Marine Corps JROTC
Terminal Learning Objective:
Demonstrate the fundamental marksmanship skills
with the Daisy 887 Sporter Air Rifle.
Marine Corps JROTC
Enabling Learning Objective:
•Demonstrate proper Sight Alignment.
•Demonstrate proper Aiming
•Demonstrate proper Sight Picture.
•Demonstrate the proper relationship
between the eye and the sights.
•Demonstrate a proper stock weld.
•Demonstrate proper breath control.
•Demonstrate proper grip and finger
placement.
•Demonstrate proper follow-through.
•Define “Sight Alignment”.
Marine Corps JROTC
•Define “Sight Picture”.
•Define “Stock Weld”.
•Define “Eye Relief”.
•Describe the reparatory cycle as it
applies to marksmanship.
•Define “Trigger Control”.
•Explain the effects of “bucking,
flinching, jerking and lacking confidence”
as they apply to marksmanship.
•Define “Follow Through”.
Evaluation
You will be evaluated on this next week with
a 20-question multiple choice quiz.
Marine Corps JROTC
Safety Brief
1. Treat every rifle as if it were loaded.
2. Keep your finger straight and off the trigger
until you intend to fire.
3. Never point your rifle at anything you don’t
intend to shoot.
4. Keep your rifle on safe until you intend to fire.
Marine Corps JROTC
The Aiming Process
Sight Alignment & Sight Picture
1. Sight Alignment
2. Aiming
3. Sight Picture
4. Relationship between Eye and Sights**
5. Stock Weld
6. Eye Relief
Marine Corps JROTC
Sight Alignment
… is the relationship between the front
sight, the rear sight aperture, and the
aiming eye.
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Aiming
… is applying correct sight alignment to
the target.
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Sight Picture
… is the placement of the front sight
diopter in relation to the target,
while maintaining correct sight
alignment.
Marine Corps JROTC
Relationship Between the Eye
and the Sights
The human eye can only focus on one
object at a time. Focus on the front
sight throughout the aiming process.
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Relationship Between the Eye
and the Sights
(Shifting Focus)
You should shift focus repeatedly from
the front sight to the target, until
the correct sight picture is obtained.
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Relationship Between the Eye
and the Sights
(Inexperience)
Inexperienced shooters have difficulty
accepting that the final focus should
be on the front sight…
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Relationship Between the Eye
and the Sights
(Fatigue)
If you stare at the front sight for
longer than a few seconds, your
perception of a true sight picture.
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Stock Weld
…is the point of firm contact between
your cheek and the stock of the rifle.
Marine Corps JROTC
Stock Weld
(Eye Strain)
If your head is in the wrong position,
you may be straining your eye by not
allowing it to rest in its natural
position (center).
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Stock Weld
(Movement of Stock Weld)
Changing the placement of your cheek up
or down the stock from shot to shot
will make your shots inconsistent.
Marine Corps JROTC
Eye Relief
…is the distance between the rear sight
aperture and your aiming eye. Average
eye relief is two to six inches.
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Eye Relief
(Too Short)
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Eye Relief
(Too Long)
Eye Relief Varies
Your eye relief may
vary from position to
position, but it is
vitally important to
maintain a consistent
eye relief for each
position.
Marine Corps JROTC
Wearing Glasses
Prescription lenses have
an “optical center”
that may influence
your Stock Weld.
Marine Corps JROTC
Cleaning and Blackening Sights
Shinny sights cause glare. If
you blacken your sights, you
must clean them every day,
or they will become distorted
due to buildup.
Marine Corps JROTC
Breath Control
Good breath control will interrupt the breathing
cycle long enough to fire a well aimed shot.
Proper breath control is critical to the aiming
process.
Marine Corps JROTC
Breath Control
(Natural Respiratory Pause)
A respiratory cycle (inhaling and exhaling) lasts about four or five
seconds. Between respiratory cycles there is a natural pause of
two to three seconds. This is the natural respiratory pause,
where the breath naturally stops exhaling without forcing any air
out. During this respiratory pause, breathing muscles are relaxed
and the rifle sights settle at their natural point of aim. You
should fire at this point.
Marine Corps JROTC
Trigger Control
Trigger control is the skillful manipulation of
the trigger that causes the rifle to fire
while maintaining sight alignment and sight
picture.
Marine Corps JROTC
Trigger Control
Grip and Placement of Trigger Finger
• High Firm Pistol Grip With the Firing Hand
• Proper Grip
• Proper Trigger Finger Placement
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Techniques of Trigger Control
• Uninterrupted Trigger Control
• Interrupted Trigger Control
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Timing of Trigger Control
Controlling the trigger is a mental process.
The skilled marksman knows when the rifle will
fire and manipulates the trigger so that the
shot is fired when they are at their aiming
point.
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Improper Trigger Control
•Jerking
•Bucking
•Flinching
•Hesitation or Lack of Confidence
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Follow Through
…is the continued application of the
fundamentals, until the round has exited
the rifle barrel.
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Summary
Marine Corps JROTC
The most skilled competitive marksmen in the
world reached the top by concentrating on
the application of the fundamentals of
marksmanship. Even though experienced
marksmen improve their skills, refine
techniques, and add variations, their success is
rooted in the proper application of the
fundamentals. Basic marksmanship
fundamentals are the basis for shooting well.