• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Editor’s Picks
    • The power of teamwork
      Stay awake and alert on the job
      The worst rank in law enforcement
      Firearms maintenance
      Why fries need salt
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • Heroic Pennsylvania officer saves father and daughter from drowning...
        Denver law enforcement struggle to divert low-level offenders to...
        “The good guys won …”
        “Service was running through his veins”: Condolences pour in for...
        Atlanta police officer and fire rescue captain save trapped driver...
    • Labor
      • “A financial tsunami”
        LAPD officers receive raises, bonuses
        Minnesota police force faces disbandment as chief resigns amid salary...
        We quit!
        California police departments offer lucrative signing bonuses to...
    • Tech
      • The rise of I2P
        Ann Arbor Police Department adopts AI technology to analyze body...
        Ohio law enforcement adopts powerful ballistics technology to combat...
        AI-powered surveillance program raises concerns over privacy rights...
        Chesterfield County announces real-time crime center to enhance...
    • Training
      • CIT training is not for everyone
        Mentoring: Leave ’em better than you found ’em
        Ohio struggles to secure permanent funding for law enforcement...
        Firearm instructors: Just be better!
        Influencing your performance on and off duty
    • Policy
      • New Texas law gives local law enforcement greater control over...
        Diversity in law enforcement
        Florida attorney general and John Walsh partner in new Crime Stoppers...
        Supreme Court to weigh in on whether Idaho police K-9’s paw...
        See you later, Seattle
    • Health/Wellness
      • Working through grief
        Responding to trauma
        “Why does that call keep haunting me?”
        A Message to Those Considering Suicide
        The meaning of pain
    • Community
      • “Live every day like it’s your last”
        National Night Out 2023
        Colorado Springs residents meet with city officials to discuss...
        Seattle police recruits build community relationships in unique...
        Dream come true: Massachusetts 5-year-old becomes honorary junior...
    • Offbeat
      • Alligator on the loose in New Jersey captured after two-week chase
        Traffic stop by TV’s Dog the Bounty Hunter’s son leads to...
        Bone-chilling: Human skull found in donation box at Arizona Goodwill...
        CATastrophe avoided: Indiana troopers rescue kitten trapped under...
        Shopper dressed as a cowboy and armed with fake gun causes scare at...
    • We Remember
      • Headstone finally marks grave of Pennsylvania officer who gave his...
        Memorial for the fallen: The sacrifice continues
        Paying Tribute to the Fallen Heroes of 9/11
        “He was like a protector …”: Genesee County sheriff’s deputy...
        Deadly police pursuit claims life of 19-year-old Vermont police...
  • On the Job
    • Heroic Pennsylvania officer saves father and daughter from drowning...
      Denver law enforcement struggle to divert low-level offenders to...
      “The good guys won …”
      “Service was running through his veins”: Condolences pour in for...
      Atlanta police officer and fire rescue captain save trapped driver...
  • Labor
    • “A financial tsunami”
      LAPD officers receive raises, bonuses
      Minnesota police force faces disbandment as chief resigns amid salary...
      We quit!
      California police departments offer lucrative signing bonuses to...
  • Tech
    • The rise of I2P
      Ann Arbor Police Department adopts AI technology to analyze body...
      Ohio law enforcement adopts powerful ballistics technology to combat...
      AI-powered surveillance program raises concerns over privacy rights...
      Chesterfield County announces real-time crime center to enhance...
  • Training
    • CIT training is not for everyone
      Mentoring: Leave ’em better than you found ’em
      Ohio struggles to secure permanent funding for law enforcement...
      Firearm instructors: Just be better!
      Influencing your performance on and off duty
  • Policy
    • New Texas law gives local law enforcement greater control over...
      Diversity in law enforcement
      Florida attorney general and John Walsh partner in new Crime Stoppers...
      Supreme Court to weigh in on whether Idaho police K-9’s paw...
      See you later, Seattle
  • Health/Wellness
    • Working through grief
      Responding to trauma
      “Why does that call keep haunting me?”
      A Message to Those Considering Suicide
      The meaning of pain
  • Community
    • “Live every day like it’s your last”
      National Night Out 2023
      Colorado Springs residents meet with city officials to discuss...
      Seattle police recruits build community relationships in unique...
      Dream come true: Massachusetts 5-year-old becomes honorary junior...
  • Offbeat
    • Alligator on the loose in New Jersey captured after two-week chase
      Traffic stop by TV’s Dog the Bounty Hunter’s son leads to...
      Bone-chilling: Human skull found in donation box at Arizona Goodwill...
      CATastrophe avoided: Indiana troopers rescue kitten trapped under...
      Shopper dressed as a cowboy and armed with fake gun causes scare at...
  • We Remember
    • Headstone finally marks grave of Pennsylvania officer who gave his...
      Memorial for the fallen: The sacrifice continues
      Paying Tribute to the Fallen Heroes of 9/11
      “He was like a protector …”: Genesee County sheriff’s deputy...
      Deadly police pursuit claims life of 19-year-old Vermont police...
  • Between the Lines
    • Debunking the perpetual narrative of racial bias in policing
      The unspoken truth behind the recruitment and retention crisis
      The police reform goal: use of force without options
      The imprisonment of law enforcement technology
      Persecution of the LEO is classic schadenfreude
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

