Neal in GA
New member
As a bit of background, I'm a spec-4 11B in a National Guard unit (3 yrs in - 1 active, 2 guard). I'm in a scout platoon that has a sniper section attached. I am not going to be a sniper and am not interested in doing so, but I do have a squad marksman school coming up soon. I also have a May '09 Afghanistan deployment on the horizon.
I will soon be buying a Springfield loaded M1A, as I've been told I have about an 80-90% chance of carrying one in Iraq. I already know the M16/M4 platform well. I have squat for experience with the M14/M1A platform (a couple mags through a friend's, that's about it). My plan is to get good with irons then add a Leupold Mk4 LR/T scope. What sort of training drills will be good for the job at hand? I plan to shoot at least once a week, but I want quality training time. Anybody can go out and throw lead downrange and call that training. That's fun and all, and it certainly has its place. What do I need to be concentrating on? Naturally, range estimation, marksmanship fundamentals, and shot placement will be key. The max distance range I know I have access to around here is 200 yds. This is pretty short for the application, but it'll have to do until I find somewhere better to shoot. At this point, I'm completely open to suggestions from anyone but especially those who have related experience with either M14s or SDM-type tactics.
I will soon be buying a Springfield loaded M1A, as I've been told I have about an 80-90% chance of carrying one in Iraq. I already know the M16/M4 platform well. I have squat for experience with the M14/M1A platform (a couple mags through a friend's, that's about it). My plan is to get good with irons then add a Leupold Mk4 LR/T scope. What sort of training drills will be good for the job at hand? I plan to shoot at least once a week, but I want quality training time. Anybody can go out and throw lead downrange and call that training. That's fun and all, and it certainly has its place. What do I need to be concentrating on? Naturally, range estimation, marksmanship fundamentals, and shot placement will be key. The max distance range I know I have access to around here is 200 yds. This is pretty short for the application, but it'll have to do until I find somewhere better to shoot. At this point, I'm completely open to suggestions from anyone but especially those who have related experience with either M14s or SDM-type tactics.