Gun Education

M4C Welcomes Mike Seeklander: "Control that Rifle!" 

Let me ask you; are you happy with your ability to shoot your rifle accurately, even very rapidly, at varying distances?  Whether you are a competitive shooter or defender, once the decision has been made to shoot, the faster you can shoot and hit, the better your chances for success.  This means that you need to get the first hit as fast as possible and follow-up hits even faster.  Since I know you want me to get right to the point, let’s get right to the key details.  To fire quick follow up shots, recoil control must be maximize, to improve your recoil control, follow these steps (to see the full rifle stance and mount section, check out my book Your Defensive Rifle Training Program at Amazon):  

1. Square the body and weight forward.

Most shooters want to blade the body off more than necessary.  Squaring up with the strong foot only slightly back allows one to mount the rifle more centered on the chest (see step 4) while staying centered offers the benefit of keeping the pelvic girdle as square as possible to the target improving the stability and mobility of the shooter.  “Weight forward” simply means that the nose should be over the toes.

2. Grip the gun high with the strong hand

This is a phrase we often use with a handgun, but it applies to a rifle too.  Your shooting hand--the one on the pistol grip that controls the fire systems--should be as high (or forward if using a standard stock) on the pistol grip as possible.   Once you find this position, ensure you apply grip pressure and pull the rifle straight back into the chest (where the stock is mounted) when shooting.  Simply resting the shooting hand there will not do the trick.    

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3. Grip the hand guard as far forward with the support hand.

This is an area that I often see taught and executed wrong with the biggest mistake being actually moving the support hand back to grasp the magazine well.   When mounting the gun, ensure that your support hand is gripping the hand guard as far forward as possible while pulling the rifle straight to the rear. Gripping forward on the hand guard like this will do several things.  First, it will increase the recoil control of that hand due to having greater leverage on the front of the gun.  Secondly, it offers a better mechanical advantage if one has to snap the gun to a new target, once again due to leverage.  Lastly, the shooter will have much more control if they are forced to retain their gun from a surprise close-range attack.  

4. Mount the gun as centered as possible.

This is a big key to controlling recoil and one that almost everyone I have worked with misses to some extent.  I, like many of you, was taught a standard bladed stance (by both my father and the U.S. Marine Corps), which is more traditional and places the stock on the outer portion of the shoulder.  The problem is that this placement of the stock allows the gun to turn the body as the rifle pushes backward.  This causes the sights (or dot) to cycle high right or left (for a left-handed shooter).  To find the proper centered spot on your chest, stand mostly square to the target with head erect and looking forward.  Now, grab the stock of the rifle and place it on the center of your chest and drive your chin down onto the stock until you find a good cheek weld spot that allows you to see the sights or through the scope.

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5. Drive the chin into the stock/cheek weld area

This is a secret little key that I stumbled onto in the last few years.  One day on the range I realized that while I always worked hard on obtaining a good cheek weld on the stock, I wasn’t putting enough pressure on the stock with my face.   Once I pushed my cheek into it with a bit more pressure, the dot settled that much more for me.
 

6. Drop the strong side elbow and drive the shoulder forward

Once you have mounted the rifle in the manner described above, your next focus will be to drop the strong side elbow and drive the shoulder forward.  This will do a couple things for you.  First, it will flex the front deltoid and pectoral muscle on that side of the chest, which will solidify the rifle’s position and increase the pressure of the stock mounted to the chest.  Secondly, it will keep the elbow low and out of the way so that it is less likely to get hit by bullets when shooting around cover or to bump into obstacles or people when you are moving. 

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7. Minimize and Press

Now that you have mounted the rifle into a secure “platform,” all you will have to do is minimize the movement and press.  The pressure on the gun should be substantial, but also neutral in a sense – straight to the rear except for the pressure required to hold the rifle upright. Therefore, be careful not to pull the rifle off to one side or another. 
 
Focus on the above principles to greatly increase your ability to fire faster while maintaining your “acceptable level of accuracy” with your rifle.  Modify the techniques slightly if needed to work around body armor, gear, or position (I will cover that later in another article if you like!), and strive to improve your ability to shooter better in each practice session!
 
Until Then – Train Hard