http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/army_board_study_guide_topics/m16a2/four-fundamentals-of-mark.shtml

All I can say is that I was self taught for about the first 30 years I used a handgun. Couldn’t imagine what good ‘real’ training would do for me.

I learned (and unlearned!) more the first day from a professional trainer than I would have ever imagined. That first class was 3 days (and 1 night) long. It was worth every penny. Like someone else said, save, save and go to a school. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I was.

Read a brochure or web site from any well managed shooting school/instructor and you’ll likely find a testimonial that mirrors this. The implication is that the instruction is so wonderful that even a seasoned marksman with 30 years experience benefited after a few days. The sad reality is that even after 30 years of “experience” this poor sap was still such a novice that a couple days of decent instruction actually helped.

I’d recommend anyone attend good instruction just to avoid obvious mistakes early, but the most effective low-cost training venue is to participate regularly in organized, local shooting events.

Find a shooting club/range hosting some type of event or match in an appropriate discipline. Shoot your best, help the club out, talk with and ask questions of all the other participants and keep going until you are the club champion three years in a row. Then you’ll be a pretty good shooter. ;-)

Attending a school is a good idea, but tuition for a 3-5 day course will cover match/event fees for dozens of local events.

Some choice cuts from these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9MHvLfs6Vk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx_j6KvMQPo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTUdfyRc4U4

To keep their marksmanship instructors abreast in the latest advances in the shooting science and technique, by the 1910’s the Marines were fielding competitive shooting teams in National shooting matches.

The Marines realized they needed snipers of their own and needed them right away. A young Captain named Bob Russell was tasked with forming a sniper platoon, but in 1965 no official course of instruction for sniping existed in the Marine Corps.

The only officer with recent experience in this subject area was then-Captain Jim Land, a member of the Marine Corps shooting team attached to the Marksmanship Training Unit in Quantico, Virginia.

Land had conducted a sniper course at a Marine base in Hawaii a few years earlier.

“Captain Russell had sent me a letter and asked me for the material we had developed in Hawaii to use as the basis for the Third Marine Division Scout/Sniper School. I sent him my course syllabus and lesson plans and my copy of ‘A Rifleman Went to War.’”

In September 1966 Captain Jim Land arrived in Vietnam. He had come specifically to train and organize Scout/Snipers for the First Marine Division which would soon replace the Third Marine Division near Da Nang.

Land faced a number of challenges. Like Bob Russel before him he was left to his own resources in acquiring equipment and personnel for his new sniper platoon.

“I had no guns, no instructors, I never had an office. But the one thing I did have was that I knew the location of just about every Distinguished Marksmen in Vietnam.” Distinguished Marksmen were top scoring marksmanship team competitors. One such marksman, who was assigned as a military policeman, was Carlos Norman Hathcock.

Hathcock had both attended Land’s sniper course in Hawaii five years earlier and had won the Wimbledon Cup.

The Marines and Army still have the competitive shooting teams that originally developed this skill set, however, these marksmanship Events and Instructor-Competitors are under constant criticism, sometimes by the very student-novices graduating sniper schools!

To a skilled marksman, snipers who excessively criticize competitive shooting endeavors are obviously novice shooters who are unaware of their own history. However, so very few military and law enforcement personnel are worthy of the title Riflemen, including those in the sniping community. It is nice to see this history made available and presented to the masses.

The two best articles I’ve seen on this subject are from Front Sight and nipponDAZE Here is a synopsis.

INTENTIONALLY INCOMPETENT
There are people who possess firearms, civilian, military and police alike, that either know of their incompetence or refuse to admit to it and refuse to exercise any effort to improve or demonstrate their skills. II gun owners purposely avoid training and participation out of laziness and/or fear. Even when forced the II sometimes cannot be helped much because he simply does not care to learn.

This is worse than Unconscious Incompetence because the UI is merely unaware of something better. The Intentionally Incompetent often are aware but attempt to justify their low skill and non-participation with false reason. A classic example of Intentionally Incompetent gun owners are those who are aware of organized shooting events but refuse to attend or even acknowledge the potential benefits.

