I contacted John on SniperHide.com about taking a precision rifle class. The class I attended was a 2 day course that was on August 16th and 17th. I bought a new custom made DPMS LR-308 from Robert at R&W Gunsmithing. John emailed me the training syllabus that out lined the course and what equipment I would need for the course.
I met John for breakfast the first day to go over my experience and what I expect to get out of the class. After breakfast we drove to the range and we set up the equipment before the class started.
The first thing John wanted to do was make sure my rifle and scope was set up for me. He went through ever thing from the butt stock length to scope placement and proper eye relief. Once everything was set John took the time to make sure everything was lock tighted down in the proper place. As John adjusted the butt stock, scope mount, and scope he explained what I should be seeing and how I should be comfortable. Once my rifle was set up John went into proper body placement in the prone. He covered from walking up to the firing line and how to place the rifle so it was on target. Then he went into how to get behind the rifle so I was in the proper position and how to keep my body straight behind the rifle.
He had me run some different drills so I could get use to getting behind my rifle. The first drill was to stand up behind the rifle and lying down behind it making sure I had proper body position. After conducting this drill about 5 or 6 time John explained how to walk up to a firing line and placing the weapon down and how to line it up to the target. He explained when you walk up to the line you place the weapon so that it is lined up with the target. You line up the compensator, elevation knob, and butt stock is all lined up. John then had me pick up my rifle and do some drill were I run up to the line and place my rifle down and get into proper body position.
Once that was done we went into how to adjust my scope and how to read it. John went into how to us the reticle and how to use it to adjust shoots and how to use it to judge distance. John then gave me a block of instruction on how to figure out distance but the size of the target or get the size of the target if you know the distance.
We then went into adjusting my gas block so it is properly adjusted. Since this was my first adjustable gas block John explained to me how to properly adjust it. After about 10-15 min we had it dialed in and rocking and rolling. John explained to me if I had a silencer we would do the same thing with the silencer on.
We then placed cardboard out at 100 yards with 3" dots on them for zeroing. I loaded up 2 19 round magazines and got into position and aimed in on the first black dot. After 4 groups of 5 shots and about 30 min my new rifle and scope was zeroed. Once I was zeroed John had me do the placement drills and he called off targets for me to shoot. After he felt I had a good understanding of how to place my weapon system and body position we moved to the 300 yard targets. Once I had my 300 yard hold over I moved on to the 400, 500 and 600 hold over for after lunch.
Once we got back from lunch we set the firing line back up and I got behind my system. I sighted in on the 300 yard target and took the shot. John had me take 3-5 shots at each target at the 300, 400, 500, 600 yard lines. John explained that we were confirming my hold over and making sure I had a good understanding of what I was doing. After that John asked if I wanted see what an AR 308 could do. I figured hell yeah I didn't buy it to just look pretty. After taking a short break I got down behind my system and loaded up 4 19 round magazines. I loaded one magazine and john asked me what my hold over's for each yard line was. Once he was comfortable that I knew them he explained to me that he will call a yard line and I have 10 second to hit it. I will admit this the first round of targets did not go to well for me. I loaded the second magazine and did it again, as he called out lines I shifted and sighted in and shot the target at that range. On the 4th magazine I was really in the groove of things for this drill. I rang steal with all 19 round and averaged about 7 seconds a target. It was a great way to end the first day of training.
On day two we met again for breakfast to go over what was taught on day one and what would be taught on day two. After breakfast we went back to the range and set up the targets and I got my equipment ready. John had me reconfirm my zero and all my holds and dopes for the 300, 400, 500 and 600 yard lines. After that was done he put up a target at 100 yards with 12 3” dots for me to work on groupings. The drill was to put one shot per dot in any order of my choosing. I conducted that drill about 5 time and after each time my grouping kept getting better.
After the grouping drills John went over the different types of sitting positions you can use for precision rifle shooting. After he showed me the different positions John had me practice with his .22 bolt action. Once he was confident that I understood the basics I shot 19 rounds with my AR at the 100 yard target. After that we then went back to the grouping drills and talked about how the more you practice this drill the better your shooting will get. Once that was done we did 4 iterations of the timed drill as he called off the target for me to hit within 10 seconds. Once that was done we cleaned everything up and went over everything that was taught in the two day class.
Lessons learned from taking this class with my LR-308 is after about 150 rounds the bolt group and chamber needs to be cleaned. My groups were getting thrown all over the place because of this after shooting over 180 rounds. But this could also be because my LR-308 is also brand new and the 340 round used for the class was the first time I used this rifle. Another lesson learned was I have to work on my breathing. Since it has been over 13 years since I did any precision rifle shooting. Yes I am in the military but the breathing for precision rifle shooting and AR-15/M-4 shooting is not the same. Another lesson learned is I need to practice dry firing a lot more then what I did prior to taking this course.
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Know for the big question that everyone is thinking, would I recommend this class to anyone. The answer is YES I would. I am so confident in John’s teaching that I would have no problem recommending him to all my buddies. Hell I want to put my wife through his course that is how confident I am with his teaching. I would recommend any class/course that John teaches. But I will say this if you do take one plan on shooting a lot. I am not kidding here I brought 480 rounds and in two days I shot 340 rounds of it.
I am planning on taking John’s advance Mil-Dot course as soon as I can get the time off to take it.
