Shooting Straight: 20 Years of Rifle Markmanship Research

New Directions in Rifle Marksmanship Research

“…The basic procedures for aligning sights, maximizing position stability, and establishing and maintaining breath and trigger control remain essentially unchanged. Most of the research on rifle marksmanship has been conducted over the last 50 years by the U.S. Army, where the focus has traditionally been on developing and evaluating different training programs (e.g., Evans, Dyer, & Hagman, 2000;Evans & Osborne, 1998;Evans & Schendel, 1984;Hagman, 1998Hagman, , 2000Hagman, Moore, Eisley, & Viner, 1987;Hagman & Smith, 1999;McGuigan, 1953).…”

Biomechanical and Performance Implications of Weapon Design

“…Stability (center of pressure) and accuracy are measured for each weapon to correlate rifle configuration with its biomechanical impact on the user during live fire. Evidence that one style yields greater stability or superior accuracy while firing is of interest to countless sportsmen, military, law enforcement, and industry experts (Bahniuk, 1989; Chung, Delacruz, de Vries, Bewley, & Baker, 2006; Chung et al, 2011; Evans, Dyer, & Hagman, 2000; Joye, 1992; Larue, Bard, Otis, & Fleury, 1989).…”

The Influence of Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Factors on the Development of Rifle Marksmanship Skills

“…Current demands of military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are generating renewed interest in accelerating rifle marksmanship training. As reviewed by Chung, Delacruz, de Vries, Bewley, and Baker (2006), prior rifle marksmanship research has focused on a range of topics, including evaluating training programs (e.g., Evans, Dyer, & Hagman, 2000;Evans & Osborne, 1998;Evans & Schendel, 1984;Hagman, 1998Hagman, , 2000Hagman, Moore, Eisley, & Viner, 1987;Hagman & Smith, 1999;McGuigan, 1953), examining the relation between performance using a rifle simulator and performance on the firing range (e.g., Hagman, 1998;Marcus & Hughes, 1979;Schendel, Heller, Finley, & Hawley, 1985;Smith & Hagman, 2000Torre, Maxey, & Piper, 1987White, Carson, & Wilbourn, 1991), and the use of shooting as a testbed to study skilled behavior in relation to psychophysiological constructs and measurements (e.g., Bird, 1987;Hatfield, Landers, & Ray, 1987;Janelle et al, 2000;Kerick, 1 We would like to thank the staff at Camp Pendleton WTBN. We also wish to thank the following people from UCLA/CRESST: Joanne Michiuye for her help with the preparation of this manuscript and with data collection, and Daniel Parks for hardware design and development.…”