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Classes include; Safety, Positions, Sight Alignment and Sight picture, Natural Point of Aim (NPA), BRASS, and Terminology. Kentwood USMCJROTC Rifle Team. Safety. Class 1. Four universal safety rules:. Treat all firearms as if they are loaded.
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Classes include; Safety, Positions, Sight Alignment and Sight picture, Natural Point of Aim (NPA), BRASS, and Terminology Kentwood USMCJROTC Rifle Team
Safety Class 1
Four universal safety rules: • Treat all firearms as if they are loaded. • Never point your weapon at anything that you do not intend to shoot. • Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire. • Keep your safety on until you are ready to fire.
When is a rifle considered ‘safe’? • A rifle is safe ONLY when the bolt is back, and the safety is on. • Shooting competitions will require the participant to use an Empty Chamber Indicator (ECI) to indicate that the barrel is free from all rounds. • For the safety button: Red = Fire Black = No Fire The button is pushed in to the right, showing black.
Range commands • The Range Safety Officer (RSO) must be obeyed at all times. In a match he will give you commands similar to these: • “Shooters, move your equipment to the line.” - Bring all equipment to your firing point on the line and set up your mat, scope, pellets, etc. - When you bring your rifle to the line you must have your rifle barrel sticking over the firing line.) - ECI must remain in the barrel
Cont. from Range commands • “The five minute preparation time has begun.” - Put your sling on and get into position - You are now allowed to remove your ECI - Prepare yourself by acting out the steps of a good shooter • “Shooters, with one round, load.” - Pump your rifle, insert a pellet into the chamber, and close the bolt
Cont. from Range commands • “You may unlock.” - You can take the safety off - Shooting finger must remain on the trigger guard “The line is hot; you may commence fire when ready.” - When ready, begin shooting.
Cont. from Range commands • “Cease fire! Cease fire on the line!” - Immediately stop shooting and follow the rules of a cease fire • “The Range is cold.” - The shooting phase and/or competition has ended and the shooter can now leave
Cease fire • If this command is called the shooter must: 1. Stop firing immediately regardless whether a pellet is in the chamber or not 2. Put the safety ON 3. Either point the rifle up at the ceiling, or set it on the ground • Anybody can call a cease fire. The Range Safety Officer, shooting participants, spectators, all can issue this command.
When are Cease Fires called? • Someone has stepped over the shooting line • A shooting trap has fallen rendering the participant to not being able to shoot (only the RSO can issue this, as it is a ruling) • The RSO may give this command if the limited amount of time has been reached and shooters remain on the shooting line • When all participants have completed their shooting
Safety Equipment • ECI (Empty Chamber Indicator) • The only safety equipment needed in this course are safety glasses. • Safety glasses must be worn at all times when on the firing line. • The shade of the glasses depend on the shooters preference. Dark, clear, yellow, blue tints are all acceptable.
Rifle Nomenclature Class 2
.177 Daisy Avanti 853CM Rear Sight Front Sight Bolt Barrel Muzzle Break Stock Breech Sling Attachment Pump Trigger Safety Button Trigger Guard Pistol Grip Butt
Key Ideas • The muzzle break on this rifle acts nothing more than a weight to balance out the rifle for the shooter • The raised edge on the stock is where you place your cheek • The sling attachment is adjustable back and forth
Miscellaneous Terminology • Empty Chamber Indicator – • Maintenance Rod – • Aperture –
Class 3 Sight Alignment and Sight Picture
Sight Alignment • Sight Alignment is the relationship between the front and rear sight. • Perfect sight alignment is when the front sight is centered with the rear sight. • Sight alignment has a greater affect on where the round hits rather than sight picture.
Sight Picture • Sight Picture is the relationship between the front sight and the target. • Perfect sight picture is when the target is center in front sight. Things to know about sight picture:
Aperture • The aperture is what you are centering on your front sight. The size of your front sight aperture can be changed. • If you can not see any white around the target you need a larger aperture. • Most people prefer to have a smaller line of white around the target. This is because the less white you have to deal with the less chance you have of off centering the target. But, it’s the shooter’s decision.
Focusing • Trying to center the front sight, rear sight, and bulls-eye of the target at the same time is quite difficult. • It is in the shooter’s best interest to focus on the front sight first. • Doing so will then allow the sight picture and sight alignment to center. • The last thing you should focus on before you take the shot is the alignment of the sights.
Eye Relief • Eye Relief is simply a term used to describe the distance from the rear sight to your eye. • Adjusting your eye relief will adjust how much of the sight alignment you see.
(NPA) Natural Point of Aim Class 5
This is the position in which your body natural points the rifle. Natural Point of Aim (NPA)
How to find positional NPA • Get into position. • Keep your breathing normal. • Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. • Make sure all of your muscles are relaxed. • Open your eyes and where ever you rifle is pointing that is where your NPA is. • Repeat this process 2 to 3 times in order to insure that your NPA is correct.
