I'll post them one more time for posterity... next week I leave inprocess back in the Army for another tour in Afghanistan.

Lesson 1 is Ready up drills.
Lesson 2 is the Double tap.
Lesson 3 is the Hammer.
Lesson 4 is shoot on the move.
Lesson 5 is natural point of aim, and can be done without doing 1-4.

LESSON 1- Ready up drills are the building block for effective short range rapid engagement shooting techniques, and can be done alone at any range allowing rapid (accurate fire) at 25m.

1. Before you even go to the range, you can practice your technique at home. Dry firing will not harm your AR, and dry firing is a key element of training. It establishes muscle memory and gets you comfortable with specific motions.

2. Get your AR and practice your stance. A good stance is based on a fighting stance. Footwork is not critical (you fire from the waist up, but balance is). But for CQB shooting, you want to be square on the target, facing it directly. This is because you move and shoot in the same position, walking and facing forward. Square to the target, non-firing foot slightly forward, knees slightly flexed. Lean forward slightly, if you feel like you are in a boxing stance than you are doing it right. Keep the butt of your weapon tucked into your shoulder tight using your firing hand primarily. Angle the muzzle at a 45 degree angle down. Keep your head up, elbows tucked in tight. WEAPON IS ON SAFE, finger off the trigger.

3. Practice bringing your weapon up smoothly (start in slow motion) and engaging a target. A piece of tape on the wall works. As you bring the weapon up to firing position, rotate the selector to semi as you begin to pull the trigger. With practice, you should get a good sight picture, go to semi, and pull the trigger in one smooth motion. Never move faster than you can do the motions properly. This applies to live rounds as well.

4. After dropping the hammer, keep the weapon in firing position with your firing hand and charge the weapon. Put the weapon on safe and lower it back into the ready position.

5. Repeat as necessary until it is smooth and natural. Never hurry up or speed you motions, speed comes with repitition. Speeding up prematurely leads to sloppy shooting and getting kicked off ranges... or worse if you do this for a living.

6. Remember: Square to the target, weapon only on fire while engaging, immediately back to safe.


Basic range setup:
Target, any will do but silhouettes work good.
Rifle.
Ammunition.

1. Practice the above dry fire for a warm up. Load a ten round magazine. Fire the live rounds using the slow motion technique. Never fire so fast that you actually miss your target.
Bring the weapon up
Switch to semi and acquire your target
Fire a round
Go back to safe
Lower weapon
Repeat

2. Continue to practice until you can comfortably engage targets accurately at a reasonable pace. If you have a buddy, you can practice by having him call or blow a whistle signalling you to shoot. "Ready, up!" "Bang!"

To be continued with the... double tap!



LESSON 2- The famous double tap. First, terminology. A double tap is firing two shots rapidly, but acquiring a sight picture both times. Easily done at 25m... with practice can be done on targets out to 50m. Man sized targets, of course. So, continuing from my last post.

FIRST, you must master the ready up shoot drill. Warm up with it one day, and when it begans to feel natural and you're moving quickly without trying to, you are ready. Don't rush into it, or you will only learn how to do things improperly. The key to doing these drills is muscle memory, and if you do them wrong you will make it muscle memory to do it wrong. Then you have problems.

Basic range setup:
Target, any will do but silhouettes work good.
Rifle.
Ammunition.

1. Warm up with simple ready up drills, one shot, safe weapon and lower. (see previous post).

2. Easy transition. Bring the weapon up, weapon off safe as it comes on target, and fire. Re-acquire the sight picture and fire again. Safe and lower the weapon.

3. NEVER FIRE THE SECOND SHOT BEFORE YOU GET A GOOD SIGHT PICTURE! It will be a bad habit. If you start off slow, good. In a couple paychecks worth of ammo, speed will come.

4. Its all about recoil management... when firing in the standing, ninja cool CQB stance from my previous post, recoil management is a breeze. Use your firing hand to pull the weapon firmly into your shoulder. Pistol grips up front help, as you can also use your non-firing hand to pull the weapon straight back. When leaning forward (slightly) with the knees flexed, you can use your body to absorb recoil without becoming unbalanced. Your goal is to get the weapon to recoil straight back, which will eliminate muzzle climb and make follow-up shots much easier.

5. Here is an easy test to see if you have the weapon in your shoulder tight enough... if you use the technique of shooting with nose on the charging handle. If it hurts your nose in recoil, its not tight enough.

6. Those of you with muzzle brakes... Come on! Its an AR15! Though, I imagine these techniques may be easier... but I don't have a lot of experience with them.

7. Remember, you can use a buddy for this to add a little more training value. He/she can call "Ready up!" to signal you to engage a target. To add even more, when you are proficient you can put out multiple targets. Label them (1, 2, 3, or by color, etc.) and have your buddy call out which one to engage. "One!" Bang, bang! One other technique is to have your buddy call out for either single shots or double taps. Tricky.



