Recent Training
I've been reading Art of the Rifle blog lately. Lots of good stuff if you haven't checked it out. One thing Rifleslinger from that blog talks about is his affinity for slings.
I must say, I have a bit of an odd relationship with slings. I enjoy using them for basic marksmanship. I have competed with one in place. I have thousands of hours of training in with one on. I own over a dozen, mostly USGI style, but also a couple of plain slings and even a leather 1907 style.
But ask Appleseed folks with whom I communicate online, and they'd tell you I hate slings. No real substance behind this claim - I just see the sling as a tool. A tool with limited use. Now, to be fair, Rifleslinger on his blog has detailed his own search for more uses of the sling, and that is to be commended.
However, my personal training has taken a different course. A good time ago, I learned from several sources that the most easily adopted stable prone position with an AR15 rifle is one where the shooter uses the magazine as a monopod. I can hold as steady with that position as I can with a sling.
The difference, for me, is speed and setup. While a sling must be deployed to be used, and this takes time, all I have to do is go prone and rest my magazine on the ground. Professional firearms instructors such as Kyle Lamb, Clint Smith, and James Yeager all advocate the magazine prone position.
Of course, a big part of this position, and why it works for me, is the AR15 platform itself. Magazine supported prone would be difficult with most other rifle makes - with the exception of FN-FAL and AK47 models. Some argue the effectiveness of an AR15 at long range (say, beyond 200 meters).
This is how and why I decided to train with these things in mind:
- The AR15 has many confirmed kills up to and beyond 800 meters in the middle east.
- Yes, the .308 (or similar) is better at long range, BUT
- MOST firefights take place at close range.
- I'd rather have a rifle that suits the majority of possibilities better and is still capable of the occasional long shot.
- I equip my AR15 with 55-grain and 62-grain ammo for typical use.
- However, I have 75-grain match ammo set aside, should the need arise.
- My ACOG is zeroed with the 75-grain stuff.
- The 55-grain stuff hits within 1" of zero at 100 yards using the ACOG.
- Yes, I know I use a 20" barrel, but I am more than capable of using it in "urban" environments.
Of troops that have used both the M4 and the M16, the only quantifiable reasons they like the M4 better is:
a) weight
b) getting in and out of cars.
My answer for that is
a) I am 6'3" and 220 pounds. I regularly engage in strength training and exercise. Handling my heavier rifle is not a problem. Really. Plus, the USMC still uses the M16, and there are lots of Marines that are neither as big nor as strong as I am.
b) I will never be getting in and out of cars a great deal with my rifle in action. I do not answer to a chain of command that would require that.
.
I must say, I have a bit of an odd relationship with slings. I enjoy using them for basic marksmanship. I have competed with one in place. I have thousands of hours of training in with one on. I own over a dozen, mostly USGI style, but also a couple of plain slings and even a leather 1907 style.
But ask Appleseed folks with whom I communicate online, and they'd tell you I hate slings. No real substance behind this claim - I just see the sling as a tool. A tool with limited use. Now, to be fair, Rifleslinger on his blog has detailed his own search for more uses of the sling, and that is to be commended.
However, my personal training has taken a different course. A good time ago, I learned from several sources that the most easily adopted stable prone position with an AR15 rifle is one where the shooter uses the magazine as a monopod. I can hold as steady with that position as I can with a sling.
The difference, for me, is speed and setup. While a sling must be deployed to be used, and this takes time, all I have to do is go prone and rest my magazine on the ground. Professional firearms instructors such as Kyle Lamb, Clint Smith, and James Yeager all advocate the magazine prone position.
Of course, a big part of this position, and why it works for me, is the AR15 platform itself. Magazine supported prone would be difficult with most other rifle makes - with the exception of FN-FAL and AK47 models. Some argue the effectiveness of an AR15 at long range (say, beyond 200 meters).
This is how and why I decided to train with these things in mind:
- The AR15 has many confirmed kills up to and beyond 800 meters in the middle east.
- Yes, the .308 (or similar) is better at long range, BUT
- MOST firefights take place at close range.
- I'd rather have a rifle that suits the majority of possibilities better and is still capable of the occasional long shot.
- I equip my AR15 with 55-grain and 62-grain ammo for typical use.
- However, I have 75-grain match ammo set aside, should the need arise.
- My ACOG is zeroed with the 75-grain stuff.
- The 55-grain stuff hits within 1" of zero at 100 yards using the ACOG.
- Yes, I know I use a 20" barrel, but I am more than capable of using it in "urban" environments.
Of troops that have used both the M4 and the M16, the only quantifiable reasons they like the M4 better is:
a) weight
b) getting in and out of cars.
My answer for that is
a) I am 6'3" and 220 pounds. I regularly engage in strength training and exercise. Handling my heavier rifle is not a problem. Really. Plus, the USMC still uses the M16, and there are lots of Marines that are neither as big nor as strong as I am.
b) I will never be getting in and out of cars a great deal with my rifle in action. I do not answer to a chain of command that would require that.
.
I can definitely respect someone who picks a gun and learns to use it well. It sounds like you have a pretty practical rig and I know you can use it.
ReplyDeleteMine is not intended to be purely practical. I thought it would be interesting to adapt myself into a platform (that pleases me in what I can only describe as an aesthetic way) that has some inherent disadvantages to see how I might overcome them. I don't know why that idea appeals to me so much, but it does.
Have you ever had a malfunction that you think could be attributed to the magazine monopod?
Funny you mention the inherent disadvantages... completely understand.
ReplyDeleteThe AR15, even with the full length buttstock, is too short for me. I have "monkey arms" and my LOP is enormous. The rifle length barrel, coupled with me (a tall shooter) can be viewed as a cumbersome pair when clearing a building.
But like you said, adapting myself to the platform has been fun and pleasing.
And no, ZERO malfunctions from magazine monopod. Of those I've read about (and even those are few and far between), all could be attributed to magazine error. In other words, the error was not due to the use as a monopod, it would have happened anyways.