Practice under a bit of stress at the range....

[Jayb]

You can practice under stress.

Several good friends an I use a little game to induce stress at the range. Tie a length of heavy fishing line to the target frame, and run it back past the shooting position..... hang a target from it with a shower curtain clip.....attach another length of line to the shower curtain clip and run it to the shooting position. Have a buddy grab the line attached to the shower curtain clip and run from the shooting position AWAY from the target. The target will approach the shooter as fast as the runner moves away from the shooter. distance is variable, target speed/size is variable, and the shooter could begin standing, sitting, facing target, facing away from target, etc.

I would NOT do this on a crowded range, and most range officers would probably frown on it, but no ranges around here are equipped with moving targets.

It will surprise you how quickly that target will reach you from 7 yards..... not to mention 15 feet ....

Regards, Jay

 

[ShackleMeNot]

Do you stand still or do you move?

 

[dave3006]

Before you shoot, sprint 100 yards to get your gun. Next time, do 30 push ups first, then shoot. More realistic.

 

[Jayb]

At the range I use (members only) there's plenty of room to move....retreat or sideways. Movement is part of my reaction, but that's a personal preference, also subject to how much room a particular range has to offer.

Try it sitting in a folding chair...... as if you were in your vehicle at a stop light and became the target of a carjacker. There are many scenarios, depending on your daily activities.

Dave...at my age, if I could sprint 100 yards, I may not need the gun. ... your point is well taken, and very appropriate.

 

[Jenrick]

If you've got the room, the following is quiet a challenge.

With a partner begin at the 100 yd line(you can be further back it's just more exercise). The first shooter fires two rounds from the prone position, as soon as the second round is fired the partner sprints to the 75 yd point assumes the prone position and fires two rounds. Once the second shooter has fired at the 75, the first shooter stands up and runs to the 50yd point kneels and fires two rounds. The second shooter then stands up and runs to the 25 yd point and fires two rounds from standing. The first shooter then runs up to join them and fires two rounds from standing.

Depending on how comfortable you feel with your partners this drill can be done down the same lane, as your move past your partner (make sure to keep the muzzle pointed low, and the safety on for both shooters), or in adjacent lanes. If you really want to get creative with this one, you can put obstacles down the length of the course, and have shooters move from one position to the next.

Running this as a competion is fun if you've got a group, and you can score by time and accuracy fairly easily.

If your really feeling nasty, the only time one partner can run is while the other partner is shooting (must stop no more then 3 seconds after the last round is fired), and if they're caught in the open they have to return to the last piece of cover and go again. Instead of a set round count for the course, your attempting to move both shooters to backstop as fast as possible under covering fire. To ensure safety for everyone, the targets are placed outside the direction of travel (the easiet way to set this up is to have the runners move parrelal to the back stop, or across the lanes) To prevent people from just sprinting from one end to the other then covering for their buddy to do the same, you can mandate a maximum distance covered (no more then 25yds at a time, etc.), or require that a specific target be engaged to allow crossing a particular area (and make sure the targets only engageable from one particular area).

This variant will obviously consume ammo, but it gives you a feel for covering fire and getting where your going fast. It's a whole lot of fun as well.

-Jenrick

 

[chino]

Does anyone know what the marksmanship practice/test in any branch of the US armed forces is like?

 

[entropy]

Not sure about now, but re-quals in the US Army c. 1988 were standing in a foxhole, with pop-up silhouette targets from 50 to 300 meters. the 50, 75, and 100 were shoulder-height silhouettes simulating a prone enemy, or one partially behind cover. The 150, 200, 250, and 300 meter targets were half-silhouettes to simulate a kneeling enemy. (Or an army of midgets.) 40 targets, 40 rounds, plus a couple for alabis. I always shot Expert, my best was 39/40. I had trouble with the 300 meter targets with my M16A1, even with the trigger pull at 2 ½ pounds. (I was the Armorer for my unit.) With the A2, I got 40/40 on the 300 qualification range, and would usually drop 2 out of ten outside the 'X' ring on standard paper silhouettes at 600 from prone.