LESSON 3- Next up is the HAMMER... its HAMMER TIME! This one is great... I have had more than one person ask if my weapon was full auto while doing these. Either that someone would try to kick me off the range until I could convince them that, yes, I can hit the target every time at that speed.

Hammers are cool. But they are something you should not attempt until you are thoroughly familiar and comfortable shooting accurate and quick double taps at 25m. And I say ACCURATE and then QUICK for a reason, as you should never shoot faster than you can shoot accurately. One good slow shot is worth a lot of bad fast ones.

This is for advanced shooters, if you attempt this without knowing the basics you will only be training yourself to suck. And get kicked off ranges after shooting over the berm and into the dirt.

Warm up with your ready up drills and your double tap drills. You should be shooting at 25m, but for your first hammers a 10m target is not a bad idea. Pulling the trigger twice with one sight picture may not feel natural at first, and getting confidence that you can get two shots grouped close together is important.

Basic range setup:
Target, any will do but silhouettes work good. Set it at 10m initially.
Rifle.
Ammunition.

1. Warm up using double taps. Your stance and movements should be muscle memory now. You should be able to hold your weapon at the low ready, look at a target, close your eyes and raise your weapon to firing position, and open your eyes with your weapon nearly on target without much effort. Otherwise, practice more! Don't rush your steps.

2. Fire your first hammer. For hammers, the weapon MUST be held tight into the shoulder. The rest of your body should be relaxed so you can roll through the recoil. Bring the weapon up (slowly), get the weapon on target and fire two shots as fast as you can pull the trigger.

3. Check your target, if your second shot went wide... practice. If at anytime you can't find your second shot, you might want to stop firing before you hurt someone with a stray shot or get kicked off the range.

4. A good hammer (for me) can get better shot groups than a double tap, at 25m good hammers are all in about a 10" or less circle. I am sure that with practice that can be tightened up.

5. Trigger pull is hard to master, it may take a few trips to the range before you start to get comfortable with it. It is fast, about as fast or faster than double clicking a mouse. When first starting, it is common to pull the second shot before your trigger resets. Just relax, let up on the trigger, and keep firing.

6. Recoil management is key. Focus on pulling the weapon straight back into your shoulder, a front grip helps. When your body is relaxed and your arms have your weapon locked in place, the weapon will recoil straight back and have no muzzle climb.

7. As you get more comfortable, on later trips you can extend the range of your target, 25m being the effective range of a hammer.

8. Red dot sights help. I use an Aimpoint. Hammers are fast, but with practice they seem slower to you, the shooter. Slow enough that you can track your red dot in recoil in the split second before the second shot goes off.

9. Finding a range you can do this is not easy. Supervised ranges may have a problem with your "rapid fire," but if you can prove you keep your bullets on target they may be ok.

10. With a buddy, you can mix it up. One way to keep your skills sharp and fresh is to have your buddy call out for either single, double tap, or hammer engagements. Or, set multiple targets out at various ranges to engage with the best technique.

11. Never get programmed into firing a set number of shots every time, wether it is one, two, or more.



LESSON 4- Moving while shooting... the debate continues. Should you haul ass to cover, or shoot on the move. These drills don't answer either question, but can tell you how to do it. Situations it is applicable: Entering and clearing a room. Beyond that I am a big advocate of run like hell, or crawl like hell; to the nearest piece of cover before shooting at anything. Still, every technique you learn is a tool in the bucket.

This training requires you to be thoroughly comfortable with all methods of firing while stationary, see lessons 1 to 3. Range requirements are much different, as it is extremely difficult to find a range you can do these drills at. I have only done them on military ranges and public ranges when it was just my buddies and I shooting.

HAVING A BUDDY WITH YOU IS MANDATORY TO DO THIS SAFELY. THEY CAN MAKE WATCH FOR OBSTACLES, OTHER PEOPLE COMING ON THE RANGE, ETC. THEY SHOULD DEFINITELY ACT AS A SAFETY AT ALL TIMES. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND ATTEMPT THIS OR OTHER ADVANCED DRILLS, I HOPE YOU ONLY SHOOT YOUR FOOT AND NOT ANYONE ELSE.

1. For CQB purposes, you always walk in the direction you fire, and vice versa. (In combat, your stance and footwork may not be perfect). Utilizing the stance taught in lesson 1, practice walking forward with your weapon at the ready pointed straight ahead. Roll your walk, from heel to toe to minimize the natural bounce in your step. Plant your heel, and roll on it. Practice until you can do it smoothly.

2. A second technique, moving laterally. Simple, just side step. NEVER CROSS YOUR LEGS.

3. When shooting, you can practice two techniques. All situational dependent. First, you can pause in your movement to take a shot. Second, you can continue moving and fire as you go.

4. Range drills. Set up a target anywhere from 25 to 50m. Practice walking toward it (dry fire the first few times) and engage the target every 5-10 feet or so. A buddy calling out "Fire!" as you go helps make the training better. When you get within 5 feet of the target, just finish your rounds using your preferred technique for upclose and personal.

