I am not sure why.....but this is awkward for many. The concept of "bringing the rifle to the head" not the head to the rifle.
Standing.....I've heard an AS instructor that is Distinguished (CMP) put it this way:
"Standing is easy, you do it every day"!
But....for many, it is not that simple, nor was it for him at first. What he is trying to infer, is that you need to stand somewhat "normally".
A HUGE part of the standing position is equilibrium. The center of balance is in the ears, and if the head is canted, so will the body.
Let's go over standing Steady Hold Factors:
*with or without the use of a hasty sling*
- Adress target perpendicularly (I try to align my support side shoulder with the target)
- Feet shoulder width apart
*note on feet, when on something other than flat concrete, like grass, it is advised to find a spot where your toes will be slightly higher than your heels. It is also advised to wear as flat a sole as you can for shoes/boots*
- Knees straight, but not locked
- Hips, extend the hips out a bit, especially if you have extra weight in the waist
- Head erect
- Bring the rifle to the head
This is where I'll provide a bit more
How do we bring the rifle to the head?
Stock Placement in standing (as in every other position) is CRUCIAL to shooting well.
I have a spot in my shoulder, or on my coat and I look back at it, and carefully and methodically place the heel of the buttstock in that exact spot each and every time.
In order to do that, I need to look rearward.
When it (the stock) is placed, I simply turn my head towards the target and it creates that nice cheek weld.
For me, I cant the rifle a bit. That is not a big deal for standing. In fact sometimes it is canted a bit, and sometimes it is not. It is a BIG target, so it is really not a big deal.
Then I adjust NPA *that eyes closed thing, breathe and relax, etc*
A key to good standing shooting, is to relax!
A good standing position is started from the feet up, skeletal support. But we really need to relax.
If there is any tension, the result on target will not be good.
So, when establishing NPA I relax, feet, calves, knees not locked, waist kicked forward a bit, abdomen relaxed, shoulders drooped. I wear a coat and the purpose of the coat is to provide some support. The coat cannot provide any support if my body is fighting the support the coat provides. I relax my shoulders inside the coat and then feel the support. Like "feeling the force Luke type stuff".
When I am relaxed, then I can open eyes and check my NPA, it will be OFF. I spend the better part of my prep time establishing NPA when standing. It is that important. I may even go into some live fire time if I need to.
Then, simply execute the 6 steps of firing the shot, and repeat that over and over.
I read a lot of AAR's in here, and attend some Appleseed events as well. There are always lots of pictures. In those pictures, there are a lot of people bringing their head to the rifle.
Sure, the Appleseed standing target is HUGE, and the use of the sling makes it easier to score well on it. But, one will definitely raise their scores if they build a stacked (with skeletal support) relaxed position with an erect head.
How do instructors, or even yourself as an attendee check for an erect head position? It is real easy, just a glance at the shooters head will tell you.
An erect head will invite a very high stock position in the shoulder. In fact it is considered normal for over 75% of the stock to be visible above the shoulder.
NPA will be off for elevation if the stock is low in the shoulder, that will cause shots to impact high on the target.
The goal is to have an erect head, and a rifle parralel to the deck.
The check for this can be done with a full length mirror at home. Or, have someone take a picture of you from behind to see if the head is erect.
I had my daughter snap this pic of me this weekend. I did pretty good standing on circle targets, shot a 188, that is a pair of 94's on my feet (Master scores standing). I'm always happy with that.
You will see in this pic that the stock is barely in my shoulder. That is what I need to do to get an erect head position, with a decent cheek weld, and have good elevation NPA (or an NPA I can work with moving my feet).
Give that a try, you will see your standing scores improve. This works with and without a coat, and for every rifle I compete with from the 10/22 to the M1 Garand.
R/
Chris
Chicken Wing!
I neglected to mention that.
With a sporter style stock, one without a pistol grip, it is probably a good idea to do the chicken wing thing with the trigger side elbow.
With an AR15, or any rifle stock that is similar, with a pistol grip, it is absolutely not necessary to chicken wing, in fact it would be ill advised to do so.
With the AR15, my trigger side elbow is relaxed, and it lies naturally wherever it feels comfy, your's should do the same.
Give me an M1 Garand, or any other similar rifle, and I will chicken wing my elbow for that. If I do not remember to chicken wing with that rifle, my trigger side elbow will cause me to pull the stock to the right and low some and it affects my NPA big time.
Another note on stock placement....for those shorter in height, placement of the buttstock out on the bicep may be in order.
I know one of the nations best shooters with the M14/M1A, and he has his stock out on his bicep a bit. It just works well for him, very well.
Support hand placement?
Where should the support hand be (with or without the use of a hasty sling)?
The support hand should be as far rearward as possible on the stock. For the AR15 that could be up to the magwell, or even holding the magazine.
For the 10/22, that should be up on the magwell also, or....even on the trigger guard. I've been using the trigger guard as of late. Gotta be careful with the 10/22 that you do not hit the magazine release though.
For a Garand or similar wood rifle, that should be up against the trigger guard, just be mindful you do not engage the safety.
Rifles seem to balance a lot better when we hold them in closer to our chests.
A bootcamp analogy:
Everyone has seen (many have experienced) the bootcamp scene where the drill instructors have the recruits holding the rifles out parallel at arms length. They get heavy real quick!
Same thing can be done with a pencil, extend your arms and hands and see how long you can balance a pencil resting on your extended index fingers, I'll give you a max of 10 minutes...for most it will be a few minutes or in my case maybe a minute! LOL
Now...what typically happens in the above 2 scenarios after a couple minutes....the arms start to droop, or.....the elbows start to bend....the rifle (or pencil) starts to move in with the arms closer to the chest!
There is a lot to that experience/analogy that applies to fundamental marksmanship and the standing position.
If you "BRING IT ALL IN" to the chest, you can maintain that balance for a long time. Because now you are using skeletal support!
Add a hasty sling and you can likely hold the 5 ring for an hour on the 25M AQT.
So...head position erect and bring it all in, I bet your standing scores will increase!
R/
Chris