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Competition, Tactics & Training
Firearm Training
Body position for rifle shooting
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<blockquote data-quote="henschman" data-source="post: 1434077" data-attributes="member: 4235"><p>One general truth is that the less muscle input you have, the more stable, consistent, and accurate you will be, but the less "dynamic" the position will be. The traditional field positions, as practiced by the USMC and High Power shooters, minimize muscle input and emphasize stability and consistency. The various "tactical" or CQB techniques generally tend to involve a lot of muscle input, which sacrifices accuracy for speed and dynamism. </p><p></p><p>I think the best teaching method is to start with the traditional field positions, which provide for maximum stability. It is easier to learn the fundamentals of marksmanship this way, and shooters will learn the elements of a solid position. Then introduce dynamism, gear, and force the shooters to adapt what they learned to non-ideal positions, movement, significant time presure, large target shifts, etc.</p><p></p><p>The main idea is to be able to be able to build as stable a position as possible under the given circumstances. You need to realize what you are giving up and what you are gaining by taking a certain position. You should not be dogmatic about positions and insist that there is only one right way to do it.</p><p></p><p>For instance, you should realize that the ideal standing position is with the support hand open and relaxed, with the elbow under the rifle, either resting the back of the arm against the rib cage or using a sling so as to relax the arm as much as possible, facing almost 90 degrees away from the target, with the trigger elbow "chicken winging" out to open up the pocket, with the rifle stock high in your pocket so your head doesn't have to hunch down to get proper cheek weld. You may use this position when you have some time to assume proper position, and the target is small or distant.</p><p></p><p>However, you may be in a situation in which you have to move and engage targets rapidly at closer range, and which are presenting in more than one place. Here, you might grab the forearm as far forward as you can so you can "muscle" the barrel onto target for target transitions (the exact opposite of what you would do for more precision-oriented shooting), and you might keep the rifle lower in your pocket with your head hunched down and your trigger elbow tucked down tight, so as to be more natural while moving, and so as to present a lower profile.</p><p></p><p>I tend to be skeptical of positions which sacrifice stability and accuracy for more protection against incoming fire, which includes the "squared up" standing position taught by the Army, as well as the "flat" prone position with the legs out straight, the belly/diaphragm flat on the ground, and the elbows out on either side of the rifle while monopoding, in order to get a lower profile. This is taking a defensive attitude, as opposed to an aggressive and offensive one. I tend to think along the lines of Jeff Cooper... hits count. And the quickest way to end a gunfight is to finish first, which means getting your hits before the enemy gets his. Taking a position that sacrifices your ability to make hits, and hoping that the enemy misses or that your armor saves you, is not a winning strategy, IMO. If you are returning fire, you should take a position so as to make that fire as effective as possible. So get that elbow under the rifle, pull that trigger side knee up tight, get that diaphragm off the ground, and make hits! Naturally, under stress, you will have the urge to hide from enemy fire, but that's where it becomes important to train so that proper field positions become muscle memory.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="henschman, post: 1434077, member: 4235"] One general truth is that the less muscle input you have, the more stable, consistent, and accurate you will be, but the less "dynamic" the position will be. The traditional field positions, as practiced by the USMC and High Power shooters, minimize muscle input and emphasize stability and consistency. The various "tactical" or CQB techniques generally tend to involve a lot of muscle input, which sacrifices accuracy for speed and dynamism. I think the best teaching method is to start with the traditional field positions, which provide for maximum stability. It is easier to learn the fundamentals of marksmanship this way, and shooters will learn the elements of a solid position. Then introduce dynamism, gear, and force the shooters to adapt what they learned to non-ideal positions, movement, significant time presure, large target shifts, etc. The main idea is to be able to be able to build as stable a position as possible under the given circumstances. You need to realize what you are giving up and what you are gaining by taking a certain position. You should not be dogmatic about positions and insist that there is only one right way to do it. For instance, you should realize that the ideal standing position is with the support hand open and relaxed, with the elbow under the rifle, either resting the back of the arm against the rib cage or using a sling so as to relax the arm as much as possible, facing almost 90 degrees away from the target, with the trigger elbow "chicken winging" out to open up the pocket, with the rifle stock high in your pocket so your head doesn't have to hunch down to get proper cheek weld. You may use this position when you have some time to assume proper position, and the target is small or distant. However, you may be in a situation in which you have to move and engage targets rapidly at closer range, and which are presenting in more than one place. Here, you might grab the forearm as far forward as you can so you can "muscle" the barrel onto target for target transitions (the exact opposite of what you would do for more precision-oriented shooting), and you might keep the rifle lower in your pocket with your head hunched down and your trigger elbow tucked down tight, so as to be more natural while moving, and so as to present a lower profile. I tend to be skeptical of positions which sacrifice stability and accuracy for more protection against incoming fire, which includes the "squared up" standing position taught by the Army, as well as the "flat" prone position with the legs out straight, the belly/diaphragm flat on the ground, and the elbows out on either side of the rifle while monopoding, in order to get a lower profile. This is taking a defensive attitude, as opposed to an aggressive and offensive one. I tend to think along the lines of Jeff Cooper... hits count. And the quickest way to end a gunfight is to finish first, which means getting your hits before the enemy gets his. Taking a position that sacrifices your ability to make hits, and hoping that the enemy misses or that your armor saves you, is not a winning strategy, IMO. If you are returning fire, you should take a position so as to make that fire as effective as possible. So get that elbow under the rifle, pull that trigger side knee up tight, get that diaphragm off the ground, and make hits! Naturally, under stress, you will have the urge to hide from enemy fire, but that's where it becomes important to train so that proper field positions become muscle memory. [/QUOTE]
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