Drill purpose rifle

United States Marine Corps's Silent Drill Platoon, drilling with inert M1 Garand rifles

A drill purpose rifle is a rifle which has been altered so that it can no longer be fired. This is generally undertaken by either removing the firing pin or leading the barrel. Also, drill purpose rifles usually remove the front and rear sights as these will serve no purpose in a non-firing weapon other than to injure the user. Instead it is used solely for drill purposes, training and teaching usually by cadet forces. These rifles can be marched with but also these rifles are used to perform high flying, exhibition style individual or group maneuvers.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom an example of a drill purpose rifle was the L59A1 Drill Rifle, which was used mainly by the Army Cadet Force. The rifles are clearly labelled with a white band around the stock and the butt of the rifle with the letters DP written in bold black script. In addition, it may be stamped 'DP' above the serial number on the receiver. The rifle was used as a teaching aide. A drill purpose version of the L98A1 Cadet GP Rifle is available, the L103 Cadet Drill Purpose rifle.

United States

In America, exhibition rifle drill has become more popular, due to many factors. Active duty military groups have for many decades raised the profile of Drill Purpose Rifles. These groups are hosted by all four services, with the most well-known being the United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon and the U.S. Army Old Guard Drill team. However, the rifles in use by these two groups actually can fire if loaded. New Guard America.,^[1] the Hawaiian Village King's Guard Drill Team and the Hawaii Royal Honor Guard are the most well-known private, non-military groups involving in using drill purpose rifles.

Along with the performing groups listed above, military contractor Sports Network International, Inc. (SNI) has promoted military drill on some of the largest stages across the United States.^[2] SNI hosts military drill competitions annually which bring together roughly 10,000 young high school drillers representing all four Junior ROTC service branches. Hosting these events for three of the four service headquarters, the largest of these remains the all-service National High School Drill Team Championships. This event, annually hosted in Daytona Beach, Florida in early May, brings together over 4,000 individuals performing drill & ceremony, the majority using drill purpose rifles. In addition to the many drill events hosted by SNI, they produce an annual international magazine entitled DrillNATION viewed by over 2,500 JROTC units globally, host military drill camps where drill purpose rifles are used and proper drill execution is taught, while also filming and providing the Best of the Nationals Video Series which have been viewed currently by over 100,000 cadets to date since their inception in 1989.^[3]

The most popular weapons used in America are replicas of the M1903A3 Springfield, M1 Garand, and the M14.

Currently, there are three main weapons designed exclusively for military exhibition drill. These are the DrillAmerica replica M-1 rifle offered by Glendale Inc;^[4] the Parris Manufacturing Company and Daisy replica M1903A3 Springfield drill rifle, created at the request of the United States Navy; and the Mark-1 facsimile rifle, a light-weight replica weapon modeled after an M1903A3 w/ pistol grip stock.

References