So you think you have what it takes to be a sniper, eh? Even before my time in 2nd Ranger Battalion, I’ve been fascinated by the notion of shooting targets at great distances.

The word Sniper alone had enough mystique and sex appeal to attract a horde of Rangerettes. The Ranger sniper section was a mysterious sub culture that existed within the shadows of our compound walls.

A small group of NCO’s that no one ever questioned about training agendas. Or participating in ridiculous duties that the conventional platoons had to. Maybe because deep down, we knew that the snipers were our best chance of survival in an engagement and therefore someone you kept happy.

A good friend of mine in Battalion, Scott M, attended Army Sniper School and returned with honor graduate credentials. Through several late night discussions over cocktails, I quickly realized that there was a lot more to the job of snipers than just shooting an accurate rifle well. That’s when I decided to attend Marksmanship Training Center.

Army Ranger Attends Marksmanship Training Center

Now that I’ve transitioned from military to civilian life in Northern Michigan, I recently had the opportunity to rekindle that love affair. Fortunately, there is a long range shooting facility less than an hour away from my home.

Marksmanship Training Center (MTC), located just north of Lake City, MI is a diamond in the rough with world class potential. The facility includes both 1000 Yd unknown distance and known distance ranges. A 100 Yd multi-purpose range and a 25 Yd pistol range.

MTC is currently in a growth phase due to increasing demand and making further improvements to the facility as you read this. Marksmanship Training Center offers not only precision rifle courses, but carbine, pistol and several other related blocks of instruction.

They also host an annual Wolverine 5k competition that will challenge participants fitness, shooting ability, land navigation and many other critical skills.

The Staff

Despite the reclusiveness of the long range community, I felt welcomed by the staff at MTC which consists of a collaboration of current military and veterans. All with a passion for their profession and a refreshing diversity of training and teaching personalities.

This group of instructors all have recent operational experience in active military or private sector as members of ERT and PSS teams under contract with DoS Diplomatic Security Services and OGA force protection.

What I’m saying is that they are current and up to speed with the latest techniques that have been working oversees keeping our guys safe.

Long Range 1

The first step in this journey was to attend the 1-day Long Range 1 course. A prerequisite course dedicated to learning firearms safety, the fundamentals of shooting, range estimation, external ballistics, nomenclature and the equipment necessary for achieving our personal shooting goals. Due to long range shooting becoming more main stream, there exists a myriad of equipment flooding the market. The instructors helped the students navigate through the various rifles, scopes and hardware, demonstrating what to look for when selecting gear. With their guidance, my decision was made to run the budget friendly Ruger Precision Rifle which allowed me to splurge on the Sig Optics Tango 6 rifle scope, a decision I didn’t regret at all. Despite the absence of range time in LR1, it provided the necessary foundation and fundamentals for continuing on to Long Range 2

Long Range 2

Long Range 2 is designed to improve and hone precision shooting skills for all experience levels. This 2 day course covered firearms safety, supported shooting positions, marksmanship fundamentals, familiarization of your rifle, internal, external, and terminal ballistics, data book familiarization, spotter responsibilities, range estimation techniques and scope theory. To the relief of myself and other LR1 graduates, LR2 was mostly spent on the range despite a few ballistic lessons that were taught indoors. Day 1 consisted of practicing various drills on the 100 Yd range as well as achieving a precision zero which is important as you start stretching out to greater distances. The fundamentals of shooting were constantly reinforced as well as building your shooting position and achieving a good natural point of aim.

 

LR2 day 2 operations started with a recorded cold bore shot and reconfirming our zero from the previous day. We then moved over to the 1000 yard range and continued with some scope drills which were more difficult than anticipated. While in the prone and looking through our zeroed scope, the instructor (Clare W) would yell, “Up 3/Right 4….Up 2/Left 2…Down 5/Right 3″…and so on. Without looking at the scope turrets, we had to make the windage and elevation adjustments in quick order to keep up with his calls. At the end of the drill, we were told to look at our turrets. If your scope wasn’t back to it’s original starting point of zero, you effed up somewhere. This was a helpful drill as I found out later in the day as the spotter was making quick wind calls in the variable conditions.

High winds

Up next were mid-range shooting drills, range estimation, shooter/spotter team responsibilities and use of our new data books. The amount of data collected from a single shot is astounding and pays huge dividends down the road when you experience similar shooting conditions. Winds were variable and blowing 20-25 mph all day which frustrated some students in the challenging conditions. I enjoyed these real world conditions and it further reinforced the importance of my shooting fundamentals and confidence as I was able to hit silhouettes out to 998 yards.

Ballistic Data Course

The 1 day Ballistic Data course was another invaluable lesson that really dug into ballistic software and the internal/external ballistics that effect a shot. I found myself back on the 100 yard range recording more cold bore shots and how they may differ from a group of shots. For a sniper and a hunter alike, the cold bore shot is where the money is made. In real world situations, a sniper or hunter patiently awaits the target to present itself. You may only get one shot and it will inevitably be through a cold bore. Every rifle and ammunition combination can present a different cold bore deviation. So knowing were that first cold bore shot will impact is paramount to the success of the mission.

Once we recorded our cold bore deviation, the students measured muzzle velocity with both doppler radar and a magneto speed chronograph. This data become more relevant when we started plugging these numbers into our ballistic software on our smartphones. I’m not a hand-loader but had consistent results with Hornady ELD Factory Match Ammunition. In fact, the deviation of this factory ammunition was on point with the guys who hand loaded their ammo.

After our coma inducing pizza lunch, we dragged our tired asses up to the long range shoot hill for the remainder of the course. Here the students utilized Kestrel weather meters and ballistic software to plot solutions for our shots. This exercise was the culmination of the earlier ballistic data collection, zeroing, range estimation and wind reading. As we paired up and worked in shooter/spotter teams, we were quickly rewarded with several successful shots.

Head Shot

One memorable shot was while I was spotting for another student. I chose a target in the 600-700 yard range and gave him the elevation and windage for the shot. He relayed to me that the target was almost completely obscured from his position by another silhouette in his line of sight…except for a small part of the head. Knowing that the trajectory of the bullet will clear the obstructing target enroute to its destination, we agreed to attempt a blind head shot. Once my shooter had his crosshairs where he imagined the target was, he sent a perfect shot downrange. I watched through my scope as his bullet trail passed over the obstructing target and impacted the designated target right in the center of the face making us both laugh like idiots.