How to present your handgun from the holster per TC 3-23.35 and TC 3-23.17.
Proper Presentation (Handgun)
September 24, 2021
Table III Practice
September 17, 2021
Table III is the practice of Drills to prepare use of your equipment for successful qualification. Here’s how to run all of your practiced drills in one sequence.
Soldier marksmanship program improved
September 14, 2021
As featured in Army Reserve News:
https://www.usar.army.mil/News/News-Display/Article/2768757/soldier-marksmanship-program-improved/
The Chief, Army Reserve Postal Match program directed by Army Regulation 140-1, Chapter 7 has been updated and improved to make participation easier. Held during the conduct of annual qualification on common Army training ranges, Postal Matches use existing Army training targetry while satisfying the new Army training standards.
As directed by current Army Training Circulars, Soldiers are to conduct six Training Tables to learn a more field relevant training approach to marksmanship. This training requires more realistic conduct with issue weapons along with a series of skill validations as each Table builds to the new qualifications detailed in TC 3-20.40. The Postal Match program provides the means to successfully conduct this skill validation while doubly serving as a competitive event.
The Postal Matches are named after Army Reserve marksmanship luminaries. Maj. Margaret Thompson Murdock, an Army Reserve nurse, was the first woman to win an Olympic medal in shooting. Capt. Horace Wayman Bivens, a Buffalo Soldier serving in reserve to the famed 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry “Rough Riders” and awarded the Silver Star for his actions during the Battle of San Juan Hill, was the first American to earn a coveted Double Distinguished rating after earning both Distinguished Rifleman and Distinguished Pistol Shot in competition. Gen. William Sutton, a successful competition shooter who served as a commander during World War II, was the first Chief, Army Reserve to formally establish a marksmanship program in published regulation for the Army Reserve. Gen. Harry Mott was the first Chief, Army Reserve to expand the Army Reserve Marksmanship Program to all Soldiers beyond the shooting teams and establish Army Reserve Marksman with Soldiers hosting Postal Matches for their units recognized nationally in Army Reserve Magazine (now Warrior Citizen).
The complete, updated Postal Match, Course of Fire, and Rulebook and issues of Army Reserve Marksman can be downloaded at https://www.usar.army.mil/ARM. Video descriptions of these courses and more information are available via the Army Reserve Marksmanship Program official social media at https://www.facebook.com/USARCMP and https://www.youtube.com/user/USARvideo
Moving Through Barricaded Positions
September 10, 2021
A demonstration of how to move through the positions used during the conduct of the new U.S. Army qualification.
Army Qualification Position Overview
September 3, 2021
Learn the different shooting positions needed to shoot the new U.S. Army Qualification. References are Training Circulars 3-22.9 and 3.20.40.
Notes on High Power Prone
September 1, 2021
Shooting John Tate Leave a comment
From J. C. Tate, CDR USN (Ret.) – Distinguished in 1991
A good prone position is a make-or-break position - for one thing 300 of 500 points are prone. Also, they say you win at offhand and lose at 600. I can't argue with that either. And, as you say, prone ought to be the most stable, all bone & sling, no muscle, relaxed position ... if you build a good one. How do you know if it's good? When you fire a shot, your rifle will naturally, effortlessly settle back almost where it was before the shot broke.
Of course, that last comment applies to sitting rapid too. Which is why I see good shooters spending up to 30 seconds in sitting and 35 in prone rapid, just to build a good, relaxed, natural-point-of-aim position.
That said, here are my comments. My context is for a right handed shooter. I am mainly thinking of service rifle/EIC shooting, that's almost all I did. Also, I shot M1/M14, so recoil was much more an issue than with M16/M4:
- Get your sling as high up on your left upper arm as possible. (A bit of spray adhesive will help keep it from slipping down.)
- Put the rifle’s forend on the bones where your hand meets your forearm; your fingers should be ‘floppy loose,’ not gripping the forend at all. Position your support/left elbow as close to directly under the rifle as possible. A perfectly vertical support arm is easy to duplicate. If your elbow is not under the rifle, any amount of variance will move the point of impact; if that variance is not the same, your point of impact will also vary. You may need to roll slightly on your left side to get your elbow under the rifle. If that’s the case, then pull your right elbow closer into your side … if possible, dig it into the ground a bit to help avoid slipping on recoil.
- Depending on what sort of shooting jacket is allowed (if any) use your shooting/right hand to position the butt well into the chest-shoulder ‘pocket.’ When you then move that shooting hand forward to grip the small of the stock, the pocket will tighten and your jacket folds will grip the stock and help hold it in place. (A little spray adhesive on the butt and on your jacket will help prevent slipping too.)
