There is a clear demonstration of what the student was asked to do as part of the Rapid Fire exercise in the 1942 U.S. War Dept. Training Film (T.F. 7 1094) “Rifle Marksmanship with the M1 Rifle –Preparatory Training.” Going from standing to prone, on the command “LOCK, SIMULATE LOAD,” the student retracts the M1’s bolt, depresses the follower to simulate the loading of an en-bloc clip, the bolt travels forward to simulate the loading of a round in the chamber and then the shooter’s right index finger presses the safety rearward to the “on” position. Both acts are done in one smooth motion, but clearly the rifle was loaded before the safety was engaged. The commands “READY ON THE RIGHT, READY ON THE LEFT, READY ON THE FIRING LINE” ring out, at which point the shooter disengages the safety. The range officer then says “TARGETS UP,” and the shooter drops from standing to prone and begins to engage the targets with dry-firing.
October 15, 2012
