=Sarc=

I've been using the M203 a lot and absolutely love it. It's got good pinpoint accuracy even at 300m. They're great anti-personnel weapons when defending or attacking a base. With some practice, we can all be masters of the M203 and perhaps not even need the sight. To start off, I've written a training exercise that can help beginners get the hang of spotting targets and adjusting GL fire.

To start the training you'll need a training area. Load up the Land Vehicles training mission. This has a good firing range at the beginning. Equip yourself with the M203. I prefer the M16's GL sight.


It's very important to know the distance to the target. Once you know the distance, you can adjust the firing angle. Let's take a look at a target and find out the distance.

Step 1 - Spot the target



There's a good target of boxes at the back of the firing range. I'm looking through the binoculars so it has a rangefinder at the bottom. It says 0106 or 106m to the target. That's a nice distance.

Step 2 - Aim and fire



Let's switch to the M203. You can do this by pressing '3' until you get to the weapon or, as I prefer, holding down the special weapon key ('F' is default). The I bring up the iron sights to adjust the firing angle (Right-mouse is default). First, I want to adjust the elevation as close as possible to the target's distance. I do this the same way as a sniper rifle (Ctrl + Mouse Wheel is default). The elevation changes in 50m increments. Two clicks will gives me 100m as shown by the above picture's red circle. This should be an easy hit. Second, I line up the sight to the target. There won't have to be any sight adjustment since the elevation adjustment is almost exactly the target's distance. The red 'X' in the above picture is the tip of the sight. I've lined it up with the boxes. I'm ready to fire. Firing barrage!

Step 3 - Confirm barrage and adjust fire



Direct hit! After firing, be sure to spot where the grenade has landed in case you miss and need to make adjustments. Sometimes my eyes wander or the reload animation blocks my view and I miss the explosion. When I miss and I haven't seen where the grenade landed, I don't know whether I fell short or overshot. So, it's important to remember to keep your eyes on target in case firing adjustments are required.


Hopefully, you scored a hit on some boxes on the first try. If not, keep practicing before moving on to the next step. The next step in M203 training is concealed attacks. The beauty of the M203 is it's difficult to determine the direction of fire. It has good range and accuracy plus there's barely a firing report, just the explosion. So, hide in the grass and blow some stuff up!

Step 1 - Spot the target



What's so different about spotting targets now? You're in the grass with poor visibility and you want to scan for targets. So, do this as if you are a sniper. In fact, you should do this all the time no matter what class you are playing. Find cover even if it means you can't see very well. Once you get used to lying in grass you'll realize you can see a lot while staying partially or fully concealed. I've found a place NE of the spawn point by the edge of the road. It's not perfect but the edge of the road gives a break in the grass so it's a little easier to see. Now, I start scanning from close to far and left to right (or right to left if you prefer). Enemies could be lying down in the grass and you'll spot them when they move or their cover isn't completely concealing them. There's a nice set of boxes to blow up. The distance is 137m. It's not such a round number like last time.

Step 2 - Aim and fire



The boxes are in sight and now I have to adjust the elevation. There's a problem. The distance isn't an increment of 50. The closest increment is 150 so I'll use that. I've got the sights lined up perfectly with the boxes. I'll fire to see if I can hit with a 10m difference in elevation and target distance. Maybe the explosion will catch the boxes. Firing!

Step 3 - Confirm barrage and adjust fire



Hmmm, I don't seem to have hit the boxes. I couldn't really see the explosion either because of all the objects in between. It's a good thing I know the target is shorter than the elevation adjustment. I know I've overshot. So, I adjust the sight to fall short of the target a little bit to compensate for the overshot. I give it about two clicks.



Firing second barrage!!



Hit!!! It looks like my adjustments were perfect. The boxes are destroyed and hopefully nobody was able to spot my position.

I use the M203 very often. Firing your weapon will give your position away but using your M203 will give you an edge. The firing report is very quiet and tends to get drowned out after 50m. If I use the M16 and fire, I might miss and lose my hiding spot even if I score the kill. The disadvantage to the M203 is speed. It takes longer to engage a target because of preparation and the time it takes for the grenade to reach the target. If the target is moving, you'll have a harder time hitting it so it might be better to use your rifle.

Now, I've used the M16 because I prefer the sight. I find it easier to make adjustments because of the markings. I advise trying both the M16 and M4 sights for M203 attacks. You might prefer the M4's sight because it's easier to put the aimpoint (the big red dot) on target. I still recommend the M16 since it's similar to the AK47 and AK74. So, if you have to play as a rebel, you'll feel right at home with the sight.

With lots of practice, this process can be done very quickly. It may even be done in 10 seconds. I tend to average around 15-20 seconds to rangefind, aim and fire. I've done the courtesy of recording footage of M203 attacks using the M16 and M4. It should at most take 20 seconds to prepare and engage a target.

These videos were compressed with DivX 5.
M16/M203 Demonstration - 2.37MB
M4/M203 Demonstration - 2.38MB

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Mirfee

Thank you Sarc. I've ben wanting to learn how to use the M203 better, especially with the GL sight. Can't wait to try this out and hopefully master it with practice.

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Opus

Wow, very nicely done Sarc. Very useful info., and excellent use of illustrations. 5 out of 5.