- After building this solid position, you will need to refine it to achieve a relaxed, natural-point-of-aim. To do this:
a. First wiggle your hips to get as close as possible to that relaxed, on-target position.
b. If your sights aren’t dead on, slide your right foot to the left or right a bit to move the muzzle in the opposite direction. (Try it! This works for a gentle, lateral adjustment.) - Three peripheral comments. Practice getting into prone, then getting up, and getting down … until you have a reliable routine. When practicing getting into a good prone position, don’t forget to do it with your scorebook and shooting scope so that you know where to place them for use with little or no movement. Finally, practice dry fire with a helper whacking the muzzle to simulate recoil and consistent, on-target recovery. (On an M1/M14, the helper can hit the oprod to cycle the action.)
I hope these are helpful. They helped me!
Army Qualification Practice
August 27, 2021
Learn how the U.S. Army has updated shooting for qualification. This is a simple overview of conducting practice for Table III.
Firearm purchasing and firearm violence during the coronavirus pandemic in the United States: a cross-sectional study
July 19, 2021
Injury Epidemiology
Volume 8, Article number: 43 (2021)
Authors: Julia P. Schleimer, Christopher D. McCort, Aaron B. Shev, Veronica A. Pear, Elizabeth Tomsich, Alaina De Biasi, Shani Buggs, Hannah S. Laqueur & Garen J. Wintemute
Background
A surge in firearm purchasing following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic may have contributed to an increase in firearm violence. We sought to estimate the state-level association between firearm purchasing and interpersonal firearm violence during the pandemic.
Methods
Cross-sectional study of the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia from January 2018 through July 2020. Data were obtained from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (a proxy for firearm purchasing) and the Gun Violence Archive. Using negative binomial regression models, we estimated the association between cumulative excess firearm purchases in March through July 2020 (measured as the difference between observed rates and those expected from autoregressive integrated moving average models) and injuries (including nonfatal and fatal) from intentional, interpersonal firearm violence (non-domestic and domestic violence).
Results
We estimated that there were 4.3 million excess firearm purchases nationally from March through July 2020 and a total of 4075 more firearm injuries than expected from April through July. We found no relationship between state-level excess purchasing and non-domestic firearm violence, e.g., each excess purchase per 100 population was associated with a rate ratio (RR) of firearm injury from non-domestic violence of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.50–1.02) in April; 0.99 (95% CI: 0.72–1.25) in May; 1.10 (95% CI: 0.93–1.32) in June; and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.85–1.12) in July. Excess firearm purchasing within states was associated with an increase in firearm injuries from domestic violence in April (RR: 2.60; 95% CI: 1.32–5.93) and May (RR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.19–2.91), though estimates were sensitive to model specification.
Conclusions
Nationwide, firearm purchasing and firearm violence increased substantially during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic. At the state level, the magnitude of the increase in purchasing was not associated with the magnitude of the increase in firearm violence. Increases in purchasing may have contributed to additional firearm injuries from domestic violence in April and May. Results suggest much of the rise in firearm violence during our study period was attributable to other factors, indicating a need for additional research.
Kim Rhode vs MSM
July 9, 2021
Memes about Kim Rhode and her lack of mainstream media attention have been circulating recently.
It’s easy to blame MSM for lack of pro-gun coverage. It is also inaccurate. First, this ignores the demographics of shooting and pro-gun involvement compared to more mainstream interests, such as sport ball athletes and movie celebrities. MSM does not care about you or your issues. They care about three things:
- How many people watch/read/use their outlet/broadcast.
- How much time those people spend on viewing/reading/listening.
- How many dollars marketers will pay them for access to those viewers/readers/listeners.
The same can be said for all media outlets. Replace the name of any broadcast or print media outlet or news program and this is still true. I’ve found some pro-gun media outlets resistant to publishing information on competition shooting because it doesn’t cater to their readership. If it’s true for pro-gun publications and websites, even though they are focused on the specific niche and demographic of “gun owner” instead of the public at large, then it shouldn’t be surprising that general media at large is disinterested.
After Kim Rhode medalled in six Olympics in a row, some claimed her lack of media coverage was due to media bias. However, USA Today, the New York Times, CBS Sports, SB Nation, NBC, WGN, People Magazine, NBC 9News, and the Chicago Tribune published articles about her. Other publications such as Time, Forbes, the Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR published articles about Rhode’s accomplishments that highlighted her views on the Second Amendment.
Tokyo 2020(2021) Olympics
NBC Sports: Shooting Highlights
NBC Sports: Shooting Replays
Shooting Sports USA Wrap up:
U.S. Earns Six Olympic Shooting Medals In Tokyo, Best Performance Since 1964
https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2021/8/3/us-earns-six-olympic-shooting-medals-in-tokyo-best-performance-since-1964/
On Her Turf: Olympic Shooter Mary Tucker
An exclusive interview with Team USA Air Rifle Shooter Mary Tucker, who competed in the first medal match of the 2020 Olympic Games. Tucker talks about gender equality in her sport, and how YouTube helped her train. Mary Tucker discusses Olympic, Collegiate, and Women’s rifle competitions.
