Article

2024-04-07 -Land of the Free

Marines Ditch 100 Year Old Marksmanship Standards

[ShootingIllustrated] Accuracy still matters, but now speed is in the mix as well.

The United States Marine Corps announced earlier this month it is changing the shooting standards to which it has adhered for more than a century. The new system will reflect accuracy as well as the speed at which a Marine delivers hits on target.

Re-evaluation of the century-old marksmanship qualification standards began in 2018, when a combat lethality study found an unexpected loss in proficiency in engagements at unknown distances, or when the Marine or target were on the move. The Marine Corps is investing $34 million to better train its troops with the new system, phasing out an approach that required delivering 30 rounds at established distance in two minutes. The old scoring system didn’t differentiate between lethal shots and those that may not stop an aggressor or readily identify distances problematic for a particular shooter.

“This is about increasing lethality,” Col. Gregory Jones, commander of the Weapons Training Battalion—part of Training Command at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia—told Stars and Stripes. “This is not your granddad’s rifle range.”

Marines are required to annually prequalify and qualify with their rifles. If a prequalification score met standards, it could be accepted for both in the past. Now it must be at the expert level, not just at marksman or sharpshooter performance, to do so.

In addition, the Marine Corps has begun allowing entry-level shooters to support rifles with their magazines. The change reflects improvements in magazine design and strength as well as widespread success using the approach in civilian competitions.

“The rifle range in 1907, it’s not bad or good. It’s what we had when we had … a 1903 Springfield [rifle], which was an 1890s technology,” Jones explained to Stars and Stripes. “Now we have an M-16A4. The test is not as true a measure of lethality as it was when we had older, outdated technology.”

Posted by Gloluns Turkeyneck4904 2024-04-07 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11151 views ] Top

#1 In preparation to being sent to Ukraine?

Posted by Grom the Reflective 2024-04-07 00:58|| 2024-04-07 00:58|| Front Page Top

#2 See article above: Army Futures Command announced Thursday that soldiers from 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, accepted delivery of the XM7 Next Generation Rifle and XM250 Next Generation Automatic Rifle ahead of training in April.

Posted by Huputle+Cherelet4131 2024-04-07 10:23|| 2024-04-07 10:23|| Front Page Top

#3 Be interesting to see results . What I see in this is much more ammo used to accomplish near same results. But then my TO weapon was the M14 in Vietnam.1965...(rifle /pistol expert and Marine rifle team member in 1964 for 6 months then off to Vietnam).

Posted by crazyhorse 2024-04-07 10:29|| 2024-04-07 10:29|| Front Page Top

#4 The rifle range in 1907, it’s not bad or good. It’s what we had when we had … a 1903 Springfield [rifle], which was an 1890s technology,

The Fucile di Fanteria (Eng: Infantry rifle) Modello 91/38 bolt-action rifle had been introduced in 1891 by Salvatore Carcano. It was good enough to hit a moving target at range on November 22, 1963 by a former Marine trained in the traditional manner.

Posted by Procopius2k 2024-04-07 10:42|| 2024-04-07 10:42|| Front Page Top

#5 But the XM7 by Gillette has more rails.

Posted by swksvolFF 2024-04-07 10:51|| 2024-04-07 10:51|| Front Page Top

#6 A bit of a misleading headline, IMHO. Tuning the standard to match modern world conditions is not the same as ditching standards to accommodate the wokerati and gender-confused. Train like you fight, fight like you train.

It was good enough to hit a moving target at range on November 22, 1963 by a former Marine trained in the traditional manner.

Shooting left-handed, I've been told. God bless the Marines.

Posted by SteveS 2024-04-07 12:08|| 2024-04-07 12:08|| Front Page Top

#7 I recall an interview with a Marine Corps pilot during the Korean War. When the interviewer asked him what was his primary job in the Marine Corps he said "I'm a Marine Corps Rifleman, currently flying the F-86 Saber".

God help the Corps if they ever abandon their devotion to accurate shooting. "This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifleman%27s_Creed

Posted by NoMoreBS 2024-04-07 14:15|| 2024-04-07 14:15|| Front Page Top

#8 I believe two shots on Kennedy from the Book depository...but not three. No one has duplicated those three shots.

Posted by crazyhorse 2024-04-07 17:24|| 2024-04-07 17:24|| Front Page Top

05:28 Whiskey Mike
05:23 Whiskey Mike
05:21 Whiskey Mike
05:18 Whiskey Mike
05:15 Whiskey Mike
05:13 Whiskey Mike
05:08 Whiskey Mike
05:05 Whiskey Mike
05:03 Whiskey Mike
03:23 Besoeker
02:05 Grom the Affective
02:04 Grom the Affective
01:26 49 Pan
00:22 EMS Artifact
00:16 Skidmark