The St. Paul Legion hosted its third annual British .303 Rifle Shoot at the St. Paul Fish and Game Association shooting range on Saturday afternoon, an event aimed at celebrating a piece of Canadian military history, the Lee-Enfield service rifle.
Event organizer Russ Whitford noted that a variety of firearms utilize British .303 cartridges, and all were welcome at the shoot.
“It was the Commonwealth Service caliber,” said Whitford. “This cartridge, in various forms, was a service cartridge from the late 1800s to 1954 officially, and it still exists in some capacity in a lot of Commonwealth countries in the world.”
Whitford had a number of .303 rifles on display at the event from different eras of military history, including models from both World Wars, and another that would have been used in the Korean War.
“They’re almost the same, and they still shoot the same cartridge, so you have a connection over several decades of soldiering using that,” Whitford said of the different firearms, adding that bolt-action rifles were well-built, and very few changes were made to them over the decades.
“They have a connection for a long time, and because we’re Legion guys, our parents or grandparents probably carried something like this at one time or another in their military career, so we engage it kind of like that, that’s the significance.”
Trophies were awarded to the top finishers in four categories. Gene Sobolewski placed first in the Original Issue Rifle category and set a new event record with a score of 178. James Blair shot a 94 to take first place in the Any Stock Iron Sights category, while John Gregory’s score of 82 earned him the top spot in the Any Stock Any Sights category. In the team event, Russ Whitford and Rollie Inman shot for a combined score of 308 to earn the trophy.
Whitford added that 15 members from the St. Paul and Bonnyville Legions came out to compete at the event, and while numbers were about equal to previous years, they hope to see more come out next summer.
“We will do it again next year and try to have a few more shooters,” Whitford said, adding that it is a great chance to experience a part of Canadian military history. “Folks sometimes are uncomfortable with the idea of competing, but this event is just a chance to get out, talk about the old firearms, maybe remember a story told by a veteran, and experience the feel of the .303 British cartridge and Lee-Enfield service rifle.”