Training

Running your patrol rifle like a champion

Todd Fletcher Published January 21, 2023 @ 6:00 am PST

A forward support-side grip with your support-side elbow slightly bent increases leverage on the front of the patrol rifle and improves your ability to transition between targets. (Combative Firearms Training, LLC)

The competition arena has developed shooters who can run a patrol rifle unbelievably quickly and accurately. If you’ve had the chance to watch an experienced three-gun shooter, you see how they have taken the operation of the AR platform rifle to the next level. I know police officers aren’t competing in a three-gun match while they’re working, but we can adapt some useful techniques to improve our skills. What police officers do is serious work, so we need to be willing to adopt better ways of doing things to make ourselves and our fellow officers safer.

Shooting platform

The shooting platform is the foundation for being highly accurate, improving recoil control and making fast follow-up shots. When I talk about the shooting platform, I’m referring to body position, weight transfer, grip, posture and everything else that stabilizes the rifle. A stable patrol rifle is imperative for recoil control, accuracy, speed and precision.

It begins with getting into a balanced athletic position. This means placing your feet in a stable position that allows you to move in any direction. There is no “perfect” foot position that works for everyone. Most of the time, an athletic position starts by placing your feet slightly more than shoulder width apart, with the strong-side foot slightly behind the support-side foot. Your body weight should be on the balls of the feet with the knees slightly bent. I tend to imagine my support-side kneecap being over my toes to prevent me from standing too upright. This athletic position allows you to be stable while standing, moving and shooting from cover. “Nose over toes” is the phrase we use to describe this weight-forward balance.

Keeping your head erect, the rifle toward the center line of your body and your strong-side elbow down will help you run your patrol rifle quickly and accurately. (Combative Firearms Training, LLC)

Hand position

Once you’re balanced and mobile, it’s time to address how you hold the rifle. Just like with a handgun, get the strong-side hand as high on the pistol grip as possible. With your grip, pull the rifle straight back into the chest while applying most of the grip pressure with the pinky and ring finger to the bottom of the pistol grip. This puts downward pressure and leverage on the patrol rifle, minimizing muzzle rise during recoil.

Another secret to running your rifle like a champion is riding the safety switch with the thumb of your strong-side hand. Right-hand shooters — and left-hand shooters running an ambidextrous safety selector — will be able to quickly disengage the safety as the rifle is mounted into the shooting position. We see a lot of officers forget to run the “on/off” switch during more intense courses of fire. If you pay attention to this tip, under stress you won’t forget to disengage the safety. 

For some reason, left-handed shooters are less likely to forget to run the selector switch, even when using a traditional single-lever safety. Without an ambidextrous selector, left-hand shooters can either switch their thumbs over to the left side of the rifle or use their index finger to manipulate the safety. There’s no one way for lefties, since both methods work well.

On the support side, get your support hand around the handguard and as far forward as possible, pulling the rifle straight to the rear. On rifles with long handguards, your support-side elbow should have a slight bend. Getting your support-side hand and arm in this position has several benefits. First, the increased leverage on the front of the rifle gives you more control over recoil. Instead of recoil causing your sights to climb, the rifle will move in a straight line, significantly reducing movement of the sights. Second, the increased leverage makes it faster to move the rifle from target to target, making multiple engagements smoother and quicker. Finally, when snapping the rifle from target to target, it eliminates the tendency to travel past the target.

