Carson Long Military Institute is a direct descendent of Bloomfield Academy which was founded in 1835. It is currently the oldest boarding school in the United States that still has military training. In 1914, Bloomfield Academy was purchased by Theodore K. Long and, in 1916, he renamed the school Carson Long Institute as a living memorial to his son William Carson Long. In 1919, military training was established at the school.
From 1919 to date, various types of drill or training rifles have been used by Carson Long Military Institute. The earliest type of drill rifle was the In-Vu model 25 “Rookie”. This was made entirely of wood and had the general profile of the 1903 Springfield rifle. It is short and light weight and would have been suitable for young Cadets. They still retain three of these in their museum. They have several photographs in their museum that show Cadets carrying drill rifles. The earliest dated photograph shows them carrying 1873 Trapdoor Springfield rifles. These rifles had the barrels cut off to 24″ and the forearm shortened to about carbine length. Later photographs show the 1903 Springfield, the Pattern 17 Enfield, the M1 Garand, and the M16 rifles. None of these rifles had any external alteration but some were altered so that they could
not be fired.
The following photographs are of rifles at the Carson Long Military Institute museum.
From the paper, Non-Firing Drill and Training Rifles, by By Malcolm MacPherson
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Wow thanks Drillmaster for posting this history of drilling and training. I have learned something from it and its an inspiration to keep us as i am youth to learn and keep up the good work. Thank you very much Drillmaster, some small things you do they turn to be big things to some of us.