Working The Rifle Range

D

Damaged Goods

Member
Location
Maryland
Targets that were handled manually at some army forts. You're in a dugout with the target. It's your job to raise and lower the target, put a tape on the hole, and indicate with a stick where the round landed on the target. If the round missed the target altogether, you waived the stick with a pair of bloomers on it, referred to as "Maggie's Drawers."

Helluva way to spend Saturday when most of the fort goes on leave at 12noon. :(
 

I was a good shot with most anything except a shotgun. as kids we used to lay on our backs and shoot the tops out of pine trees with a single shot .22...enlisted in the montana national guard in high school and when we were being instructed in the use of the m1 garand and near the end of the day I had not had a chance to shoot so the officer took me aside and told me to pick out something on the hill behind the targets. There was a white spot I targeted and hit with a resounding report indicating a rock. the officer made the comment that I probably didnt need any more training the how to shoot a rifle...dont know why I could never hit anything with a shotgun!!!
 
In the 50s I was in the naval reserve. We, the rifle team would go to a National Guard camp to fire. We fired Springfields of which there were about 300 in the armory. There were about 6 or 8 M-1s. We only got to fire them once.
 

Damaged Goods said:
Targets that were handled manually at some army forts. You're in a dugout with the target. It's your job to raise and lower the target, put a tape on the hole, and indicate with a stick where the round landed on the target. If the round missed the target altogether, you waived the stick with a pair of bloomers on it, referred to as "Maggie's Drawers."

Helluva way to spend Saturday when most of the fort goes on leave at 12noon. :(
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Boy, does that bring back memories of Fort Dix in 1956. We did the same thing as you just described DG. If I remember correctly, on the final day on the range, everybody qualified. The old pencil trick...
 
As a US Navy Corpsman, stationed at GTMO, Cuba around 1971, I had to accompany some Marines for their target practice. The targets were 6 foot by 6 foot, but were a long way off, I could barely make them out. The Grunts asked if I wanted to shoot. My knowledge of guns was I could figure out which end the bullet came from. The first time I shot, I had no idea there was such a kick back. It was embarrassing. When the Marines shot their allotted rounds, all their targets dropped down, so they could be marked. My target never moved., There was a huge mound of dirt, behind which the target markers hid. I'm quite sure I killed it. And the Marine target markers were quite amazed at my target shooting, when it was my turn to shoot, I heard one yell, "OMG! He's back!".
 
As Kids we shot up alot of bottles..... would lay them down and try shooting down the neck and bust out the bottom.
Earned my Experts Badge with 40 out of 40....
 

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