Personal preference probably.

I am 6' 2" and I run a 10.3" with an EOTech two notches from fully collapsed. That being said, I always shoot with armor and squared off to the target, nose to charging handle. That's just what's comfortable for me.

Not every shot with a rifle is at pistol distance.

I have one collapsible stock left, it is adjusted 2 stops out from the receiver and stays that way. It is my dedicated hd/sd gun and I don't see the virtue in dicking with a stock when you need to be addressing more pressing issues. Adjusted to that position I can use it effectively whether I'm naked or wearing a winter coat.

Everything else has A1's except for one 20" gun with an.A2.

All of that is very subjective and largely personal preference, but for.the record I am 6'6" and do not have t Rex arms, I am simply more comfortable and my position is stronger and more stable with my arms tucked in against my torso.

How I do it, not that my opinion matters:

6'3

NTCH

1 Notch out from fully collapsed

with SOPMOD

ETA:  still from a match stage last weekend

Because I shoot better that way. Come to think of it, I also don't wear a lot of body armor, or ride around in tight vehicles with a rife at the ready very often. Oh jeez I suppose that's why I shitcanned a collapsible stock altogether and went with the A2 stock that remains comfortably there right now.

I run mine 2 notches out from collapsed. All my optics are positioned to have perfect eye relief at this distance.

I shoot with the stock in the middle position, my wife collapses it fully. Just a comfort thing.

When I shoot irons I do get a little closer.

I'm new to the AR platform, but have been shooting "regular" full sized rifles and carbines for many years. I understand the differences between a bladed and a squared stance and the supposed advantages of each. I'm not saying there's one right way to shoot, but I am questioning conventional wisdom, which I think is always useful.

I think some of the ways people handle AR carbines are more the result of equipment limitations than optimizing their shooting. Some of the AR's limitations are inherent in any carbine. Others are peculiar to the AR such as the low check weld, and scopes mounted forward to avoid the charging handle. I suspect the neck craned forward, head pushed down, and  hunched, rounded-in shoulders shooting position has more to do with equipment limitations than finding an optimal shooting position. It's far different from a traditional standing shooting position with a traditionally stocked, full sized rifle.

I also suspect other shooters see skilled people using shooting positions that primarily serve to work around equipment limitations rather than optimize their shooting and then emulate these shooting positions. I think some other people figure something along the lines of "if that guy who knows what he's doing is hunched over with his head forward like that, then the more hunched my shoulders are and craned my head is the better." The process tends to reinforce itself.

I don't get the whole neck craned forward and down and shoulders hunched forward for any type of static shooting for that matter. It seems like some kind of relatively recent tacticool thing that serves no real purpose. You don't do it for any other kind of precision activity (throwing darts, footballs, basketball shooting, whatever). To me, it only seems to bring variation into your shooting position when consistency is what you're looking for. The vast majority of precision athletic moves benefit from a relatively straight spine when it's possible to have one.

I'm about 6'3" with only a 29 inseam--long torso.  Even so, my  tailor says he has difficulty finding shirts with long enough arms for me.
I run my M4 stocks all the way out with an extended butt pad and civilian pattern tube on the second to all they way out.  13.5" LoP or so..

Thanks for letting me know I've been doing it wrong.

Mike

Personal prefrence and depending on the optics.

Because I'm not wearing body armor or a chest rig.

I am 6'1" with long arms. That's how I run my AR 15's its comfortable for me and gives me the proper cheek weld (nose to CH) for the scopes I use. I don't think if a shooter is comfortable and gets a good cheek weld there is no right or wrong. It's a personal preference choice.

6'3" 1 notch from fully collapsed.  I like shorter systems and not feeling like I'm carrying an M-16.

When I was deployed and shooting a long way (for an AR) I liked the stock all the way out.  To me it was more stable.  If I was clearing a building, it was all the way in.  You CAN go both ways.

Damn, Hoss...they DO grow them big down there.....

For me the stock out further enhances control/feel of the weapon from various positions i.e standing to kneeling to prone to whatever.

It also makes sense for those that shoot from a more bladed "athletic" or weaver stance vs the Chris Costa "tactical turtle".

