley in London, Ont., and the introduction to the FN. Again, Cedar Springs. When I returned at the end of the Summer, the Lee-Enfields were being replaced by the FNs, and I was the only one who knew anything about them.....so.....guess who ended up as an Instructor. About this time, the 25 Pounder was phased out in favor of the 105 mm Howitzer.
One day, the old Sgt. Major came over and said "Since you are going to stick around, I might as well teach you how to really shoot." There was still a lot of Lee Enfields in the Armory, and cases of .303. We had a 200 yard range available at the local Gun Club, and many weekends were spent on that range.......the Sgt. Major and four of us who liked to shoot.
We learned the niceties of the Lee Enfield, various shooting positions, building up an ever increasing rate of fire with accuracy, winds, and all kinds of other little goodies such as selecting and polishing chargers, stocking rifles, and troubleshooting the problems.
That training and love of the Lee Enfield has stuck with me for over 50 years since that time. About 6 years ago, at a .303 shoot, an discussion arose about how many rounds you could fire with a Lee Enfield in One Minute. Since the standard for a WWII infantryman was 15 rounds a minute, aimed, and a good one could do 20, the 25 to 30 round guesses were about maximum. We set up a Figure 11 target at 100 yards. I selected my best polished chargers, and with the movie camera running, timed over one minute, 38 rounds went down range, with 37 hits and one about 1 inch off.
At the Sergeant Major's funeral, pictures of his life and accomplishments were displayed. He had never mentioned it, but I found some that showed his service in the British Army. He had been an Instructor at the School of Musketry at Hythe, in England.
It is a sad commentary that a Canadian Government that gave me, at age 18, a 25 Pounder, a limber with 32 rounds of ammunition for it, five guys to help me fire it, and a driver and duece-and-a-half to tow it around has now evolved to a Government that figures since I am now 67 years old, I am not competent to have even a .22.
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