The Road to Woodland Brutality
InRangeTV’s Woodland Brutality and Midnight Brutality (henceforth referred to in this article as “WoodNight”) are physically demanding 2-gun action shooting matches taking place in the wilderness of West Virginia. Woodland Brutality is a test of endurance squeezing seven full stages into one match day, and Midnight Brutality will be four more of the same, only this time after dark. I’ll be taking on the task of doing both matches in the same day, with Midnight starting just hours after Woodland wraps for the day. Here, I’ll be going over my kit, plans, and predictions for the match.
Wanting to do something fun and unique, I opted to shoot WoodNight in a full reenactor kit. I’ve spent the past five years building a Norwegian AG3 clone rifle (or as close as I can get) off a German G3 parts kit and collecting Cold War era Norwegian web gear and uniforms to go with it. My complete kit is a representation of the Norwegian Home Guard (Heimevarnet) sometime between the mid-1980s and late-1990s. Starting with the uniform, from head to toe:
1) M/51 Feltlue or “field cap”: A familiar and simple design, it keeps the sun out of your eyes and has a flap to cover your ears in warmer months. These are quite rare in the US, so this one is not from the Home Guard but rather the King’s Guard as shown by the insignia of King Olaf the Fifth sewn on the front of the hat.
2) M1958 Steel Helmet: After World War 2, many European countries made and used their own clones of the American M1 steel pot helmet. I’m not good at identifying M1 helmets, so the origin of my particular helmet and liner is unknown but it was sold to me as a “post war European” M1. Regardless of its true origin, it looks the part especially with the net which has been a feature of nearly all the pictures I can find of M1958s in use.
3) Olive Green Wool Watch Cap: Exactly what it says on the tin. Seen in frequent use by Norwegian troops deployed as UN Peacekeepers to Kosovo, like as seen here worn by Forsvarets Spesialkommando (FSK) operators. Coincidentally, this image was the inspiration for my Midnight Brutality run. Sadly, no battle rifles are allowed at MB, so the Maglite and zip ties had to stay home. A very generous fellow shooter will be loaning me an MP5 to use instead (thank you Lupis!).
4) Norwegian web gear suspenders: These domestically produced suspenders were used in place of American M1936 suspenders and belts into the early 2000s. They’re thick, sturdy, and keep your belt up. 10/10
5) D-Cell Box Flashlight: A brutally simple light, this little beauty runs on full-fat D-cells and only weighs two pounds fully loaded. It has a nostalgically dim incandescent light and two filters with which to change the color of the light to red or green.
6) Web belt: This belt is a US M1936 pattern belt in green. The US belts sometimes came in a khaki color, but pistol belts of that type were most often painted olive green in Norwegian service. Attached to the belt is a set of second pattern AG3 magazine pouches which hold two 20-round magazines each, a canteen, and an entrenching tool cover. The canteen and cover are of the American M1956 pattern and while they are not correct for this application, the Norwegians used a very similar style of plastic canteen and cover. The e-tool cover is a reproduction of a US WWII era example, complete with “U.S.” marking. This is also not exactly correct but serves as a useful analog for a surprisingly allusive piece of the issued web gear as well as a place to store my trauma kit. The holster attached is a Safariland ALS type holster for an HK P30. I have seen pictures of Norwegian soldiers in M/75 uniforms with Safariland holsters for their P80/Glock 17 pistols, but the P30 was only used by the Norwegian Police and was not formally adopted by the army as far as I could tell.
7) M/75 field jacket: The M/75 is a fantastic jacket and is based quite heavily off the American M1943 uniform jacket. The Norwegians cloned that one-for-one for their M/51 uniform, then later added the woodland camouflage and some extra features for the M/75 upgrade.
8) Not pictured, M/71 field shirt (feltskjorte): The M/71 is a ubiquitous and beloved field shirt that is famous for its warmth, comfort, and versatility. These shirts were made famous in the English-speaking world after a group of British Royal Marines picked them up during arctic training with their Norwegian counterparts. Dubbed the “Norgie” by the Brits, they admired the field shirt’s ability to keep its wearer quite warm when used as a mid-layer thanks to its terry cloth lining. Mine is a British-made example as true Norwegian-made surplus is difficult to find in the US, but the majority of the British Norgies on the market are direct clones of the Norwegian originals.
