Week 2 - BRM

A good soldier is a good shot

Reference: TC 3-22.9

Weapon Safety

Before starting, Let’s do a quick review of weapon safety. Negligent Discharges happen and it’s your job to keep you and everyone else safe. Everyone is a safety, if you see any unsafe behavior then call it out. There are 4 basic rules to remember

1. Treat every weapons as if it were loaded. Even if it’s unloaded or fake, still treat it with respect.

2. Never point the weapon at anything you don’t intend to kill or destroy. To help you with this, pretend there is a laser beam coming out of the barrel, your job is to avoid the laser beam from hitting stuff.

3. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire Do not place your finger in the trigger well, keep it straight until ready to fire.

4. Know you target and it’s surroundings Know what’s in front and behind your target, you don’t want bullets ricocheting or hitting something else.

Safety status

There are 3 main states of safety: Green, Amber and Red

Green means

• Selector is set to safe
• No magazine in weapon
• Bolt is forward

Amber means

• Selector on safe
• Magazine in weapon
• Bolt is forward with no round chambered

Red means

• Selector on safe
• Bolt is forward with round chambered

Weapons Control Status

Weapons Hold: Engage only if engaged or ordered to engage Weapons Tight Engage only if enemy is positively identified as enemy Weapons Free Engage targets not positively identified as friendly (Shoot at everything)

M4A1 Weapon System

Currently, the army service rifle is the M4A1. A lightweight rifle that shoots 5.56 mm ammunition. Gas operated and air cooled. It can fire in semiautomatic (1 bullet at a time) and automatic modes (Many bullets) Optics and sights can be attached, but for the duration of your time as a Cadet you will only use iron sights

Now, Let’s go over the components.

Most important here is the ejection port and forward assist. Use the forward assist if the weapon does not lock the chambered round properly (Usually means you have some cleaning to do) Be mindful of the ejection port cover (dust cover) and always close it when not in use

The buttstock is adjustable. I recommend leaving it fully extended, but do whatever makes you feel more comfortable There is a button on the side that you press in order to release the magazine

You can flip the back iron sight up and down, Flip it up when ready to use, And keep the distance selector at 300.

Cycling Function

Whenever you fire a round, The weapon goes through a mechanical process to chamber the next round. Here is a high level overview.

• Feeding
• Chambering
• Locking
• Firing
• Unlocking
• Extracting
• Ejecting
• Cocking

Effectively Using Your Weapon

The number 1 thing in shooting is consistency, you MUST be consistent or you won’t land your shoots. That means, don’t switch your picture sight, don’t switch your positioning and don’t fiddle with the buttstock length. Choose 1 form of shooting and stick with it. If you are feeling frustrated at the zero range because you can’t zero in, Don’t try new things remain in the same shooting stance and work on the other techniques to improve your shooting

The Shooting Trifecta

There are 3 things to keep in mind whenever you shoot.

• Sight alignment - How are you looking at the sights?
• Sight picture - How are you looking at the target through the sights
• Trigger control (Trigger squeeze) - How do you squeeze the trigger to fire a shot?

The most important ones are your sight alignment and sight picture. If you master both of these and keep it consistent it can take you a long way there is also trigger control and to a lesser extent breathing but, put most of your focus on sight alignment and picture.

Sight Alignment

The “Chipmunk Cheek” is crucial for good sight alignment I recommend fully extending your buttstock. Remember that consistency is key, Position yourself at the same location every time.

Sight Picture

When aiming your sights should look somewhat like this:

The target you want to hit should be just above the middle part of the sight. Aim for center mass. The closer your target is the lower you want to to aim to keep hitting center mass.

Don’t worry much about the metal pieces on the sides. They don’t have to be fully inside the sight picture. Focus only on the middle part and make sure it’s in the middle

Your sight picture will vary depending on the distance of your target. Take a look at the picture, notice how you aim lower the closer the target is. This compensates for the bullet trajectory and ensures that your shoot will always hit center mass

Weapon Disassembly