USAMU Website

Sergeants Horner & Johnson – Rifle Positions

Sgt. Horner: In the military, you never know what type of shooting situation you’re going to find yourself in. This goes for competitors and enthusiast alike. So today, we’re going to go over some basic shooting positions to help you get over these obstacles. We’re going to begin with the standing position.      The basis of a good standing position is your feet. To get started, I’m going to take a step forward with my weak side foot. I’m going to take my weak knee, and put it directly over the top of that foot. This puts about 70% of my weight on the lead foot. Relieving some of the weight of my trail foot, I’ll roll my foot just slightly, so you could slide a dollar bill under my heel. After I get a good foot position, I get a very aggressive posture. This will help me control my recoil as I transition targets. To check on a good body position, a good drill is to fire six rounds into a target at ten yards. Your goal is to fire the shots as quick as possible, while maintaining a less than eight inch group.     The last step in a good standing position is the grip. My weak hand is going to have the majority of the grip pressure on the rifle, while my strong hand is a little more loose, so I can smoothly operate the trigger and safety. You’ll notice my left elbow is high, I do this so I can transition between targets left and right quickly.    Now, let me show you the kneeling position. The base of the kneeling position has three points of contact to the ground. I have my strong side toes, my strong side knee, and my weak side foot. The position is the back of my elbow on the back part of my knee. I’ll lean forward to have a little bit of weight on this position. The grip again will be strong with the weak hand on the forend, and a looser grip on the pistol grip, so I can manipulate the safety and the trigger smoothly.  The final position I want to talk to you about is prone. When I go prone, I look down, find a spot for my left hand to go.  As soon as it hits the ground, I’m going to kick out straight back with my feet, lower my body and rifle down to the ground, and get three good points of contact other than my body. I’ll have my strong elbow, my weak side elbow, and my magazine.  The same position with my grip is very important here. I have the majority of my grip with my left hand on the forend and a looser grip with my right, so I can manipulate the safety and trigger smoothly.   Sgt. Johnson: Those were some great tips Sgt. Horner. Now, I’m going to show you how those same techniques will apply to shooting around a barricade. First thing I want to talk about is shooting standing from around the barricade. I want to make an L shape with my hand, insert the forend into that L shape, and lock in tight to the side of that barricade.  I want to lean forward and really lock this gun in. That way I stay aggressive in my position. That will give me faster to faster target transitions.        The next position I want to talk about is the kneeling position from a barricade. A kneeling position from a barricade is a little different than a freestyle kneeling position, I like to keep my strong side knee up.  I do this so I can rest my elbow on it and steady up my position. I’m still going to lock in the forend in the barricade tightly, and kind of lean forward to give me a more aggressive position. Practice these tips. Because no matter what crazy position you find yourself in, you’ll be able to put accurate shots on target. Until next time, Stay Army Strong CLICK HERE FOR PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION .