Multiple target shooting engagement

One sunny afternoon, I escaped from my airconditioned office to review my shooting skills. Seeing those IPSC board targets, I was motivated  to do some dry practices to warm myself up. In shooting competitions and most especially during real-life defensive shooting engagements, one must be able to smoothly draw the pistol and shoot the targets accurately in the fastest manner possible. This can be achieved by religiously reviewing all the needed skills like 'draw and fire', 'double tapping' and rapid target transition while continuously shooting the targets.

Rifle speed shooting drill

I love speed shooting  just like any competitive shooters. Of course, there are shooters who love being 'ratratero' because they feel great showing-off with fast trigger-squeezing ability but  unmindful of the hits on the target. I don't belong to that category of gun explosion fanatics.  I want to survive the  real-life combat shooting engagements so I always retrain myself through repetitive drills like this one.

Fabrique National Herztal M240B General Purpose Machine Gun

According to the U.S. Field Manual 22.68, the M240B is a general-purpose machine gun that  can be mounted on a bipod, tripod, aircraft, or vehicle. It is a belt-fed, air-cooled, gas-operated, fully automatic machine gun that fires from the open bolt position.

The US manual also describes the M240 as follows: "Ammunition is fed into the weapon from a 100-round bandoleer containing a disintegrating metallic split-link belt. The gas from firing one round provides the energy for firing the next round. Thus, the gun functions automatically as long as it is supplied with ammunition and the trigger is held to the rear. As the gun is fired, the belt links separate and are ejected from the side. Empty cases are ejected from the bottom of the gun. A spare barrel is issued with each M240B, and barrels can be changed quickly as the weapon has a fixed head space. However, barrels from different weapons should not be interchanged. The bore of the barrel is chromium plated, reducing barrel wear to a minimum".

 

In the Philippine Army, the M240B is currently used by the SOCOM troopers, Mechanized Infantry Units, and, the Markmanship Training Unit's Machinegun Team. The M240B is the most preferred competition machinegun among the ASEAN countries due to its accuracy and durability.

 

In 2005, I coached the MG Team after its poor showings in the past AARM competitions. Being the implementor of the training program, I wanted to 'level up' our performance. I did not want to repeat the poor showing of Team Philippines when I was a member of the Shooting Team in the 1990's during which we were using the Cal 5.56mm Ultimax SAW, and we ended up among those who are in the bottom pages of the match results.

 

I personally led the team in their training activities, pushing them to their limits. I introduced some marksmanship coaching methodologies which were used in the sniper training. I required them to analylze their shots, assess their performance and record their shooting data on a DOPE book. Most importantly, I demanded self-discipline, team spirit and camaraderie among the shooters.

 

 



Since I also supervised the training of the other teams (Rifle, Pistol and Carbine), I enlisted the help of a competent marksmanship instructor, SSg Jun Bacud, my former teammate in the Rifle Team. He served as Team Captain of the MG Team during the competition.

This is the sample course of fire of the Machine Gun matches during the ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet. I took this video recently during one of their practices in Camp O'Donnell, Tarlac.

The members of the MG Team proudly pose with their trophies after the AARM 2005 competition.

Because of their excellent performance, Team Philippines got the Overall lead in the medal/trophy tally during the AARM 2005.

This year, the MG Team will compete in the same 'battlegrounds' where we grabbed all those medals and trophies in 2005.

 

Salamat Datang, Brunei Darussalam!

 

Pistol shooting drills for kids

After the sharing the shooting fundamentals, I checked the ability of my son to apply the theories that he learned by letting him undergo the 'shot grouping exercise'. To make it more challenging and fun, I made it look like a shooting duel. I showed him the best shot that I can deliver at that time.

 

This is one of the exciting drills for kids where they can have an excellent physical exercise while receiving shooting instructions. Indeed, shooting time is bonding time!

