Health & Fitness
Students Carried Guns to MHS. None Arrested.
As many as 25 students brought guns to MHS on a daily basis. They called themselves "The Sharpshooters."
Manchestert High School students carried .22 rifles slung over their shoulders as they walked to school. The weapons were stored in the school for the day and carried to shooting practice and matches after school. They called themselves “The Sharpshooters.” There were no reports of any accidents, threats, concerns or arrests.
Of course, that was back in the 1950’s through the 1970’s. Today, a SWAT Team would be called. Given our violent culture today, could a public school rifle team ever become part of our high school sports scene again?
“The Sharpshooters” was the name for the MHS interscholastic rifle team. Although I was on the team for only a year (1957?), a fellow classmate, Jason Stansfield, participated for all four of his high school years until we graduated in 1961. Jason continued with the sport and still coaches a private youth team. Rudy Kissman, former Town Fire Marshall and current member of the Board of Directors was on the team as well. Jason recently filled me in on the historic details.
The MHS student rifle team, “The Sharpshooters,” appears in the MHS yearbook during those years. The photo above was from the 1961 Somanhis. At that time Gil Hunt (seriously- that was his name) , English teacher, was the varsity coach and Donald Race, History, was the JV coach. Nobody messed around in their classes! The Rifle team was a recognized varsity sport and letters were awarded as they were for all other interscholastic sports. One of the interesting notes about the rifle team is that it may have been the only interscholastic sport that allowed both men and women on the same team. The pictures in the year books show there were as many as 20-25 shooters on the varsity team.
The varsity team used the range in the basement of the armory on Main Street. The JV team used the range in the basement of the Waddell School.
The venue for the teams is what was known as NRA 4 position shooting. The distance was 50 feet and used the A-17 Target. The four positions were Prone, Sitting, Kneeling and Off Hand. (standing). The course of fire was 5 shots for record in each position with a maximum of 200 points. Score in the 180-190 range where highly respected. Today with the much improved equipment the scores have reached the mid 190 range.
The team continued into the mid 1970's. At that time the range at the old Nike site was being utilized. Surprisingly, the demise of the sport was more due to the lack of a coach or someone to take over the program rather than any concern about gun control or gun safety.
Stansfield says the number of teams in the state is greatly reduced today but the interscholastic rifle competition is still very much alive – via mostly private clubs. Position Rifle Shooting is still a part of the collegiate sports program and is an Olympic sport.
