Rifle Stance

[locosway]

So, I notice that competition rifle shooters have a weird stance. To me it looks unnatural and odd.



I was raised to shoot differently:



So what are the pros and cons of shooting with the competition style grip?

[9mmepiphany]

The military stance in your illustration is optimized for soldiers standing in a line...it is based on the old English concept of volley fire.

The stance in your top picture is an evolution optimized for movement and rapid/accurate target transitions...as well as a pistol grip equipped long gun

It is the difference of uses and intentions...rapid or slow fire

[shinbone]

What kind of competition? The way Ive seen service rifle and high power stuff, they use as much skeletal support as possible.. Using muscles vs bone support doesn't lend itself very well when trying to achieve sub-MOA accuracy.

[NiteQwill]

Shoot 3-gun. The former versus the latter will lead to optimum results if you want to shave thousandths to tenths of a second off your time.

My avatar shows me with the former stance... it allows me to send a rapid 30 round volley with ease.

The evolution of shooting will always evolve, tomorrow will be a new stance with a different purpose.

[Dion]

I personally stay compact (upper body) and keep a standard weaver foot position. I like to be in a stance, where, I can practically GTFO if I had to in a fight. I don't like any of my limbs to be extended or locked.

I also like to get into strange standing positions because a situation won't allow a bad guy to wait for me to get into a stance that I'm most comfortable with.

[coyotebait]

With the "military" stance, when you sweep horizontally, your point of aim may bow upward slightly because of the position of the arm taking more time to get on target. With the competition stance, you sweep flatter and acquire your target quicker. FWIW, I'm old school.

[locosway]

I'm old school too, since that's how I was taught. Admittedly I've never shot a rifle in a competition and I've never tried to acquire multiple targets quickly either.

[beaster]

The competition stance above is also the new combative stance in that it presents armor better(for soldiers) than the bladed stance of old. Less exposure of unarmored areas.

[locosway]

The competition stance above is also the new combative stance in that it presents armor better(for soldiers) than the bladed stance of old. Less exposure of unarmored areas.

I'm just not sure how it lends itself to shooting from cover, seems awkward looking to me. I guess I should try some different stances this Thursday.

[coyotebait]

I wonder if that stance would interfere with peripherals, if shooting righty, would something a little low to the left go unnoticed?? Guess it's one of those comfort things, if it works for you, run with it.

[NiteQwill]

I'm just not sure how it lends itself to shooting from cover, seems awkward looking to me. I guess I should try some different stances this Thursday.

When shooting from cover, you can use any stance you please. I recommend the send-as-much-lead-downrange-without-getting-killed stance.

[9mmepiphany]

I wonder if that stance would interfere with peripherals, if shooting righty, would something a little low to the left go unnoticed?? Guess it's one of those comfort things, if it works for you, run with it.

Not if you leave your left eye open

[Will Goes Boing]

Bladed/surfboard stance is never good for shooting. You want both of your feet to be pointing forward towards the intended target. You see the surfing stance all the time at local ranges.... whether it be pistol or rifle, people turn completely bladed, leans backward, and head tilted... no bueno.

[Dion]

Bladed/surfboard stance is never good for shooting. You want both of your feet to be pointing forward towards the intended target. You see the surfing stance all the time at local ranges.... whether it be pistol or rifle, people turn completely bladed, leans backward, and head tilted... no bueno.

I also don't like the completely bladed stance. Since I'm not walking around with body armor, a full frontal stance also is not good for me - so somewhere in between is what I like.

I feel like all you need is a strong breeze to set you off balance in a bladed stance.

[NSR500]

The modern stance above is the more dynamic of the two.