My Training Rifle

Some people ask me what kind of rifle I train with. Whenever possible, I use my AR15. However, due to cost of centerfire ammo, and ease and comfort of shooting a "lowly" .22LR, I often use a trainer rifle.

For mine, I chose the Marlin 60. Sometimes referred to as the Marlin M60, or the M60 (not to be confused with the military M60). For my Marlin, I did part of a trigger job as explained here, and brought the trigger pull down to around 5 pounds or so.

I attached Tech Sights to the Marlin, and sighted them in at 25 yards. It so happens that the point of impact is about 2" high at 50 yards, and about 7" low at 100 yards. These are common ranges to shoot at, so it helps to "know your dope" on these distances. Since neither 2" nor 7" is a huge amount at those ranges, holdover is my preferred method.

With a peep sight, one simply looks through the rear peep (hole) and whatever sits atop the front sight is what the shot will hit. The mind naturally centers the front sight post in the circle, so a repeatable sight picture is easy. This is one of the two main parts of the training: Sight picture. 

Since a Marlin 60 (or almost any .22LR trainer, outside of AR15s chambered in .22LR) are not really designed for tactical drills or shooting, I stick to marksmanship practice with my trainer rifle. This means I can use a USGI sling. Note: a sling is not designed for combat, it is designed for sport-shooting and marksmanship practice. Therefore, I work primarily on what I call the "Three S's of shooting" - Steady hold, Sight picture, and Squeeze the trigger.

Since steady hold is something that is fairly easy to learn and does not require as much practice, my efforts concentrate on two areas of training: Sight Picture and Squeeze the trigger. If you keep a repeatable sight picture, and squeeze the trigger smoothly without jerking the rifle off target, your shots will go in the same place. Observe this three shot group I obtained using a sling in the prone position at 50 yards with the Marlin 60 and the Tech-Sights:

Overall, the rifle is a really good training tool, and it's really fun to shoot. A box of 500+ rounds of ammo is still less than $20 (before taxes, of course). Here's a picture of the whole rifle:

Cost:
So how much is this setup?
- Marlin 60 (Wal Mart) - $129 + tax & background check = $152.01
- Tech sights & shipping = $75
- Sling swivels and studs = $20.74
- USGI Sling = $5
- Box of ammo + sales tax + $0.10 TN ammo tax= $20.85

Total = $273.60