Yesterday morning, I qualified as an Expert rifle marksman. Was shooting an M4 Carbine (for non-gun-nuts/Call Of Duty players, similar to an M16, but with a bit shorter barrel and lighter in weight, designed for close quarters). The weapon I was using looks just like the one on the wiki page, only no forward vertical grip or special sight.

I had previously qualified Expert on the pistol course (using a Beretta M9) (I'm much more comfortable with a pistol for whatever reason), but have struggled with the rifle. To course of fire is below for anyone who's interested in learning more.

Also, post pictures/videos/stats of guns you own, have shot, would like to shoot, shooting achievements you've accomplished, what you normally like to shoot at and where, etc.

for pistol:
loaded with a 6 round magazine (1 chambered), with weapon holstered, hands at waist: (each course includes drawing the weapon, removing the safety, and firing the appropriate amount of rounds in the specified time at center mass of a man-sized/shaped target.)
-3 yards:
--2 rounds in 4 seconds (x2)
--4 rounds in 10 seconds (includes combat reload from a 6 round magazine in belt pouch)
--4 rounds in 8 seconds (2 rounds strong side, two rounds weak side supported)
-7 yards: (same as 3 yards)
-25 yards: (loaded with a 12 round magazine)
--2 rounds in 4 seconds (x2)
--4 rounds in 8 seconds
--8 rounds in 20 seconds (includes combat reload from a 12 round magazine in belt pouch)
--8 rounds in 20 seconds (drop to kneeling at start of timer)
Scoring: 5 points for bullseye, drops to 4, 3, or 2 points as you move out from center, and 0 points if you miss the target. Top score is (48x5) 240. 228 or better for Expert. My most recent (and top) score is 235.

for rifle:
(Where the pistol course focuses more on quick weapon employment, the rifle course focuses more on sharpshooting. Start with a 10 round magazine and fire from prone position at 200 yards (or use smaller target and closer range if limited in space) to adjust sights, does not count towards score. Once rifle is sighted in, course of fire begins, (again at 200 yards, or with adjusted target) which includes moving into the appropriate firing position, charging the weapon (starts with no round chambered) and firing the specified number of rounds). (We fired from 25 yards with a rectangular target about 5 1/2" x 9", with a bullseye circle in the middle about an 1 1/2" diameter.)
prone:
-5 rounds in 5 minutes, starting from the prone position.
-10 rounds in 70 seconds, starting from the standing position and dropping to the prone. Also includes combat reload after the first 5 rounds.
kneeling:
-same as prone, but using a kneeling position rather than prone.
standing:
-10 rounds in 10 minutes from a standing position (at 200 yards, this is a lot harder than it sounds, especially when shooting on the flight deck of a Destroyer in the ocean (ship rocking)).
Scoring:
5 points for a bullseye, 4 points for a near-bullseye, 3 points anywhere else on the target, 0 points if you miss the target. Total possible points of 200. 170 points minimum for Expert. I shot 173 yesterday.

That's pretty impressive and cool as hell.

Oy!

Congrats, Sarn. Hopefully you can fix that "falling off a cliff" issue with marksmanship. Wi-hink.

congratulations. thats pretty awesome!

LOCK AND LOAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, I remember doing the same thing 8 years ago.

WEIRD.

Congratulations. I've always wanted to get into hobby shooting but it's a little beyond my budget at the moment.

sran is no 'hobby shooter' sir, he is a professional military badass

I remember when I shot expert. The standards were a little... different.

lol well hardly. I'm sure there's plenty of rednecks out there that can outshoot me drunk and blindfolded.. (and probably some members of this site that could as well). Still, I'm proud of my achievement, and thought some of you might find this interesting.

Antony, can you elaborate? Specifically, in what way different and also, what branch? And,when was this? (I know each branch has their own set of rules, and I'm curious as to how they compare.)

The main range I shot at in boot was split into three distances. I don't remember the exact details, so I might be wrong on one or two things (this was over a year ago. bear with me).

The closest distance was 200 yards. You fired 5 rounds from the sitting, kneeling, and standing positions. All of that was slow fire. I don't remember if there was a rapid fire portion or not from that distance.

Then you moved out to 300 yards. 5 rounds sitting and then 10 rounds rapid fire from prone.

And finally you moved out to the 500 yard line to do 10 rounds slow fire from the prone position.

After that was table 2 (which was a few weeks later). It was a combination of standing and kneeling while shooting at two side by side targets with some combat reloads in between, and then shooting at some moving targets from a slightly greater distance. I think it was the 25 and 30 yard line or something of that nature. Table 2 is pretty hazy for me. I was about to pass out the entire time from being sick as hell. I was technically on bed rest for the entire ordeal, but my DI's would sneak me in there so I could qual.

As long as you listen to the coaches it's pretty easy to shoot well. Spook can probably give a more accurate description of the tables, as I'm sure he's done it far more times than I did.

I hear that these days the Marines allow you to use an RCO to qualify in boot. I didn't have that luxury. It was all iron sights on a windy, rainy, below freezing day.

On the other side of the tree, the Army had us fire from one location in the prone position at up to 300 yds to qualify. I think they came up at 50, 150, and 300 but I'm not 100% on the regs since it was like 7 years ago.

(My DS set my **** to burst when I wasn't looking and I wasted 2 rounds and also got chewed pretty hard )

Some moron decided he wanted to see what burst fire was like while I was at the range. He got NJP'd and kicked out.

