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Robin128 wrote:Can't imagine any school giving that sort of experience and understanding to its pupils nowadays.

In reality it was only a few cadets in the shooting team who got use the Bren - but all cadets got to use No.4s. The cadets, and therefore the shooting team was run by an ex Welsh Guard RSM - we all thought he was great (the real deal), but he wasn't averse to using his boot to make a point. We were taught the lot - safety, stripping and cleaning and shooting...and I don't think I've ever given or recieved a gun since without checking it's clear.

Dougan did you know that when you were doing that there were NO school shootings...as far as I know....

Well done for having fun and keeping the school safe LOL, lucky you!

Chuck wrote:Dougan did you know that when you were doing that there were NO school shootings...as far as I know....

Well done for having fun and keeping the school safe LOL, lucky you!

We did have a lot of fun - in the cadets back then we were allowed to play with some cool 'toys'...we would sometimes get training from the real army, which once included shooting current GPMGs.

Another time we did NBC training - they got us suited up, put us in a billet with all the air gaps sealed, and set off some CS canisters - one by one we had to take our hoods off and recite our detail, before being allowed out - once we were finishish the NCOs running it told us that the best way to get rid of the stinging, was to wash your face in hot water...and a few kids actually fell for it :lol:

We did loads of other stuff too that you would never get away with at school now (you'll like this Chuck...it's the political bit :P ) - Back then we were able to do 'adult' stuff, because the people in charge were allowed to keep discipline...we were genuinely scared of getting caught when we messed around (running around the school pitches in a NBC suit is not fun!), and 'sueing' was not an option...and if you got hurt, you didn't go a lawyer...you'd go to a hospital to get fixed...

Years ago when I was in the Boy Scouts we went an open day at Kempston Barracks - long since gone. They had a range which was basically a high wall with sand against it and people were given the chance to shoot the Stirling including some of the older Scouts (My guess is this was late 60's) I remember some shouting and running around as one went to shoot and a soldier made a quick change to something, thinking back it was probably set to full auto.

As youngsters we grabbed a few spent cases and pocketed them and I remember showing them to my Father afterwards who was none too impressed as he said they should have been handed back in.

It is something I will always remember, these days they are deactivated and on the ends of chains if the public are to get near them.

Some Long Branch pictures:

wow, back when the UK actually manufactured stuff!

I'm extremely jealous of most of your stories, I only got to fire full-bore for the first time this year! Full-Auto is a dream away for me (that or national service when the gov't pee's off the wrong people and they need all hands to deck).

Robin128 wrote:Can't imagine any school giving that sort of experience and understanding to its pupils nowadays.

I'm sure that there is the odd Madrasah where such things are part of the syllabus.