It's the only reason I extend a stock fully.

 

He should look in to some training courses to correct his mistakes.

Not everyone is a midget 14'er

I want a longer tube
Im 6’6” … I can reach over 8” on flat feet
That aside
Any closer and the rear site is blurry …. my mid gun could be an inch longer in the stock easy

Damn first it was the 13'ers!

6'0. 2 notches out.

I grew up shooting shotguns. I learned to step or lean forward into the shot with my left leg forward. Guess that is sort of this blading they are talking about. Anyway when I am shooting offhand with a shotgun, pistol or rifle I still do it. I works for me.

I find that I change the extension on my AR's depending on my shooting position. Off the bench or other support depends on how high it is sometimes you are nice and upright and sometimes you are almost laying across the bench., or prone or offhand. I want the stock tucked in tight to my shoulder and a proper sight picture be it scope, eotec or irons. seems they are all a little different.

.........................................................................................................................................................

I've been shooting AR's for over 30 yrs.  I do "Action / IDPA" type shooting matches and such...I exend my stock completely out.  For me it is a more relaxed fit and I am able to hit my targets more consistently with the stock fully extended.





.

Topic Moved

I'm much more accurate with my shots when bladed. The body naturally braces easier. Squared is faster on close shots but I lose a lot in the accuracy department.
YMMV. It's possible that since I've been shooting for 30 yrs bladed before ever shooting squared that not feeling "natural" to me is hampering my form.

I'm out of my lane here so people who carry rifles every day can correct me ...

But if you are moving and shooting around barriers - squared up seems much easier.

Bladed seems fine for static shooting but once you start moving - a squared shooting stance enables better agility

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In spite of the "better than you" circle jerk going on in this thread, the actual answer to that question is personal preference. All those extra holes in the receiver extension exist so people can adjust the stock to where they find it comfortable, so that's what they do. Some guys like a longer LOP, others like it shorter.

The reason people think it's correct to have the stock collapsed is because shooting squared off is generally accepted as the best way to shoot, when you're shooting in self defense or combat. Most people are more comfortable with the stock adjusted in for that stance, some aren't.

If bladed works for you then use it, that is a good reason. Presenting a smaller target is a shit reason.

Personally, my upper torso is squared and my feet are far apart as I crouch forward, unless I am moving sideways.

I was taught the incredibly uncomfortable squared off shooting stance in 2008, the reason given being that one's armor plate is in the front.  I was then sent to Iraq w/ armor that had side plates.  

SAPI plates

I'm pretty sure most of the people the OP are talking about wouldn't even know what you mean by getting a repeatable sight picture or why it's important.

Those people extend the stock all the way out because the stock extends, and that's about it.

He didn't say people who run it all the way out don't know what they're doing; he asked why so many of those who don't know what they're doing run it all the way out.    They're not the same thing.

Haha, that's the military for you.
I had an A4, combined with the IOTV, almost an unusable set up for anyone who doesn't have monkey arms. I still think it's a good idea, the side plates don't cover much. Facing the part of your body with less coverage towards someone shooting at you isn't a good idea.

Its all a matter of personal preference. there isn't a right or wrong position of a collapsible stock, hence why the stock is collapsible in the first place. I adjust my stock to my shooting situation. Example, if i'm standing and shooting at <100 yards I like to have the stock in the fully collapsed or the first position of the stock. If i'm at the range and I have my M4 on a table with my bi-pod deployed shooting at >100 yards I like to have it fully extended. There are too many people out there who are too judgmental on how other people fire their weapons. Just because you do it one way and another person does it some other way doesn't make them wrong. Does anyone else agree with me?

Because you'll never be a super mall ninja master zombie killer unless you set you rifle up exactly like the guys in Soldier of Fortune magazine!

And yet a huge faction here will continue to insist that's the Only Way a Professional Operates the AR Platform.

Lucky me, I just figured out what a 13'er and a 14'er was.......  I started seeing this stuff popping up everywhere!

Just an observation: I'd hate to have to engage a target to my two o'clock with that stance.

Good thing I'm only part time, then.