- Leyden, Massachusetts -
PAGES:
About LRC
Club News
Newsletters
Range Rules
Schedules
Photos
Membership
Contact LRC
Directions to LRC
Friendly Links
LRC Home
Leyden Rifle Club News
Shoot often in 2024!
MEMBERSHIPS ARE NOW DUE
LRC's memberships for 2024 are due and they start January 1st through
December 31st. If you are renewing your LRC membership and
there are no changes to either your home address or telephone number or Email address, etc.,
then you should just mail-in your $35.00 annual dues (either cash or check accepted) to the LRC.
If there are changes to any of your personal information, be sure to include them with a small note
along with your annual dues.
JOINING THE LEYDEN RIFLE CLUB...
If you would like to be a new LRC member, please go to the
Membership page. Complete and print-out the LRC membership application form (a fillable .PDF file), fill-out all
quired information and mail the completed application form along with your due of $35.00 (either cash or check) to
the address at the bottom of the membership application form.
NOTE: Be sure to include your email address on the LRC membership appiclation.
Remember: Monetary donations ($$) to the LRC will always be welcomed and will be used for various
projects needed by the Club.
ALWAYS CARRY YOUR CURRENT LRC MEMBERSHIP CARD WITH YOU AT THE RANGES; YOU MAY BE ASKED TO SHOW IT TO A CLUB OFFICER OR A DIRECTOR, IF REQUESTED.
KEEP THE LRC CLEAN !
PLEASE REMOVE ANY TRASH OR TARGETS THAT YOU BRING TO THE RANGES! This message has been
repeated time-and-time again in LRC's past newsletters and on our website yet there seems to be
members who still do not abide by it. At the ranges are shot-up plastic milk containers, plastic soda bottles, aluminum
cans, old TV's, spent shotgun shot shells, 7.62 x 39 and .223 steel cartridge cases, various "live" rounds,
clay pigeons, etc. which continue to litter the outdoor rifle & pistol ranges.
The LRC Officers and Directors are tired of picking up shooters' trash and such.
REPEAT: The offending persons(s) will be prosecuted by the LRC and they will
lose their right-to-carry firearms in Massachusetts!
To all LRC members:
"If you bring targets to the range,
please take them back home with you."
- SLOW DOWN -
PLEASE DRIVE S-L-O-W-L-Y ON RIVER ROAD TO AND FROM THE CLUB. Some of the residents on River Road in Leyden have voiced some concerns to the Club that some (possibly LRC members?) are driving too fast. So please, when on River Road, drive responsibly and proceed with caution. The residents will appreciate it if you go slow and the Club will be viewed as a "good neighbor" with them. "Thank you."
LRC OFFICERS for 2024
From the LRC's Fall Annual Meeting, the LRC Officers elected were:
• PRESIDENT: Nate H.
• VICE PRESIDENT: Patrice D.
• TREASURER & MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY: Elwin B.
• SECRETARY: Patrice D.
• RIFLE RANGE OFFICERS: John D., Joe S., Jim V.
At the LRC's Fall Annual Meeting, all attending members became LRC Directors for 2024;
LRC's website Adminstrator for 2024: Joe S.
GET INVOLVED !
Ever thought about getting involved to help run the Leyden Rifle Club? The LRC is looking for any LRC members to voluntarily 'step-up' to help conduct the Club's business. The current Club officers have sacrificed a lot of their time to keep the LRC going year-after-year but their actions won't last forever. If the LRC is to endure into its 90th, or even its 100th, year of existance, the LRC members need to come forward and help with the operation of the Club so to continue its existance into the foreseable future. Members seem always say, "I just want a place to shoot." Well, how about looking into the future and then say, "I want to make sure that my children will have a place to shoot."
If interested, please Email the Club -OR- attend our work parties or the Club's meetings to find out how you can help out running the LRC. All LRC members are welcome to come and help with the operation of the Club!
MEMBERSHIP POLICY
LRC's Membership Policy was established and redefined at our Club's Fall 2023 meeting. In the past,
there was some vagueness regarding types of Club memberships and it became necessary to define and establish
the various LRC's memberships offered by the Club.
Please go to the Membership page to read
the current LRC Membership Policy (.PDF file) updated for 2024.
DAMAGED CLUB SIGNS
(Above photos courtesy of LRC member, Joe S.)
Do the above pictures upset you? Well, how about the other brainless individuals shooting either filled or empty cans and
milk jugs, old TV's, signs or even the 'port-o-potty' at the rifle range? Worse yet is the fact that they leave the so-called
riddled "targets" at the range afterwards. Offending persons(s) caught committing any non-sporting idiotic behavior at
the ranges will be legally prosecuted by the LRC. If convicted, they will lose their right-to-carry
firearms in Massachusetts!
CLUB WORK PARTIES
It's a known fact that in any organization,
We see this constantly over-and-over with the low member turn-out at the LRC's work parties and events. The LRC
wants to remind all of its members that they are obliged, as part of your membership, to help at our work
parties during the year. It's still true that "Many hands do make light work." and the LRC could ALWAYS
use the extra help. At the next LRC work party, why not come to help out? You will be among friends who think
the same way you do, have a good time and help out the Club.
The LRC would like to give thanks to the many members for always giving up their free time for the Club.
- ABOUT THE SPRINGFIELD M1903 RIFLE -
Bruce Canfield, the nationally noted military firearms historian / expert, gave a presentation at a seminar for the
Springfield Armory National Historic Site (SANHS) on Saturday, November 4, 2017. The subject of the SANHS' seminar
was about the Springfield M1903 Rifle, its history, its development and its adoption by the U.S. Army leading up to and
during World War 1. After his presentation, Alex MacKenzie, a curator for the SANHS, gave a follow-up presentation
on the development of M1903 precision *match* rifles in the post-World War 1 era, 1920 - 1935.
Some interesting facts from the seminar:
a) During World War 1, the Springfield Armory employed some 5,500 workers to produce the M1903 rifles; after the
war, there were on some 200 workers (mainly gunsmiths) left with the rest of the Springfield Armory workers laid-off.
b) The original M1903 rifle's receiver design was based upon the German-developed K98 Mauser rifle. After World
War 1 and despite being an enemy of the United States, Germany sued the U.S. over the patent infringement of the K98
rifle in U.S. courts and won! Germany settled for patent infringement of approximately $400,000 (in 1920 dollars, -worth now about
$2,000,000 in current U.S. dollars.)
c) In the early 1920's, Col. Townsend Whelen requested the few Springfield Armory workers left to begin the task of "accurizing" standard
M1903 rifles for marksmanship matches, i.e., at Creedmoor and Camp Perry rifle ranges. All of the major components were "air gaged" for critical
dimensions and the 'straight' rifle stock was replaced with a "Type C" ('pistol grip') stock. The Springfield Armory produced many
match M1903 rifles and supplied them both to the U.S. Army and also to the N.R.A., which offered the M1903 match rifles
for sale to N.R.A. members at the cost of $34.95 (!) for each rilfe.
d) The M1903 Springfield rifle was eventually replaced around 1936 by the adoption of the M1 .30 cal Rifle (the "Garand"),
although the Springfield rifles were revised/redesigned to the new version, M1903-A3 Springfield rifle, for World War 2.
RIFLE MATCH COMMANDS
Many shooters have heard the range command given during a rifle match, "Lock and load!".
Did you know where and how that command originated? The NRA's "American Rifleman" magazine (September 2016)
published an article about the range command; it stated:
The range command, "Lock and Load", was worked out for matches using the M1 Garand rifle before World
War II. The "Lock" part of the command requires the shooter to pull back on the operating rod, which clears the
chamber, opens the action and locks it in the open position. "Load" requires the inserting the clip and pressing it
into the action with the right thumb from the line of the bolt as it snaps forward and closed to chamber the first
round. The next command is "Commence Firing."
So now you know....
THE M1 RIFLE ENBLOC CLIPS
Did you ever wonder just how many companies manufactured the M1 'enbloc' clips for the M1 .30 Cal rifle?
Our LRC member, Steve S., researched for all the manufacturers for the 'enbloc' clips; you can read the 'enbloc' clips in
his one page article
→ List of Maufacturing of Clips for M1 Garand
'FUN' RIFLE MATCHES?
Our Sunday morning high power rifle matches are not just for competitive rifle shooters; they are also
for anyone who wants to have a "fun time" shooting and just be among friends. The Club welcomes
ALL members to come to our rifle range on Sundays to learn about high power shooting and also improve their
markmanship skills (just think of them as "fun shoots"). The LRC is always looking for members to come and
participate in our high power rifle matches. Are you inexperienced about high power rifle matches? Don't worry,
there will always be attending LRC membes who will gladly coach a new shooter during a high power rifle match.
