HA3 7.2 - Stick to the Basic
The first firing position Hide taught to Takeo was the prone position on the table. After showing it a few times, he asked Takeo to try it under his guidance. It took a few repetitions before finally Takeo could do it right.
“Let’s do it another rep, with a target to aim this time,” Hide said before putting a human-shaped holographic target at 100 meter distance.
“Roger.” Without further ado Takeo stood next to the table, held the Mk.12 with his firing hand, facing upward.
“Ready?”
“I’m.”
“Go.”
Takeo immediately took the sling off his body. Then, he deployed the bipod before slowly crawling up to the table, and placed Mk.12 with the muzzle went slightly over the table’s edge. After that he put put his chin on the stock, and then gently sink his right eye to the line of sight.
Takeo did the transition very smoothly and he didn’t let a go the pistol grip all the way until he got the line of sight to the target. His aiming posture was also very natural and sustainable. He didn’t need to put any muscle in tension to maintain his line of sight.
‘This kid is natural shooter,’ Hide muttered amusingly. Then, as he sat on the chair next to the table he said, “You do a good job except for your heels.”
“What did I do wrong with my heels?” Takeo curiously asked.
“You protrude it like a sore thump,” Hide casually said. “When there is a bullet miss your head, there is a chance it will hit your heels or even your ankle. It won’t kill you in most case, but the pain will be lovely and unforgetable.”
“I see.”
“Make sure your toes facing to the side, and stick your heels to the ground as low as possible.”
“Roger.” Wasting no time Takeo carried out the instruction.
“Now, let’s talk about Elcan C79, our scope.”
“Roger.”
“In the middle of it, do you see the four horizontal lines?”
“I do.”
“That’s what we call leveling lines. Use it as reference to ensure your rifle is level.”
“Got it.”
“In the middle of the leveling lines, do you see the vertical thick line?”
“I do.”
“This vertical thick line is aiming post, and the sharp tip on its top end is your point of aim.”
“Got it.”
“Next to the aiming post, do you see the gap between two horizontal lines?”
“I do.”
“This gap represents 25 cm at 100 meter distance.” After a short pause Hide added, “And average length of adult head is, 20-23 cm for male and 15-18 cm for female.
Meaning, if an adult male has his head and upper neck exactly fit the gap, he is about 100 meter away from your position.”
“I see.” Takeo turned his gaze to Hide and added, “It is 6th grade equation based on 25 cm at 100 meter.”
“Correct,” Hide casually replied. “Now, try it on the holographic target. Estimate his range.”
“His range.” Takeo put back his right eye behind the scope while asking, “The holographic target is an adult male, right?”
“Yeah.” Hide had thin smiled in his lips as he muttered, ‘What a sharp kid.’
A moment later, without putting away his righty eyes from the scope Takeo said in low voice, “His head and upper neck exactly fit the gap. He is 100 meters away.”
“Confirm it yourself,” Hide said as he handed over a high-power binocular with laser range finder. “Put the thin crosshair on the target, and the number you see in the left-top corner is the range.”
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Without further ado Takeo did as Hide asked, and then he said, “He is exactly 100 meter away.”
“Yup, and once you know the distance, you can set the range dial.” Hide gave Takeo and example while explaining, “1 is for 100 meters, 2 is for 200 meter, and so on.”
“Got it.”
“Now, let’s give it another try.” Hide popped up second holographic target and continued, “Estimate her range.”
After a light nod Takeo immediately put the second holographic target inside the gap next to aiming post.
“Her head and base of her chest is exactly inside the gap. It’s about 50 cm I guess,” Takeo said in low voice. “It means she is 200 meters away.”
“Confirm it.”
Wasting no time Takeo used the binocular to confirm his estimation. A moment later, he dejectedly said, “She is only 198 meters away.”
“Don’t be too disappointed,” Hide casually said. “Under 300 meters, 2 meters miss in range estimation is not a big deal. As long as you judge the wind and elevation correctly, and take aim at center mass, you will hit your target.”
“I see,” Takeo said before taking a deep breath full of relief.
“Question?”
“Other than human head and body measurement, can we put other thing in the formula as long as we know its measurement?”
“We can,” Hide said before gulping a mouthful of water. “Let’s say your target has AK-74M hanging in his shoulder. You can use it to estimate his range.”
“How long is AK-74M?” Takeo asked.
“The one with fixed stock is 94.3 cm long.”
“25 cm at 100 meters, 1 cm at 4 meters, 94.3 cm will give me…” Takeo made a silent calculation before continuing, “If the AK exactly fit the gap, he is about 377 meter away.”
