Skeletal (Bone) Support in Rifle Shooting and Photography

Blog post / article to accompany this video: http://www.ocabj.net/?p=1021

This is a video demonstration explaining the core concept of skeletal (bone) support as opposed to muscle support in competitive rifle shooting and how that concept can crossover into photography.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Competitive
• High
• Power
• Rifle
• NRA
• CMP
• shooting
• AR-15
• AR15
• service
• rifle
• match
• standing
• position
• photography
• canon
• 5D
• Mark
• II
• Canon 5D
• Canon 5D Mark II
• Canon 5D MKII
• 5D MKII
• MKII
• instructional
• instruction
• training

[HatefulDesigns]

i keep trying and trying i can't seem to improve my standing position i don't see any patterns when i aim i just wobble all over the place, i can't keep it stable :/ i can shoot prone and kneeling just fine but standing..

[ocabj]

@HatefulDesigns No can hold a rifle perfectly still in standing. Trust me. Go talk to the big name High Power shooters (e.g. David Tubb, Sherri Gallagher). There's wobble. But if you practice a cadence and how you bring the front sight onto target, you will be able to break the shot at the correct time when the front sight is where it should be for a 10-ring shot. Dry fire a lot. Put a black dot on the wall and practice standing while shooting at that black dot.

[ocabj]

@HatefulDesigns As you dry fire practice at home, you should mount the rifle, acquire sight picture, approach the dot, and when you think it's on, break shot and call the shot. Dismount the rifle. Rest for a few seconds. Repeat. Never try to hold too long for the perfect shot. If for some reason you mount the rifle and get sight picture, but can't break a shot because the front sight won't go into the target where it needs to go, then dismount. Rest. Remount.

[HatefulDesigns]

@ocabj i can't obtain a pattern even after the rest, a lot of sgt's tell me about "if you learn the pattern, it should be all downhill from there" but it just goes all around the place, i rest and remounted several times to attempt one target but like..the sight's refuse to go where it needs to go even after breaks or what not.. maybe its the weight of the rifle or im not standing correctly =\ i just can't figure it out.

[ocabj]

@HatefulDesigns It sounds like your natural point of aim in standing needs to be solved, first. You should be able to hold a rifle such that there is little muscle used to control the rifle, and where the front sight floats on the target black. Start off with finding the support hand position that works for you to keep the boreline fairly level to target. Then start working on feet positioning to keep the rifle in line to the target and to fine tune rifle leveling to the target.

[splatspam]

Thanks for the input, I'm looking at putting a weight system together in such a way that it will be easily moved between riffles w/o making it look like someone stuck tire weights to it :-) Have you seen or heard of a system like this already manufactured ?

[ocabj]

@splatspam Unfortunately, no. Rear weights are pretty much dependent on the form factor of the rifle. All the 'Match' High Power rifles designed specifically for High Power are designed specifically with a weight system, so things get proprietary.

[ocabj]

@willblackb4 When shooting unsupported standing in High Power, don't force the elbow down. It will directly affect trigger pull. Particularly with the M1 and M14 platforms. Of course, there are differences between High Power Rifle and other competition disciplines and real life scenarios. Thanks for your insightful feedback. I welcome your constructive criticisms. Perhaps we can meet on the range and you can give me pointers.

[e46dxyan]

Thanks ocabj! I practice this position @ 25yrds, I hit all dead center shoots with tight groupings.

[sithlordsoup]

your like a ripped version of eric koston

[ocabj]

@splatspam Muzzle heavy firearms will simply feel more heavy on the forward end and may require you control the rifle with the pistol grip. This isn't ideal since exerting excess force with the grip hand will affect trigger pull. With Service Rifles and heavy barrels, we counter the front weight by putting in lead weight(s) in the buttstock to balance out the rifle. Though, this isn't something you would do with a duty gun.

[ocabj]

@robisnotananagram You're welcome. Obviously, this style of hold doesn't lend itself for an active engagement. But it is easily the most stable (which translates to accuracy) way to hold for the standing position.