An Army Competition Rifle Match

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Aughnanure
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Location: Glen Innes, NSW, Australia

An Army Competition Rifle Match

Post by Aughnanure » Wed Feb 26, 2020 6:30 am

I checked search and I don't seem to have told this before.

Sgt Cliffe and I represented our unit at a RAEME rifle match and we were also armourers for the match as well; the shoot was on a Sunday so we got the Monday off for taking part (a cunning move to ensure a good number of entries).

The instructions for the match said in part "...Mk4 rifles will not be allowed".
The Australian Army had a habit of calling No4 rifles Mk4s and this rankled a bit with Frank and he asked me if I still had a No1 MkIV that I had "liberated" whilst I was at Base Workshops.

So I brought it in and Frank loaded it in with the rifles that we would be using, along with his No4.
Frank lived a couple of miles from our unit so he brought everything to the range in a unit vehicle whereas I drove from home.

We set up our gear in case we had to do a repair or two and laid out our rifles.

Quick as a flash Maj. Green, who was running the match, spotted the No4.

"you can't use a Mk4, Sargeant!" Frank said that he didn't have a Mk4 .

"What's that then?" asks the Major.

"No4, Mk1*, Sir" says Frank, " my Craftsman has a Mk4 but he's not going to use it."

Examination of rifles follows and the Major admits that he'd never heard of a No1 MkIV before, then adds "But you're still not using your NUMBER 4, Sergeant" then in a lower voice "You bloody stirrer, Frank".

The following Tuesday the OC called us into his office to ask about the shoot and was highly amused when Frank told him about the Mk4 stir.
Then Frank asked him if we could have an extra day off because we were also working in our capacity as Armourers...hearty laugh and a crisp 'NO!"
Self Defence is not only a Right, it is an Obligation.

Eoin.
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