Keeping the strong-side shoulder rolled forward and weight “nose over toes” helps minimize recoil and creates predictable sight travel. (Combative Firearms Training, LLC)

Rifle position

When I was growing up, my father taught me the traditional bladed hunting stance. As I got older and started regularly shooting rifles, the traditional bladed hunting stance was still the go-to standard for stabilizing a rifle. When using a patrol rifle, especially while wearing body armor, the traditional hunting stance turns your hips sideways and places the stock of the rifle on the outer part of the shoulder. When the rifle recoils, it pushes the rifle back into the shoulder, turning the body further sideways with each shot. The rifle sight, or optic dot, moves off center and cycles high right for a right-handed shooter and high left for a left-handed shooter. You can’t be both fast and accurate when the rifle is moving diagonally during each shot.

Instead, get mostly squared up to the target with your head erect. Put the buttstock of the rifle high on your strong-side pectoral muscle, so you can bring the rifle directly up to your eye-target line without needing to move your head. In this position, the recoil will push backward into the shooter and the sights won’t move diagonally or laterally. This predictable sight travel allows for faster and more accurate follow-up shots. It also improves your effectiveness while shooting on the move, because the rifle won’t bounce as much while moving dynamically.

Body position

Once the patrol rifle is mounted in the correct position, it’s important to get aggressive behind the rifle. The strong-side elbow should drop down toward the ground while that same shoulder is driven forward toward the target. This makes the pectoral and front deltoid muscle contract, providing a solid foundation for the buttstock. Driving the shoulder forward increases pressure between the shooter and the stock, creating a solid patrol rifle position. When you drop the elbow, it keeps movement of the strong-side arm in line with the patrol rifle, rather than creating lateral movement that takes the rifle off target. An added bonus is that it helps us utilize cover more effectively by making us a smaller target when shooting around the side of cover.

For some female shooters, this buttstock position may be uncomfortable, or even impossible, due to the breast tissue over that pectoral muscle. For those shooters, lifting that elbow slightly creates a deeper pocket, preventing the stock from slipping off the shoulder. The shoulder should still be rolled forward, and being aggressive behind the rifle is even more important.

Minimize movement and make a hit

With the patrol rifle mounted in a stable shooting platform, the last thing to do before the trigger press is to minimize movement. One way is to create a bit of isometric tension in the upper body by “twisting” the strong hand and support hand downward, so the tension meets at the 6 o’clock position. When I say a bit of tension, I don’t mean you’re trying to break your rifle in two. This tension should simply allow for the rifle to stabilize down and back, creating a solid lockup with your upper body to reduce muzzle lift during recoil. This tension also helps prevent rifle bounce when you’re moving and shooting.

When we create a solid shooting platform with good hand, body and rifle positioning, our sights won’t move much even when we are moving quickly and shooting. At this point, we can press the trigger straight to the rear and be assured of a solid hit, maximum recoil management and minimum sight movement, just like a three-gun champion.

Todd Fletcher

Todd Fletcher

Todd Fletcher is a retired sergeant from central Oregon with over 25 years of law enforcement experience. He presents firearms training, instructor certification and instructor development classes nationwide. He owns Combative Firearms Training, LLC, providing firearms training, handgun and patrol rifle instructor certification, and instructor development classes to law enforcement, military and private security. He can be contacted at Todd@CombativeFirearms.com.

View articles by Todd Fletcher

As seen in the January 2023 issue of American Police Beat magazine.
Don’t miss out on another issue today! Click below:

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Categories: Training

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • New Texas law gives local law enforcement greater control over dispatching AMBER Alerts
  • Headstone finally marks grave of Pennsylvania officer who gave his life during historic 1889 flood
  • Working through grief
  • Heroic Pennsylvania officer saves father and daughter from drowning in sinking truck
  • Denver law enforcement struggle to divert low-level offenders to resource center
  • CIT training is not for everyone
  • “A financial tsunami”
  • “The good guys won …”
  • Responding to trauma
  • “Service was running through his veins”: Condolences pour in for fallen Los Angeles deputy

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

The power of teamwork

The power of teamwork

July 23, 2021

Stay awake and alert on the job

Stay awake and alert on the job

July 20, 2021

The worst rank in law enforcement

The worst rank in law enforcement

July 19, 2021

Firearms maintenance

Firearms maintenance

July 04, 2021

Privacy Policy | Your Privacy Options | Notice at Collection | Copyright © 2023 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.