Deployed soldier, new member, need help

[Robbie31]

Good morning from Afghanistan

recently saw a need to improve my shooting skills due to my situation. now im reading all things long range shooting. im reaching out to the california shooting community to help improve.

situation:

twice last week i found myself engaging targets past 200m with just an aimpoint M68 optic(red dot, zero magnification). with this open terrain you can barely tell who is shooting at you until you see the muzzle flash. ive invested in a Valdada 1.5x8 and a larue mount. problem is ive never mounted, zeroed, really done long range shooting. im from oxnard, ventura county and im coming home soon for R&R. im looking for a place where I can actually zero my rifle at 200m and practice beyond that range. my plan is to mount the sight on my personal bushmaster at home, then just use quick detach bring it back to afghan with me and throw it on my M4. i know it will have to be rezeroed but at least illl be close and have had a little practice with the scope. tips, posts, especially contact with experienced long range shooters, and help finding a range where i can practice a few times before coming back to afghan would be extremely helpful. please point me in the right direction.

Robbie

[Iloveguns]

http://www.caprc.com/forums

Lot of good guys on there that would be more then willing to help you out. Not sure how far you want to travel but Angeles Shooting range is a great place to gather dope and get your scope zeroed.

[Dark Mod]

You have bigger problems if the army didnt issue your unit proper weapons. In the Marines we were trained to shoot out to 500 yards with iron sights, and when my unit deployed EVERYONES rifle was zeroed properly and everyone requalified.

Do they let you put personal optics on your battle weapons? this was usually a no-no where i came from. Either way, if you talk to your company commander or whoever is in charge of the Armory, im pretty sure they will issue you what you need

That being said, if you detatch your optic from your personally rifle and take it on deployement you will have to re-zero it again anyway

[ElvenSoul]

Unless your clearing houses trade the M4 in for a full lenth rifle. That will get you out to 600m. Get yourself a laser bore sighter. This will allow you to zero in fast to 50yds. Then a few rounds at the range; zero into a 100yds. Then 2 and 300. Thanks for serving.

[uscbigdawg]

200m is more than capable with a M4 and a M68. You can put all the doo-dads you want on there, but they don't supplant good shooting fundamentals.

That said, work on the basics before dropping $1k to try and fix a rather easy solution which is trigger control. If you need to see further, you can likely request an ACOG. I had a TA01-NSN on 2 deployments.

Rich

[mtenenhaus]

Robbie, first of all thank you for your service.

I've taken classes from Stanton Lee. Retired military, great teacher and close to you. have very affordable classes. here's his contact info.


Stanton "Stan" Lee
Stcrispian2008@yahoo.com

http://www.stcrispian.com

[five.five-six]

first, thank you for serving.

like others have said, I feel comfortable with iron sites out to 400, but you also hinted at target acquisition, which is where your optics might help.


practice with your iron sites will be invaluable

[Mute]

I don't think he's talking about a marksmanship issue but rather a problem of having an optic that doesn't allow him to see and ID his targets.

If you don't mind driving a bit into north L.A., Angeles Shooting Range allows paper targets to 200 yards on a couple of the weekdays. And thank you for your service.

[bravo11]

I'm sorry to say buddy that myself a 31B and formally an 11b the only problem is that you need to keep practicing your fundamentals because you should be shooting accurately up to 300 m with no problems.

[Lancear15]

I'm sorry to say buddy that myself a 31B and formally an 11b the only problem is that you need to keep practicing your fundamentals because you should be shooting accurately up to 300 m with no problems.

I think he said he wants magnification for better target identification. When I was 18 100, 200, 300 yards was very easy to see and clear. Now, even with glasses and so called 20/20, I have trouble at 100yards with no magnification.

Not everyone can see all that well at longer ranges, even if they test at 20/20.

[sonnyt650]

Magnification unfortunately reduces your field of vision, please pay attention to that issue as you train for fear of not seeing the muzzle flash just outside your cone of view. Another issue with magnification is reduction of depth of field -- your focus is set to a particular distance and only things around that distance are in focus as well. Not an expert and I slept in my own bed last night (not Holiday Inn) but there must be some reason why .mil oriented scopes are 1-4x, so I'd concentrate on learning to scan for and ID targets at that magnification range.

[Robbie31]

Thank you for clarifying my issue

thank you for clarifying my issue. we must have positive identification (PID) to shoot

I don't think he's talking about a marksmanship issue but rather a problem of having an optic that doesn't allow him to see and ID his targets.

If you don't mind driving a bit into north L.A., Angeles Shooting Range allows paper targets to 200 yards on a couple of the weekdays. And thank you for your service.

[uscbigdawg]

I'm sorry to say buddy that myself a 31B and formally an 11b the only problem is that you need to keep practicing your fundamentals because you should be shooting accurately up to 300 m with no problems.

Here's your answer.

As a 91W (yeah...it changed to 68 while I was in, but 91 is cooler), I routinely shot 40/40 with a POS M-16. So, I would like to think that those with a more "combat arms" MOS should at least be that proficient.

Fundamentals are fundamentals because they are absolute, meaning they cannot be compromised. If you can't shoot well with irons, everything else is just cake icing.

Rich

[only10x]

Thank you for your service. Good luck out there.

[bruce_ventura]

I sent you a pm. I understand your problem and can help. Feel free to contact me when you get back.


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