Accuracy and Marksmanship
Consider the following scenario as you read this chapter:Your base of operations has been experiencing nightly mortar attacks. Intel suggests that a couple of enterprising young men have acquired an old Russian 82mm tube and some number of rounds. They have taken to the rude habit of sneaking around at night, setting up the tube and dropping in a few random rounds. Before the counter-battery fire can react, the ingrates disappear into the night.
The CO likes his martinis stirred, not shaken. In addition, the last attack knocked out the internet connection, and everyone is pissed because they can’t play Call of Duty against the Marines up the road. War is hell.
The boss orders observation posts at several locations so as to catch the vermin. You, being one of the better shots in the outfit, are politely asked to abandon the luxury
accommodations of your cot and join in the fun.
Your position is on a rocky ridge, overlooking a valley below. Sure enough, you see three suspicious-looking gentlemen carrying what has to be a mortar tube, base plate, and a couple of footballs with fins. They are about 400 meters out, and you are significantly higher than the targets. Standoff force projection (airstrike or arty) is a negative – chance of
collateral damage and all that. You are given permission to engage. You know that once that M4 starts barking, those dudes down below are going to hightail it out of there. You may have time to get off three, maybe four shots before they recover from the confusion and become moving targets. So, Mr. Liege of Lethality - how do you make those shots?
Even with a non-precision rifle, there may be times when you need to place a shot at longer distances. The much-maligned 5.56 NATO cartridge used in the AR platform is considered by many to be the least powerful of the entire spectrum of modern battle rifles. While the debates rage on this topic, it is a fact that the ballistics of the cartridge enables it to reach out to 400-500 meters, with some people claiming terminal capabilities to 600 meters. I have personally
watched the Army Marksmanship Team hit targets with iron sights at 600. While I’m not sure of the energy being delivered by the lead at that range, striking a threat is possible at those
distances. If your weapon of choice is not an AR, the chances are your ballistics will be at least as good out to some distance – perhaps better.
I seriously hesitated to include a section on distance shooting in this book. Pat Rodgers, a highly respected firearms instructor and retired United States Marine is attributed as saying, “If I were in charge for the day, the word ‘marksmanship’ would be removed from the English language.” While I have no way of knowing the exact context intended by Mr. Rodgers, I fully understand the frustrations experienced by some instructors with operators who concentrate more on marksmanship than fighting the weapon. More than once, I’ve wanted to scold a client like so, “Just fight the damn weapon, and stop worrying about centering your rounds!” It is a waste of precious time to focus on one-inch groups when involved in a gunfight at combat distances. Two hits to the core, even if four inches apart, are going to be just as effective as two hits an inch apart. In some cases, the former would be arguably more damaging.
Even if you strongly believe you will never encounter a scenario as described above, I believe in milking every last bit of accuracy out of a weapon platform of choice. Most of the techniques so far have addressed speed on target while sacrificing accuracy, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be a more effective gunfighter if you start off with an accurate weapon.
A weapon that enters the fight as finely tuned as possible may make the different between a hit and a miss. Any rifle being used in combat can benefit from being as accurate as possible. Even if you don’t believe you will ever have to engage at medium expanses, setting up your weapon and practicing at these longer ranges will improve your close-in capabilities.
If counter-sniper engagements are considered along with fighting in open, desert terrain, it only makes sense for Shootists to at least establish some level of marksmanship in their skill sets. When considering distances over 300 meters, most shooters start thinking about magnification. Be it a scope, magnifier for a holographic optic or other device, accuracy for all but the most elite shooters improves if the target appears larger. When the all-too-common need to identify innocent versus hostile is thrown into the mix, zooming in becomes almost a necessity. More than once I have seen a situation where allowing a threat to get closer, so as to verify identity, led to trouble.
Hitting a target at 600 meters is not on par with the capability and skills of a sniper or long- distance competition shooter. These mid-distance engagements seem to be a bit of a no-man’s
land with regards to both training and equipment. Even though both medium and long-range engagements use a rifle, these two categories are worlds apart. Don’t think that because you master hitting a relatively large target (man-sized) at 600 meters that you are now a long-range Shootist or on par with a sniper. Not only are the equipment, ammunition and skills different, each has a terminology all its own.
Hang around a 1,000-yard competition and you will witness long conversations about “lands,” which has nothing to do with the surrounding terrain. It is common for these marksmen to refer to a weapon as a “hammer,” no doubt a derivative of the old phrase “tack driver.” For them, the rifle isn’t aimed, it is steered. Hearing phrases, such as head spacing, free bore and wildcatting, wouldn’t be unusual.
