So I got a question......

[clublights]

I have a few but this one is for today .....

The liberals always scream abiout .mil and cops only having guns ...


How much ACTUAL shooting training do .mil ( in boot camp) and cops get in the academy
I'm not counting AIT ( or the equivalent since the liberals don't say certain .mil .. just that only .mil should have guns)


How many rounds does a .mil guy shoot in basic ?? ( not counting crew served weapons. just the M16 or pistol of choice platform)

Dittio on cops.

I've never done either and I'd like to know how much ACTUAL shooting goes on.

[Bailey Guns]

My military experience is kinda dated. But when I was in AF basic (1979) we shot M-16 rifles with .22LR conversion kits. During my active years (til 89) I never fired a gun again in required training. There was an opportunity here and there to fire rifles and handguns as part of a voluntary marksmanship training program. Gave guys a chance to earn certain shooting badges...don't remember what it was called.

I was a Combat Arms Instructor in the Air Guard. We didn't shoot much and gave most AF people (mostly admin and medical types) basic familiarity training on the M9 and M4. Was also a reserve Security Forces guy down at Peterson for a while...did a fair amount of training there but nothing that would come close to the training that some civilian schools offer.

It's probably way different for SF or Spec Ops guys.

The sheriff's office where I first started in LE here in CO (big metro agency) shot very little and trained even less. Pretty much stuck in 1970s training regimens. After several years I left the SO and went to a very modern metro police department and we shot A LOT. I also learned what real LE firearms training was all about. We were also encouraged to practice on our own.

So, the answer to your question is, it varies wildly from one LE agency to another as it probably does from one military branch to another (and also by your job).

But cops and .mil certainly don't have the market cornered on skills and training.

[clublights]

Thanks Carl I knew you;d be one of the first to answer with informatin on both sides of the coin


but what qualifies as " A LOT" ?


100 rounds a year? 1000, 2000, 10,000 ?

I knew not to include SWAT/ SF guys .. they shoot a crap load more then others in their profession( as they should they are the elite after all )

[Scanker19]

The military needs to learn it not quantity but quality of training. For the average troop anyways.

[Bailey Guns]

I was a firearms instructor there. We shot every week. 2 days per month to train the patrol guys and 2 days for the SWAT guys. The average officer would fire 200 to 300 handgun rounds in a typical training day on the range along with 100 or so rifle rounds. Training involved all the normal stuff: movement, cover, weak hand shooting, shooting from inside a car, shooting around barriers, officer-down recoveries, low/no light, etc...

Qualifications were once per quarter after a training session and qual drills were obviously timed and always required movement, cover and malfunction drills.

I'd guess the "average" patrol guy shot between 3k and 4k per year handgun, 1k to 1.5k rifle. Plus a few additional rounds for quals. If you were a SWAT guy probably double those numbers.

[Great-Kazoo]

Most of the dept's up north, unless attached to the swat or drug task force shoot during quals.
The special teams guys (swat etc) shoot every chance they get, 2x week if not more. There are a moderate amount of LE's that shoot outside of quals, these guys are well aware of issues as gun owners. Unfortunately for the most part 70-80% of LE's up here do not or are not shooters out side of during quals.
My brother's team back east shot when ever they had free time, he 2-4x monthly, with trips to fletc on a quarterly basis. He told me the sig he carried had 20K through it, not a light weight shooter.

[theGinsue]

In basic, I shot maybe 100 rounds.

I didn't get to shoot again(officially) until I joined an OPFOR (Opposing Forces) team 4 years later - and even then it was on a FATS system ~ nothing more than a glorified video game.

Fast forward another 12 years & I "played cop" for the USAF & shot under 100 rounds on the M9 and then also on the M16.

So, if I were to count the FATS shooting, I officially fired at or under 400 rounds in my entire 20 year career.

[HoneyBadger]

6 years ago at Air Force Basic Training... I think I fired about 50 live rounds at the range, and probably about 100 blanks in other training scenarios. Haven't pulled the trigger in the military since then.

[DSull]

I was a Marine for 24 yrs and a cop for 18+, I shot once a month as a cop and maybe twice a month as a Marine. Civilian marksmanship training has far outstripped the military and LE Training. Now that I'm retired I shoot once a month but I take a firearms course once a year and I learn something new every time I go to the range.

[275RLTW]

The usual zero & qual rounds in basic (not counting belt fed guns). However, in Ranger Bn...not unusual for the PSG to come up to you Saturday morning & say there are 10K rounds for your team to practice with in the shoothouse that weekend...get to work. Usually spent at least 1 day (and night) each week on a live fire range, in addition to full range weeks (every 6 weeks or so). I can't put an exact number on how may I fired each year but it would be tens of thousands (not counting sim/UTM rounds).