Tactical Preschool

[tgace]

The following posts have been pretty popular at my blog. They tend to focus on LE tactics but I thought that the audience here may appreciate them. Any feedback or suggestions for new posts are appreciated.



http://tgace.wordpress.com/category/tactical-preschool/

[threegun]

I don't have a team to clear stairs. Thankfully I don't have to clear them being a civilian. In only the rarest of the rare occasion am I even in a building with them. If that rare occasion ever hits it would be even more rare for me to have to use them to escape, evade, or engage. Like hallways stairs are simply a bad place to be if shooting starts. Even with numbers its still bad.

[45Gunner]

I don't do sort of stuff anymore but I would think, instead of putting yourself/team members at risk, a couple of flash-bang grenades or tear gas cannisters would be the way to go.

[Double Naught Spy]

Sharing good information is a very good thing. Sharing information that isn't any good, regardless of the intent, is a bad thing.

Your information includes the single lead rule used by the military. It is supposed to provide an easy means of compensation to account for the target traveling laterally to the shooter. The value is that the farther away the target is, the greater the compensation afforded by the rule. There are a couple significant problems with this.

First, your presentation of the rule mentions nothing about it being a rifle-based rule. This rule does not work very well at all for handgun velocities except at close ranges.

Second, the amount of compensation afforded by the rule very well may not be enough. Basically, the "rule" isn't as widely applicable as claimed.

Since this is a miliary rule, let's use the M855 ammo from the M4 carbine. The M855 has a muzzle velocity of roughly 2800 fps and a BC of .304.

This is rule will give you a dead-center hit on a 15-meter target moving at 7 miles per hour at a 25-degree angle because the target moves .8 inches between the time the rifle is fired and the bullet arrives at the target. A 150-meter target moving at 7 miles per hour at a 25-degree angle moves 8 inches between the time the weapon is fired and the bullet arrives.

I am going to simplify things by having the target traveling at a 90 degree angle to the shooter and not 25 degree. Given that the single lead rule is a rule of thumb, then the change in degrees should not matter. It should still work, right? It won't.

Using a ballistic calculator, it will take roughly .18 seconds for the bullet to travel from the muzzle to the target at 150 yards. At 7 mph, the target is traveling 10.27 fps. So in .18 seconds, the target will have traveled 1.85 feet (~22"). Putting your front sight just to the side of midline in the direction of travel gives you a 8" lead on the target's centerline. Since the target is traveling laterally to the shooter, the shooter sees the target's side. For ease of calculation, let's say the target profile is 12" wide.

Since the target has moved 22", even with the 8" lead afforded by the single lead rule, the shot will pass behind the target. In short, the 22" of travel, minus the 8" lead lead of the centerline of the target leaves the trailing 6" of target left to be hit. So we subtract that 6" from the distance traveled by the target and that leaves us with 8" of travel not compensated for by the single lead rule. The round will miss the target, passing 8" behind it.

Walking half the speed, 3.5 mph, the target will have moved 11" in the time it takes the bullet to travel the 150 yards. Subtracting the 8" lead leaves 3" of travel by the target and the trailing 6" left to be hit and so the round will impact 3" behind (from direction of travel) the centerline.

[Niner4Tango]

I bookmarked the blog, there is some interesting info there.

As Double Naught Spy points out, the single lead rule breaks down under long ranges and high or low angles. The blog and Double Naught's reply led me to look up the US Army Fm 3-22.9 Rifle Marksmanship manual. There is a lot more to this rule of thumb, and the manual breaks it down pretty well.

The blog serves the purpose, though, to pique the interest to do more research. I don't think anyone should read a single blog, or article and think he has all the info he needs. Thanks, guys, good posts.

[tgace]

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...9/c07.htm#7_19

(1) The rule provides for many speed-angle combinations that place the bullet within 2 inches of target center (Table 7-1). Since the soldier is expected to fire a 12-inch group on moving targets at 100 meters, the rule provides for hits on the majority of targets. Even the worst case (a 90-degree target moving at 8 miles per hour) would result in the shot-group center being located 9.8 inches behind target center. If bullets were evenly distributed in a 12-inch group, this would result in hitting the target 40 percent of the time.

