First Steps

The first rifle that a cadet will be trained on is the No.8 bolt action rifle. This weapon started life as the Enfield No4 rifle as used during World War II. It was modified to have a shorter barrel and altered to fire the .22 long rifle round instead of the .303. It also no longer takes a box magazine holding 10 rounds - each round must be fed in manually.

"Dry training" is part of a cadet's initial training and they are shown the No8 rifle in detail. The commands and practices used on the range are also explained so that the cadet knows exactly what to expect before they come anywhere near the range. Only after the cadet has successfully passed the Weapon Handling Test (WHT) - which supersedes the Test of Elementary Training (TOET) - will they be taken to the range and allowed to fire ammunition.

The No8 rifle itself is a nice, simple weapon - ideal for training. The sights are simple iron-sights (as with all cadet weapons) and it operates with a manually fed bolt action. There is very little noise from the rifle, though ear defenders are always worn when it is being fired.

 

"Shooting: The Steps" (2003). Retrieved 05 March 2004 from The Air Cadet organisation Website Web site:
http://www.aircadets.org/thesteps.html
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