Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod
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When i first saw this gun many years back it was one of a number of different guns adorning the base at Portsea that was the school of infantry then taken over by army health in final days before disposal.
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I tried for a number of years to recover this gun and others but was hamstrung by changes in staff and attitudes to individuals trying to get these items out of Army bases in decline.
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Tell me about it! For a decade the little provincial rifle association with whom I used to shoot had warm and cooperative relations with the successive management at an isolated (but essential) Army base. The military doesn't shoot 1000yds for training except for the snipers, but for 2 decades the grounds staff kept mowing the grass and levelling the firing points just for us. Then the newly arrived Station Warrant Officer got a knot in his face about these civilians coming onto
his camp, reminding him of Canadian Forces Administration Order 50-11 and 50-16, and he shut down the range. That SOB put up such an effective resistence that the association activated Plan B and emptied the bank accounts to buy 1 1/2 sq miles of grazing land for its own 1200yd rifle range. He got posted out and the grounds crew kept on mowing the grass.