MK111 and cheeze: I have a 1927 tech manual on small bore target ranges. It states, under purpose and scope: "indended for all branches of the using service equipped with small-bore gallery practice rifles". Sort of indicates not all branches were so equipped. At any rate this was 1927, by WW11 there would never had been enough to train millions of troops inducted. I know thousands more civilian models were purchased but I have never heard or read of Army troops being trained with these 22's ON A MASS regular scale. Plenty on the Navy with the Moss. 44US and the AAF only trained with shotguns (arial gunnery). I know these 22's were used by someone but I do not think the average WW11 army recruit ever saw one. There were never enough of the SA 1922's to do much 'training' with anyway, many were sold thru the DCM almost as soon as they were made. Major G.S. Patton, Jr. purchased a 1922M1 N.R.A. in 1930, #19539. Ofcourse it was a much smaller Army back then. SRS lists many of these rifles during the war years, NG Units, Museums, Universities, Service Commands, even High Schools. Sale lists from SRS are as early as 1925.
The services called them "small bore gallery practice rifles" never training rifles
which would indicate training all troops with them before going to big bore or service rifles. And that did not happen. I also have a training manual dated 1923 which is on basic indiviual rifle marksmanship. It no-where mentions the 1922, .22, only the 1903 service rifle.