More on the history of Quick Kill

I had Quick Kill in basic in 1967. We used regular Daisy BB guns then our M14s with the sights taped up.

Quick Kill part of the training at Fort Sherman in the Canal Zone-Panama for Jungle Warfare training course.

The techniques might seem to be alive and well in the Run 'n gun games.
Where sights are often used as a reference more than for actual aiming.
Especially with some of the fast moving specialty targets like the twist and drop, swingers, pop ups, 'etc.
And also in low light scenarios, where the targets are lit just enough to know they're there, but not well enough to use sights.
Without the aid of flashlights, of course.

When I DEROs's back to the states from 1st Inf Div in Vietnam in June 1968, I was assigned to the Rifle Subcommittee at Ft. Benning as a Staff Sgt. instructor. Lt. Col Whitted was the OIC of the Quick Kill firing program, and had a range on Dixie Road set up for instruction. There was initially an oral block of instruction implementing an assistant instructor firing at a progressivly smaller series of aluminum discs thrown into the air by an assistant. In the grand finale, a two inch disc with a hole in the center plugged with a wad of paper was thrown into the air, and the instructor shot it out of the disc with a Daisy BBgun. The next phase involved one-on-one instruction, with four inch discs, and Daisy BBguns, with the instructor throwing the discs, and critquing the student. When the students completed this phase, they moved on to live fire at pop-up silhouette targets at various ranges. Most students mastered the technique pretty quickly, and hopefully it saved some lives in Vietnam.

I could not agree more.
We have trained with some of the same people.

I was taught Quick Kill in early '68, and totally agree that it is a skill worth knowing. If you know it you understand that it works, and will use it although it flies in the face of training that says you must acquire a sight picture first.

What I found very surprising happened just this week, and I mentioned quick kill to my wife when she asked about a shooting technique I was using on running chipmunks. I was shooting a Browning lever action with 22LR birdshot. At 8-15 yards a running chippie is a tough target. If you shoulder the rifle and get a sight picture, he's long gone and out of range of birdshot. So I tried quick kill and to my amazement was soon hitting everything that came through. OK not EVERYTHING, but easily more than 75%. What impressed me is that years after the initial training and with little subsequent use I was able to quickly and instinctively pick up the skill again.

Kind of like riding a bike.

I have found the same thing with other threat focused systems.
Once learned they are yours for life.

Things to remember...

I first read about 'Quick Kill' in Guns and Ammo magazine prior to entering on duty in August 1969. Some friends and I worked with the concept with a .22 rifle and soft drink cans - again prior - to my entry on duty. (This was forty-six years ago in an unpopulated area with a large uninhabited hill/mountain as a backdrop. Still probably wan't a good idea, but I was young and happily ignorant at the time.)

In advanced (infantry) training, the Marine Corps taught it again, with BB guns and disks. Later we used M16s on 'pop up' silhouettes in a specific area for that purpose.

Here's what to remember. The technique is used for human sized targets at ranges less than 100 yards. In fact, I think the furthest we shot was around 30 to 40 yards. The training taught one was to fire many rounds - not all of which hit the target, by the way. The technique was NEVER intended to replace aimed fire at longer distances. However, it is faster than the first aimed shot fired at a hostile at close range.

Shooting squirrels at 'moderate' ranges? I can see that.

I had it at Ft Polk in early 1972.

I remember they handed me a BB-rifle and someone tossed cans into the air. As I had spent the previous 10 years of my life with a similar BB gun shooting about anything I could find, sans sights, I had no problem.

Later on doing the live fire pop-up silhouette course, the close in stuff (close enough you could see the splash of rain from the chest) was cake.

To this day, I usually use the force to pop close up stuff. Almost like having a laser dot to work with. There is a stillness that comes with it - hard to describe.

I've been getting into this lately. Picked up a Daisy Red Ryder, got a Chief AJ stock and large loop lever- fits me better now and the steel lever gives it a bit more weight. I also cut off the read site and filed down the front plastic site. Have put over 2000 bbs into little circles I drew on a target inside at a range of 10 ft. Ordered 60,000 bbs for a good price which should be here soon. Trying to learn it from what I can read online. I'm having a blast

I was an instructor on the Weapons Committee at Ft Lewis in 1968, Quick Kill was indeed the first part of the shooting training. I had lots of problems with it after six years of shooting on 3p rifle teams, but hose with little experience too to it easily.

One thing we did was use the second finger as the trigger finger, with first finger lying alongside the action, and first finger of support hand pointing straight ahead under the forearm. Just point the fingers at the target and shoot.

I still use this method for folks who want to use a loong gun for home defnse, but have no time/interest in going to the range to train and maintain skills.

Wow I was Taught this by a Cousin who served 3 tours in Nam. I never thought much about it Since is was very close to how I was taught to shoot a shotgun.

Thanks for the PDF .

Teach it on occasion. Student of McDaniel, both in rifle and pistol in 81 at SIONICS