I have long had a tendency to tie marksmanship to morality. The essence of good marksmanship is self-control, and self-control is the essence of good citizenship. It is too easy to say that a good shot is automatically a good man, but it would be equally incorrect to ignore the connection.
Marksmanship is the heart of everything we do here. Through marksmanship, we learn and practice discipline, focus, and self-control. As one of my podcast guests once put it over a couple of beers, “Marksmanship is the American Martial Art.”
Here you will find all of my articles, podcasts, and marksman challenges relating to the study and practice of good marksmanship. If you’re specifically looking to learn the fundamentals, be sure to check out my article series on how to shoot a rifle. I’ll soon be working on a series for pistol marksmanship as well.
If you haven’t tested yourself against a Marksman Challenge, be sure to check one of them out and lets us know how you did over in the community forum.
/// Marksmanship Archive
The Gamut Challenge Might be the “Perfect” Competition
Caleb recently completed The Gamut Challenge, which is a bit like a "Run & Gun" on steroids. Here's how it went, what he learned, and why you should consider getting in on the action.
Shoot This! January 2025 Postal Match Course of Fire and Results
Over the first part of 2025, we ran a friendly postal match in the Everyday Marksman community. It's all wrapped up, and here was the course of fire as well as the results. Thanks to everyone who participated, and stay tuned for the next one!
You’re Either Shooting or Loading: Green Ops Shotgun AAR
Given the opportunity, Ross was able to jump in on a recent shotgun course put on by Green Ops Training, who Matt has interviewed a couple of times. The weather was cold and wet, which added an extra challenge to the day, and here's how it went.
Fairfax Pistol Action Challenge Dec 2024 AAR
Given my focus on pistol shooting, it was high time I entered a pistol match. On December 20th, 2024, the Fairfax Rod & Gun Club hosted their monthly 2-Gun Action Challenge, but this one was pistol-only- a great fit for me in both gear and timing. Here's how it went.
Pistols and Patriotism: Project Appleseed Pistol Clinic AAR
At the start of October, I went to a Project Appleseed Pistol Clinic to get a refresh on my pistol skills and see what the new program was all about. I came away both satisfied with my performance and appreciating the hard work that the Appleseed folks put into developing this new curriculum. Let's dig in!
Martial Marksman Drill #2: The Modified Jason Drill
Marksman Drill #2 stems from the work of John Simpson, a sniper instructor and author I've interviewed several times. The goal is using a consistent sized target, 5 shots, and decreasing amounts of time. Let's dig in.
The Everyday Gunslinger: Starting the Path to Pistolero
I've got a bit of a confession to make, and it's embarrassing. I'm not all that great with pistols. I'm not a bad pistol shooter, per se. But on balance, my pistol shooting lags way behind my rifle shooting. I think that's a problem, so let's talk about why I'm going to fix it.
Four Years from Friday: Approaching Your Training Life in Seasons
Let's talk long term. Too many people think that success is just a few weeks or months away, when that is far from the truth. In reality, success is a culmination of long term effort often years in the making. In this piece, I take a little known two day challenge and show you how I would break it down into a series of seasons and blocks that could be repeated over and over again, always driving closer and closer to success.
Thinking Beyond the Drill, or the “Teaching to the Test” Fallacy
I've got a little bit of a bone to pick with how a lot of the shooting culture talks about drills. Much like weight lifting and gym bro culture, it seems a lot of shooters are more interested in flexing their egos than actually using drills as a way to improve. But how, exactly, should we approach that?
Martial Marksman Drill #1: Fast and Accurate Enough
This is the first of several "official" drills here at The Everyday Marksman. This one is about focusing on speed while maintaining a minimum accuracy standard at any distance with any weapon platform.
Prioritizing Your Marksmanship Training Zones
My recent post on establishing a fitness hierarchy made me realize that I need to do the same thing for marksmanship training. So here we are. Today I'm discussing my breakdown for prioritizing training distances and my reasoning for them.
The Martial Marksman’s Training Philosophy: Simple, Not Easy
In the last episode, I discussed the Martial Marksman ideal and how it relates to the various topics I talk about here. One of the challenges that anyone going down this path quickly runs into is the fact that there is a lot of “stuff” to learn and practice. It’s one thing for a professional soldier to do these things, but it’s a very different beast for Everyday Marksmen like you and I.
Virtue in the Crosshairs: The Martial Marksman Ideal
Every year, I tend to focus in on a “theme” to pursue. Sometimes it’s personally, sometimes it’s got a bit more to do with the site. For most of 2022, the key phrase was “Minimum Capable Citizen.” The idea was around a set of standards and baseline targets that I think any prepared citizen should strive for. Eventually, the idea fizzled out a bit when I felt like there wasn’t much more to write. I’m not interested in “minimum.” I believe we should strive for excellence, and minimum doesn’t cut it. In 2023, my goals turned personal, with a heavy ...
Introducing the Rifleman Pentathlon: A Game for Martial Marksmen
For a while, I've been kicking around an idea for a new type of competition. I enjoy all the various disciplines I've played in, but also think that each of them in isolation is missing something. Today, I'd like to tell you about my vision for a "complete" type of match that I think covers all of the foundations of Everyday Marksmen, and it does so in a way that lets all of us have an objective to train for. Let's talk about the Rifleman Pentathlon.
Foundations of Patrol Rifle Marksmanship: Know Your Objective!
A while back, while talking about the latest revision to his sniper marksmanship book, John Simpson let me know that he had another book on the way- this one focused on patrol rifle marksmanship. Well it recently hit the shelves and we got together again to talk more about rifle marksmanship, training philosophies, and competition. Let's dig in.
An Introduction to Sniping 4th Generation
The Swiss Sniping 4th Generation, or S4G, concept leverages ballistic arcs and volleys of fire to increase hit probability. It's not as fancy as the American Designated Marksman Program, but it's no slouch, either.
