SMLE for the win?
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Give me an SLR any day, now that was a rifle.
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At least with an SLR you could use it on a 25m indoor range.
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Had my âownâ - honey coloured woodwork - not issued to anyone else. Bit of (approved) fettling, looked gorgeous & shot like a dream.
Took a lot more to get âmyâ L85 into good shape, the armourers looked very worried! 
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I used to have my own L85 allocated to me, but it was like Triggerâs broom (or the Ship of Theseus for those with a classical education) due to the amount of parts that had to be replaced.
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but it is an Army policy written for the Army.
it is not volunteer friendly. While it is all âin a days workâ for a Regular to be assigned the time (and vehicle etc) to complete the task, the same expectations are placed upon the Reservist and the CFAV - for whose benefit?
given the standard design of a barrack range, how many times does a range recce find something unexpected or out of the ordinary that cannot be covered in standing orders (accompanied by photos if necessary) to explain any uniqueness?
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You could argue the same about a gallery or ETR range. If it is unsafe, the range is closed pending a fix, or, as with using Creedmoor ammo, a âstopâ notice is issued across all ranges so affected.
A recce âxâ days before wonât discover nearer the day issues, such as torrential rain flooding out sand from part of the stop butts, or broken tgt frames. Or, as I found yrs ago as RCO, after night-stopping on a range (saved return journey to / from base), we found that someone had dumped a car on the middle of the range overnight & set fire to it!! 
Yes, the access point had been shut / locked!
even more so when you consider in @themajorâs case it was:
might as well recce using Google satellite view for all the relevance turning up in person has�
Doesnât help you now for this instance but you âPlanning Officer/RCOâ donât need to be the conducting the Recce
If thereâs someone else possibly more local or who has done a recce recently they can feedback on the recce. Just need to put their name on the RSD.
*Iâll caveat that with unless the Range Orders say differently which will take precedence.
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The RAU for the barrack range nearest me requires RCOs to go and sign a book.
Last time I did it, I collected the keys and signed the book. The ârecceâ was a glance around the corner to check that the range did, in fact, still exist.
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Iâm having to actually put polish on my shoes this evening.
-10/10. Not enjoying.
I wouldâve put money on you having them painted.
No I do actually have standards. (Shocking I know).
My shoes actually have (almost) a mirror shine.
Just because I despise a thing, does not mean I do not do the thing.
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Britain has just consigned its ability to project soft power to the history books.
Hard power, such as defence, might well stop enemies - but soft power can prevent foreign actors from becoming enemies, halt immigration flows by diminishing push factors for would-be migrants, and even convince neutral actors to become allies that help us face our real enemies.
This move will create more malignant actors against Britain, it will diminish our standing in the global order and it makes Starmer look like nothing more than Trumpâs poodle.
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The increase is needed especially because Trump makes the US an unreliable partner.
Taking it from the aid budget is less about Trump and more about Farage.
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Canât say I like losing aid, but itâs abundantly clear weâre living in a more dangerous world, and we need to lead the way in Europe on this. The reality is, weâre broke, and out forces are a shadow of what they used to be, and arguably where they should be.
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Sadly soft power has to be backed up by credible defence.
Speak softly and carry a big stick and all.
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I think thereâs some misunderstanding going on here. Iâm all for raising defence spending (and spending for the security services too, as theyâll definitely be busier with a Trump-Putin axis than before).
But aid is the wrong budget to cut. And this actually isnât about it being unfair to developing countries, but that it harms our ability to influence other countries and protect British interests overseas.
Aid spending was at some of its highest ever levels during the Cold War, a time of increased defence expenditure, precisely because it bought allies and made the use of hard power much less likely.
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Also, it doesnât really have to come at the expense of any cuts.
There are significant immovable assets in this country that can be taxed.
Wealth taxes become more important with each passing day. Wealth inequality harms everyone.
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