(2) Soldiers should be taught to increase their lead if they miss the targets, which increases their probability of hitting all targets. The amount of additional lead required should be developed through experience with only general guidance provided. For example, if there is much lateral movement of the target and the soldier feels, by applying the lead rule and firing fundamentals, he has missed the target, he should increase his lead.

Folks need to realize that this is about the Army teaching a "high(er) probability" technique for hitting targets in a combat environment. It's not about precision or IPSC shooting.

[Niner4Tango]

Yeah.

There is a lot more to the blog than moving target shooting. Tactics, leadership, spiritual reflection. The articles that are directed or could be adapted to the individual (rather than team tactics) are most interesting to me.

I definitely like the tone and content of the blog.

[Double Naught Spy]

Folks need to realize that this is about the Army teaching a "high(er) probability" technique for hitting targets in a combat environment. It's not about precision or IPSC shooting.

Folks need to realize that the information you provided on your blog for which you requested feedback included information that flat out would not work. You oversimplified the information without including the proper cautionary insights and gave the reader a false sense of success that would not occur. You have had to supplement it here with information from another web site.

Funny how the blog doesn't include the information from global security. If the global security web site has the proper information, then why not just link to it?

I noticed that the blog doesn't include anything about the 60% failure rate noted in the supplemental information.

The worst case scenarios of people running at a 90 degree angle happens quite a bit in urban environment as people cross the street from structure to structure.

[tgace]

I did add the link after you posted your first comment.

"Flat out would not work"? I didn't make this up myself. It's a technique taught by the Army. If you want "instruction" go find an instructor. This technique has worked just fine for me on the the moving target ranges I ever shot on while in the service.

I wrote:

Engaging moving targets is something that you will routinely face when you are competing against the “living”. There are various methods out there for engaging moving targets, I am going to show you one of the simplest “rules of thumb” used for hitting them.

Please note that this is a combat shooting technique and not designed for precision shooting. This rule will assist you in getting hits on the majority of high priority combat targets at reasonable engagement distances.

Which is paraphrased from the Army FM.

I don't believe I oversold this technique. Any reason this particular post is such an issue or is there some other problem?

[tgace]

If you are interested in the Armys research and decision to implement the single-lead rule; an abstract on their findings can be found here:

http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA204659

Previous doctrine outlined four different points of aim for laterally
moving personnel targets (FM 23-9). Determining which of these four lead
rules to use required the soldier to estimate the range and speed of the
target. Given this fact, hitting moving personnel targets within an exposure
time of a few seconds is probably too complex a task for most soldiers to
master during limited training. In an attempt to simplify established procedures
for engaging moving targets, nine different lead rules were subjected
to a trigonometric analysis to determine the theoretical location of bullet
impact (Evans & Schendel, 1982). The following five variables were considered
in this analysis: target speed, angle of movement, target range, size of the
front sight post, and velocity of the 5.56mm Ml6AI projectile. A single lead
rule was found which is appropriate for all target speeds, angles of movement,
and target ranges out to 200 meters. By aligning the trailing edge of the
front sight post with the center of the target, all IRETS moving targets could
be hit. Given the fact that a single lead rule was desired to simplify
training and maximize the number of high-priority target hits, this lead rule
is taught for all moving targets in the new ARM program. Prior to engaging
moving field-fire targets, soldiers are given moving target dry fire training.
In addition, soldiers fire at a 25-Meter Scaled Simulated Moving Target (see
Appendix H). This paper target allows soldiers to practice the lead rule with
stationary targets prior to engaging moving targets. Soldiers then walk down
range to inspect their targets. If rounds hit within a dotted silhouette
which is offset from the solid silhouette at which one aims, the round
probably would have hit the target if it had actually been moving.

PS- I have added this to the post as well.

[Niner4Tango]

It's a rule of thumb. A starting point for boots who probably didn't grow up snap-shooting birds or taking pot shots at a running rabbit with a 22. It introduces an interesting method of using your sights to hit a moving target - and everyone who has ever shot a moving target knows a lot of probability is always involved.

Tgace made some additions to the entry which added color to the article. But, the blog site is about so much more, this is a minuscule part of the whole thing. If you are interested in tactics...or the classics; Bushido...or Kipling; fitness...or the "art" of being a man, this blog is cool.