mark brewer
Member
i told this tale on another gun forum, but i feel like telling it again. maybe it'll be of some small interest to somebody.
in 1976, at the age of 17 and a half, i joined the kentucky national guard and just as the summer was getting hot, i found myself up in the middle of army basic training at sunny fort jackson, south carolina. a sand pit.
i admit that i was not great soldier material. i was much more interested in the 3Gs (girls, grass, and guitars) than anything else. i was sort of ...pushed... into joining the military.
so, you know, if you were in the military, they love you if you can shoot at something and actually hit what you're shooting at. well, i wasn't good at marching or shining my boots, but i went out to that firing range and fired expert, 65 out of 80. i don't remember for sure, but i think i was the only one in my platoon to do so.
but what's interesting is how i did it. the week before we went to the rifle range, i was on a detail in on office. in this office was a rubber m-16 and a target. an NCO, an E-7. had me to get down in the floor and practice breathing and squeezing the trigger. over and over. so that was a help.
but then, he told me something that made even more difference to me. he told me (more or less) "when you get out on the range, don't aim at the middle of the target. aim at right where the target meets the ground and your bullet will hit the ground and knock little pieces of rocks and dirt up and it will hit the target and knock it down."
so. i get out on the range and at first i was just blasting away, like everybody else and not getting the results i wanted. i mean, hell, i was 17. i knew more than anybody about anything. then i remembered what he told me and i started doing it and the targets fell real consistently after that. and i fired expert and that meant i got to ride in a truck when everybody else was running in the SC heat and therefore i survived basic training.
a couple of years ago, i was thinking about this and realized what had happened. aiming at the base of the target meant i was frequently hitting the ground some inches in front of the target, then the bullet was tumbling as it flew into the target. a broadside bullet was more likely to knock the target down. furthermore, if you were aiming at the center of the target. you were less likely to knock it down because the damn things were full of bullet holes!
so i wish i could thank that kind E-7 who helped me fire expert, but i never saw him again.
SO: if you are a young guy or gal getting ready for BCT, remember this. will it work on those fancy plastic targets they use on the range these days? i do not know. but if the targets ain't falling like you want them to, it's worth a try!
in 1976, at the age of 17 and a half, i joined the kentucky national guard and just as the summer was getting hot, i found myself up in the middle of army basic training at sunny fort jackson, south carolina. a sand pit.
i admit that i was not great soldier material. i was much more interested in the 3Gs (girls, grass, and guitars) than anything else. i was sort of ...pushed... into joining the military.
so, you know, if you were in the military, they love you if you can shoot at something and actually hit what you're shooting at. well, i wasn't good at marching or shining my boots, but i went out to that firing range and fired expert, 65 out of 80. i don't remember for sure, but i think i was the only one in my platoon to do so.
but what's interesting is how i did it. the week before we went to the rifle range, i was on a detail in on office. in this office was a rubber m-16 and a target. an NCO, an E-7. had me to get down in the floor and practice breathing and squeezing the trigger. over and over. so that was a help.
but then, he told me something that made even more difference to me. he told me (more or less) "when you get out on the range, don't aim at the middle of the target. aim at right where the target meets the ground and your bullet will hit the ground and knock little pieces of rocks and dirt up and it will hit the target and knock it down."
so. i get out on the range and at first i was just blasting away, like everybody else and not getting the results i wanted. i mean, hell, i was 17. i knew more than anybody about anything. then i remembered what he told me and i started doing it and the targets fell real consistently after that. and i fired expert and that meant i got to ride in a truck when everybody else was running in the SC heat and therefore i survived basic training.
a couple of years ago, i was thinking about this and realized what had happened. aiming at the base of the target meant i was frequently hitting the ground some inches in front of the target, then the bullet was tumbling as it flew into the target. a broadside bullet was more likely to knock the target down. furthermore, if you were aiming at the center of the target. you were less likely to knock it down because the damn things were full of bullet holes!
so i wish i could thank that kind E-7 who helped me fire expert, but i never saw him again.
SO: if you are a young guy or gal getting ready for BCT, remember this. will it work on those fancy plastic targets they use on the range these days? i do not know. but if the targets ain't falling like you want them to, it's worth a try!
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