The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1942-05-28
with THE RIFLE"

caught up with induction and ma.
ny of the fellows are going
through their basic training in the
infantry with borrowed rifles.
A good soldier does not use a.
mother mans rifle and never per-
mits another man to use his
That's what the Basic Training
Manual says, and most soldiers
would like to follow its advice.
But with the present shortage in
small arms for training purposes,
there's no getting around lending
your rifle to the other fellow
sometimes.
Army rifles are listed at $85.
If man loses his, that sum will
be taken out of his pay over a
period of months. Our rifles are
lost sometimes in the woods, but
they invariably turn up-usually
in neighboring barracks. Each
rifle is numbered on the chamber,
every man knows the number of
his particular rifle, and so it is
seldom lost for long.
Cleaning 1t
Cleaning a rifle is one of the
most disagreeable jobs in the ar
my, the piece is so easy to get
dirty on field tactics and must be
cleaned so often. The most i'm
portant part of the rifle is the
barrel, naturally, because within
the barrel is the rifling which
controls the flight of the bullet.
So, a soldier must never permit
the barrel to become wet or dus-
ty. In the rain he must carry
it with the barrel down, pointed
forward of his right foot, or
slung over his shoulder, barrel
down.
Squad leaders issue their men
cleaning rods and patches. These
patches must be run through
the barrel every evening before
retreat. because a soldier never
knows when his commanding Of
ficer will decide to have an in
spection. For exactness of rifle
fire, these measures are necessary
and might mean the difference
between victory and defeat when
he goes into combat. The rifles
we are using now may be carried
with us to the front lines.
Dropping a rifle on the ground
is serious offense. Trained SOL
diers are sometimes court-mar-
tailed for that lack of discipline.
In the army tent are facilities for
placing the rifle in a sling under
your cot; if you are in barracks,
as we are, a rack is provided.
When soldiers are in ranks, and
rifles are not needed, they are
then "stacked," using a little
swivel near the top of the barrel.
Safetying 1t
Officers can become holy ter
riors to soldiers who neglect to
keep their rifles locked-except
when they are about to be fired.
There is a device for this on the
rifle. Live ammunition must not
be carried in it, and you must be
sure that the trigger is pulled.
Even though he knows his rifle
is not loaded, a soldier must new
er point it at anybody, even in
fun. The army adage is: Never
point rifle at a man unless you
mean to kill him.
Two types of rifle are now in
use: the Springfield, Model 1908;
and the new MI, sometimes call
ed the Garand, which General
MacArthur's men have found so
effective in weight, but each
weigh about nine pounds. That
seems heavy, when you first
handle your rifle; but before
long we were going through the
manual of arms (drill with the
rifle) like veterans.
Using It
Fortunately, most of our rifles
are the 80 caliber MI which will
eventually replace all the Spring
fields in the army. It is serni-au-
tomato. that is, the soldier SIM
ply has to pull the trigger for
each shot and the gases from the
burnt powder operate the mac
hanism. This mechanism elects
the empty shell, replaces new
cartridge in the barrel, and closes
the breach ready for the next
shot to be fired.
The clip, or magazine, holds
eight cartridges-three more than
the Sprinafield-and when, the
eight cartridges are fired, the
empty clip is automatically e.
iected and the soldier inserts a
full one so that he can keep up
an almost continuous fire.
With the MI the soldier can
shoot from 80 to 100 aimed shots
per minute, and as the "kick" is
less, he can fire many more shots