Product Review

Recently, I purchased a shooting jacket. This particular one was constructed in the old USMC (US Marine Corps) style. These shooting jackets are worn primarily by competitors in shooting competitions. The jacket is designed with function over form in mind.

A good shooting jacket has padding at the elbows, on the shooting side shoulder, and on the non-shooting side upper arm. Elbow padding is critical for those spending a lot of time in a prone position. Shoulder padding helps with recoil, and dampens the heartbeat and its effects on the shooters Natural Point of Aim (NPOA). The padding on the non-shooting side help keeps a sling in place.

The jacket I purchased came from Fred's M14 stocks. "Fred" is the individual who started the Appleseed project. He likes his M14's and M1A's. He tolerates AR15's. He does not like the UN. Along with the jacket, Fred includes 10 AQT targets, and a "Guide to becoming a Rifleman." The guide has the same information taught at Appleseeds, a lot of selling of the M14 platform, plus a lot of anti-UN talk.

Fred orders his jackets from shootingmall.com. There was once a time when Shooting Mall's website allowed people to order, but that is not the case at the time of this post.

Some criticisms of Fred and his business include slow delivery. I ordered on a Monday and got it on a Friday, so it was perfectly fine from my end. Another criticism, not so much of Fred, but of the jackets, is that they run small. I found this to be the case. I ordered 3XL, and the jacket barely fits me (I am a "small" 2XL right now).

Otherwise, I have nothing but good things to say about the USMC shooters jacket. I suggest anyone with an extra $70 to get one for an Appleseed prior to attending... it WILL help.

There are other places to order from. I cannot say as to what kind of service to expect. The advantages some of these places have is more colors (Fred only offers Olive-Drab green), and more selection.

I tried out the jacket in actual shooting this past weekend, and it served well. The biggest advantage was the dampening of the heartbeat. When I am in prone, slung up, I can hold sights very steady on a 400-yard target. As I watch, especially in a scope, I can see my heartbeat change my POI (Point Of Impact) as much as 4 minutes of angle (MOA). With the jacket on, this POI change is drastically reduced - around 1 MOA. I would suspect it would make my hold steady enough for 800 yard+ aiming.