You don't have a rifle to shoot? The LRC has 'club' M1 Garand rifles available for use by new shooters; also,
.30-'06 cal. ammunition is available for purchase for use during the matches.
Note: The .30-'06 ammunition is sold only at the matches at a reasonable price and is not for sale to purchase
for other purposes; it is to be used only for the high power rifle matches. Also, the .30-'06 empty cartridge cases and the
M1 rifle 'en bloc' clips become property of the LRC after the rifle matches.
If you are still feeling uneasy about high power rifle shooting, why not come to the LRC to watch a match and observe
ow the rifle matches are conducted?
A MAGAZINE ARTICLE
You may have heard some stories about the Club's problems with the Town of Leyden officials, abutters
and alike regarding the security agency that used our Club for training puposes in the late 1990's and early 2000's.
The LRC gained nation-wide notariety when a not-so-favorable article about the situation was written in the
March/April 2006 edition of the "Mother Jones" news magazine. Eventually, the Security Agency
stopped using the LRC for training; the whole scenario eventually diffused into oblivion.
To read the "Mother Jones" magazine article, click here → pdf file
If you find the magazine's version hard to read, here's the same article from the Internet.
Click here → pdf
file
Note the security agency has since left the LRC many, many years ago; the LRC no longer allows
or permits any security training to take place, ever again, on the Club's grounds.
EMAIL THE LRC
The LRC can be contacted by Email. To email the Club, click on the Contact LRC page and then click on the Email the LRC link where you see: • Email.
JOIN THE N.R.A.!
Are you an N.R.A. member? If not, why not? One would think that every law-abiding firearms enthusiast and gunowner in the United States of America would be a member of the N.R.A.; however, this is not the case. The LRC strongly recommends that all its members join the N.R.A. and continue to support the N.R.A. now and into the future.
THE 2nd AMENDMENT...
Over the past years, there have been many shooting tragedies: Newtown, CT, San Bernadino, CA, Aurora, CO, South
Carolina, Virginia, Orlando and Parkland, FL; some are terrorist related and some not (i.e., mentally deranged). If you are a
Massachusetts' resident, you are targeted by the Massachusetts' Attorney General, Maura Healey, to restrict your
rights to own and possess firearms defined by her as "assault weapons and the so-called AR-clones". The
LRC strongly urges its members to resist those who attempt to either limit or forfeit your gun rights as
guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment of the United States' Constitution and
our God-given right to live as free men.
Remember the sayings, "United we stand, divided we fall". and
→ Ensure that you help preserve and fight for our U.S. Constitution's 2nd Amendment rights!
PAPERLESS NEWSLETTERS
The LRC is now "paperless" for our newsletters and notices because of U.S. postal mailing costs. The LRC will Email our Club newletters (in .pdf file format) and notices to only current LRC members.
Don't have an Email address? No problem. For those LRC members who don't have Email, the Club will
U.S. Mail you a hard copy of our newsletters and notices. Contact the Club by clicking on Contact link for LRC's mailing address and let us know that you do not
have an Email address and you wish to formally request hard copies of our newsletters be U.S. mailed to you.
Be advised the LRC is transitioning away from U.S. mailing hard-copy newletters, regarding Club
news and notices, to its members and posting the information our website or by sending the information via
Email.
THE LEYDEN RIFLE CLUB
Prospective and new members often ask what activities are held at the LRC. Obviously, many
members use the Club for target practice, for high power rifle matches, to sight-in their rifles, shotguns
for hunting and handguns. The Club even does have the occassional archers who use the range for
improving their archery skills. Lastly, some members bring their
clay pidgeon throwers and try their hand at shooting trap or sporting clays. We welcome all these activities
that we sportsmen like to take part in. But our Club wants to remind its members that, first and foremost,
the LRC was founded on being a rifle club and it always will be. The LRC will always remain
dedicated to the rifle and to what historcally it has represented since the founding of the
United States of America.
Since 1935, the name of our Club is the LEYDEN RIFLE CLUB, with the emphasis on the word, 'RIFLE'.
[ LRC Home ]
Mikhael Kalashnikov and Eugene Stoner meeting in
Dallas, Texas on May 15, 1990; they exchanged rifles.
Col. Townsend Whelen, a developer of the M1903 Match Rifle
Sgt. Morris Fisher, USMC, with his 1903 Free Rifle (c. 1923)