How to correct you NPA • If your NPA is off, you will need to adjust it to ensure that your pellet will accurately hit the target. • When adjusting your NPA, do not move your entire body, just pivot.
How to correct NPA cont. • In prone you want to pivot your body around your elbow to adjust your NPA.
How to correct NPA cont. • In order to adjust your NPA in kneeling you must move your forward foot either left or right.
How to correct NPA cont. • To adjust your NPA in the sitting position your need to rotate your butt.
How to correct NPA cont. • In order to adjust your NPA in the offhand position your need to slide your rear foot either left or right.
Class 6 B.R.A.S.S. (Breathe, Relax, Aim, Stop, Squeeze)
Breathe • When shooting there are several breathing techniques that you can use; • When you breath your body has a natural respiratory pause in between breaths. This is an opportune time to the shot. • You can take a shot also at the top of your breathe or at the bottom of your breath. • A(n) important thing to remember with breathing is that you want to make sure that you have the same amount of air in your lungs for each shot.
Relax • You don't want to muscle the rifle. You want to make sure that your sling or your skeletal structure is taking up the weight of the rifle. • You want to turn your muscles into jell-o. In other words, don't use them. • If you are tense, your muscles will get tired and this will cause you to shake.
Aim • When aim you want to get that perfect sight alignment and sight picture. • When aiming in, it is important to bring the butt of the rifle up and place it into your shoulder between the deltoid muscle and the collarbone. • In the standing position, it is common for shooters to bring the rifle up, point it at the ceiling, and slowly bring it down.
Stop • Simply stop. • Pause for a moment, go through the technique of BRASS. • Stopping allows the shooter to better judge whether he needs to re-acquire his NPA, or simply take a few more breaths.
Squeeze • You want to squeeze the trigger ever so lightly. The shot should somewhat surprise you. • Typically it takes two or three seconds for a good shooter to correctly pull the trigger.
Errors • If a shooter does not breathe before he takes a shot, he could end up tensing up and begin to shake. • The most common shooting mistakes that come from NOT following BRASS are: • Flinching – Anticipating some sort of re-coil, cuasing the shooter to look away when squeezing the trigger. This is a pellet rifle, there is no such thing as re-coil with these.
Errors cont. • Jerking the rifle – squeezing too fast causing the shot to go off center • Muscling the rifle – gripping the rifle much too hard causing you to shake
Positions Class 6
Positions • All of the positions are about stability and consistency. • You want the most stable position as well as one you can easily replicate every time for every shot.
Tips for consistency • Find a way to measure the length of your sling in each position. For example, maybe in prone the sling is the distance from the tip of your middle finger to your elbow. Write the information down in your data book. • Load the same every time. Load the pellet, close the bolt, and then pump the rifle. This will reduce any loading flaws. Be sure to only load ONE pellet at a time and pump the rifle only ONCE per shot.
Tips for consistency • Grab the butt of the rifle and place it in your shoulder – the same spot every time. • Place your chin on the stock, looking over the rifle 90o away from the sights. Then turn your head to look through the sights. • This will help keep the position natural and ensure the same spot weld and eye relief.
Tips for consistency • Find a breathing pattern and do it the same way for every shot. • A good shooter takes his shot consistently with each breath. For example, a shooter may take 3 deep breaths and then bring his rifle up, and bring the rifle down and shoot at the exhale of his breath.
Tips for consistency • When setting up your equipment, you want it all easily accessible. • Your scope should be in a place where you can easily move your head and look through it. • You don’t want to be moving around your body and feet, because this will cause you to lose your NPA.
Tips for consistency • Your pellets need to be somewhere within reach. In off-hand, it is a good idea to use a chair to pace your pellets on, that way you don’t have to bend down to pick them up.
Positions • The positions described below are for right handed shooters. If you are left handed, you will be opposite. • Whether you are right handed or left handed depends on your dominant eye. If you are right eye dominant, you are a right handed shooter.
Finding your dominant eye • Select an object that is a few feet away from you. • Stare at the object and then point to the object using your index finger. • When your eyes are focused on the object and not on your finger, you will see two blurry fingers in your line of sight.
Finding your dominant eye • Now, close one eye and then close the other eye. You will notice that with one of your eyes closed, your index finger will point exactly at the object, however, when the other eye is closed, your finger will point at an area slightly shifted to the side of the object. • The eye with which you see your index finger pointing exactly at the object is your dominant eye.
Prone • The most stable position. • Your entire body is in contact with the ground, so you are extremely stable. • Make sure that your sling is tight and located above the bicep - it has a tendency to loosen. • You can use a shooting mat in this position.