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Posted: 12/31/2004 8:56:07 AM EDT
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I believe that the standard IAD presented in Army M-16 TMs is SPORTS. Since this is the training giving to hundreds of thousands of troops, I assume it must be fairly well thought out and a reasonable approach to dealing with malfunctions. However, not everyone agrees with standard Army doctrine, and there is always room for improvement. One alternative I have seen presented is TPRRRS - Tap, Pull, Rack, Roll, Release, Shoot. An article I read about TPRRS seemed to make some good arguments for it, but I am not experienced enough to evaluate whether the points made are truly valid or just sound good at first glance. That is where I was hoping the experts of ar15.com could come into play. Does anyone use TPRRS instead of SPORTS or have experience that would suggest one method is actually superior to the other? Reasoned opinions welcome. On a related note, do SPORTS or other IADs present some measure of risk to the operator? The scenario I am thinking about is a failure to fire caused by a hangfire. I was taught (when at the range) that if a round unexpectedly fails to fire, I should keep the weapon safely pointed downrange for at least a minute and only then eject the unfired round. This gives the misfire time to safely discharge if, in fact, it is a hangfire and not something more benign like a light strike that failed to ignite the primer at all. However, if one immediately begins SPORTS when faced with a failure, isn't there at least a possibility that if the problem is a hangfire, then the round might discharge out of battery while in the middle of the "P" step? An out-of-battery discharge is never good, and combined with the "O" step could result in the operator getting a face full of exploding receiver parts. Granted, the odds of this happening are probably quite small, and in a combat situation the danger from helplessly sitting around for a minute while exposed to incoming fire surely outweighs whatever small risk there is from an out-of-battery discharge during SPORTS. However, at the one-way range where most ar15.com members do most of their shooting, would it be wisest to wait that extra 60 seconds before beginning any IAD (thus, I suppose, turning it into a NSIAD)? |
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Bear in mind that SPORTS is a cookie cutter approach for training new recruits to fix their weapons when they malfunction while firing under stress. It's easy to do and remember after a 20 minute block of instruction. The SPORTS method could be tweaked and a skilled operator can step outside the framework and evaluate a stoppage or perform a procedure differently, as he will have the training and experience to do so. I think you are right on the mark when you say that any failure to fire experienced on the flat range should be handled carefully without immediately exposing the shooter to the unfired round. If you need to practice such IAD's you can use a dummy round, or you could transition to your sidearm and fix the long gun after you have finished doing your work. |
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Thanks RictusGrin. You make some good points. I appreciate everyone else's input as well, although my question wasn't about the rarity of hangfires. I do understand that they are rare, I was just wanted to know if my thinking about handling them on one-way versus two-way ranges is reasonable, regardless of how rare they are. As for the TPRRS method, I know it is a long article, so here are what I believe to be the biggest differences from SPORTS for those who don't want to take the time to read the whole article: 1. Gently tap the magazine then pull it down in the same action to ensure that it is seated. Tapping rather than slapping (with great force) prevents the possibility of dislodging rounds from the magazine and causing a double or triple feed if the bolt happens to be back for any reason. Pulling down on the magazine gives positive confirmation that it is fully seated. 2. While racking the action, roll the rifle so that the ejection port faces downward rather than observing ejection and inspecting the chamber while pulling back the charging handle. The idea is two-fold. If you are looking for an obstruction, then you are rolling the rifle to put the ejection port up so you can see in, the opposite direction the rifle needs to be in order to get rid of any obstruction you might see. Thus, it is better to just roll the rifle to face the ejection port downward in the first place and let gravity do its thing. Second, observing isn't possible in all situations, such as night or bad weather, and puts the rifleman into a diagnostic mode rather than an immediate action mode. The author's stated goal is to improve the IAD so that it automatically resolves as many common failures as possible without requiring any additional steps or diagnostic decision making. Thus, it is more likely to be effective under the stress of battle. Thoughts? |
I agree that there are better methods methods than SPORTS and a transition to the secondary, while ideal, isn't always an option because a majority of the soldiers deployed don't get a secondary weapon issued. So for some doing an IAD in combat while the team covers them is their only choice... |
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You'll have to forgive my ignorance. I've never served in the military and don't pretend to know about it, but are all infantry men issued sidearms in addition to their rifles? And what do you do if the target you are engaging is 200-300 m away? <edit to note that my question is directed at white32golf. Yojimbo snuck in his reply while I was responding> |
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zrxc77, As I mentioned above a majority of the soldiers do not get sidearms issed. If the enemy is 200-300 yards away than you should have time to seek cover and perform your IAD. If you are in a CQB situation than you transition to a sidearm if possible or immediately close in and start muzzle striking your opponent. A even better option, if you are not in mmediate danger, is to notify your team members so they can cover you while you clear your weapon. Also check out the link below where not too long ago we discussed IAD and mafunction clearances drills. www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=212970 |
What is a side arm going to do when your engagement is more than 50 meters away? Since when is every soldier, or very other soldier, even issued a side arm? This is an unrealistic statement. SPORTS is the simplest method for clearing a jam. You can add to it all you want but it will all come back down to SPORTS. Train as you'd fight, fight as you trained. |
Tap meaning tap the magazine to make sure it is fully seated, and Tap meaning tap the forward assist get jumbled together when we talk Tap. In the second IAD, the Tap is tapping the mag. The forward assist is great when you need to chamber a round quietly, and yes I've had to do it plenty of times before someone asks. |
Thanks Yojimbo. Good information. |
Yeah, the nomenclature probably isn't the best, but as you stated, in the TPRRS, "Tap" means tapping the magazine. TPRRS does not include using the forward assist at all. The author, probably much like BB, believes that it causes more harm than good, when used as part of an IAD. |
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Hey Yojimbo, your Type I/II IAD that you posted in the other thread reads exactly like the TPRRRS IAD. And you and Lumpy both advocate a non-diagnostic approach to IAD just like the TPRRRS author. I guess there must be something to these approaches. Arfcomm comes through again. Thanks all. Off to study the thread... |
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