Commonly, these individuals delude themselves and others by concocting lies justifying non-participation or low results:

• “Competition shooting will get you killed.”
• “Organized/target shooting isn’t real shooting.”
• “Marksmanship for soldiers/police/hunters is different than marksmanship for competition.”
• “I’m no good on paper targets but I’m deadly in the field.”

UNCONSCIOUSLY INCOMPETENT

The UI does not know that he does not know. The UI represents the majority of all gun owners and includes people (police and military) who carry a gun for a living. The UI is incompetent but does not know he is incompetent because he has had no training or low-level training and has not yet experienced a situation exposing his inadequacies. Examples of the UI can be found everywhere.

• The officer who only practices shooting his weapon a few times per year only to pass the POST or department mandatory range qualifications is UI.
• The gun owner who buys a gun and box of ammo, only attends mandatory CCW classes, fires a few shots at the range and then places the gun in his closet, confident he can use it effectively to protect himself is UI.
• The hunter who only attends mandatory hunter safety and only shoots once a year to sight-in his rifle before going hunting is UI.
• Most plinkers are UI.
• Military personnel who only shoot the same course of fire as in Basic training (even with an “Expert” qualification) are still UI.
• Any gun owner who has never attended an organized shooting event beyond a mandated safety/basic training course is UI.

CONSCIOUSLY INCOMPETENT
The next level of competence hits you like a brick because you become suddenly aware that you know little, or previously held notions are incorrect, and that there is so much to learn. This commonly happens when the UI attends his/her first organized shooting event and this is the quickest, cheapest and safest way to find out.

CONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT
If the CI makes the effort to learn, through study, proper training and practice, the CI develops into the CC. The length of time needed to develop from CI to CC is directly related to the quality of the training or events attended and the motivation of the student. Study brings you to the level of theoretical knowledge. You understand the concepts, but to apply them, you have to think about them. In a lot of subjects or skills, you might never move beyond this level. Every decision and action occurs as a result of an intricate thought process and has not yet reached the reflex response level.

UNCONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT
When you can do something without thinking about it, you’ve become unconsciously competent. Your skills operate at the speed of reflex. Riding a bike, driving a car, touch typing and speaking in your native tounge are common skills most people are Unconsciously Competent in. At this level, theoretical knowledge is transformed into practical knowledge. Study might get you to CC, but only proper practice and training will get you to UC.

The UC has programmed his mind and body (after thousands of correct repetitions) to react in a fraction of a second with consistent responses that require no perceivable thought process. The UC functions flawlessly even under stressful situations because the UC’s extensive training overrides his conscious thought process. As you can imagine, the UC is not common in today’s society.

CONCIOUSLY UNCONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT
The highest level of competence is the ability to do something without thinking about it, yet retain a level of awareness of how you do it. This level of competence enables you to teach the skill to someone else and is the province of the true Master. Many people who are very good at something cannot explain it to someone less skilled. They are so unconsciously competent, they don’t know how they do it. They just do it. The CUC is a UC who can effectively teach others to reach a similar level of skill.

www.appleseedinfo.org

As the cost of military surplus and new-production ammunition rises, and while supplies of the same are (at best) unreliable, many Appleseed instructors and attendees have noted a need for a cost-effective means of practicing marksmanship, especially at 25 meters. To this end, we have conducted extensive research and testing of many currently available products. The following is a summarization of our findings and experiences in the development of the Ruger 10/22® Liberty Training Rifle.

The Appleseed Program promotes rifle safety and marksmanship, as well as knowledge of Revolutionary War history and grass-roots participation in the political process, especially as this relates to the preservation of the Second Amendment. Thousands of satisfied Appleseed attendees have proven that the marksmanship principles that the Appleseed Program teaches at 25m translate into accurate shooting at up to 500 yards.

Unfortunately, the rising cost of ammunition has hindered the participation of some Americans in marksmanship activities. Proficient marksmanship requires regular practice, though not necessarily at full-distance. Practice at 25 meters, fortunately, does not require a full-power centerfire battle rifle; for this distance, a .22LR rimfire rifle is all that is required. Moreover, many indoor ranges do not allow the use of full-power rifles, but .22LR rifles are permitted.

There are several accurate and durable .22LR rifles on the market today, but the Ruger 10/22 has proven one of the most successful. It is both affordable and accurate, and several aftermarket accessories have been shown to make it an ideal platform for a 25m training rifle. The components listed in this thread should not require any gunsmithing, and little mechanical aptitude is required to install them. In short, this is a true ‘do-it-yourself’ project.

