Battle Rifle Class 29JUN24

The United States was the first large military to field a self loading infantry rifle, the M1 Garand, in 1936. The Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and other nations knew that their WW1 era bolt action rifles were obsolete, but on the verge of total war, many nation’s experiments to modernize their infantry rifles were halted in order to focus on mass production of older, more proven technology. Quickly though the rigors of a new type of maneuver warfare showed all parties of the war that a new type of weapon was called for. 

Enter what we commonly today call the “Battle Rifle”, a broad category of rifles which we can describe as being an intermediary design, predating modern assault rifles such as the Avtomat Kalashnikova and the American M16, while superseding turn of the century and Great War era bolt action rifles such as the Mosin Nagant, the Lee-Enfield, and the Springfield 1903. These weapons such as the FN FAL, so called the “right arm of the free world”, the Heckler and Koch G3, and the American M14, dominated the cold war landscape, and found themselves spread far and wide on proxy war battlefields, such as the Vietnam War, the Rhodesian Bush War, and even till this day, are still serving in conflicts such as Ukraine, and Myanmar. 

In this fun and social seminar, learn about these classic cold war rifles, understand their characteristics, their designs, their limitations, and then run them hard in the environments they were made for…harsh, rigorous combat in dust, mud, ice, and rain, at close range and at long range, in dense forest and in open desert. We will prepare presentations on history, doctrine, zeroing procedure, and manual of arms specifically for: M1 Garand, M14, FAL, G3, SKS, AR10, and SCAR17. If you have a different battle rifle you want to bring, and present, please reach out to Brian at info@monarchdefense.org and let us know!

Prerequisite:

You must have prior safe weapons handling experience to attend this seminar. 

Topics: 

Design philosophy of 1930-1970 self loading military rifles
“Show and tell” of classic and new production battle rifles
What makes a successful combat weapon
Basic overview of function and capabilities
Cleaning and maintenance
Loading, unloading and malfunction procedure
Caliber comparison: 30-06, 7.62x54r, 7.62 NATO, 7.62×39, etc.
Full auto vs semi auto?
Ammunition carrying capacity, and combat doctrine
Modernizing old war horses
Are they accurate enough for long range?
Proper zeroing procedure
High speed shooting and moving drills from 0-800 meters

Schedule: 

8:45 am Setup, issue out ammo and weapons 
9:00 am Safety brief and theory
11:00 am Zeroing and fundamentals live fire practice
12:00 noon Known distance target practice from 100-800 meters
4:00 pm High intensity, high round count moving and shooting drills at various ranges
7:00 pm Debrief, clean up, go home 

Location:

Our facility is in the mountains 1 hour east of San Jose, 1 hour south from Livermore. Detail directions will be emailed to those who sign up. If you are inexperienced in driving mountain roads, give yourself 2 hours to make the trip.

Packing list: 

Sturdy boots
Wool socks
Extra socks in plastic bag
Sturdy pants
Belt
Layer garments so you can adjust for cold, wet, or warm weather
Hat
Ballistic helmet optional
Rifle rated body armor optional
Chest rig, plate carrier, or magazine carrier. We have loaners.
Rifle, any caliber (school can provide weapons free of charge, contact us for info)
4 magazines
200 rounds of ammunition
Cleaning kit with oil, rag, toothbrush
Eye protection
Ear protection 
Tools for mounting and adjusting sights
Sling
1 gallon of water
Salty snacks and bag lunch