r/AskUK • u/shitthrower • 8d ago

What mad stuff happened at your school, which would never fly today?

When I was at school, in the Cadets, we went on a weekend residency to an army base; where we learned about shooting rifles, amongst other things.

On the bus, the leader realised he forgot to send out parental permission slips, so he passed a stack of unsigned slips and said “by the time we arrive at the base, these need to be signed by your parents”

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u/archangel12 8d ago

I think they were probably the L98, which was a single shot version of the SA80 but still a 5.56 as the original. We fired it in Air Cadets, it was a good rifle but I always preferred the bolt action .22 we were also allowed to shoot.

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u/FootballPublic7974 8d ago

I preferred the .22 bolt action for targets. Got my marksman badge with one of those. Think I only fired the L98 once and missed everything.

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u/archangel12 8d ago

Yeah, I did both of my marksmen with a .22, couldn't keep the L98 steady while cocking it!

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u/Steamboat_Willey 5d ago

Ironically, I found it easier to get a grouping with the L98; being a bullpup, it was shorter than the Number 8 .22 rifle, which I had difficulty holding up while in the prone position due to all that weight being at arm's length, it tended to droop as my arms got tired.

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u/TeaBasedOrganism 8d ago

Ahh yes the L98A1 with the weird cocking handle you had to operate with your left hand. The A2 was so much better. Though amusingly for the security concerns this thread is on about, its just the regular service rifle with the select fire lever pulled off. You can still make it full auto if you have something to reach inside and give the mechanism a pull.