Of all of the topics in this book, longer-range shooting is the subject with which I personally have the least amount of experience. Only in recent years, did I start preparing to shoot NRA F-Class (1,000 yard) events, and then only as time allowed. Being able to project power over such distances has always been one of my personal bucket list items. Throughout the years, there just wasn’t enough time to develop the skills to perform in this role professionally. I have regulated myself to expanding my capabilities in this category of shooting for entertainment value only. The game changes when it comes to engaging a target at great distances, as many of the
methods and techniques described in previous sections of this book would make a long-distance rifleman cringe.
Accuracy at great distances is a worthy pursuit. There are few individual weapon systems more effective on the battlefield than to a sniper. One man can tie down dozens of regular troops, and many of the targets will likely be taken out of the fight. Counter-sniper skills are considered extremely valuable as well.
As stated above, extreme distance shooting is subject deserving a book all its own, and there are already some excellent works available. For the purposes of this writing, we will continue to focus on the 300-600 meter, mid-range engagement.
The System
As the distance of engagement increases, the more important it becomes for the Shootist to gain a perspective of what I refer to as “The System.”
Systems are made of components and processes, and you need to understand the integration of a few critical items to become a Shootist.
This book focuses on skills, ammunition, weapon, optic, and historical database (DOPE) as the five main components of mid-range
engagements.
The Shootist will be limited by the weakest link in this system. This is to say that you can have the most accurate, long-range pain stick ever to leave the lathe, and if you put junk ammunition into it, it’s little better than your ugly cousin’s BB gun. Anyone can acquire an ultra-accurate bullet chucker with the kinetic energy of Zeus’s
thunderbolts, but without the DOPE to aim it properly, it’s just a multi-thousand-dollar noisemaker.
In reality, there should be a sixth link in our chain – mindset. Without an aggressive, disciplined way of thinking, the rest of the process is flawed. Colonel Jeff Cooper’s books address the topic of mindset, and there is little this author can add to his work.
Equipment Preparations
Of all of the factors that can impact the accuracy of any weapon, the alignment of rail (or mount), barrel, and optic is the most common cause of problems I’ve encountered. In the good old days, the tap holes or machined groves on top of the receiver were the primary concerns when it came to mounting a scope. With the advent of the Picatinny Arsenal 1913 rail system used on so many platforms, the effort required to align optics became more complex. Shotguns,
pistols, AK’s, 4th generation assault rifles, and even some bows use this system. Most of the time, the rail is not directly machined as part of the receiver and thus the potential for problems increases.
The first mistake many people make is they align their optic with the 1913 rail.
The optic should be aligned with the barrel.
I have measured dozens of weapons ranging from low-end AR15s, modified AK’s, and high end sniper rifles. Over 30% of the rails do not align with the barrel.
For shorter distances, a hundredth of an inch of misalignment doesn’t matter that much, especially when dealing with a combat accurate class of weapon. Obviously, as distances increase, any error in alignment results in exponentially greater problems. How many times have you heard a friend complain about a rifle being inaccurate at greater distances? “It shoots sub-MOA at 100, but I can’t even find the paper at 500,” isn’t a rare complaint. The most likely cause of this situation is a badly mounted optic.
A badly aligned mount can impact close range shots as well. I will reiterate that every bit of accuracy available from the weapon increases the chances of winning a gunfight. It’s just common sense.
For years, bubble levels were the most commonly used tool to align and mount optics. These common garage items are fairly accurate when used by someone with a practiced eye. Most serious armorers and gunsmiths have upgraded to lasers and digital technology in the last few years. A beam of light, in our neck of the universe, doesn’t lie.
You can now purchase a combination digital, laser and bubble level at most hardware stores for less than $35. My particular model (pictured below) is now a common item in my shooting bag and has probably paid for itself ten times over in saved ammunition and frustration.
The picture above (Figure 12.1) shows a rifle in a gun vise being readied to mount a scope. The digital level is setting on the rail. With this device, you can quickly determine if the rail is aligned with the barrel. It can also be used to verify that scope rings are machined to tolerance as well as having a variety of other uses.
On many weapons there is not enough of the barrel protruding to allow for an accurate reading. In this situation, I use another hi-tech gadget called a laser bore sight (Figure 12.2). These handy little emitters are commonly used to bore sight a rifle before heading to the range. Designed to get the first shot onto the paper, they are inexpensive and worth the investment if you find yourself zeroing a lot of optics. They come in various calibers and look like a blank cartridge (pictured below).
A couple of watch batteries are inserted into the base of the device, and then you chamber it into the weapon just like a regular round. While bore sights work well for their stated purpose, I have also found them helpful in determining that my optic mount aligns (on incline) with my barrel.
This process is easy. You simply take the laser level and set it on the rail. Insert your laser bore sight into the chamber and trace the two laser points. The picture below shows the first up-close measurement (laser circles enhanced for the photograph).
I then take the same exact setup and move the paper about 20 feet away and make sure the two laser points are the same. You can trace the up-close red dots and then check the longer measurement against that template.
