The Practical Marksman

I've been asked by a some good friends to do a practical rifle class for them. This will be an informal deal, unpaid, just a group of people getting together to learn some basics. Experience levels will vary, everyone is familiar to different degrees with handguns and carbines, so they have the basics. Some have had little to no experience with scoped rifles, and others have hunted with them for many years.

The suggestion was made to use .22's for the class. I think that is a great idea and will probably incorporate it, but most of the .22's that they own would be 10/22's and Marlins with short LOP's and no cheek weld. They would be good for teaching trigger control, but not for teaching form. I may use .22's in the morning, and move on to centerfire later in the day.

Just off the top of my head, here are some of the areas I was thinking of covering:

Gear selection
Weapon fit- lop, cheekweld, etc
Brief overview of Mils and MOA
Form
Trigger control and breathing
Compensating for wind and range

I'm certainly no expert in any of this, but I know just a little more in this area than the others so that makes me the regional expert just the same. For those of you who have more experience in precision shooting and teaching, I'd like to get any advice you have on how to run the class and what should be covered.

Jamie, you're asking people to give you their trade secrets? To share info with you it took them years of experience to compile? Countless classes that they paid for, countless days on the range, countless rounds fired down range... you get the point.

I have the information you request but I cannot post it without the permission of the owner of the material. That being Capt. Huskey.

Please don't take this personally (you know I like you and I'm not trying to bust your chops), but until you have the knowledge to sit down and put all this stuff together on your own, do you really think you'll be qualified to teach others? Go out and attend a few classes from well respected instructors, ask their permission to take notes and tell them you'd like to share that information with others in the future and some might be willing to share a copy of their course curriculum with you.

This is where I'm sitting right now as well. Before I teach others in a setting where they take what I have to say into account, I want to make damn sure they are getting good information. I am an NRA certified instructor, so officially I am licensed to teach others, and I do so in personal defense, edged weapons, hand to hand combat, and defensive hand gun. Usually, I do very small groups and everyone gets plenty of attention.

Yeah, I can see where you're coming from with that. At the same time, how many of us would decline if three or four good friends asked us to take a day and "show us something about shooting longer range"?

I'm not expecting Huskey or Boyette to send me the lesson plans that provide their income, just if anyone has any helpful hints before I start deciding what to talk about. These guys aren't expecting a real class, they're people I already shoot with, a couple of whom I've taken pistol or carbine classes with. If I'm going to give them a precious Saturday, I'm going to make sure it worth my and their time. Its really just a hook to see who will be interested after they give it a try.

What are YOUR personal priorities?

Make sure they have the proper equipment for shooting long range. Tell them the minimum requirements as far as gear goes.

Make sure they know how to maintain and clean their weapons system. How good is a system if it is delicate to dirt and debris, using a front bench rest, if they don't know how to PROPERLY clean it and when to do so? Make sure replacement parts are available.

Do the same discussion on optics. Express and educate them on reticles with hold over adjustments, the different types and their values.

Talk about ballistics calculators that are on line and free to use like the JBM. Tell them what each section is about and how to fill in the info for their circumstances. All of this is important for them to able to make a data card.

Teach them about hold overs in elevation and windage. Make sure they also know when and why those are important.

Slings/bipod discussion are optional.

Make sure they know how to get a good zero. There is no reason not to use a 100 yd zero in a practical long range rifle. After that, they need to know how to zero their scopes. Emphasize the important of tactical or target adjustments and why it is important they be in the same unit of measure as the reticle.

Pound in their head about the basic fundamentals of marksmanship and incorporate NPOA in that. Show them recoil management.

That would make for a good basic informal introduction. It gets way more complex than that, but you're talking about friends that are just getting into it, don't overwhelm them right off the bat.

Thanks, that is exactly the level of detail that I plan on going into. They may have to double up on rifles, a couple have suitable rifles and optics, the others are interested but want to understand what they need before buying gear. I have one spare rifle, and may be able to get another loaner, should about cover everyone.

My goal is to show them the gear that they need to shoot medium range, give them an overview of how the gear works, show the fundamentals they will build on, and hopefully get them hooked on this type of shooting.

