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Advanced Marksmanship CR2 Shooting Solutions: Midnight Musings

What is a FUNDAMENTAL?

Webster’s dictionary defines a fundamental as: one of the minimum constituents without which a thing or a system would not be what it is.

So if you can succeed without applying a FUNDAMENTAL OF MARKSMANSHIP. Was it ever truly fundamental?

 
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First, understand that this was a 2 minute clip out of an hour long conversation. It was also my opener, to get the students thinking and engaged in the topic. It was filled with hyperbole and absolutisms that only have context for that particular example.

We stopped teaching the “Fundamentals of marksmanship” because words mean things and as alluded to in my example, saying something is fundamental and being able to completely disregard it, doesn’t make sense.

So we teach the “Shot Process” because shooting is a process and it’s an ever changing process that is influenced by the situation you find yourself. The functional elements of the shot process (what you might refer to as Fundamentals) are: Stability, Aim, Control and Movement. Within each of those elements is a further breakdown of the actions needed to successfully land a shot on target.

For example, Stability is stabilizing the weapon well enough to provide a consistent base to fire from and maintain through the shot process until the recoil pulse has ceased. This includes the hold, position or posture during the engagement and structures or objects used to provide stability.

Aim is the continuous process of orienting the weapon correctly, aligning the sights and on target, and the appropriate lead and elevation (hold) during a target engagement to obtain the lay of the bore needed for a hit.

Control are all actions taken before, during, and after the shot process that the shooter is specifically in control of. Of primary concern is trigger control and body control so as to avoid a flinch, preignition push, or other unintended reaction/anticipation during the shot phase of the Shot Process. Control also includes whether, when, and how to engage. It incorporates the shooter as a function of safety.

Movement is the process of moving during the engagement. It includes moving into and out of positions, adjusting as needed (natural point of aim), and moving laterally, forward, diagonally, and in a retrograde manner while maintaining stabilization, aim, and control of the weapon.

Functional Elements include important actions during all phases of the Shot Process and the emphasis will vary based on the shooting. For example, being particular about position stabilization, natural point of aim, a highly refined aim, and smooth, controlled trigger press is important for a “Marksman” shooting at 500 meters. This changes for a shooter conducting a room entry and engaging quickly at a target inside the room while moving. The Shot Process concepts remain the same but the emphasis on various Functional Elements varies based on the shooter and environment. This requires more thought than mindlessly regurgitating “the four fundamentals” and claiming only they are important and of equal importance in all situations for everyone.
 
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I could tell some of our students were having some trouble stringing together the “Functional Elements” of the Shot Process. So I threw down a demo in real time.

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Shall I point out, specifically, where you mention the Fundamentals of Marksmanship in your outline above? ALL OF THEM.
You can dance around them but you cannot deny them. ;-]
 
I knew you would eventually see this!

The background behind why we went away from the fundamentals (other than the word being used wrong). Is about how the brain works.

The Fundamentals of Marksmanship – consisted (at least for the Army) of aiming, breathing, trigger squeeze, and steady position. The way the “Fundamentals” were often presented were as nebulous of things that were all occurring simultaneously, and all of them needed to be attended to concurrently to produce the desired performance. This model does not match up with contemporary models for how the brain attends to stimuli or handles decision making and action.

Let’s address “multi-tasking” (which research is showing isn’t really possible the way people tend to think it is, if at all). The “Fundamentals model mismatches the cognitive process.

One of the most critical things the Shot Process did was outline the things that needed to happen when employing a weapon and the order in which they needed to occur (generally speaking). It provided wiggle room for changes in focus depending on the situations unique to that individual engagement.
 
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Shall I point out, specifically, where you mention the Fundamentals of Marksmanship in your outline above? ALL OF THEM.
You can dance around them but you cannot deny them. ;-]
And it’s not a matter of denying them or acting like they aren’t important. It’s about calling them what they are and highlighting when they are important
 
This is very interesting. Having taken a class from both of you, I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.
 
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This is very interesting. Having taken a class from both of you, I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Im interested in where this goes also. I've got my follow through to a pretty good place but tend to leave something out. Not having a dialed in, automated process makes it easy to miss a key detail. Looking forward to Bridle Iron South where I can get an outline to build my routine.
 
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MOVEMENT

The last Functional Element of the shot process is defined: The process of moving during the engagement. It includes moving into and out of positions, adjusting as needed (natural point of aim), and moving laterally, forward, diagonally, and in a retrograde manner while maintaining stabilization, aim, and control of the rifle.

How to implement Movement:
-Plan route
-Use Economy of Motion
-Index and Re-index on target (move body not just rifle)

 
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Hers a wind tip that I learned from the Wind Whisperer, Emil Praslick. This totally works and has been a game changer for my wind reading ability.
 
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