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Thread: How would you train for the Army Rifle Qual on a Civilian Range?

  1. #1
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    How would you train for the Army Rifle Qual on a Civilian Range?

    I'm in a ARNG unit, and most of our Quals have been on the 25m alternate alt-c paper target.

    Per the new TC 3-20.40, Alt-C is going away for qualification and can only be used as validation for 6 months. New Qual will involve Day Fire, Night Fire and CBRN conditions.

    Day fire will be at ranges 50-300m on the pop up range, 40 targets total from prone supported, prone unsupported, kneeling supported, standing supported (Run continuously, 10 rounds each position with magazine changes and no alibis). Support in kneeling or standing will be through the use of barricade

    While Tables 1-5 involve a lot more standardized practice which is great, for those of us in reserve/NG units that only do this occasionally, I suspect we will need more practice outside of drill.

    In my area rifle ranges are heavily restricted in terms of distance, usually with a maximum of 100 yards (and no barricades). Any recommendations on how best to train outside of an Army range?

  2. #2
    Site Supporter SeriousStudent's Avatar
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    My first thought would be show up two hours before the range opens, have one person forget to bring the ammo, and another person bring cold coffee made with rancid dishwater.

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    Reduced sized targets, bring coolers/ammo cans to 'build a barricade' if you can.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by SeriousStudent View Post
    My first thought would be show up two hours before the range opens, have one person forget to bring the ammo, and another person bring cold coffee made with rancid dishwater.
    Just got our M9s replaced by the M17. Drew them out of the armory, drove 4 hours to the range to qualify. Except range control tells us we can't use them because no one in the Guard has been trained on the M17 yet. Wait 5 hours to scrounge up two M9s to qualify the officers of three companies. Can't make this up.

  5. #5
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    Get a bunch of 22LR, a 22LR rifle, and practice basic rifle marksmanship. Practice some position shooting with unsupported or poorly supported. If you can execute fundamentals with 22 rifle, you will do fine on a M16 style qualification course.

    Finally, get a good 25 yard zero (or whatever they use today) and understand the ballistics of your issue rifle and impacts out to 300.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yute View Post
    Just got our M9s replaced by the M17. Drew them out of the armory, drove 4 hours to the range to qualify. Except range control tells us we can't use them because no one in the Guard has been trained on the M17 yet. Wait 5 hours to scrounge up two M9s to qualify the officers of three companies. Can't make this up.
    LOL @ the military

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by ranger View Post
    Get a bunch of 22LR, a 22LR rifle, and practice basic rifle marksmanship. Practice some position shooting with unsupported or poorly supported. If you can execute fundamentals with 22 rifle, you will do fine on a M16 style qualification course.

    Finally, get a good 25 yard zero (or whatever they use today) and understand the ballistics of your issue rifle and impacts out to 300.
    I was thinking of using the Alt-C target at 25 yards (close enough to 25m) and practice moving through the different positions. Where I am a bit iffy on is making sure my hold unders are correct if I am staying at 25. I never really thought about it, but if the bullets strike within the white circle of the Alt-c target, would that mean my hold unders on the 300m range would roughly be correct?

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yute View Post
    Just got our M9s replaced by the M17. Drew them out of the armory, drove 4 hours to the range to qualify. Except range control tells us we can't use them because no one in the Guard has been trained on the M17 yet. Wait 5 hours to scrounge up two M9s to qualify the officers of three companies. Can't make this up.
    We had weapon quals right before my ARNG unit transitioned from M16A1s to A2s. We were issued M885 instead of M193. Yeah, that worked out really well.

  9. #9
    Member Wake27's Avatar
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    How would you train for the Army Rifle Qual on a Civilian Range?

    Couple of things:

    1. I’m surprised you guys already got M17s, but that’s cool.
    2. Who the hell is range control to dictate what weapons you use based on training?
    3. I assume you’ve shot the normal qual at some point? Unfortunately, I have yet to find anything that really mimics multiple popups out to 300m. For as many problems as it has, the standard qual is a beast in that sense. One of the biggest learning points I had here is that it makes a huge difference to shift your natural point of aim on those farther targets and most shooters will be better off doing that then just muscling the gun onto the target without shifting their body, despite the increased time needed.
    4. Reloads will be huge for a lot of people. I suspect you already know that, but I am fully anticipating many people struggling because their reloads are so damn slow.
    5. Any idea what ammo you’d shoot? M855 and M855A1 have a noticeable difference in trajectory, especially if you’re used to using the ACOG’s BDC.
    6. I think ranger’s advice on practicing BRM/fundamentals - aka functional elements of the shot process - is solid, but I wouldn’t say that you’ll be fine if you can do those because there’s more to it than that.


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    Last edited by Wake27; 02-21-2020 at 12:32 AM.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wake27 View Post
    Couple of things:

    1. I’m surprised you guys already got M17s, but that’s cool.

    Me too. My brother just got deployed to Kuwait and Iraq and was still issued an M9.


    3. I assume you’ve shot the normal qual at some point? Unfortunately, I have yet to find anything that really mimics multiple popups out to 300m. For as many problems as it has, the standard qual is a beast in that sense. One of the biggest learning points I had here is that it makes a huge difference to shift your natural point of aim on those farther targets and most shooters will be better off doing that then just muscling the gun onto the target without shifting their body, despite the increased time needed.

    That is a great learning point. I haven't shot a pop up m16 range in several years but it seems like everyone will now need to do it. Brings up some really big logistical challenges.

    5. Any idea what ammo you’d shoot? M855 and M855A1 have a noticeable difference in trajectory, especially if you’re used to using the ACOG’s BDC.

    No clue, and another great point. Really hope the current range doesn't have any restrictions on M855a1


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