Common 'A' Series
Common 'B' Series
The Swift training rifle was fitted with a pair of spring operated pointed wire probes inside a protective fore-tunnel. These probes were cocked against a firing spring's pressure with the action of the bolt, and, on trigger release, shot forward out of the tunnel and punched a mark in a target fixed to a wooden frame in front of the recruit. The rifle and calibration board packed into the transit box to allow easy transport to any proposed site for use. The whole system included the deck-chair-like folding target frame, which required separate handling. No range was needed, and small hall or room could provide a suitable venue. The rifle's main advantage was that it presented a means of familiarising recruits with the Service rifle without expenditure of ammunition, or occupation of valuable range facilities needed for more advanced training. Although most of the Swift rifles used in the U.K. were issued to the Royal Air Force, (the Army seemingly treating the idea with a degree of contempt, attempts were made to sell them in other quarters. Even rifle clubs were encouraged to use the system to train volunteers, and a number were sold abroad, even to Switzerland.
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