Rifles,

Boxer stance. Off foot forward one pace. Hands posed as if you are in the motion of throwing a jab at someone.
Same rules apply for marksmanship.

if I have a newbe ....
the very first thing out of the box...

you learn to clean all the guns I have .

you learn the words " I was afraid for my life or the life of another , I want to see an attornie ."

then they learn what those words mean in context to marinda rights and the jury instructions in a manslauter case .
( these instructions can be aquired at any court clerk , while you pay your speeding ticket )
and would include the self defense exception to the manslauter .
which in most state is " if you are afraid for your life or the life of another , you may willfully , take the life of another "

in some states there is wording of grave bodily harm , retreat , expectation of something or other exceptions ... but the core is...

are you afraid for your life , or the life of another .


I suggest , the shooting arts are divided in to three catigorys

1) talking about shooting

2) cleaning / mantaining

3) shooting

because you can do one well , means nothing about the other two .
the fundimentals are simple . your safty , and the safty of those around you .

I just wanted to add in my two cents because I somewhat disagree with what you are teaching. The thing with zeroing , it all comes down to about 3 things(I'm just writing this off the top of my head) Trigger squeeze, breathing, and keeping your same sight picture(which I think is most important).

-Sight picture-

As everyone has there "own way" of lining up the sights I think its best to stress to keep that same sight picture and how to do that. With the M4a1(ar15 or m-16) iron sights I find the easier way to keep the same sight picture is to lightly place your nose on the charging handle(just barely touching it) not too much because it will pop you in the nose and this can result in a bloody nose(personal experience lol). you shouldn't worry about where the middle prong of the 3 pronged fork is. if its flushed with the other two prongs that is ok, but it shouldnt go higher(don't quote me on that), if its lower that is ok too.
Sorry if this is getting a little confusing just wanted to point out some things. Also when it comes to zeroing and even regular shooting, you should remember to blink in between shots(if you dont it will result in a blurred sight picture), and take breaths accordingly. oh almost forgot when zeroing you want to be in the most stable position you can be(prone supported), but really I can't tell you exactly what the position you need to be in because it all comes down to whatever is comfortable to you. Also a good thing to practice between shots with target shooting is to lose your sight picture then gain it again, this should tell you if you are doing a good job at keeping the same sight picture, if your shooting all over the place then you are doing something wrong.

Trigger squeeze
"squeeze don't pull" I'm sure everyone has heard that before, but I find you get the less "pull" from using your finger tip, some people like to wrap there finger around the trigger I find this to cause more pull(usually to the left for right handed people) and your bullets will land left and right of where you want it to go. DONT JERK THE TRIGGER

Breathing
good breathing techniques are important also, especially in the prone position. if your taking a deep breath in, while shooting, this will cause you to naturally shoot higher, deep breath out the opposite and will cause you to shoot lower.(again don't quote me on this, but basically it will mess up your shot) that is why it is best to breath out(not all the air like you are trying to sufficate yourself)then take a shot, breath in, breath out, shoot, breath in breath out, shoot, and so on.

hope this isn't complicated but these are the basics I was taught in the Infantry. but really it all comes down to what works for YOU.

hehehehe..
I think the M-16 is over rated , m-14 was better .

I agree with the boxer , weiver , or a sitting weiver .

As an Army veteran I was trained on the M16-a4. The first thing we learned was sight , breathing, proned( supported, unsupported) then on to grouping. before we even fired one shot we learned that weapon intimately. what every working part is and its' function. Out of the box people Learn your weapon of choice first ( what it's capable of ) just my two cents.