Wall Street Journal: Mary Tucker
Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/07/24/womens-10-meter-air-rifle-tokyo-olympics/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/chinas-yang-takes-first-gold-at-uneasy-tokyo-olympics/2021/07/24/0f8328aa-ec5c-11eb-a2ba-3be31d349258_story.html
Insider
https://www.insider.com/us-army-lieutenant-set-an-olympic-record-after-missing-2021-7
ABC News (from AP)
Olympic air rifles turning heads with futuristic looks
https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/olympic-air-rifles-turning-heads-futuristic-79080921
Metro (Schneps Media publishes the leading free weekday daily newspapers in New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
https://www.metro.us/olympics-shooting-win-and-yang-china/
Tech Radar: How to Watch Olympic Shooting
https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/how-to-watch-shooting-at-olympics-2020-live-stream-free
BBC Sport
https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/57748989
The Bridge: Olympic Shooting overview
https://thebridge.in/shooting/shooting-tokyo-olympics-rules-regulations-20560
https://thebridge.in/shooting/shooting-tokyo-olympics-preview-guide-schedule-indian-players-22717
Republic World
https://www.republicworld.com/sports-news/other-sports/tokyo-olympics-check-out-shooting-event-details-preview-guide-schedule-indian-players.html
British Olympic Association (Team GB): Olympic Shooting guide:
https://www.teamgb.com/article/shooting-an-olympic-sport-guide/4a5X0mJs0yMuZaE3Lhahza
The Guardian: Gun rights and Gold medals
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/26/gun-rights-and-golds-us-shooters-sweep-skeet-in-tokyo
NBC Today Show
NBC Today Show: Amber English and Vincent Hancock Skeet Gold Women, Skeet Gold Men
Will Shaner:
USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2021/07/25/william-shaner-sets-olympic-record-win-gold-mens-10-m-air-rifle/8085530002/
https://news.yahoo.com/william-shaner-u-sets-olympic-071444127.html
Boston Globe:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/25/sports/all-american-shooter-william-shaner-adds-another-gold-us-haul/
ESPN:
https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31880081/william-shaner-sets-olympic-record-win-10-meter-air-rifle-gold-tokyo
https://news.yahoo.com/usas-william-shaner-wins-gold-074801488.html
Fox News:
https://video.foxnews.com/v/6266801797001
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/us-army-olympian-amber-english-gold-medal-skeet-shooting
https://video.foxnews.com/v/6266801797001#sp=show-clips
Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/shooting-stefecekova-slovakia-wins-womens-trap-gold-tokyo-2021-07-29/
NBC New York: Kayle Browning (USA) and Alessandra Perilli (San Marino)
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/tokyo-summer-olympics/u-s-shooting-kayle-browning-takes-silver-as-san-marino-takes-first-ever-medal/3183668/
https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/us-shooter-kayle-browning-takes-silver-san-marino-takes-first-ever-medal
NPR: Alessandra Perilli (San Marino)
https://www.npr.org/sections/tokyo-olympics-live-updates/2021/07/29/1022160238/tiny-san-marino-population-34-000-just-won-its-first-ever-olympic-medal
Star Tribune: Patrick Sunderman
https://www.startribune.com/tokyo-olympics-patrick-sunderman-farmington-air-rifle/600083645/
How Japan’s gun laws impact competition shooting
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/05/25/olympics/summer-olympics/shooting/gun-laws-japan-olympics/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/05/25/olympics/summer-olympics/shooting/gun-laws-japan-olympics/
This isn’t some nefarious anti-gun plot, it is simply catering to the majority. Gun owners are largely ignorant of organized shooting activity. Non-gun owners are even less aware and interested. This is the simple result of a market in action, not back-room politics trying to steal your guns. If the issue is controversial but of interest to a small minority, it’s probably easier to just avoid dealings and prevent alienating the majority, and especially alienating people and companies buying advertising/marketing trying to reach that general public.
Even among those gun owners that are active, activities such as golf eclipse them by a large margin. Again, the market speaks. If more people golf and are willing to pay for it, then more golf courses are built and more golf coverage is seen in the mainstream media because more people are voting with their dollars and feet. Gun owners are simply not as active, even when various reports claim that they are.
This is not an anti-gun plot. Garnering publicity and inspiring public interest is a tough row to hoe for every organization.
Common, accepted estimates place somewhere between 50-80 million Americans as owning at least one firearm. I don’t know why there is such a vast lack of interest in organized shooting events among them but given that there is, shooting will never be a mainstream activity. It’s not politics. It’s not anti-gun policy. It’s the result of the market voting with their dollars and feet.
Read another take here:
http://www.ammoland.com/the-prying-business-of-facebook-and-guns
Canadian Rangers
February 5, 2021
MilitaryMarksman, Shooting competitive shooting, Service Conditions Leave a comment
The Canadian Rangers compete in Service Conditions competitions using their issue Lee-Enfield bolt action rifles, recently replaced by the Colt Canada C19, a license-built, Finnish-designed Tikka T3 CTR bolt action rifle.
Here are links to examples of them shooting at CAFSAC, Connaught Range (CRPTC)
https://www.tiktok.com/@donald_sutherland/video/6925432966889917702
