Baltimore_900
Member
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2015
- Messages
- 45
Some of us have been fortunate to have received solid firearms training as a youngster. In addition to the safety training which should always be first and foremost, the actual mechanics of firearms training seems to be lost these days.
While plinking and other outlets can be fun, the idea of teaching youngsters proper four position shooting seems to be rare. There may be many reasons for this. One of the reasons may very well be the inability to go to a regular shooting range. Financial and legal reasons top the list with many. Ammunition and range costs plus travel time can be prohibitive and perhaps it isn't acceptable to local LE for you to fire even a .22LR within town or city limits even with a solid backstop. Additionally, the cost of some .22LR rifles can be a problem to some. It may be also that you do not have the skills yourself to teach four position. If this is the case, contact the NRA or someone at your local range who can hopefully direct you to the proper source.
You can do basic position training at home. You can, to a certain point, do that with a toy rifle from some discount store. However, for the student to learn proper technique, sling adjustment and all else, nothing beats the real deal. Yet, how can this happen?
Consider the average .22LR. A rimfire. A firearm you can damage with dry firing. As a youngster, I worked all manner of paper routes and other jobs to afford a Winchester Model 52B Target Rifle. Proper position training had been accomplished much earlier courtesy of a former USMC Gunny. It was now to be applied to the 52B. I was fortunate to have a 50' indoor range close by and this was at a time when .22LR ammunition was very inexpensive and readily available. US Marine Corps training at age 9 put me on the right track immediately. So much so that I was competitively shooting my father's old 03-A3 Springfield 30-06 at age 11. These were four position matches at 200 yards. Standard FMJ military hardball. Nothing fancy. It wasn't until my early teens that air rifles came into the picture when an uncle bought me a Crosman 760 for my birthday.
This brought me into a whole new deal. The Crosman was both accurate and powerful. The rear sight was elevation adjustable only but that was fine. I could shoot all I wanted indoors with a proper bullet trap. I could also do a fair amount of plinking in the backyard. Neither of the above would be possible for most of us with a .22LR.
Today, there are many other air rifles within the sub $100 price range. You can purchase .177 air rifle pellets for less than $4.00 for a tin of 200 although others can be more expensive. The benefit here is you can receive or provide four position training with a lot more flexibility. Many of today's lowcost multi-pump .177 caliber pellet rifles do come with rifled barrels as opposed to smoothbore which is generally fine if standard BBs are all you will be shooting.
If you consider four position training important and do not have the facilities, a lower priced air rifle may be just the ticket. A trip to YouTube will show you air rifles which are quite accurate and very powerful. Something you can also use to hunt small game and control pests such as mice, rats, squirrels and such.
A quick trip to different manufacturers' websites and to YouTube once again will give you an education on the many different .177 pellets which are available. Philosophy of use. What do you intend to do with your new air rifle and at what ranges do you anticipate using it at? The answers to these questions will govern the choices you make.
In conclusion, I recently went to an indoor range and used the NRA 50' Smallbore Rifle Targets designed for four position shooting. I brought three different low cost multi-pump .177 caliber pellet rifles with me. Using all four positions sans sling, I was amazed at the accuracy. It is my opinion that solid four position training is an absolute must for the serious shooter and that a low cost multi-pump .177 caliber air rifle may be all you need to establish and maintain a solid skillset.
While plinking and other outlets can be fun, the idea of teaching youngsters proper four position shooting seems to be rare. There may be many reasons for this. One of the reasons may very well be the inability to go to a regular shooting range. Financial and legal reasons top the list with many. Ammunition and range costs plus travel time can be prohibitive and perhaps it isn't acceptable to local LE for you to fire even a .22LR within town or city limits even with a solid backstop. Additionally, the cost of some .22LR rifles can be a problem to some. It may be also that you do not have the skills yourself to teach four position. If this is the case, contact the NRA or someone at your local range who can hopefully direct you to the proper source.
You can do basic position training at home. You can, to a certain point, do that with a toy rifle from some discount store. However, for the student to learn proper technique, sling adjustment and all else, nothing beats the real deal. Yet, how can this happen?
Consider the average .22LR. A rimfire. A firearm you can damage with dry firing. As a youngster, I worked all manner of paper routes and other jobs to afford a Winchester Model 52B Target Rifle. Proper position training had been accomplished much earlier courtesy of a former USMC Gunny. It was now to be applied to the 52B. I was fortunate to have a 50' indoor range close by and this was at a time when .22LR ammunition was very inexpensive and readily available. US Marine Corps training at age 9 put me on the right track immediately. So much so that I was competitively shooting my father's old 03-A3 Springfield 30-06 at age 11. These were four position matches at 200 yards. Standard FMJ military hardball. Nothing fancy. It wasn't until my early teens that air rifles came into the picture when an uncle bought me a Crosman 760 for my birthday.
This brought me into a whole new deal. The Crosman was both accurate and powerful. The rear sight was elevation adjustable only but that was fine. I could shoot all I wanted indoors with a proper bullet trap. I could also do a fair amount of plinking in the backyard. Neither of the above would be possible for most of us with a .22LR.
Today, there are many other air rifles within the sub $100 price range. You can purchase .177 air rifle pellets for less than $4.00 for a tin of 200 although others can be more expensive. The benefit here is you can receive or provide four position training with a lot more flexibility. Many of today's lowcost multi-pump .177 caliber pellet rifles do come with rifled barrels as opposed to smoothbore which is generally fine if standard BBs are all you will be shooting.
If you consider four position training important and do not have the facilities, a lower priced air rifle may be just the ticket. A trip to YouTube will show you air rifles which are quite accurate and very powerful. Something you can also use to hunt small game and control pests such as mice, rats, squirrels and such.
A quick trip to different manufacturers' websites and to YouTube once again will give you an education on the many different .177 pellets which are available. Philosophy of use. What do you intend to do with your new air rifle and at what ranges do you anticipate using it at? The answers to these questions will govern the choices you make.
In conclusion, I recently went to an indoor range and used the NRA 50' Smallbore Rifle Targets designed for four position shooting. I brought three different low cost multi-pump .177 caliber pellet rifles with me. Using all four positions sans sling, I was amazed at the accuracy. It is my opinion that solid four position training is an absolute must for the serious shooter and that a low cost multi-pump .177 caliber air rifle may be all you need to establish and maintain a solid skillset.
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