This should help you build a rifle that can quickly be put into service at an Appleseed, be lent to someone at a local AQT shoot, and be used to practice at 25m (or even use in 25 & 50 yard CMP rifle competitions) – all with cheap .22LR ammunition. Also, it will give you a valuable tool to use to train new shooters, without subjecting them to the often-intimidating recoil of a full-power main battle rifle.

Disclaimer — RWVA, its members, the Appleseed Program, and the author have no financial interest in any of the companies listed in this post. Any product endorsement is purely the result of our own satisfaction as consumers.

Why the 10/22?

One Appleseed instructor speaks of his Liberty Training Rifle. He deliberately built this rifle just to practice the Army Qualification Target at 25 Meters. He writes “It is difficult to safely load (on a firing line while sitting or prone) a tube fed rifle quickly enough to finish within the time limits.

“Yes, the 10/22 when set up correctly closely mimics the M1A/M1 rifle. It’s close enough for me that I’ve gotten down in prone, inserted the mag., wrapped up in my hasty sling, laid my cheek on the stock, gotten my NPOA and then wasted time searching for my M1A/M1’s safety with my trigger finger. Only when I raised my head up off the rifle to try to see what was wrong with the safety did I realize it was my 10/22. When I related this story on the M14 Firing Line Public Forum it got some chuckles/laughs as others have done the same thing. It’s that close.

“Accessories (sights, stocks, butt extensions, magazines, bolt hold open/release, trigger/sear, etc.) are wide open for the 10/22. Not sure about the Marlin.

“As for accuracy? As bad as my up close eye sight is (can’t focus on the front sight – always has a blurry look that I can’t get rid of) my 10/22 will do 5/8″ shot groups at 25 yds.

Before you buy do some searching on the internet for availability of the accessories you’ll need to shoot the rifle (whether at Appleseeds, the rifle range or small game hunting) and pick what you feel will work best for you. Hopefully the folks that suggest the 10/22 are doing so based on their positive experience and not “something they heard/read”. I think you’ll find that this is a forum of shooters who talk about shooting. It’s not a forum of collectors who talk about shooting. There’s a difference. Hang around, attend an Appleseed and an RBC and you’ll see the difference between shooters who talk and talkers who (sometimes) shoot.

Because of the popularity of the Sturm-Ruger .22 caliber rifle there are several organizations who embrace its practicality and ease of use. Another Appleseed veteran instructor writes of his choice of the rifle and recalls the Liberty Training Rifle in its beginning stages.

“The 10/22 was chosen by a member who wanted a rifle that had (or could have added to it) sights that approximated the sight picture of his M1A and M1 Garand. At the time, the 10/22 with TechSights was the only choice. TechSights has noted that they are working on a set of aperture sights for the Marlin 60, but these are not yet available. The idea really took off when somebody (Junior Birdman?) found a stock with an adjustable length of pull for the 10/22. Someone pointed out the quick-reload advantage of the 10/22 vs tube-fed rifles, and this was also a factor.”

Let us quote a text from Appleseed’s founder. Fred states his response to the cost and availability of surplus and commercial ammo in the higher calibers. Here, in a post quoted from the Appleseed’s forum in Fred and this programs response.

“The Solution to the Ammo Shortage

“There’s always problems. And seems a current problem is the sudden high cost of good surplus ammo. What a few months back was 15 cents is now above 50 cents a round. That’s a more than 300% increase. Ouch! If you come to an Appleseed, and you go thru 300 rds in two days – or 800 rounds in six days of Boot Camp – your ammo costs have shot up from $45 to over $150 at the weekend Appleseed – and from $120 to over $400 at a Boot Camp.

“That’s gotta hurt. But there’s an easy solution. It’s called .22 rimfire. For most of us older guys, say “.22” and you only mean one thing – the lowly .22 rimfire cartridge, billions of which are fired every year in this country.

