Throwing of U.K service rifles

[Flying10uk]

Years ago while a member of the army cadets if there was a need to move rifles from point A to point B, between Cadets, we were often encouraged by the adult sergeant instructors some of whom were ex-regular soldiers to throw the rifles to each other rather than pass them. The rifles involved were No4s and SLRs with some of the No4s being D.P.s but a significant number of the weapons were live but never loaded. I have personal experience of rifles flying through the air at high speed towards me and catching them. I am pleased to report that on every occasion that this happened I managed to catch the rifles. It does, however, concentrate the mind having a No4 rifle flying through the air at high speed towards you. I, personally, witnessed several occasions of rifles being dropped on the ground by others but never by myself. I recall a SLR being dropped on a beach and being plastered in sand which got into every conceivable part.

The impression I got by talking to others who had been members of the regular U.K. army was that this was a common practice with Privates and N.C.O.s. I would be very interested to hear from members who are serving or recently retired from the U.K. army if this practice still happens with the current SA80 rifle given how fragile it is said to be and as it is fitted with a scope sight as standard. I would have thought that it would be very difficult to stamp this practice out completely.

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[browningautorifle]

Must have been a UK thing, because in Canada it was strictly forbidden to be throwing weapons around...

[Peter Laidler]

Do you mean THROWING of service rifles? I have never heard that as official practice simply because if you had a line of, say, 5 men while unloading a consignment of loose rifles, someone WILL drop one or falter and cause the rest of the line to back-up. And if they're throwing them, it's a recipe for breakages.

I wouldn't listen too much of the old crap regarding the fragility of the SA80. The A2 rifle is as good and tough as any other standard service rifle now. As for the nylon handguards, covers and buttons that might break during hard/harsh use, then now we say '.....so what.....' the buttons and covers are pence each and handguards not a lot more. The SUSAT sight was perhaps the only bit of the original rifle that didn't come in for bad press. It's as tough as old boots. |But with ALL optical instruments, treat it right and it'll treat you right.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

I recall doing "infantry training" on obstacle courses. One method of getting troops over a high wall involved using the trusty L1A1 as a "launching platform".

Rifle held by a digger at each end and the "launchee" standing on it whist being "boosted" over the wall.

I used to cringe when they were using "real" rifles.

I suspect that this technique dated to a previous rifle that did not "bend" in the middle quite as easily.

In later years, after the advent of the F-88 (Steyr AUG), this practice was phased out in general training and "dummy" rifles fabricated from STEEL odds and ends (painted bright yellow) came into vogue. These are still used whenever troops go on "long" marches in the public eye. (We can't be frightening the peasants by exposing them to the sight of soldiers in battle-order carrying real weapons, can we?). Then again, if some dozey digger drops it on the road and it is immediately run over by a passing car or truck, there will be a SLIGHT reduction in that major evil, paperwork.

[Beerhunter]

It wouldn't be the first piece of crap promulgated by ACF Adult Instructors.

[Flying10uk]

Yes throwing, sorry about spelling; I do get mental blockages with spelling at times especially when tired. Is it possible for me to edit my original post? It certainly happened as I was at the receiving end on a number of occasions and the Sergeant who was most enthusiastic about promoting it was defiantly ex-regular.

[Vincent]

Yes. You can edit the title. Go to the first post, click on "edit post." When the page loads, click on "go advanced." When that page loads, you can edit the title.

[browningautorifle]

One method of getting troops over a high wall involved using the trusty L1A1 as a "launching platform".

More than one FN C1 was picked out during inspection for being out of straight after. Very bad practice. I preferred to use a piece of wood or something expendable...

[Peter Laidler]

We had hard compressed rubber SA80's with a solid steel barrel that looked quite realistic for training use when they first came out. I don't know what happened to them although I had a dozen or so to dispose of recently which I did easily with a band saw. I seem to think that the compressed rubber disintegrated after a few years. Later we had some old cannibalised rifles that had been ZF'd that had been welded up solid that were called 'back-packers' just to simulate the weight.

Any idea what became of these little known variants Skippy or Tankie?

[browningautorifle]

Our C7 rubber rifles were OK but they eventually get bashed to pieces. We had DP guns when I first got to Gagetown in'93 that had been used since the beginning, some from the trials. Very low numbers like C9 #18...now THOSE were beat...if you used it on the obstacle course, you'd have lost half of it.