“Yeah, and if only half of the AK fit the gap, he is 188.5 meter away.”
“I see.”
Hide then handed over a magazine loaded with five rounds of 72 grain ball match to Takeo. “Use it to nail the first target. Put your point of aim at his center mass.”
“Roger.”
Takeo swiftly took out the magazine with dummy round, and inserted the magazine with the live round. Then, he took aim before shifted the selective-lever to semi-auto and squeezing the trigger.
Bang!
By using the control panel tablet, Hide checked the result. After a smile he said, “You miss. It didn’t even graze the holographic target.”
Takeo immediately put the safety on before turning his gaze to Hide. “What mistake I did?”
“Dunno. Without seeing the impact point, I can’t tell for sure.” Hide honestly blurted out. “Maybe it’s because your breath is too erratic, you pull the trigger too hard, or there is something wrong with the rifle.”
Question mark instantly popped up in Takeo’s forehead. “How do we fix it if we don’t know the problem?”
“Let’s try another one.” Hide casually said. “This time, hold your breath, squeeze the trigger more gently, and take the shoot less than three seconds after you put your point of aim at target’s center mass.”
“Roger.”
Without delay, Takeo carried out Hide’s request and took second shoot.
Bang!
Hide immediately checked the result and said, “A hit, chest, upper left.”
“I see,” Takeo casually said, but he couldn’t hide the joy in his face. “Do I have to shoot like this?”
“Nope, that’s how a well-trained infantry snipe mid-range target using their carbine,” Hide casually said. “As for you, we will dive to another level.”
“Okay.”
“Believe me, it will be full of boring repetition, with lots of miss, but you have to preserve.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Good.” After another smile Hide said, “Let’s start the main menu.”
---
With everything he had, Hide tried his best to drill every piece of his knowledge on precision shooting to Takeo. At the same time, Takeo tried his best to receive it, through his brain and repetition.
In the end, Takeo fired 30 rounds at several targets between 100-200 meters, 5 round each, before Hide asked him to stop and taught him the procedure for light cleaning. Then, today course came to an end.
“So far,” Hide asked as Takeo emptied the Mk.12. “What is the hardest part you have?”
“The breathing,” Takeo casually replied.
“Unfortunately, there is no shortcut for this one. It will take time until you master it and you have to master it if you want to be a good shooter.”
Takeo firmly nodded. “I will master it by all means.”
“You can have shadow training for it before you sleep at night,” Hide said. “10-20 minutes is enough. Do it while lying in your bed with closed eyes.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Also, don’t skip the diary and the cleaning routine.”
“Got it,” Takeo firmly replied. “Make the diary on the shoot I make every five rounds, write why I miss or why I’m on target.
Clean the carbon foul and copper foul every 20 rounds. This is a light cleaning about 20 minutes long. And do the heavy cleaning every 200 rounds, or when the bolt cycling starts to sluggish.”
“Yeah,” Hide firmly nodded.
“Does the military shooter have the same diary and cleaning routine?” Takeo curiously asked.
“In SDF Army Advance Sniper Course, they use M24SWS, and the routine is, diary and light cleaning every 5 rounds, heavy cleaning every 100 rounds. And you fire a few hundreds rounds every day, indoor and outdoor, night and day, rain or sunshine.” After a pause Hide added, “For the first few days, it will be fun. But after three weeks, it will start to bore you to the death.
Lot of students will skip it once or twice a day, get caught by the instructors, and got kick out of the course, because those routines are means to shape you as a shooter that will do well at beyond 600 meters.”
“So,” Takeo said. “The diary is an important component of the training.”
“Yeah. If you do it honestly, it will help you identify bad habit and misconception you built in your journey as a shooter.”
“…”
“And to go beyond 600 meter distance, you need to fix your shooting craft down to the smallest flaw. The diary will help you a lot.”
“I see.”
“Other question?”
“How hard is to get a headshot?”
After taking a deep breath Hide replied, “In the basic, aim at center mass is a must. Lot of expert shooter also prefers taking aim at center mass to reduce their chance to miss. As for you, let’s master the basic first, and then you can aim higher.”
“How high I can put my aim after the basic?” Takeo curiously asked.
“As high as you want, as we can produce our own ammo.”
“Understood.”
After collecting the cartridge cases, Hide and Takeo then went to martial gym
*****
Author’s note:
I’m not a shooter, so most likely I make a mistake in my description about precision shooting. If you find some, please share it in comment section.
Thank you and Best regards.