Formal Marksmanship Training?

Anyone had any formal marksmanship training beyond military service, Appleseed, 4H, Boy Scouts, etc?

This is not a knock on anyone that hasn’t. It just amazes me that so many people that enjoy hunting or shooting simply have never taken the time to seek out clubs that teach position shooting (prone-standing-sitting-kneeling), proper shot execution, bone support, muscular relaxation, breathing, trigger manipulation, follow-through, use of a sling, natural point of aim, etc, etc.

I took a 4 hour intro to precision rifle class a few years ago. Before that class I had never made a hit past 425 yards with a centerfire rifle. The class was really basic and the guns were furnished (all rem 700s with nightforce 10x scopes) During that class, 5 out of the 6 of us rung steel on either their first or second shots at 800. It was fun.

I’ve been through several. Being “in-Industry”, I’ve been invited out to participate in manufacture and private company training. My biggest regret is passing on handguns. I learned more than I ever imagined about shotguns and proper target acquisition. I favor the long stick, and like many, never thought about my stance and where my target was at within my sight frame for a shotguns. major improvements.

The best instructors I have been fortunate to have worked with were amazing. Kind of like going to a chiropractor. More time spent on how to control your body and relax.

Represented firearm industry companies as a road salesman (the job actually stinks) to all levels of distribution in up to 6 states (Hornady, Thompson/Center, Kahr, Winchester/USRAC, etc) I never was able to to actually learn much “marksmanship”…just practice it or taught it to distributor salesmen, Cabela’s personnel in NE, OWAA members, etc. My first real “marksmanship” training was in ’65-’66 through a VFW post that was deeply affiliated with the US Army Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM…NBPRP) and NRA Competitions. Already knew much of what they were teaching, but through that club I was able to put more of the finite elements of shooting into practice. High-level competitions is where a person learns how to perform under constant duress and perfect technique through constant repetition.

After taking out a neighbor’s garage window with my trusty Daisy about ’63-’64 and having my father twist the barrel off in a vise, I could never own another until I went through a firearm safety course. The image of that barrel coming off is still very clear, even some 55 years later. Dad took me to that VFW post for their NRA Firearm Safety Course and little did he know that this club would hustle every kid into their competitive smallbore program. These guys were ex-military team shooters and knew their business. Dad had no idea the monster he was creating It was all about pure position shooting with the ultimate goal of regional/sectional championships and the holy grail…Camp Perry. MY goal beyond all of that was just being the most lethal and dastardly SoB in the woods, truth be known.

Uncle Sam taught me how to shoot his battle rifle some years later and it never dawned on me to even try to get on one of his rifle teams. If only I had been a bit smarter and could turn back the hands of time. In ’88 was when I pursued NRA/CMP/DCM Highpower and took it as far as I could go and met all of my goals. In ’05, the USAMU/CMP put out a call for Distinguished civilian shooters having prior military background and some “shooting awards of merit” to help train Army Marksmanship Instructors and Squad Designated Marksmen in support of the War on Terror. Being somewhat bored and a bit of a patriot, I applied and spent 2 weeks at Ft Benning each year through ’11 teaching advanced shooting concepts to help Johnny come home safe. My specialty was reading wind conditions and taking out the trash to 600M using the 5.56mm DMR rifle on the first shot (the middle 1/3rd of the torso). After a full day on the range with multiple students pulling the trigger, I prided myself in always having the narrowest lateral shot dispersion across the face of the Echo silhouette, no matter the wind conditions. The bigger challenge was teaching THEM how to do it with a spotting scope, no wind flags and no wind meters. They would have to estimate the wind, estimate the distance, determine the wind vector, run a wind defection formula through their head and execute a textbook perfect shot each time. It was a great time and they should have never stopped the program. Sadly, the leftist CIC at the time didn’t believe in ordinary lowlife civilians teaching soldiers how to shoot……

As stated earlier, the whole point of the exercise for me was to be as dastardly lethal in the woods as I could possibly be. Even though I actually can shoot…really…my preference is to HUNT!! Know the animal and know his terrain as well as he does. When he is close enough to hear him breathe, go back to my training and execute a picture-perfect, textbook shot sequence that I learned through Marksmanship Training.

Yes I had a little training, but for the most part trained many folks to excel beyond their expectations.

Done some crazy stuff in the past and with consistency its been fun and I enjoy all the science and the challenge within it.

JH

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