Fall of 1963, I was a freshman in college and the Army had a display trying to recuit folks. I first got to shoot one in early 69 when in basic training at Lackland airplanless base. After shooting Remington 40x and Winchester Mod 52 rimfires while on ROTC rifle team, and my own Mod 70 Winchester those college years, it felt like a piece of s***. The day we had to "qualify" I wound up with about 15 extra holes in my target runing my nice group. It was a very cold and windy day as San Antonio sometimes gets.
A few months later when in OTS we had to qualify with the AF S&W Combat Masterpiece, I had been shooting a K-22 and K-38 for a number of years then so that was nothing new.
I qualified as expert with both and at the time that was the most meaningless "qualification" one could imagine. About 18 years later when I went back into active reserve the qualification with the M92 Beretta was much better. At least as officers we got to shoot live ammo, the enlisted folks had to use M-16's with some kind of lazer adapter.
A few months later when in OTS we had to qualify with the AF S&W Combat Masterpiece, I had been shooting a K-22 and K-38 for a number of years then so that was nothing new.
I qualified as expert with both and at the time that was the most meaningless "qualification" one could imagine. About 18 years later when I went back into active reserve the qualification with the M92 Beretta was much better. At least as officers we got to shoot live ammo, the enlisted folks had to use M-16's with some kind of lazer adapter.