Here is John’s contact info:
J.Boyette Sniper's Hide name
[email protected]
http://www.marksmanshiptraining.com/
I met John for breakfast the first day to go over my experience and what I expect to get out of the class. After breakfast we drove to the range and we set up the equipment before the class started.
The first thing John wanted to do was make sure my rifle and scope was set up for me. He went through ever thing from the butt stock length to scope placement and proper eye relief. Once everything was set John took the time to make sure everything was lock tighted down in the proper place. As John adjusted the butt stock, scope mount, and scope he explained what I should be seeing and how I should be comfortable. Once my rifle was set up John went into proper body placement in the prone. He covered from walking up to the firing line and how to place the rifle so it was on target. Then he went into how to get behind the rifle so I was in the proper position and how to keep my body straight behind the rifle.
He had me run some different drills so I could get use to getting behind my rifle. The first drill was to stand up behind the rifle and lying down behind it making sure I had proper body position. After conducting this drill about 5 or 6 time John explained how to walk up to a firing line and placing the weapon down and how to line it up to the target. He explained when you walk up to the line you place the weapon so that it is lined up with the target. You line up the compensator, elevation knob, and butt stock is all lined up. John then had me pick up my rifle and do some drill were I run up to the line and place my rifle down and get into proper body position.
Once that was done we went into how to adjust my scope and how to read it. John went into how to us the reticle and how to use it to adjust shoots and how to use it to judge distance. John then gave me a block of instruction on how to figure out distance but the size of the target or get the size of the target if you know the distance.
We then went into adjusting my gas block so it is properly adjusted. Since this was my first adjustable gas block John explained to me how to properly adjust it. After about 10-15 min we had it dialed in and rocking and rolling. John explained to me if I had a silencer we would do the same thing with the silencer on.
We then placed cardboard out at 100 yards with 3" dots on them for zeroing. I loaded up 2 19 round magazines and got into position and aimed in on the first black dot. After 4 groups of 5 shots and about 30 min my new rifle and scope was zeroed. Once I was zeroed John had me do the placement drills and he called off targets for me to shoot. After he felt I had a good understanding of how to place my weapon system and body position we moved to the 300 yard targets. Once I had my 300 yard hold over I moved on to the 400, 500 and 600 hold over for after lunch.
Once we got back from lunch we set the firing line back up and I got behind my system. I sighted in on the 300 yard target and took the shot. John had me take 3-5 shots at each target at the 300, 400, 500, 600 yard lines. John explained that we were confirming my hold over and making sure I had a good understanding of what I was doing. After that John asked if I wanted see what an AR 308 could do. I figured hell yeah I didn't buy it to just look pretty. After taking a short break I got down behind my system and loaded up 4 19 round magazines. I loaded one magazine and john asked me what my hold over's for each yard line was. Once he was comfortable that I knew them he explained to me that he will call a yard line and I have 10 second to hit it. I will admit this the first round of targets did not go to well for me. I loaded the second magazine and did it again, as he called out lines I shifted and sighted in and shot the target at that range. On the 4th magazine I was really in the groove of things for this drill. I rang steal with all 19 round and averaged about 7 seconds a target. It was a great way to end the first day of training.
On day two we met again for breakfast to go over what was taught on day one and what would be taught on day two. After breakfast we went back to the range and set up the targets and I got my equipment ready. John had me reconfirm my zero and all my holds and dopes for the 300, 400, 500 and 600 yard lines. After that was done he put up a target at 100 yards with 12 3” dots for me to work on groupings. The drill was to put one shot per dot in any order of my choosing. I conducted that drill about 5 time and after each time my grouping kept getting better.
After the grouping drills John went over the different types of sitting positions you can use for precision rifle shooting. After he showed me the different positions John had me practice with his .22 bolt action. Once he was confident that I understood the basics I shot 19 rounds with my AR at the 100 yard target. After that we then went back to the grouping drills and talked about how the more you practice this drill the better your shooting will get. Once that was done we did 4 iterations of the timed drill as he called off the target for me to hit within 10 seconds. Once that was done we cleaned everything up and went over everything that was taught in the two day class.
Lessons learned from taking this class with my LR-308 is after about 150 rounds the bolt group and chamber needs to be cleaned. My groups were getting thrown all over the place because of this after shooting over 180 rounds. But this could also be because my LR-308 is also brand new and the 340 round used for the class was the first time I used this rifle. Another lesson learned was I have to work on my breathing. Since it has been over 13 years since I did any precision rifle shooting. Yes I am in the military but the breathing for precision rifle shooting and AR-15/M-4 shooting is not the same. Another lesson learned is I need to practice dry firing a lot more then what I did prior to taking this course.
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Know for the big question that everyone is thinking, would I recommend this class to anyone. The answer is YES I would. I am so confident in John’s teaching that I would have no problem recommending him to all my buddies. Hell I want to put my wife through his course that is how confident I am with his teaching. I would recommend any class/course that John teaches. But I will say this if you do take one plan on shooting a lot. I am not kidding here I brought 480 rounds and in two days I shot 340 rounds of it.
I am planning on taking John’s advance Mil-Dot course as soon as I can get the time off to take it.
Here is John’s contact info:
J.Boyette Sniper's Hide name
[email protected]
http://www.marksmanshiptraining.com/