Live fire drills for kids

No one is born a shooter. Through training and hardwork under close supervision of a competent coach, shooting skills are transferred to interested individuals. For kids, training should always be fun and not full of pressures. In this video, I just allowed my son to enjoy shooting by introducing some basic movements that are required in IPSC shooting.

Dry practice for kids

Shooting practices for kids must be fun, otherwise, they will tire easily and refuse to undergo the physically-demanding drills. I always make it a point that the end state of the dry practices must be understood and my trainee knows the standards to be achieved. In these videos, I taught my son how to perform 'draw and fire' and attain the so-called flash sight picture.

This video shows how I mentor my son on 'change mag drills'. He has gradually gained the muscle memory to perform this exercise with precision and accuracy. Through consistent drills under supervision, this skill could be perfected and becomes second-nature to him.

Games of the Generals Ultimate Shooting Challenge

When it was the Army's turn to host its version of the Games of the Generals, ARMSCOR was one of our proud sponsors. We were able to try the match ammunitions which are proudly Filipino made.

In preparation to the big event, we practiced the courses of fire. As long as there are spare times, the shooters regularly visit the firing range to hone their shooting skills.

Sniper Rifle event was one of the exciting events. Here we are using the M24 Sniper Weapon System currently used by the Army Scout Rangers. This is a very accurate weapon that can hit man-sized targets out to 1,000 meters.

The M3A (Leupold M3) Scope has a bullet drop compensator making it easier to put the right dope in relation to the distance of the target. I briefed AFP chief Gen Jessie Dellosa on how to manipulate the turrets before the match.

The rifle match is a challenging event featuring mini-poppers that will be engaged at 200m and 150m distance. Many participants who lacked practice sessions in mid-range shooting failed to down the targets.

This is my demo video for the Rifle Match. Brigadier General Alan Luga dominated this match, taking away the Championship Trophy. The Army Team also got the Team Championship trophy.

The pistol match is actually the Army's Combat Pistol Qualification Course that I helped design for the Army in 2006. It is a 50-round record fire in various distances (5m,10m,15m,25m, 50m).

The Army team is composed of 'top shots' like SOLCOM chief Lt Gen Roland Detabali, EASTMINCOM Chief Lt Gen Jorge Segovia and 1ID Chief Brig Gen Rainier Cruz.

The Army Team (L-R) Col Greg Catapang, MGen Caesar Ordoyo, Lt Gen Noel Coballes, Lt Gen Jogie Segovia, Lt Gen Rolly Detabali (Champion, Rifle Match-Scope Category), Gen Jessie Dellosa, Lt Gen Emmanuel Bautista, BGen Alan Luga, BGen Nestor Anonuevo (Champion, Sniper Match), Col Henry Sabarre, BGen Rainier Cruz (Champion, Pistol Match) and BGen Bennie De Leon.

Shot anticipation errors

Neophyte shooters tend to anticipate the recoil, causing involuntary body movements that will affect shooting accuracy. In this actual training video, I am helping a new shooter eliminate the basic shooting errors that he committed, resulting to bad shot groups. I used to basic marksmanship coaching techniques to correct the errors: Recoil simulation technique and the "Ball and Dummy" exercise.

The Army's 40mm M203 Grenade Launcher

The Philippine Army soldiers, particularly the Grenadiers, are still using the M203 GL which was introduced to us in the 1980s. When attached to an M16 Rifle, a soldier has an added capability of delivering indirect fires to support the squad and platoons.

I had met a lot of soldiers who didn't know how to use this weapon effectively. Influenced by war movies, they were made to believe that the weapon can hit targets by firing it directly at them!


Some have even discarded the 'cumbersome' quadrant sights and leaf sights, due to plain ignorance.

Every time I have the chance, I demonstrate the ability of this weapon to hit area targets precisely. It's kill radius is about 5 meters but with my excellent marksmanship foundation, I can bring that high explosive (HE) round right in front of the target at a distance of 250m.

