Tactical Skills for a Life Well Lived
As a quick follow up to the article on zeroing your iron sights, I wanted to share this video. It’s a USMC Primary Marksmanship Instructor teaching about zeroing the M16A2 rifle.
He makes some interesting points about battlesight zero, range estimation, and how gear affects marksmanship. [Read Full Article »]
Most articles walk you through the basic steps of getting your iron sights zeroed, but they lack an explanation of why you’re doing the steps you’re doing. Let’s change that.
We’re going to dig into exactly what a minute of angle is and how it relates to your rifle’s iron sights. Then we’ll get to my preferred method of zeroing my sights and confirming that they’re on target. [Read Full Article »]
After attending an Appleseed shoot in 2014, I was all hopped up on learning and preaching iron sights. I treated them like some kind of magic voodoo that I had learned, and that magic made me a real rifleman.
Iron sights are merely a sighting device used to estimate the point of impact based on point of aim. That is their sole purpose in life, the same as any other sighting device. So why have they obtained magical status? [Read Full Article »]
The GR1 is like one of those mythical objects that people on the internet talk about, but nobody you know actually has.
As the saying goes, though, you get what you pay for. In this price range, there is a lot of competition from other gear makers like Kifaru, Mystery Ranch, Crye Precision, London Bridge Trading, and more. All of these are considered top notch. Yet, when you search around the web, the GR1 consistently has loyal advocates.
[Read Full Article »]
You wouldn’t build a house without a foundation, right?
Fitness works the same way. A lot of people, including me, have attempted to pursue some goal without building the proper base fitness level. Every time I’ve tried it, I’ve usually gotten injured or been unable to complete the program.
Running a marathon, tackling a GoRuck event, or attending Ranger School require different types of fitness attributes than your standard program might include. When you want to do something specific, then you shift your training. You look at the required attributes of that event, and adjust your training leading up to it. If you were to think of it as a mountain, you time the periodization to reach peak fitness for the event right as you arrive at it. [Read Full Article »]
Physical fitness and shooting go hand in hand. There are too many people in our community who only focus on the shooting and gear components while completely ignoring their own health. Several trainers have made a note to point this out, but the only people nodding along are those who didn’t need to hear it in the first place.
Well, this is my soapbox.
This article is a summary of what I’ve learned and my suggestions for improving your own fitness. While my focus is and marksmanship tactical fitness, realize that everyone should be looking at their own fitness levels regardless of their “tactical” nature. [Read Full Article »]
Life is about growth and the only way to do that is take on risk and put yourself in uncomfortable situations. There’s always something else that needs addressed. Accept what those things are and make a plan of how you want to go head on against those challenges. Don’t worry about anyone else’s path, stay [Read Full Article »]
The notorious “chicken wing” is viewed by many as a defining trait of a newbie. Tactical instructors, and the enthusiasts who follow them, will all claim it’s a surefire way to get your arm shot off in a fight.
But have we been demonizing it perhaps a bit too much? Is it ever useful? Better yet, have we induced bad marksmanship habits in our desire to not have the dreaded chicken wing? [Read Full Article »]
The standing position is simultaneously the most common and least useful of the standard rifle positions. The thing is, outside of competition, if you need to use it then you need to use it right now!
We are going to look at the three main variations of unsupported standing, as well as the supported standing position. [Read Full Article »]
TC 3-22.9 is the US Army manual on rifle and carbine marksmanship. Every shooter should be familiar with it and what it contains. Revised in 2016 using experiences from Iraq and Afghanistan, 3-22.9 is a fantastic starting point.
Whether or not you choose to follow it to the letter is up to you. But at least knowing what’s in it. [Read Full Article »]
