Marines in the Making, with their 1903's

[LAH]

Thought I would share this video link. One can only wonder if any of those rifles still exist, and if so,
where are they now. At the 7 min mark, "Creed of the Rifle". Great Stuff.

[clintonhater]

"Not the rounds we fire, but the hits we make." Guess that part of the Creed went the way of the M1.

[Griff Murphey]

According to Dan Shapiro the '06 round is banned from being fired at Camp Pendleton as "too dangerous." Rather a sad comment on the state of affairs in the US military today that such a fru fru attitude has penetrated the Corps.

[Kaliman]

Surprised to see such ignorant and misinformed comments made here.

Marines still qualify at the KD range up to a distance of 500 yards. Actually done so today without the benefit of loop slings, which obviously adds some difficulty. Marines have performed excellently in combat in the past decade, and I challenge you to prove me otherwise.

As for the 06 round. That's preposterous. Camp Pendleton ranges accommodate .50cal as well as 40mm and larger rounds. There are ranges on main side that allow private shooters to shoot whatever caliber they want.

Maybe the only fru fru attitude is on the part of forum members here.

[Griff Murphey]

Surprised to see such ignorant and misinformed comments made here.

Marines still qualify at the KD range up to a distance of 500 yards. Actually done so today without the benefit of loop slings, which obviously adds some difficulty. Marines have performed excellently in combat in the past decade, and I challenge you to prove me otherwise.

As for the 06 round. That's preposterous. Camp Pendleton ranges accommodate .50cal as well as 40mm and larger rounds. There are ranges on main side that allow private shooters to shoot whatever caliber they want.

Maybe the only fru fru attitude is on the part of forum members here.

Dan Shapiro is an active member of the Santa Margarita Gun Club which fires on Edson Range, I read that from him. I was as well; 1975-76, and I fired my M-1s and M-1A and my SP-1 AR at Edson, on range 214 at Camp Horno, and other ranges on Pendleton, however that was 42 years ago. I fired and qualified some of the corpsmen and practiced them on the BZ range at Horno, had to have a PRC-25 to talk to range control etc.

I just checked the SMGC website and the latest match they were publicizing had been at 29 Palms and there were plenty of .30 calibers in evidence. HOWEVER, there were NO monthlies scheduled at Camp Pendleton. This may well be another example of the military running off civilian shooters. Restricting calibers (among other limitations) certainly parallels what they did at old Fort Wolters here in Texas to run off the civilians. The last base left that allows civilian competitions here in Texas is Camp Swift near Austin, Texas.

Any other SMGC shooters able to comment?

[Kaliman]

"Hello fellow Santa Margarita Gun Club (SMGC) Members and High Power Rifle Competitors;
I hope this finds you all doing well.
On behalf of the SMGC Board of Directors, I wanted to give all of you a brief update on the status of the club. SMGC ‘s license expires on Thursday, September 28, 2017. We are still in the process of renewing the license. With our current license expiring, we will not be able to conduct any matches/events aboard the base without a 90 day notice, and that will take us into January of 2018.

SMGC BoD is continuing our attempts to get the club back into full functioning and we are exploring all of our options at this time. I want to assure all of you that we have some great support from our Active Duty Marines and members who are working on our behalf at the base. In the meantime, SMGC is exploring the possibility of conducting some of our matches/events in the next few months. We will continue to keep you apprised of the club's situation.

Thank You and Semper FI,
Harry D. Harrison
MGySgt, USMCR (Ret.)
SMGC Board of Directors
SMGC Vice President"
Harry D. Harrison
MGySgt, USMCR (Retired)
Senior Officer, Fountain Valley P.D. (Retired)
2017 WPFG Large Bore Sports Coordinator
MCDSA Board of Governors"

[Dan Shapiro]

Since my name popped up:
1) Range 103 (north of the airfield) use is restricted. IIRC, there are 140 firing positions on the line. Those using 30-06 or 7.62 were posted in the center of the line. (When I first joined the gun club many years ago, we usually shot on the high end as that was where all our supplies were kept). And it was a shorter walk from the line to the pits. The last several years, CMP Garand matches were held at range 117a.
2) The current negotiations for using the range came about because of directions coming down from Obama's SecNav. It's their range, their rules. We have our own liability coverage. We must provide our own EMT on site when the range is hot. NRA "RSO" certification is not enough, they must also be USMC certified. Biggest glitch right now is that they want us to pay for an "environmental impact report" each year. That's major money. Given the number of military personnel who fire on Range 103 on a daily basis, and the number of rounds they fire; do you really believe we need to file an impact report because 10-15 guys fire 80 rounds each on two days each month?

[Kaliman]

Sounds like an issue with federal environmental protection regulations, not the Marine Corps...

[Griff Murphey]

Since my name popped up:
1) Range 103 (north of the airfield) use is restricted. IIRC, there are 140 firing positions on the line. Those using 30-06 or 7.62 were posted in the center of the line. (When I first joined the gun club many years ago, we usually shot on the high end as that was where all our supplies were kept). And it was a shorter walk from the line to the pits. The last several years, CMP Garand matches were held at range 117a.
2) The current negotiations for using the range came about because of directions coming down from Obama's SecNav. It's their range, their rules. We have our own liability coverage. We must provide our own EMT on site when the range is hot. NRA "RSO" certification is not enough, they must also be USMC certified. Biggest glitch right now is that they want us to pay for an "environmental impact report" each year. That's major money. Given the number of military personnel who fire on Range 103 on a daily basis, and the number of rounds they fire; do you really believe we need to file an impact report because 10-15 guys fire 80 rounds each on two days each month?

Thank you Dan and I appreciate the clarification. SMGC is being regulated out of business despite afaik a spotless record.It is sad to see our military kicking the civilians off of their ranges. I sincerely believe that the interaction of civilian shooters with Acdu team shooters as well as the few Acdu hobbyists who manage to have guns on base and shoot, is a positive asset toward military marksmanship. Being a rifleman is the essence of being a soldier, sailor, airman, or soldier of the sea. The tragedy is this crap is being promulgated by the new generation of senior ranking Obamafficers who are following the prevailing political winds, not service traditions.

I used to break the M-16 kids up on range 214 with my welded repaired IHC 7.62 M-1, "CHIIIING!!!"

[Dan Shapiro]

Griff:
I'll let everyone know how the 'negotiations' come out. Personal opinion: I have no doubt they want us 'off base'. Doesn't matter that 1/2 the membership is active-duty. Gone are the days of Teddy Roosevelt's "Promotion of the Practice of Civilian Marksmanship". The politically correct Princes of the Pentagon are running things. Anyone else who is a member of a gun club that utilizes a military range...........you've been warned.