Question about Marine Corps rifle qualifications

[DJE1337]

Hello all,
This is my first post here on leatherneck so please take it easy on me. I am going to be in 11th grade this year and am highly considering joining the Marines right after high school. I have yet to meet one-on-one with a recruiter but my school has had a few in the past that a whole bunch of students have met with at a time. My main question is about the rifle qualifications that a Marine must take at boot camp, and as i understand annually. I have done some searching online and i found that if you fail you can keep trying until you pass the test. What if you pass but are not satisfied with the score you get on the qualification? Are you allowed to retake even if you have already passed or is it a done deal when you complete it? The reason i ask is because i have been using firearms since i was about 10 years old and i'm trying to practice now in order to achieve "Expert". Any help would be greatly appreciated so i can better understand how this test works.
Thanks,
Max

[Zulu 36]

Hello all,
This is my first post here on leatherneck so please take it easy on me. I am going to be in 11th grade this year and am highly considering joining the Marines right after high school. I have yet to meet one-on-one with a recruiter but my school has had a few in the past that a whole bunch of students have met with at a time. My main question is about the rifle qualifications that a Marine must take at boot camp, and as i understand annually. I have done some searching online and i found that if you fail you can keep trying until you pass the test. What if you pass but are not satisfied with the score you get on the qualification? Are you allowed to retake even if you have already passed or is it a done deal when you complete it? The reason i ask is because i have been using firearms since i was about 10 years old and i'm trying to practice now in order to achieve "Expert". Any help would be greatly appreciated so i can better understand how this test works.
Thanks,
Max

Once you shoot on qual day, that's the score you're stuck with until the next time you go to qualify (normally annually). Failing to qualify in boot camp gets you one more chance during "Team Week."

Practicing now isn't necessarily going to help you later as the Primary Marksmanship Instructors will teach you the Marine Corps' way of shooting. The more bad habits you have to break, the harder it can be on you.

Going "Unq" after boot camp really screws up your promotion and re-enlistment chances.

Don't sweat the small stuff until it's time. Your first step is to get into boot camp.

[DJE1337]

Thanks for you reply. I'll keep my focus more on the big picture.

Max

[elliscraig12]

Once you shoot on qual day, that's the score you're stuck with until the next time you go to qualify (normally annually). Failing to qualify in boot camp gets you one more chance during "Team Week."

Practicing now isn't necessarily going to help you later as the Primary Marksmanship Instructors will teach you the Marine Corps' way of shooting. The more bad habits you have to break, the harder it can be on you.

Going "Unq" after boot camp really screws up your promotion and re-enlistment chances.

Don't sweat the small stuff until it's time. Your first step is to get into boot camp.

Great advice. If you spend your time focusing on failure, you'll fail. If you spend your time focusing on what you need to do and how you need to do it, you'll succeed.

[thewookie]

FWIW -- Adding my two cents to what Zulu36 said -- I would suggest if you really want to be a Marine, then you stop trying to learn how to shoot as a civilian. I'm not saying you won't be able to transition to our way. I am saying I saw more "back home experts" that went unk or shot much worse then they could if they had no prior marksmanship training. Most Marines you speak to will back me on this.

I don't know who is teaching you or what there background is, but I'm just saying.

You want to get ahead, start learning your general orders, learn our rank structure, learn the history of the Marine Corps. These are things you should work on ahead of time.

Good luck.

Oh, and I oh-so agree with elliscraig12 -- thinking about failure -- is failing.

Think about it.

[Sergeant M]

I was a Marksmanship coach at MCRD Edson Range (West Coast Boot Camp). If you go unqualified the first time you attempt to qualify, then you cannot get higher than marksman for that year/qualification. You will receive an ample amount of training to shoot expert. The Wookie is correct, when he says that people who self-taught themselves to shoot at home, often have a more difficult time on the range. The marksmanship portion of the boot camp is quite simple, as long as you pay attention to what you are doing, and don't psyche yourself out on qual day.

Table 1: Known Distance Course

200 Yard Slow Fire (20 Minutes)
5 Rounds standing (Offhand/Unsupported) (Able Target)
5 Rounds kneeling (Loop Sling) (Able Target)
5 Rounds sitting (loop sling) (Able Target)

200 yard rapid fire (60 Seconds)
10 rounds from standing to sitting (loop sling) (Dog Target)

300 yard slow fire (5 minutes)
5 rounds sitting (Loop Sling) (Able Target)

300 yard rapid fire (60 seconds)
10 rounds from standing to prone (Loop sling) (Dog target)

500 yard slow fire (10 minutes)
10 rounds prone (Loop Sling) (B-Modified target)

Each hit to the black counts as 5 points, farther from the target is fewer points. A miss counts as zero points.

Table 2 - Multiple Targets with Position Change and Speed Reloads

You shoot all of your rounds at 25 yards except for (8) rounds at 100 yards at moving targets. Easy points.

If you have any further questions about Recruit Marksmanship Training, let me know.

[DJE1337]

Thanks for your reply Sergeant M. The information you provided is very useful and i definitely better understand how the qualification works.