July 31, 1997 - Getting Zeroed

(Note: this was a 4 day journal entry, so it has been broken up accordingly.) 
970802 - Wednesday we snapped in some more and had an ISMT activity which is a simulated rifle hooked up to a computer. I didn't do too bad but not too good either. Thursday it rained all day and we were supposed to shoot to get our sights zeroed. We did and I did terribly because I was shivering the entire time. By this point I was extremely discouraged.
An important component of shooting accurately is having your sights properly adjusted. Without this, there is no way of knowing whether or not you're actually aiming at your target. At the various distances (200, 300, and 500 yards) you make adjustments for distance and wind, but all of that is worthless if you don't first have a good "zero" (or starting off point).

In boot camp, the way that we zeroed in our sights was by firing a couple of rounds from the prone (laying down) position at a small target 36 yards away. If I remember correctly, we shoot at 36 yards because that's when the bullet is heading upwards in its arc and hits the same height that it will later hit on its descent, at 300 yards. So, theoretically, if you hit your target at 36 yards, you are sighted in to hit the target at 300 yards.

As my journal indicates, the weather was terrible on this particular day. There was a cold front, so it was only about 60 degrees, and it was pouring rain. This alone would have made shooting difficult, but as I mentioned above, we shot in the prone position. When I was in my shooting position, I was laying in at least 3 inches of cold water. I shivered uncontrollably as I tried to aim and fire my rifle. The Marksmanship Instructor eventually gave up and set my rifle sights at some random setting. I was not optimistic about my chances on the rifle range in the coming week.

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