The "Old Rifle Range"

[NEKVT]

Took a hike today on conservation land that was a military rifle range in a past life. Located in Concord MA, better known for some earlier military squirmishes there, the new range built for use by Concord Company 1 of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia was first used on October 29,1910. It was also used extensively for US Army training during WW1. The range likely saw little use after 1926 when a larger military training facility was opened just NW of Boston. The main trail bypasses the remains of berms for 200, 300, 600 and 1000yd targets.



The firing point was at this spot about 100yds off the road that was leveled with fill taken from the hillside behind me. There are no remains of a cover or structure here.



200yd berm.




300yd berm.




600yd berm.




Over the top of 600yd berm and close up of angle iron and concrete hits.






Looking back at 600yd berm.


1000yd berm.






I hoped to find a few spent relics but the berms were hard packed so it would take more than a stick to dig any out. Maybe next time I'll forage in the duff well behind the last berm and maybe find some bullets lying on the surface. Anyway, it was a nice day for a short hike exploring these remains and imagining the activity here during an era when firearms and marksmanship were held in much higher esteem.

[pworley1]

I enjoyed you post. Good story.

[john.k]

At a local range ,you find bullets in the gullys and washes,just like nuggets where heavy rain has washed them out .....at long range ,a lot of bullets bounce over the backups ,and end up scattered.

[missionary5155]

Very interesting. Thank you !! Nice photos of our area's history.

[Battis]

Greats photos and history. I lived in the next town for a short period, but I never visited that old range. But I will.
I trained at the other range you mentioned - Camp Curtis Guild.
"In 1998, the outdoor firing facility was closed after a stray bullet nearly struck a Lynnfield mother and her toddler. Between 1967 and 1998, nineteen stray bullets were found in the abutting neighborhood."

[Gtek]

Nice thread but please COMSEC on the other stuff, the houses are getting close to our fifty year old range.

[Battis]

???

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Please...this is not a hijack attempt. Possibly also of interest is a site named Camp Hale in Colorado. It is above the 9,000 ft. elevation level, and many have never heard of it or know its story. I visited it in 1981. You'll find several internet articles about it if you care to Google.

It was constructed in WW II near Leadville, CO., for the training of the 10th Mountain Division. They were designated as ski troops and high-altitude fighters, and earned their motto "Climb to Glory" in the Italian campaign. The camp was quite substantial, with the use of lots of brick, concrete, and wooden barracks. It had kitchens, a powerhouse, and barracks that were largely heated with coal. Since it was located in sort of a basin one complaint was that the smoke hung heavily in the air in the wintertime.

When I visited, the rifle range was still very much in evidence. As I recall (getting old) there were abutments to 500 yds. They had concrete dugouts for the target pullers, and the insides were covered with graffiti consisting of lots of names and dates (1940s) of the G.I.s who had been there, including the ubiquitous "Kilroy". I scrounged around the firing line hoping to find a .30-06 case for a souvenir, but no luck. I did take a dozen still photos, but can't post them (pre-digital). Many photos of the ruins can be found on the internet.

Many of the G.I.s who trained there and went on to fight their way through Europe later returned to view their training camp, as ex-G.I.s often do. They were astounded to find that not too long after the division left for combat the U.S. Govt. had demolished the entire camp as being of no further use. It seems almost unbelievable that the Govt. would have built such a substantial base and then destroyed it after only a few years. The foundations of many of the buildings are still in evidence, and today it is a Historical Site and campground.

How many of these disused military ranges exist around the Country? Many, I suspect. Myself, I endured Basic Training at Ft. Ord, CA. They had some very nice rifle ranges situated along the Monterey Bay with sand dunes as backstops. Much of the base has become low-income housing, and I suspect that the ranges are blending back into the landscape.

DG

[NEKVT]

Greats photos and history. I lived in the next town for a short period, but I never visited that old range. But I will.
I trained at the other range you mentioned - Camp Curtis Guild.

I worked in Concord for 12 years and didn't know about the Old Rifle Range until spotting it from the "air" a few days ago on flightradar24. Went to IHMSA shoots at CCG in the early '80s. Being less than 12 miles from downtown Boston in was inevitable the firearms ranges would be moved indoors.

[Gtek]

COMSEC- Communications Security. Talking about rounds leaving the range, striking individuals and found laying around outside of "controlled area". Okay, out there now. The first official controlled range I shot on with my father as a child closed when I was 10 or so due to encroachment and is now soccer fields. The range I have been at since the late seventies has homes on two sides now and at great expense to the club upgraded orientation to hopefully buy time with the "we did not know and were not told there was a gun range there" with the new home owners.

[Adam Helmer]

NEKVT,
Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane. I never knew about a military range in Concord, but I spent 26 happy years at Camp Curtis Guild in Reading, MA. For 10 years I trained 100 or so agents twice annually at Camp Curtis. It was a wonderful facility run my great people. I will always recall what a great facility it was to me.

Adam

[Rapidrob]

Great fun with a metal detector!