Fundamentals of Riflecraft 10NOV24

Valeriy Marcus, master sergeant of the battalion, called me to his office, a dark narrow corridor on the first floor of a dilapidated hospital with bunk beds on one side and shelves full of equipment on the other. 

He wanted me to give the young 47th battalion marksmen and snipers, but with what resources? I’m a teacher, not a magician….He pulled 200 rounds of 7.62x51mm ammunition from under his bed, his personal ammo, and asked me to divide it up amongst the students. 200 rounds for 40 students? 

We had just returned from our first rotation to the front lines. Sergii and Kot, two motivated and combat experienced soldiers that Marcus had recruited had asked me to train them, but now they were dead. Kot was shot 4 times by the enemy while clearing a house, and died in my arms as I worked to evacuate him Sergii was the pointman and was killed instantly. They had saved their pennies and bought a top of the line American made Savage 110 Precision in .338 Lapua Magnum, the best scope they could afford, a nice titanium silencer from Finland, but had almost no ammo for it, no training, and nowhere to train. They never got a chance to shoot that rifle, as I only had a few hours with them before we went to battle, and the rifle was later given to me in mint condition. 

I took stock of the equipment and resources we had in front of us; we had plenty of standard infantry rifles, a surplus of standard ball ammunition and some captured Russian 7N6M armor piercing 5.45x39mm ammo. We had very few scopes, but the real problem was scope mounts. Ukranian AK74s didn’t have side scope mounts. 

A few guys had bought personal weapons, an AR10 here, an ar15 there, a few off-the-books American m14 Cold War battle rifles, but no ammo for NATO caliber weapons at that time, no magazines for m14, no scopes, no scope mounts, no steel targets… Dammit. How could I give them the training they needed?

I wished then that I could bring those eager soldiers to our facility in California. We have every resource a young rifleman needs to train and learn and become confident in his skills. This was July 2022, early in the war when everyone was tense. We improvised as best we could, to prepare the boys for their dangerous future. Through a concerted effort from our Monarch Defense students at home, donors all over the world, volunteers in Poland and Ukraine, and soldiers motivated to learn, I was able to return to Ukraine in September 2022, carrying on my back all the necessary scopes, scope mounts, magazines, ammunition making equipment, and we trained and equipped the nascent 47th brigade’s (only a battalion at that time) marksmen, snipers and rifle instructors. 

This is that class: 

Everything you need to know about how to use a rifle, in great detail, with the focus and efficiency of looming life and death conflict, but with the infinite resources and flexibility of our expansive Northern California shooting school. All rifles are fundamentally the same, and skill with one type of rifle translates perfectly to skill with larger more capable weapons. This class is for folks who are looking to improve their technical knowledge of ballistics, zeroing, mental math, bullet trajectory, and shooting fundamentals. We welcome all calibers, all barrel lengths, all optical sighting systems. We provide rifles, scopes, and magazines free of charge to students who wish to borrow. Come and learn, meet us and meet the facility, and then make informed purchases once you know what to buy. 

Welcome to the much anticipated Fall 2024 Combat Rifle Series! This program consists of six 1-day immersive classes that will cover everything you need to know of how to use a modern carbine or fighting rifle, and how to understand the tool’s role in the greater tactical framework of modern human conflict, starting with the basics, and going all the way into low light fighting, night vision, close quarter battle, teamwork and tactics, precision shooting out to 400 meters and beyond, how to use red dots and magnifiers, lasers, LPVO and ACOG scopes, ballistic theory, and so much more! 

The full package of 6 classes gives you an awesome price of $96 per class, between August 15th and August 31st, as a reward for those who are bold enough to grab the bull by the horns. Then the price will go back to standard price. Each class is action packed and 10 hours long. If you have a schedule conflict, you may simply mix and match with future class dates, to customize your package to your schedule. Email Brian at info@monarchdefense.org for details. 

Fundamentals of Riflecraft is suited to beginners who are just learning to shoot a rifle, and for experienced students looking to prepare a solid foundation as they get ready to transition to much bigger and more expensive weapon systems to shoot farther. If you are interested in long range precision shooting, then start here to build your foundation. This class is technical and academic. It is not physically intense, involves no running or crawling. Plan for 50% of the day to be notebook and whiteboard time. All shooting is slow fire for maximum precision and accuracy. If you are looking for the more physically and tactically intense training, please see the rest of our Combat Rifle Series. 

Fall 2024 Combat Rifle Series dates:

Basic Combat Rifle, Saturday 31st of August, 2024.
Live Fire Battle Drills, Saturday 14th of September, 2024.
Fundamentals of Riflecraft, Saturday 29th of September, 2024.
Combat Rifle Optics, Saturday 12th of October, 2024. 
Basic Combat Rifle, Saturday 27th of October, 2024.
Advanced Combat Rifle, Saturday November 9th, 2024.
Fundamentals of Riflecraft, Sunday 10th of November, 2024.
Close Quarters Combat Rifle, Saturday December 7th, 2024. 

Prerequisite:

You must have prior safe weapons handling experience.

Topics: 

What is a rifle, what does it do, and what do we do with it? 
How do bullets fly, or the study of ballistics
Minutes of angle
Milliradians
Yards versus meters
Inches vs centimeters
Defining the size of the target for hunting, fighting, and target shooting
Defining accuracy vs precision
Proper zeroing procedure
Shooting positions, especially Rifleman’s Prone and Perfect Prone
Finding your maximum theoretical effective range
Practicing hold-over and hold-unders
Dialing for distance vs holding for distance
How to mount and level scopes
Comparison of rifle and caliber capabilities and how to select and buy equipment
First focal plane vs Second focal plane scopes 

Schedule: 

8:45 am Setup, issue out ammo and weapons 
9:00 am Safety brief and theory
10:00 am Zeroing, dry fire, and fundamentals live fire practice on paper targets
3:00 pm steel target practice on our known distance rifle range out to 800 meters/900 yards
5:00 pm Debrief, clean up, stay and practice on the open range till it gets dark, or go home 

Location:

Our facility is in the mountains 1 hour east of San Jose, 1 hour south from Livermore. Detail directions will be emailed to those who sign up. If you are inexperienced in driving mountain roads, give yourself 2 hours to make the trip from most places in the bay area.

Packing list: 

Notebook and pen/pencil
Ruler that reads in centimeters and inches
Layer garments so you can adjust for cold, wet, or warm weather
Hat
Backpack
Rifle, can be bolt action or semi auto, any caliber (school can provide weapons free of charge, contact us for info)
250+ rounds of ammunition, or pay $80 for unlimited ammo from the school
Cleaning kit with oil, rag, toothbrush
Eye protection
Ear protection 
Tools for mounting and adjusting sights
user manual for your optic, recommend downloading the PDF ahead of time.
Sling
1 gallon of water
Salty snacks and bag lunch