Watch as I demonstrate the use of both the leaf sights and the quadrant sights before a group of soldiers in Fort Magsaysay's GL firing range. My targets are man-size target boards in white paint for easy identification.


The farther the targets, the higher the angle of the weapon. After all, this is an indirect fire weapon like mortars, right?

M203 GL shooting is fun too!

Shot Grouping exercise and determining 'come ups'/ hold-offs

I shared some shooting tips to Grace Tan, my new recruit in rifle shooting addiction. After zeroing our rifles at 100m, we tried to determine the bullet drops and required hold-offs or 'come-ups' at 200m and 250m.

While there are available ballistics data that can be used as a reference in making sight adjustments (or compensated aiming point), we tried to get the actual bullet drop by using the same point of aim and zero setting (100m) while shooting at longer distances.

 My student is a fast learner, she easily grasped the principles behind the shooting exercise. She is an emerging threat to the lady shooters in IPSC shooting matches.

Precision shooting duel with my son

One of the approaches that I use for my son's marksmanship training program  is the conduct of mini-competition. Here, I challenged him to a 3-round shooting match in air-rifle. The teacher is always the winner: If he wins the match by outpointing the student, that is not news anymore. If the student wins, it means he is a good mentor.

Precision shooting practice (10-meter Air Pistol/Rifle Range)

To encourage my son in joining precision shooting matches, I usually shoot with him. For coaches, there is no replacement to the actual presence when you want a young child learn to love shooting as a sport.  To achieve this, I just grab the available air pistol in the range and review my shooting basics while mentoring him at the same time.   

Harvey shoots while assaulting

My son is a 'shooting addict' in the making. I gradually share some shooting tips to him during our practice sessions. To avoid information overload, I just did it slowly but surely. To effectively impart the shooting skills, the activity must be made enjoyable to young trainees. To us, shooting is just for fun.

Gun Malfunctions

This video shows that no one can claim to have a 'non-malfunctioning' gun. Bottomline: Maintain your guns folks! Don't be lazy!

Quick Bore Sight Procedures before zeroing a scoped rifle

If you dislike spending more time, effort and resources for zeroing, it is a good option to conduct quick boresight procedures before the live firing activity. The techniques are published in various manuals and discussed in many internet forums. I took a video of my own pre-zeroing procedures which include aligning the bore and the scope reticle towards the same direction. Imagine a 'cross-hair' inside the bore, point it at the center mass of your target (preferrably, a big one like the military silhouette),  compare the sight picture with the one you see in the scope. Make adjustments on the scope until the reticle and the imaginary 'crosshair' of your bore are in the same aiming area.  

Game of the Generals (Match 2)

This is the COF for the Games of the Generals to be hosted by the Philippine Army.

The Army offers a unique shooting match where endurance and shooting skills must go hand in hand, to emerge as winners.

Long range lovers will have 200m distance with Figure 11 silhouette (whole body) and 1 square foot steel plates as targets; and, Figure 12 targets (half-body) at 150m.

CQB fans will have Figure 11 targets at 20 meters.

Shooting is fun in the Army! 

Quick Fire Drills

In real world shooting engagements, soldiers are supposed to shoot straighter and faster. It is the same in IPSC rifle matches. To survive either armed encounters or friendly shooting competitions, one must practice diligently. 

Shooting two CZ SPO1 Pistols

I did this just for fun and to see for myself if the cinematic actions of  the likes of Joko Diaz and Jeric Raval are realistic. Firing with both hands, huh?

Live Fire with CZ SPO1 Tactical

My son is the new generation shooting addict. I coached him in IPSC shooting techniques in preparation to the upcoming club shoot. We are almost ready to compete now that he can accurately engage targets using the 'twin tap'.

Shooting Poppers in Standing Position

Looking at it from 100 meters position, steel poppers are becoming quite smaller, but a trained shooter can accurately engage targets as 'thin' as the standard sized IPSC popper. Using the combat stance and 'half-release' breathing technique, I can hit poppers with 'one shot, one kill' accuracy.