Tagged to add stuff

After I get some sleep and work is over

Hell...starting out with 22's on a 50-100 yard range would be good enough to start on the fundamentals.

Just my opinion though.

Rich

Red_SC,

I would focus on the fitting of the 22lr first.

Then the fundamentals by dry firing.

Once that is done, I would move to 7-10yd 1" dots in off-hand, sitting, prone. All positions using a loop sling, and at the end of the day going to the start of the hasty sling.

That is all I would do for one day.

I have found that deviating from this format does set a foundation of any sort.

John

Thanks, guys, this is very helpful.

Find ANY version of the Army Sniper manual. Using selected parts of it, you will have no problem.
Cover the fundamentals of marksmanship more than once, make them repeat it back to you, give a written test, do things to imprint the information.
Send them a FOM print out before the class and tell them to read it well, then cover it again when they get there, then give them a written test...

Begin with:
1. Check each weapon to make sure every screw is TIGHT as it is supposed to be. See if the weapon is clean and functional, as in trigger and safety. Look for obvious defects like a cracked stock, etc.
2. A prone supported position, with lots of sandbags, supporting both the body and weapon, in a position which guarantees NPoA and causes no muscle strain. One they could go to sleep on and never move the rifle off line/sight.
3. Fitting the weapon to the person. GI Foam sleeping mats and duct tape make wonderful cheap cheek pieces for the class.
Setting the scope eye relief distance for them after the cheek piece is in place should follow.
4. At this point, DRY FIRE dry so the fundamentals are reinforced again. Make sure they all tell you where the weapon was pointed when the rifle went click, that will tell you about a number of other things that could be going wrong.
5. Zero the weapon at this point (un-zero and re-zero if neccessary).
Do three round groups (for 15 rounds (5 groups)) SLOW FIRE. Discuss issues between each grouping.
If the rifle is good, the groups will stay in the same place IF the shooters do their part.
Watch the shooters for any movement or change in position that loses NPoA. Make them get back in position that guarantees NPoA after each shot. You will learn here if the shooter listened to the talk about fundamentals.
You will learn here if the scope is moving like it should. Early catch you need to do before they waste a bunch of ammo.
You will learn here whether or not the rifle moves when cold clean to hot and dirty. Once you establish this data, you should have established some confidence in your class in their ability.

6. Give them a break, have them boresnake their barrels and check everything to see if it came loose. If there were no problem areas, let them talk about what they think they learned at that exercise. When you know the weapons are cold..
7. Back into position on the sandbags and fire three more shots (slow fire). If they all go back where they were before the break, good. If not try to figure out why.

8. Assuming all the shots went into the same place, move the guys off the sand-bags into sitting (use the sand bags to get a solid sitting position). (Notice I skipped shooting prone without the sand bags.)
Get them into a solid sitting position with NPoA and DRY FIRE so the fundamentals are reinforced again. Make sure they all tell you where the weapon was pointed when the rifle went click, that will tell you about a number of other things that could be going wrong.
9. Have them shoot sitting, three round groups SLOW FIRE and discuss issues between each grouping for 18-21 rounds.

10. Give them a break, have them boresnake their barrels and check everything to see if it came loose. If there were no problem areas, let them talk about what they think they learned at that exercise. When you know the weapons are cold..
11. Back into position sitting with the sandbags and fire three more shots (slow fire). If they all go back where they were before the break, good. If not try to figure out why.

These two exercises are better done with a sling if they have one, but OK if not.

12. DO NOT DO STANDING ON THEIR FIRST SESSION, no matter what John Boyette says. Thats the last thing you should cover.

13. If you have time, do the prone without the sandbags off their elbows (No bipod or sand-sock)(this really needs a sling). If they do that OK, do the sitting without the sandbags. If they do that OK, then try standing.

If all you have is a 100 yard range, NO PROBLEM, you do the above and they take it in, they will shoot better.
Do these exercises on another day with them and make it a competition, have them chip in a pot and winner gets it.

Good luck.