Weakhand arm position for distance targets

[EricW]

I find myself dropping my left (weak) elbow down the farther the targets go out - into sort of a bastardized NRA highpower position (which is limited by the 30 rounder hanging out of the bottom of the gun). I *feel* like that is more stable, maybe.

What postion should I be trying to achieve for a solid, all-around rifle platform? Should I use the relatively "IPSC flying elbow" stance on all targets regardless of distance or should I allow my stance to modify itself as the distance increases?

[benny hill]

The wing out lets you recover from recoil & back on target faster but the wing down is steadier. Which ever way is the fastest. For me it's the wing out for faster follow up shots & transtitions.

[Dead Buff]

I play this game with my elbow at 45deg and I hunt with my elbow at 45deg...in both cases it seems fast and stable enough...MH 0.02

[Religious Shooter]

Should I use the relatively "IPSC flying elbow" stance on all targets regardless of distance or should I allow my stance to modify itself as the distance increases?

Personally the bulk of my practice is the "IPSC flying elbow" style (waaaah <--- Kung Fu yell). But I also do the "NRA bastard elbow" technique.

The only time I would use the "NRA bastard elbow" is if there was only one or even a couple of targets where there isn't a lot of distance between them (say less than 5') and they were relatively far (for an offhand or unsupported position) at 100+ yards. There aren't many standards stages these days.

So #2 for me. I modify my stance depending on the stage. But it seems like 99.9999% of the time it's "IPSC flying elbow".

[George]

Unless you can get your off elbow jammed into the hip bone or rested on a mag pouch, the elbow out routine with the offhand way out on the handguard has proved to be just as stable for me and way faster.

I also shoot NRA High Power and there I grip the mag well and wedge the off elbow into my hip on the rubber pad of my shooting jacket. This is very stable for 200 yard paper but real slow to get wound up into. Even prone would be a faster position in IPSC

I’m with Bennie for IPSC rifle run-n-gunnin’.

BTW, if there is any real distance on these targets and you are not looking for some external support, or just plain plopping prone, there had better be a pretty darned good reason why not

--

Regards,

Edited December 20, 2004 by George

[Bear1142]

Eric,

I would counsel against changing your hand positions for different distances. Find the weakhand position that works best for you and stay with it. Any hard distance you set to change your weakhand position will cause you problems. There will always be a "no-mans land" you'll have to deal with. Say you plan on switching your grip at 250 yards. Will you keep the other hand position at 230? What about 240?, 245? What about a closer, but tougher target? Say a 125 yard head shot? Any yardage marker you pick will always have some middle ground that will cause you to stop and think, and thinking or adjusting will result in slower times and lower scores. Stay with one hand position and practice with it. Some other things to consider. As your shots get tougher, you'll also want to increase the stability of your shooting platform (Kneeling, Prone, Braced on barricade, etc.) You don't want to have two hand positions for each shooting position. You'll end up with so many variations that you'll have no consistency and we all know that consistency, across the board in every thing we do is what wins matches.

Erik

[EricW]

Thanks! I'll pick a spot for my elbow and duct tape it into position.