Halo
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Unfortunately I have to agree it's more romantic mythology than reality to say that American culture was innately some fertile soil sprouting up riflemen. The Swiss probably have a stronger claim to that notion than we do.
How did WWII-era Brit marksmanship compare to US?
- Thread starter Joe Demko
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cracked butt
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As do the Swedish- they have 10x the number of rifle competitors in their country as we do and only a tiny fraction of the population.
Cameronafter8
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Laying ass down a strip loader was safer, in any case. I'd always thought a good man with a L-E, could shoot about as fast as a lever rifle.
I very much admire the M-14, the
M-1's little brother. I immagine one didn't have to clean the M-1 any more than the M-16.
I have never shot a M-1, I have shot the M-14.
In the Jungle where one would use the short L-E Jungle Carbine, it would be a better rifle than a M-1.
In the jungle of the two the M-16 or the Jungle Carbine from Lee and Enfield. I would take the M-16, especially the new ones.
If not in the jungle or clearing houses, I'd take the M-14, otherwise the new M-16.
I very much admire the M-14, the
M-1's little brother. I immagine one didn't have to clean the M-1 any more than the M-16.
I have never shot a M-1, I have shot the M-14.
In the Jungle where one would use the short L-E Jungle Carbine, it would be a better rifle than a M-1.
In the jungle of the two the M-16 or the Jungle Carbine from Lee and Enfield. I would take the M-16, especially the new ones.
If not in the jungle or clearing houses, I'd take the M-14, otherwise the new M-16.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
I had probably run close to a thousand rounds through a Garand before I was drafted and went through Basic with the Garand in early 1954. What I remember about the makeup of our Battery at Fort Bliss was that about half the guys--4th Army area, southern US--were "citified"; about half were of country background. Roughly.
I was startled at the general lack of interest in shooting, on the part of many of the city guys. For me, a day at the range was the best part of the deal. But my recollection is that quite a few of us with any background in shooting had no trouble in scoring pretty high, on up into Expert.
Those old Garands weren't bad shooters. Sometimes the marker-guys in the pits wouldn't mark your shot. Lazy goof-offs. So, I'd just hit the 2X4 of the target frame and let them have a few splinters, or just graze the gravel at the top of the berm and "throw rocks". That tended to get them back to work. (Giggle-snort)
My Field First Sgt. had done two tours in Korea. He could make a Garand chatter just real quick, hitting spread-out targets at various distances about as fast as any semi-auto ever could. I've always been pretty darned good at one-shot kills at pretty fair distances, but that guy could ruin a squad of enemy in a heartbeat. He impressed the heck out of me, for sure.
As far as highly skilled shooters, a competition military-rifle match just before WW II had the US team impressed at the speed of the Brits with the SMLE. They'd flip the bolt up with the index finger and slam home with the cock-on-closing. The rates of fire were roughly equal. I think Keith spoke of this in his "Hell, I Was There". I've read of it elsewhere, though.
FWIW, Art
I was startled at the general lack of interest in shooting, on the part of many of the city guys. For me, a day at the range was the best part of the deal. But my recollection is that quite a few of us with any background in shooting had no trouble in scoring pretty high, on up into Expert.
Those old Garands weren't bad shooters. Sometimes the marker-guys in the pits wouldn't mark your shot. Lazy goof-offs. So, I'd just hit the 2X4 of the target frame and let them have a few splinters, or just graze the gravel at the top of the berm and "throw rocks". That tended to get them back to work. (Giggle-snort)
My Field First Sgt. had done two tours in Korea. He could make a Garand chatter just real quick, hitting spread-out targets at various distances about as fast as any semi-auto ever could. I've always been pretty darned good at one-shot kills at pretty fair distances, but that guy could ruin a squad of enemy in a heartbeat. He impressed the heck out of me, for sure.
As far as highly skilled shooters, a competition military-rifle match just before WW II had the US team impressed at the speed of the Brits with the SMLE. They'd flip the bolt up with the index finger and slam home with the cock-on-closing. The rates of fire were roughly equal. I think Keith spoke of this in his "Hell, I Was There". I've read of it elsewhere, though.
FWIW, Art
Norway has twice as many rifle competitors as Sweden, and half the population.
cracked butt, is that 10x a real number or did you just pull it out of your cracked... I mean out of your hat? 'Cause if Norway has 20x the number of rifle competitors and 1/60 the population of the US, it means that the average Norwegian is what - 1200 times more likely to be a rifleman?
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