Wait, why wouldn't they let you try out all the firing modes on a weapon during practice..isn't that what the range is for? Getting familiar with the weapon?

No. You are told that you will never, under any circumstances, use burst fire because it is inaccurate and a total waste of ammunition. The range is for learning to fire the weapon like a Marine, and passing qualification.

Kinda reminds me.. One time we were at the range, and some girl in our command was shooting the M16, and the disconnector (I think) broke, and the gun fired off its remaining rounds in full auto, even after she took her finger off the trigger. Boy, that was a fun time for us. We were all line coaching, and all of a sudden we hear full auto fire. To the girl's credit she handled it calmly, by maintaining the muzzle of the weapon downrange until the magazine ran empty. Unlike the girl just the other day, who got brass down the back of her uniform and dropped (threw) her non-safe rifle on the ground, causing it to bounce and flip around mid air so it was facing the people behind the firing line, jumped up and started dancing around, stepping forward of the firing line (which her line coach didn't immediately resolve by grabbing her and yanking back since he was dealing with securing the rifle she basically threw). Luckily no one was hurt, but my LPO just about threw her in the ocean, I think.

How do you even get brass down the back of your blouse?

I did it in a convoy exercise once. I don't remember how but I definitely remember being rather unhappy about it.

Haha it never occurred to me that it might be someone else's brass. :facepalm:

Yeah, it's not a pleseant experience. Basically, she was firing from the prone. Person next to her was also firing from prone. Fired a round, the brass ejected, landed on the back of her neck and rolled down into her blouse. Ouch. Sucky. But I would think most of us would still have the cognitive awareness to 1) grit our teeth and wait the 15 seconds it takes for the spent cartridge to cool, or 2) safe the weapon, lay it safely down range on the deck, then stand up and back from the firing line to shake the round loose.

*shrug*

Why do these weapons have burst modes, if they're not meant to be used? Surely the whole device would be mechanically simpler (and thus less likely to break/jam?) without it, if it's a superfluous feature...?

Well really, there's not too much difference between a semi-auto weapon and an auto weapon.
Also,. there is a time for using full auto. Generally just when laying down supressive fire. It would really suck to find yourself in a position where that was necessary and not have the capability.

But as far as I know, there's no greater tendency for an automatic weapon to break/jam than for a semi auto weapon to do so. Usually a gun is going to jam often if it has a poorly designed feeding system (ie the MK38 chain gun has a pretty ****ty feed assembly and tends to jam often on full auto).

that's awesome. what's your mos?

I loved the m4, only qualified marksman at basic, but my shooting kept getting better at each range. Hopefully going to get a chance to go to Squad Designated Marksmanship course this summer. I'm a 19D (Cavalry Scout) in the National Guard. OSUT was so much fun. Been through BCT twice...failed the first time in '04, was going for 88m (truck driver) back then, got sick and sucked the pt test and got sent home. 7 years later I returned and emerged victorious with a better mos.

I fired best in kneeling, after shown a trick with the sling.

Rapid fire sitting at 200. We generally use RCOs in the operating forces now, but it's not any easier, like everyone thinks it is.

There is also tables 3 and four, which involve moving forward, and at an angle, as well as night shooting.

Yeah I thought there might have been a rapid fire at 200. For me it seems like the RCO would almost be tougher. I was under the impression that you more or less had to use Kentucky windage with it.

Well, it's technically offset aiming because you calculate it. Kentucky windage is when you chase the spotter.

The big challenge of the RCO is psychological. It lets you see how much you are shaking.

I did a lot of shooting while moving during VBSS school, but that was close quarters range and with an aim point sight, so pretty freakin easy as long as you can keep your upper body steady. Also, most people in the Navy will never experience that. The purpose of the qualification course in the Navy is to create qualified armed watchstanders. Who are going to sit on the quarterdeck of a ship and probably never draw their weapon in a real world situation.

In addition to the courses I described above, we also have a HPWC (Hangun practical weapon course, which has things like firing around baricades and while making use of cover and is designed to teach people to operate a weapon safely under stressful situations), HLLC (Handgun low light course), and RLLC (Rifle low light course). Btw, what's RCO stand for? Is it something similar to our PWC?

And Lost One, we don't have MOS's in the Navy, we have Ratings. My rating is Gunner's Mate, and I also have an NEC (Navy Enlisted Classification, basically a specialization within my rate) for VLS the vertical missile launching system onboard destroyers and cruisers.

Cool stuff. Congratulations, seems like you've hit the bullseye most of the time. Nice. I'm sure I would've enjoyed military service if I had been American. I do enjoy shooting live weapons, but -- as they're illegal in the country I live in -- the only way I can get access to handguns is in the firing range, and that's pretty damn expensive.

Rifle combat optic. It's the same thing as an ACOG (advanced combat optical gunsight) but because the Marine Corps is useless and retarded they insist on calling it something else.

We also have new cool optics for the SAWs which are way better than the ****ty, close-eye-relief optic that is the RCO.

It's the ANPVQ-31A or something, if your PWC has the same designation.

I thought the point of firearms training was to make someone less dangerous, but you always have been a little backwards.

Pictured: What the Navy considers "dangerous"

Pictured: What the Navy actually considers "dangerous"

Oh that makes more sense. I thought you guys were talking about a qual course. That's what PWC is. We use the term ACOG for optics. Or just call them "Aim Point" or optics.

LOL MILITARY BRANCH JOKES