Were you in HS ROTC, what did you shoot?

[mousegunner]

Found some pictures that brought back some memories from HS. One of the things I always looked forward to was shooting the .22s in the downstairs range. IIRC we shot Win 52s but many years later they went to air rifles when my brother was on the rifle team.

I was on the drill team and we used M-14s. These were fully functional but had no firing pin. We practiced with wood stocked rifles and our exhibition rifles had a fiberglass stock, grey with a white sling.

I want to say we had 80-100 M-14s in our armory plus the Win 52s. In my senior year the M-14s went to a USA reserve unit, that sucked! We got 1903s which our Mst Sgt preferred cause they balanced better he said. The 1903s had plugged barrels and cut receivers but otherwise everything else worked.

Those were good times and of few of us on the team are still good friends after all these years. Anywho just reminiscing and thanks for looking....by the way if you shot for your marksmanship badge what rifle did you shoot?

 

[GotRDid]

Army JROTC at Ft. Knox HS, made Varsity shooting a Win 75 my freshman year. Made Varsity in sophomore year as well shooting a Win 52. Father retired and we moved to Louisville area where I joined Navy JROTC, continued with a Savage/Anschutz ( model ?), and picked up Precision Air Rifle -Feinwerkbau 300. Broke my arm so barely held JV Team in my junior year.
Senior year I shot a Rem 40-X With Varsity Team, continued with the FWB and picked up Air Pistol (Hy-Score 816M and FWB-65).
Earned Distinguished Expert and then International Expert with Air Rifle, but not enough sanctioned matches for same in Smallbore.
Best times of my life.
GotRDid.

 

[GotRDid]

Ft. Knox JROTC Armory had racks of M14s, sans firing pins, for our Drill Team, Color Guard and Manual of Arms training.
Jesse Stuart HS had wood stocked O3-A3s for Color Guard, and plastic stocked O3-A3s (welded receiver/bolt/bbl) for Drill Team since we were tossing them about with many a missed catch.
Lots of fun with a great group of young men and women.
GotRDid.

 

[300_whisper]

Not ROTC but we were in a high school sponsored 4H program. My buddies and I all shot trap and skeet for it. We did it from 6th grade to 12th grade. It was a lot of fun.

 

[BartsBullets]

52 Winchesters I believe. Range was in the basement under the steps. Made varsity my freshman year!

Bart

 

[mousegunner]

Can you imagine the uproar now if HS programs had M-14s on school property?

I also remember a Navy ROTC team that had Garands, I'm sure they were de milled but probably had some good parts on them. Seems like I remember the drill team could take them home for practice (unless I'm wrong) real Garands not the M1 replicas I've seen before.

 

[GotRDid]

Shelby Co., KY, HS had a Marine JROTC Armory full of M14s as late as the First Iraq War until DoD recalled them for refurbishment to EBRs. Truly a sight to see.
I actually traveled to and from school on our bus with my cased Anschutz and 40-X to practice on weekends. I agree that times and people have changed.
GotRDid.

 

[243Mendoza]

FNC1 on the outdoor range and Lee Enfield in 22LR in the 50ft indoor range

 

[Rube Shooter]

I wasn't in ROTC, but our high school had an indoor range just behind the auditorium. They had a rack of what I believe were WIN 52s. Every Thanksgiving they would hold a turkey shoot, winning target got the bird. 5 shots for a dollar. This was in the mid to late 80's.

 

[ebb]

If I had for some reason brought a rifle with me to school at Lake Worth High, the Lake Worth Police Department would have sent every officer they had including the over weight 50 year old in the Hawaiian shirt that thought he was an undercover cop. I envy you guys that were born in a place that encouraged marksman ship. The guy that shot all the people in Texas from the tower at the university, Charles Whitman was from Lake Worth. After the shooting they took a dim view of firearms.

 

[mousegunner]

Hawaiian shirt guy? I knew one like that but we called him Secret Squirrel.

The Gunny asks "Where did Whitman learn to shoot? In the Marines!" Lost count of how many times I've seen FMJ. Not making light of the UT shooter just got reminded of the movie but I digress.

 

[cheek9075]

23 year ago I came to school with Rifle or shotgun in the back window. We had M14 in jrotc, practiced every day. Carried a knife every day, some teachers ask to use it daily...

Now my sons (14 and 11) know how to safely use and own either firearms and knives.

During hunting season i check them out early to go hunting ( wife is a teacher, I hear it at home) . We cant have firearms at school. But our schools understand what we are doing. Most times they ask if we are successful.

BTW first county in VA to try and arm teachers. That didnt go over very well with Gov Northam!

 

[GotRDid]

Surely there are more here who owe their start in Marksmanship to JROTC.
I was coached by Cmdr Pine to shoot the Air Pistols, and it was difficult at first being primarily a Rifle shooter.
Cmdr Pine flew the Constellation for the Navy and shot for his Fleet Pistol Team. A gifted shooter and extraordinary instructor, his office walls were lined with hundreds of medals and trophies from his years as a competitor.
His dedication to passing on his knowledge aided me in earning a slot on my MP Post's Combat Pistol Team.
I could hear his Obi-Wan like musing at each level of competition I progressed through in the 3 years I shot the circuit.
My final year we made it to the FORSCOM matches at Ft. Riley, KS, but missed the cutoff for All Army at Ft. Benning by a single point. The home Kansas Team beat us for the slot.
Cmdr Pine's teaching style aided me as well when I became an All-Skills Firearms Instructor for my Civilian Dept.
GotRDid.

 

[nicholst55]

We shot Rem 40-Xs and Remington 513-Ts. I admit that I was too busy with Drill Team and Color Guard to spend much time shooting. There were probably 60-80 functional M14s in the Arms Room that had stripped bolts and trigger mechs. I got to replace all of the wooden stocks that the Drill Team broke with fiberglass stocks. They still had the M14s when I graduated in '73.

 

[riflewoman]

Not ROTC... I was living in Canada and was in the Cadet program. I shot these. 22 LR conversion of a No 4. They shot very well.

 

[chop house]

no rotc - high school varsity rifle team. smallbore 4 position. rolled out backstops in school lunch room. lead dust mitigation??? HA! Ammo a penny a round. still remember NRA junior sectionals at U of Mich. offhand scores were often better than kneeling (????) did i mention this was 50+ years back, and i can't even GET PRONE anymore???

 

[D-4297]

No ROTC program at my High School , but my brother and I shot with a local NRA - Jr. Club program . We received a Win 52-D International Match .22 with all the goodies . Redfield adjustable Olympic sights , Sheepskin padded leather sling , and bright yellow foam hand glove .
In the factory hard-case , $695.00 retail in 1964 . The "Unicorn" that sells for over $5,000 now . If you can find one ....that someone will sell . And even as teens , we knew we had something special .

 

[RHux]

Western Military Academy ROTC . We had Win 52's sitting in the rack and shot Rem 40X's. There was also a safe full of High Std pistols . We shot in the St Louis High School rifle league. The school closed in 1971 and I believe everything went to Granite City Army Depot. I first learned to shoot in the basement of T L Handy High School with the Evening Optimist Club .

 

[RHux]

Both WMA and Kemper are no more.

 

[dickn52]

Military school rifle team with Win 52's. Won the SE regions at an indoor range at UK. Buell Armory I think it was called. Never forget the USAF teams faces when this poor little guy kicked their butts. They were scoped up with Unertl's and I had peeps.