Pro Tip - Army SGT Joel Turner - Using Obstacles as Opportunities
First, I’m going to show you how to utilize a barricade to support your weapon system on this V-tech style barrier.
I’m going to start with the kneeling position. I’m going to go down to the kneeling position, and normally you’ll put that support side knee up to support the front of the weapon, but now that we have a barricade incorporated, let’s utilize that.
So I’m going to rest the fore-end onto the barricade, make a “C” with my hand, grab hold of the rail and shove it into the corner, then utilize the rest of those fingers for extra support.
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Now that we have the front of the weapon system supported, we no longer need this support side knee. So, I’m going to do is what’s called the reverse kneeling.
I’m going to bring the opposite knee up and now I can rest that firing side elbow down and get just a little bit extra stability. If you find that you’re vertically challenged and can’t make contact with your elbow to your knee, I have a simple fix. Maintain that C-grip, come off to the side of the barricade, that way you can customize the elevation to fit your body, and still maintain extra support.
If you find yourself at the same position with closer, but larger targets, you might want to opt for the standing position. This will allow you to come in and out of the position faster.
I’m going to maintain the same C-grip on my rail, placing it on the barricade and into my shoulder, and I’m going to square off my hips and drive the weapon into the barricade. This allows me to absorb the recoil of the weapon and make faster follow-on shots.
No matter what barricade or obstacle you may use for support, always be aware of your barrel and placement on that barricade. That’s because if I place my barrel onto the barricade, I will drastically shift the impact of my round. So now we’re going to show you two examples of what it looks like when you do it correctly and incorrectly.
We’re going to fire these first two shots with incorrect barrel placement, when your muzzle is touching the barrier.
Now we’re going to fire these next two shots with correct barrel placement on the barricade.
Here’s our 100-yard target. You’ll notice the aiming point with the two rounds near it. Those are the ones with the correct barrel placement.
Now you go up 10 inches higher, we have the two rounds with incorrect barrel placement. So even at 100 yards, it’s moved my round 10 inches from placing the barrel on the barricade. So make sure, no matter what you’re shooting off of, that you’re aware of your muzzle.
Now you go up 10 inches higher, we have the two rounds with incorrect barrel placement. So even at 100 yards, it’s moved my round 10 inches from placing the barrel on the barricade. So make sure, no matter what you’re shooting off of, that you’re aware of your muzzle.
Another common obstacle you may find in the sport of 3-gun is the rooftop. Nothing changes compared to the barricade as far as my support handgrip.
I’m going to make that “C” once again, grab hold of the rail, and grab hold of the rooftop. I’m also going to rest my magazine for additional support.
Now, a problem you may run into with this, is the steepness of the rooftop and the length of the magazine may cause your muzzle to point downward.
So an easy fix during the course of fire to fix that problem is to simply do the hook method, place the magazine up front, and pull back. That way the rooftop supports the weight of the weapon system and absorbs the recoil.
If you find yourself with a limited amount of targets, I recommend using the 20-round magazine. Reason being, is before I had two points of contact, the rail and the magazine. Now I can rest my firing side elbow down for three points of contact.
You’re going to have barricades and obstacles in the sport of 3-gun, so practice these techniques, and stay Army Strong.