“I say ‘lowly’ because, being boys at heart, we all gravitate toward speed and power, so the .223 and other “.22s” of recent decades tend to grab the glory, at least among “the .22s”. Yet if any of us can reach back far enough in our memories, we’re likely to find the .22 lurking way back in the past as the cartridge on which we cut our teeth as marksmen. If you soak in those memories a bit, it all starts to come back. The importance with which you approached the clerk in the country store and asked for “a box of .22s. And not just “a box of .22s” – no sir – it was a box of “longs” or “long rifles” or – if you were “poor” that day, a box of “shorts”.

“Yep, even back then power was an aphrodisiac, and, if you had the 72 cents, you went for the big ones – the Long Rifles (and if you were really flush, you bought the “Long Rifle Hollow Points” and paid the 80 cents – this country is so rich today that nearly all .22s now sold are “LR” so the glory attached to those two words has probably faded considerably with the younger set.) If you were short in the coin department, if the most loose change you had was a couple of quarters (made of silver, too!) you were stuck with “shorts”.

“Bottom line, when you opened the box, and started dropping them down the mag tube, don’t know that, excitement-wise, it made much difference. It’s no secret the power and impact that cartridge has on marksmanship. In that field, the .22 rimfire packs muscle that dwarfs 7.62 X 39, for example. Real Marksmanship Muscle.

“Some of the most accomplished marksmen are the small bore shooters.

“It’s an old truth, often told: small bore shooters make great high power rifle shooters – but the reverse is not automatically true. A center-fire marksman has to work on his skills when he starts to shoot small bore, because you have to be sharper than with centerfire. Which means .22 rimfire is a heck of a maker of rifle-shooting skills. And no slouch in the Liberty department, either.

“Back in 1940, one .22 champion shooter in England explored the possibility of using .22 rimfire on the invading Hun. He made up dummy targets – wood ‘dressed’ in a wool uniform, leather cartridge belt, etc – just like an invading Nazi would wear – and found out that, at 300 yards, the ‘lowly’ .22 would penetrate ‘uniform’ and ‘gear’ to lodge an inch or more into the wood. He concluded the basic .22 cartridge would make nasty wounds.

“He concluded, based on his research that .22 rifles were a viable option in facing the Hun. Before you laugh, imagine being on the receiving end. Without warning, sizeable lead pellets penetrate an inch or more into your body. You can’t hear them coming. There’s no muzzle report – certainly, not amid vehicular or battlefield noise – to give away the location of the shooter. They may not kill you, but you will be something the military says is even more valuable: a casualty. Requiring 2-4 men to drag you to a first-aid station, then convalescence, etc.

“There’s an article in one of the gun magazines way back in the days when there was a flap over civil defense and bomb shelters – say, sometime in the 1950s or early 60s. It was a story about a man who appeared at his local gun shop once a month, and bought a .22 single-shot and a brick of .22s. (Back then, a twenty would get you both!) When finally asked why he was buying all those rifles, he responded that, when the time came, the rifles were for his neighbors, and he expected them to use ‘em – to get a battle rifle! Shades of the generations of riflemen who have guarded this country’s liberty and heritage for so long! Now we are in a time of shortages of cheap surplus ammo.

“Those of you who had the opportunity to ‘buy it cheap and stack it deep’ acted like the grasshoppers that most Americans are and instead of planning for the winter, you danced and sang and partied… But even those with a few cases stacked away are reluctant to freely spend that now 50-cent a round ammo. But .22 is still plentiful and cheap. So herewith, we draft that cartridge back into the Cause, once more.

“Yes sir, march onto the ‘battlefield of liberty” – the 25-meter marksmanship training range – with the goal of becoming riflemen, of becoming one with the tradition. It’s actually already happening.”

At Appleseeds, we already see nearly half the guys showing up with .22 rimfire rifles. In fact, at the recent New York Appleseed, BOTH Riflemen who qualified were firing .22s (one shot a 237!). Guess you could say that’s the beauty of Appleseed. That at 25m you can shift from centerfire to rimfire and the only difference you’ll notice, marksmanship-wise, is that your ammo dollar still buys a dollar’s worth of ammo. There’s really not much difference, otherwise.

Your shoulder is no sorer. You still have to ‘ride the bull’ of the Six Steps of Firing a Shot. NPOA is still mandatory. Position checkpoints? Absolutely the same, and absolutely as important. Plus, if you can master the lowly .22, you can master the big center fire.

No problem. Now, to stock up of some of that .22, before IT gets scarce!

At less than 20 bucks per thousand, it’s a deal – and a steal! And you never know when you’ll have to go ‘hunting the Hun’ – huh? Maybe the title for a future column: “Stalking the Hun with pipe and .22…” Or, “what will happen if we let this country go down the same road as England”, right? Meantime, .22 offers marksmanship training opportunities in your back yard and basement. With CB caps, you can be near as quiet as an air rifle.

Geez, I starting to not even miss centerfire!

So yes, the lowly .22 can be a lifesaver – if it allows you to acquire the marksmanship skills you need. And, as our English guy discovered (maybe to his surprise, and to the snorts of you machos out there), it may even have utility as a defender of Liberty , if and when it ever comes to that.

Buy some before everyone else finds out about it, and shortages begin to pop up…

Got some .22 already? Then come to an Appleseed! Bring your centerfire for Sunday, when we often switch to longer ranges, so you can see for yourself that what works at 25, works for 200 – or 300 – or 400. And by using .22 for 90+% of your training on the AQT, your costs to attend an Appleseed actually go down, not up.
Sweet deal.

And the same goes for the Boot Camp. By firing 2/3s of your shots with .22 rimfire – easily done – you ammo costs stay the same as when surplus ammo was cheap, but you get to shoot over 200 rounds of centerfire to polish off your training. Sweet deal!

So, in the spirit of Appleseed – adapt, improvise, overcome – and persevere – turn the current ammo shortage in your favor – and save money even more than before the shortage cropped up!
SWEET DEAL!

Why the switch from .30 caliber-range cartridges to the .22 caliber range? The media, including the pro-gun media, has done a good job brainwashing the average public about “assault weapons” and such garbage.

The concept was developed in WWII by the Germans, who pioneered many new weapon designs to support their “Blitzkreig” offensive tactics. Instead of holing up in some muddy trench, the Germans were mobile, and effectively integrated artillery, armor and infantry.

To make the troops more nimble, the relatively new small arms designs from WWI were made lighter and faster to use. Medium machine guns were used to defend trenches and were water-cooled to fulfill a SF (sustained fire) role. German designers improved on the concept by utilizing a quick change barrel (e.g., MG34 and MG42) to eliminate the overly heavy water jacket and condenser can.

Several designers noted that troops couldn’t make use of full-powered, bolt-action rifles and submachine guns with pistol ammo weren’t effective at long range, so it was decided to mutate a rifle with a subgun. The result was the Sturmgewehr, or “storm gun.” It fired an intermediate cartridge and bridged the gap between true rifles and submachine guns. This was the first assault rifle.

So, why does the military prefer assault rilfes? People make a big deal about “high powered, military designed, killing machines”, but don’t understand what the military needs in small arms.

Infantry engagements are usually in poor visibility with an undefined enemy force. Troops fire in the vicinity of a poorly defined “objective”, located “over there.” For instance, the immediate action drill for a sniper is to drop, yell the rough direction, (“SNIPER, 3 O’CLOCK!”) and either close in or fall back.

An individual trooper probably won’t be able to find a clear target to engage so he engages with “suppressive fire.” That is, shooting about one round every two seconds at the “objective”, which is a target may not be visible. The idea is to (hopefully) pin down the enemy while another element maneuvers. Then the roles are switched and another element shoots. This fire storm is basically a ruse, but it is effective. You might not have a target but you lay down lead and hope your enemy doesn’t realize this!

Also, add in the fact that your typical troop is a lousy shot. Sorry to have to say this, but military trained personnel rarely receive enough quality instruction and training time to match the skill level of competitive shooters. Add this lackluster skill set to the speed, stress, and unstable shooting conditions of combat and dependable hits to individual targets become iffy beyond hand grenade range so we compensate by shooting more.

That is why you read reports such as 20,000 rounds fired per enemy killed. But this “fire storm” works. Military small arms are designed to be bullet hoses even though the equipment is capable of shooting with reasonable precision. That’s why military rifles and carbines are chambered in intermediate cartridges. The trooper can carry more! Basic load for an infantryman is 7 30-round magazines, or 210 rounds and most carry more.

