Small Arms Trainer

[FSTO]

Once again our NRD had less than satisfactory results at our range weekend (which happens only once per year) so the discussion came up again about Small Arms Trainers (SAT). There used to be one that was shared between CFFS Esquimalt and the Western Region NRD's but as with many shared resources they were never there when you needed them, or they were broken or missing critical parts. AFAIK they have disappeared from the face of the planet. I was told the other day that the Regina Armoury has one we could use, but it is busted as well. I proposed to the Western Region command staff that the Navy bites the bullet and purchase a SAT for each NRD. Don't know how much it would cost but it would be a hell of a lot better than the nothing we got now.

So it also got me thinking about the VR gear that is out there now. A quick search on the google thingy got me to this game.

Gun Club VR on Meta Quest | Quest VR Games

The best VR firearm simulator just got a whole lot better. Full audio remastering for every weapon, massively enhanced textures and lighting, and remodeled ranges makes this the most realistic and accurate version of Gun Club ever.

www.oculus.com

To my totally untrained eye would something like this be useful (if you have it on the Shooting Range Mode) for getting sailors used to handling the weapon, getting their stances right, and hitting targets down range

My question to the masses:

What sort of SAT equipment do the Army Cbt Trades use
Is commercial gaming VR any use for actual pre range training
Am I totally dreaming in technicolour even bringing this subject up.

 

[childs56]

I cant help you with the SAT trainer costs. Any piece of equipment like that that is shipped around will break and have more failures then if it is left stationary.
What type of pre range training was conducted? Did you spend a evening or a day going over dry firing, Marksmanship principles, IAs and Stoppages?
Verify the rifles are empty, adopt the shooting position. Ready the action on safe. place dime on the front fore site have them go through through the marksman ship breathing, site alignment etc and have them squeeze off the trigger. If the dime falls off not steady enough. Sounds dumb but it works.
Also were your rifles sighted in properly. I was on a range in Cold Lake for qualifying PWT. They would not let us adjust our own sites in the beginning. lets say the SME was adjusting them all wrong. I informed the Sgt who ignored me. I adjusted my own and showed him. The SME apologized to me and I adjusted the remainder of the sites showing him and the Sgt how it was done. The SME had not qualified on the C79 Optical Site. He was a MWO only ever shot Irons up until that day. Read how to adjust sites but did it wrong for a couple of years. They thought the Airmen were all horrible shots lol. The .233 pen worked well that day to get us off the range before sun down.

All I ever did on the SAT trainer was have fun shoots and go over Stoppage drills. Similar can be done with out it, just not as much fun.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

You can teach the principles of marksmanship with Air rifles as well.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Once again our NRD had less than satisfactory results at our range weekend (which happens only once per year) so the discussion came up again about Small Arms Trainers (SAT). There used to be one that was shared between CFFS Esquimalt and the Western Region NRD's but as with many shared resources they were never there when you needed them, or they were broken or missing critical parts. AFAIK they have disappeared from the face of the planet. I was told the other day that the Regina Armoury has one we could use, but it is busted as well. I proposed to the Western Region command staff that the Navy bites the bullet and purchase a SAT for each NRD. Don't know how much it would cost but it would be a hell of a lot better than the nothing we got now.

So it also got me thinking about the VR gear that is out there now. A quick search on the google thingy got me to this game.

Gun Club VR on Meta Quest | Quest VR Games

The best VR firearm simulator just got a whole lot better. Full audio remastering for every weapon, massively enhanced textures and lighting, and remodeled ranges makes this the most realistic and accurate version of Gun Club ever.

www.oculus.com

To my totally untrained eye would something like this be useful (if you have it on the Shooting Range Mode) for getting sailors used to handling the weapon, getting their stances right, and hitting targets down range

My question to the masses:

What sort of SAT equipment do the Army Cbt Trades use
Is commercial gaming VR any use for actual pre range training
Am I totally dreaming in technicolour even bringing this subject up.

Bay Street Armoury used to have one. It was only 'in commission' about 50% of the time though.

As @Colin Parkinson suggested an air rifle, or a .22 cal, range is perfect for bringing folks up to speed, and learn to enjoy shooting at the same time. If you can get time slots on a local range I'm sure you'd have better results, for a much lower cost, than investing in a gajillion dollar high tech product that's broken alot of the time.

And thank you for riding one of my own hobby horses for a bit. Relying on one or two range exercise a year to churn through troops until they qualify for their PWT (whatever number), or not, is a shitty way to train shooters.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

With one hour of range time with the range set up prior to start, I can generally get 3-4 serials of five rounds each. Keeping in mind I am working with kids 9-12, many have never held any gun before. I use a laser clamped to the barrel to help me identify issues we can work on for each shooter. You can even buy air rifles that mimic AR's Crosman M4-177 - 495 FPS