GB-Fareham: Light Weapons Capability Appreciation Course

The Course (LWCA) will provide a demonstration and awareness of some of the major issues surrounding the use, firing and capabilities of LW. The course should give the students an introduction to: • An appreciation of safety issues: o How to safely handle small arms, and go onto a range and fire under one-to-one supervision; o Practical experience of range procedures. • A theoretical understanding of how to accurately hit a target, stationary or moving. • Practical firing and handling light weapons: o The differences between a range of light weapon types; NATO and threat; rifles, pistols, and machine guns; o An appreciation of the differences between sights and how to use each type, e.g. iron sighted vs. scoped; o An appreciation of the difficulties associated with aiming and hitting a target, both stationary and moving, and from different firing positions o An understanding of shot grouping and what is achievable with different gun types, types of sight, and ranges; o Boresighting, zeroing and understanding how personalised a weapon is to its user; o Experience of loading clips, magazines and belts, the time taken and care needed, also the weight of a loaded clip or belt; o Full auto firing of service weapons, understanding of the loss of accuracy, the pull, and the rapid use of ammunition; o Firing machine guns; understand the use of tracer and the impact of lighting conditions and viewing aspect on its effectiveness; • The supersonic shockwave and the muzzle report down range from a weapon. Students should leave the course with an understanding of the realities of using light weapons to engage targets.