This tactic only works in large groups. Typically, infantry attacks on the company level (over 100 men) and has lots of support. They need it to provide all that ammo they are going to spray!

Assault rifles can shoot fast. But shooting fast isn’t lethal. Hitting fast is lethal.

For the individual, who has to provide his own ammo, the goal is one shot, one hit. With a rifle past 25 yards fast HITS are more dependant on quality of sights, trigger and shooter SKILL.

A skilled rifleman with a lever action .30-30 will beat an unskilled shooter with an “assault rifle” every time. The assault rifle can lay down alot of lead, but you that doesn’t matter if you want fast HITS.

Skill wins. Your rifle will do if you will.

Founded in 2005 by former members of Delta Force (1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta), TigerSwan (http://www.tigerswan.biz/) provides the full spectrum of weapons and tactical training for government, law enforcement organizations, commercial and civilian clients.

So how do these operators-turned-trainers address this question of effective training? This is quoted directly from a TigerSwan student handout:

Marksmanship Training Methodology

TigerSwan (http://www.tigerswan.biz/)

Dry fire! It only takes 10 minutes a day to see a marked improvement in performance.

Train on accuracy first! All other skills (magazine changes, movement, etc.) are useless if you can’t hit the target.

Establish expertise in the fundamentals and add one additional training goal at a time. For example, don’t jump from 2 well aimed shots on a single target from the draw to an El Presidente without training on the requisite skills (i.e. target transitions, the turn, magazine changes, etc).

Eliminate variables so you can isolate and correct problems. If you have sweaty palms, the sun in your eyes, a shine on your front sight and poor quality ammunition, its difficult to identify the cause of and correct marksmanship errors.

Ensure you can shoot well without combat gear before you conduct marksmanship training in full kit. When
you do add kit, add one item at a time. This will help identify to the shooter whether it’s the K vest or the helmet that’s causing the drop in performance.

Test yourself under stress. Shoot against a friend for a Gatorade, to determine who picks up brass or try to beat your last score on the Bianchi Cup. There is always a degradation of skills under stress. If you regularly train under stress, the degradation is substantially reduced.

Shoot competitively. It doesn’t mater if it’s IPSC, IDPA, NRA Bull’s-eye, 3 gun, etc. All of the competitive shooting disciplines require the shooter to execute perfect fundamentals under stress.

The Spartans began military training at age seven. Young men destined to become Knights began serving as pages at a similar age and would become squires at fourteen years. These two famous warrior classes separated by a millennium started their young people at nearly the same age.

A number of kings placed bans on ball sports to ensure that the people practiced archery. One web site discussing training from the Middle Ages explains this:

The importance of the archers and their Medieval bows and arrows grew in importance. In 1252 the ‘Assize of Arms’ was passed which decreed that every man between the age of 15 to 60 years old were ordered to equip themselves with a bow and arrows. The Plantagenet King Edward III took this further and decreed the Archery Law in 1363 which commanded the obligatory practice of archery on Sundays and holidays! The Archery Law “forbade, on pain of death, all sport that took up time better spent on war training especially archery practise”. King Henry I later proclaimed that an archer would be absolved of murder, if he killed a man during archery practise!

Dutch farmers, known as Boers, began teaching young as well. According to Howard Hillegas in his book, “With the Boer Forces,” Boer commandoes were as young as 13 years old. Shooting club info from the period shows how serious these shooters were.

That answer will be totally dependent on a large number variables unique to your specific situation, such as:

• The distance you intend to zero at
• Sight height (height difference of the line of sight and the bore)
• Muzzle velocity
• Ballistic coefficient
• Ambient temperature
• Altitude
• Any cant, induced by the shooter or less than perfect alignment of the sights and barrel
• …among others

Any one of these factors alter where the zero lies given an Initial Intersection of 25 yards. Predicting this requires knowing and measuring all these variable and running the numbers through ballistic software (or calculating by hand.) Even then, the only way to tweak it exactly is to shoot at the actual distance.

Yes, the military uses reduced distances for sighting in, but the formula works because everyone uses the same issued rifle with the same issued ammo.

Even then there are problems. Testing has shown the Army 25 meter zeroing procedure commonly needs to be tweaked when shot on a Known Distance range. This has been confirmed too many times to mention.