9) M/75 Field Pants: Roomy and comfortable, these long pants have a high waist and plenty of length to blouse into my boots which should help protect me from ticks.
10) M77 boots: M77 combat boots would be the correct choice here and are actually widely available at time of writing, both as surplus and new manufacture from Alfa, but I unfortunately ran out of time to safely break in a new pair of leather boots before the match. In place of the M77, I have a pair of Austrian M75 Feldschuh paratrooper boots. These boots are a little taller than their Norwegian brethren and lack the built-in ski binding slots but are full leather combat boots all the same. Far from good, but good from afar.
11) AG-3F1 battle rifle: The AG-3 is Norway’s domestically produced copy of Heckler & Koch’s G3 rifle. The G3 was adopted by Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Portugal, and a great number of other countries. Most of these have a G3 variant still in service today. Norway’s domestic copy is distinguished by its scalloped “thumbprint” bolt carrier and unique rear sight, bayonet lug, and charging handle. The F1 upgrade added 2 position collapsing stock to make the rifle shorter and ease the struggles of mechanized troops. The pre-upgrade 40.5 inch rifle was unwieldy to handle in the cramped crew compartments of armored vehicles. The collapsing stock has been not-so-lovingly nicknamed the “meat tenderizer” due to its diamond grip pattern and small surface area that concentrates the full power of the .308 cartridge into a smaller area of user’s shoulder than the normal fixed stock. Also equipped is an HK 3-point sling that I’ve taped into a 2-point configuration. I would opt to run the match with a 3-point, but there may come a time where I have to unload and ground the rifle. Taking the sling off to leave the rifle behind could be difficult in that configuration, so 2-point is the safe bet. My AG-3F1 has the correct stock and rear sight, but the Norwegian bolt carriers and charging handles are extremely rare finds in the US. I was lucky enough to acquire the rear sight from a Norwegian acquaintance over the internet. Christian, if you’re reading this: Thank you. You were a big help getting this whole collection together.
I fell disappointingly short of having the 100% “clone correct” impression ready in time for the match, but the big items are there and the whole setup passes the ten-foot squint test, so it will look the part for my purposes. Besides, the shortcomings allow me more opportunities to talk to other nerds about hard to obtain Cold War surplus, so it’s a net win overall.
As far as my plans for the match, my number one goal is to be safe and not disqualify. Following that, I want to have a good time and place as high as I can with my outdated battle rifle. The AG-3 mag pouches are not exactly high speed and my rifle lacks the usual paddle magazine release since I did not have time to do the proper machining to get it working before the match, so my reloads will be leisurely at best. The G3 front sight is also quite wide, which does not lend itself to a role as a long distance target rifle. The longest known target engagement will be 400 yards, so an element of luck will be needed to make my longer hits. I feel good about my pistol skills going into the match, but I’m more familiar with my USP than I am with the P30 I’ll be using. That and the SIG P226/Mk. 25 both have “combat holds” where the point of impact is right at the front sight, but I prefer a 6 o’ clock hold that puts the POI just on top of the front sight which allows me to see more of the target. It will be a learning experience at any rate.
The InRangeTV crew is a fantastic bunch that I’ll be overjoyed to shoot a match with. The atmosphere at the Brutality matches as well as the smaller 2 Gun Action Challenge Matches is one of challenge and unity; competition without opposition. You’re placed on the standings by time, but your fellow competitors are just that: fellows. You’re all there to tackle the challenges together and encourage each person to complete the stage to the best of their ability. At time of writing, I’ll be leaving for West Virginia tomorrow morning, bright and early. I’ll be joining dozens of shooters from all sorts of backgrounds with a wide range of skillsets, and I’m eager to lay down my best performance come Saturday when that first buzzer sounds and I forget the entire course of fire that had just been explained to me.