Optics find home in Marine rifle quals

[unhappycamper]

Optics find home in Marine rifle quals
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jun 2, 2008 6:35:45 EDT

Now some — but not all — Marines can use optics and lasers for their annual rifle qualifications. A May 15 order permits battalion and squadron commanders to allow or require their Marines to use attached aiming devices for training and qualifying with the M4 carbine or M16A2 and M16A4 rifles.

Using aiming aids, however, means your score will count only for qualification purposes. It won’t count for shooting badges or promotion points.

The details, which are limited, are in Marine administrative message 295/08.

It’s unclear, for example, whether individual Marines will have any choice in which sight — conventional iron or combat optics — they use. The new order does not say.

Officials at Marine Corps headquarters and at the Marksmanship Center of Excellence at Weapons Training Battalion in Quantico, Va., declined to respond to questions about the new guidelines or the rush to enact them.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/06/marine_optics_060108w/



uhc comment: The article goes on the mention that the Corps is currently acquiring 104,000 TA31 Rifle Combat Optic sights for $660,000,000 ($6,346.15 a pop).