The ugly truth is the prescribed 25 meters is of convenience (the Army already had 25 meter ranges) and is a compromise. Soldiers, including the leadership, simply regurgitated this figure as accurate. None of
them bothered to grab a rifle, head out to the range and find out! The Marines, being a bit savvier in regards to basic rifle marksmanship training, have since modified this zero distance.

The only way to accurately confirm a true zero is to actually shoot your rifle with your chosen ammo at the actual desired distance.

What is the ideal zero distance? Unless you have a compelling reason to do otherwise, my general rule of thumb for big game rifles is to zero dead on at 200 yards, or about 2 inches high at 100. We can quibble
about why your specific rifle/sight/ammo works better when zeroed at some other distance, but I’m giving a generic recommendation for any big game rifle shooting any type of suitable ammo (MV 2,000 – 3,000 fps or faster) with any type of sight.

If the only range you have available to you is 25 yards, don’t despair! Despite this handicap, you can still carry out an effective field-shooting program. Smallbore gallery targets (A-17, A-36) are shot at 50 feet and a good way to practice basic position shooting. HunterShooter has reduced quarter-sized silhouettes for rimfires, and would allow simulating shots out to 100 yards when placed at 25. There are a number of reduced-range scaled targets for many shooting applications. Brush hunting scenarios can realistically be held within 25-yard distances, and fast moving targets are a challenge at any distance. Reactive steel comes in different sizes as well.

If it is extremely difficult to find a bigger range for even a once-a-year session, my best advice is to start actively shooting and promoting events at the range you have now. Create such a demand for organized shooting in your community that a large percentage of the gun owners and hunters in your area get off their butts and insist a new range gets built.

The only reason you don’t have a better range available is because too few people in your area have made too little effort in creating the interest and resources needed to get one built.

Until that changes, how can you confirm an accurate zero on a reduced range, given the variables involved? What I recommend is to buy or load a large lot (several hundred rounds at least) of the chosen hunting
ammunition, find a range that does offer longer distance, wherever that might be, grit your teeth and go spend a day there.

Obtain a satisfactory zero at the actual measured full distance of 200 yards or whatever you decide. Confirm the zero from field shooting positions (Sit, Prone, etc.) with the rifle in the condition it will be
in on a hunt or at a match, i.e., cold barrel.

After confirming, immediately shoot a good 5 round group on a target at a measured 25 yards without
touching the sights. Mark the center of the group and photocopy that target.

You now have short range zero targets customized for your rifle and the desired zero for your ammunition of choice. To confirm your zero, set your photocopy custom target at a measured 25 yards and sight in to the
group center.

I wish it did not! Both groups would benefit if we just tried to learn from each other.

I think the disconnect occurs because people blur “good marksman” and “good warrior” together when they are not directly related. A champion marksman may be a lousy warrior and a veteran warrior (even a sniper with solid combat experience) may be a lackluster shooter.

The problem is some people wrongly think pointing out a warrior (combat vet, Ranger/SF, sniper, etc) is less than a perfect marksman some how implies they aren’t a good warrior. So excuses against competitive shooting are concocted.

A firearm can’t tell what/where/when/why; it only launches bullets as directed by the skill of the user. Those bullets will hit the same on steel, cardboard, flesh or paper.

I view organized shooting (competition, classes, etc.) as a venue to learn marksmanship from, no more. A Distinguished badge/President’s tab/Master classification holder is a person who has bothered to study and test marksmanship skills in a formal, peer-reviewed setting. Just like a scholar with a degree, such a person is a demonstrated expert in his field. But that doesn’t make him expert in other fields. The competition shooter should be coaching and teaching marksmanship, not tactics. Similarly, a drill sergeant or Ranger may not be the best person to teach marksmanship.

“Yeah, but can he fight?”

Also true. Shooting events are not warrior training.

Unless he developed sufficient fieldcraft and tactics skills, G. David Tubb wouldn’t cut it as a sniper. However, an expert sniper may not cut as a high-level marksman without additional training, either.

Read: A Sniper’s Confession: The Importance of Competitive Shooting to Sniping
http://www.aspiringtech.net/nobull/confessions.html

Of course, a champion marksman who is also a true warrior is devastating. Witness Carlos Hathcock and Sam Woodfill.