Verifying that the base or rail isn’t tilted horizontally involves the exact same process only with the rifle lying on its left side and then right. When you have finished, you should be confident that your rail is aligned true to your barrel.
If you use any sort of laser designators or other precision devices mounted to the side rails, you can verify their alignment the same way.
If you find that your base (or rail) is not properly aligned, there are a few things you can do about it. One of the first items I check is the torque of any fasteners holding the rail to the receiver. You should verify they are torqued to the manufacturer’s specifications.
Very slight differences in incline can also be corrected by “lapping” the scope mounts. This process basically involves sanding down part of the surface where the scope intersects with the rings. A very fine sand paper or lapping compound can be used. A company named Weaver even makes special lapping kits designed specifically for scope rings.
For serious problems, anything more than three degrees, a gunsmith should be consulted. Once you have determined your rail or other mounting system is exactly parallel with the barrel, then you can perform a similar process with the optic’s mounts. For example, if I were mounting a scope on the weapon pictured above, I would use the digital level sitting on top of the scope mount’s base(s) to make sure everything were aligned.
Of course, all of this is done before any optic is even near the weapon. I want to know that my rails (all of them, including side rails) are pointing exactly flush with the barrel. I also re-check this situation now and then, especially on weapons that see a lot of rounds expended. Any system used to secure the rails can be vibrated loose over time.
Another common issue that affects accuracy is the vertical alignment of riflescopes and other optics. While the laser level can be used for this process as well, I have found a plain old plumb line to be just as accurate. Once I have secured the rifle in a fixed position and double-checked it is level (side to side), I can hang a short piece of fishing line (or other narrow string) in front of the rifle and then twist the scope until the vertical post aligns on the string. As you tighten down the scope mounts, you want to continuously check that you haven’t twisted the optic slightly off line. Don’t be surprised if you have to loosen and tighten the scope rings several times to maintain your alignment. You can use the laser level to verify everything after you are finished. If your optic doesn’t have crosshairs, then the digital laser level can be used. Verify the rifle is level vertically and horizontally, mount the optic and then use the level on a flat service of the optic.
Knowing that your equipment can provide every advantage can be important when stepping onto the field or entering harm’s way. The confidence obtained by knowing that if you execute sending the shot properly, the rifle has the capability to deliver, can make a difference. I break down the knowledge required for this medium distance accuracy into four keys areas: Position, Aim Point, Control, and Execution. Each of these topics is addressed below.
Position
There is nothing more important than the shooter’s position when it comes to long-distance dialing (reach out and touch someone). I cannot stress enough the importance of placing your
body as close as possible to the natural point of aim. The U. S. Army Sniper’s Manual (FM23-10) recommends the sniper take position and aim, then close their eyes and take several deep breaths. When they open their eyes, the crosshairs should still be on the target.
The reason why this becomes critical is that your body and weapon are not fighting each other and gravity becomes a friend. At extreme distances, even the slightest movement of the weapon can cause a miss. There is simply no tolerance available to the shooter.
The second most critical element of the shooter’s position is support. As described in previous sections, the less support available to the shooter, the less accurate the shot is likely to be. Here are a few keys points regarding support:
Tip: Use bones (skeletal support positions) over muscle-based support whenever possible.
Tip: Use interlocking skeletal support positions whenever possible. Tip: Place as little of your body on the weapon as practical.
Obviously, you have to squeeze the trigger after obtaining a weld on the stock. In the perfect position, I would have no other part of my body touching the weapon. To increase my chances of a perfect shot, I would even put something (folded towel, spare shirt, gloves…whatever) between the rifle butt and my shoulder so my pulse and movements are not transferred to the weapon. The logic of this is simple – when the body moves, that causes misses. This is why hunters use sandbags, shooting sleds and other devices to zero their scopes.
Removing body parts from the support of your weapon means finding a substitute - unless you are shooting in zero gravity. Using rucksacks, natural terrain, rolled up sleeping bags, or anything else that supports the weapon is a good idea. A bi-pod is an excellent investment for long-range rifles. You can even purchase fore grips that have built in bipods.
I have often found that supporting the front of the rifle is child’s play. Supporting the back of the weapon is what can be difficult. Fortunately, modern long-range rifles offer some stock options that can help with this challenge.
Anything you can lean, brace, shoulder, hang or prop a rifle on that isn’t moving will help. Stack rocks, brace against a tree – get as much of the rifle away from your body as possible. Be creative. Think about how your sling or a piece of para-cord could be strung as a clothesline. Even the spare socks in your pack can be filled with dirt/sand and used as a shooting bag.
Point of Aim
The Point of Aim is where you want your optic or scope to point so the bullet impacts the target. There is a series of steps that should be performed before every shot in order to adjust for the many factors that impact the trajectory of any projectile. Some of this process is accomplished well before the rifle is taken to the field, while other steps are executed only a few moments