5. Set up a string of targets, left to right. Move laterally down the range, engaging each as you get to it.

6. Never fire if you are moving to fast to shoot accurately, this rule applies in combat too. Either slow down and shoot or hurry up and get behind cover.



LESSON 5- In a wooded/open terrain, most combat will take place on your belly.  Shooting accurately from the prone is "easy," but here is a technique that can be used that will improve your shooting from most positions, but especially prone.

Next time you are at the range, or in your house doing dry fire drills, assume a good prone supported OR unsupported position.  Aim at a downrange target and get a good sight picture.  Now, RELAX every muscle in your body and go limp.  Are you still aimed at your target?  If yes, then skip this lesson.

If not, here is how to achieve your natural point of aim.  Natural point of aim reduces fatigue when firing, and makes target re-acquiring much easier.  

Natural Point of Aim- where your weapon points when you relax.

Body position:  
  Minimize the amount of muscles that need to work.  When firing from the prone, keep your elbows tucked in close as possible under the weapon.  The more you spread your elbows, the more you use your chest muscles to maintain your position.  
  Lay flat on your stomach.  Cocking a leg is cool, but uses muscles.  Let your toes point straight out, the inside of your feet and ankles on the ground.
  If you can use support (sandbags, log, etc) rest your non-firing hand on it.  Rest your rifle on your hand.  No muscles required.  

Get in the habit of assuming a good prone position as described above.  Before you start your target practice, sight in your rifle and relax.  Shift your body until you can relax your body and keep your rifle on target.  Now it will take minimum effort to aim and fire.  When engaging multiple targets, like at an Army pop up range, keep your natural point of aim down the middle of the lane to minimize movement to each target.

When firing, do use the muscles of your firing hand to keep your weapon tucked into your shoulder to control recoil.  

Good post, thanks.

Originally Posted By 53vortec: Good post, thanks.

+1

Thanks for taking the time to write your input! It is greatly needed.


Thx
usmc5593

+1 great post....very useful....thanks


stay safe...shoot straight

Thanks for your instruction.  Stay safe and whack tangos.

E-95

Thanks.

I've been practicing ready up drills with electronic dry fire targets at rangemaster.com

There are timed and moving targets.

www.rangemaster.com/

click on "Dry Fire Drills" in the left column

Stay safe and good hunting!

Tag

does anybody know the m16/ar15 iron sight proceedure for 100-300-500 meter zero

Like this?
www.rbprecision.com/rb_precision_ar15_performance_tips_.htm

Great post.  Thanks for all the information.

Just read it, good info.

THANKS

wow man.
excellent! thanks alot!

Thanks, and stay safe.

Thanks for the info!!  Stay Safe!!!

heh he helped show me some of these yesterday in person; they help tremendously

Great post!

Good stuff. Thanks!

Great Post! However, while in prone it makes sense to have the knee of your trigger leg pulled up as far as is comfortable.  That position keeps you diaphram off of the ground and greatly reduces the imact that breathing has on your sight picture.

Also, NPOA should be set after you exhale fully.  get your sights on target, close your eyes, deep breath in and completly out. The open your eyes and see where you sights are aiming.  If you need to adjust, keep your non-trigger elbow planted and shift the position of your hips to move your sight picture left, right, up, or down.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Great post. Thanks!

Thanks for the drill information.
I had been practicing something like the ready-up drill, but the
others make an excellent addition.

tag

I copied off into my email and into a document and printed.  Will be able to email to friends, too.  Have print out for on site.

Finally bought my first ar15 4 weeks ago AND I found land I can practice on with no problems.  

Time and effort in these postings do not go to waste.   I truly appreciate your time.  

Thank you

Thanks!

Thanks this is very helpful. Sent to my friend who just got an AR  helped me too.  Always looking for good simple drills to get proficient.  Thanks again.

Thanks! Great read!! Will work on these on the next range trip!

Thanks for the information, I'll share it with my sons.  May you be safe and well protected.

At 70 years of age I hope  I ma not too old to learn new tricks. Bought my first AR yesterday and hope to get to the range Monday and put your excellent tutorial to work. Thanks for the article and your service.

Socialism, in general, has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.

This will help, thanks!

Wow, great post..."One good slow shot is worth a lot of bad fast ones." Couldn't agree more - slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Make it count!

I love the clarification on the misnomer for double taps too. I've started using the term "controlled pairs", especially for shooters that don't understand the concept.

My recommendation for everyone, noob or pro...go back to the first post, then, under the options in you browser, select 'print' , then laminate, and read, then read it again...and again...great info

Wow this is informative!  As a relatively noob to the AR world, this helps tremendously!  Especially since I want to use mine as my primary HD weapon.  Thanks for taking the time to write this up, I am going to practice now.

Good post...

edit

....

Old but

Valuable, both you and the post. Mad thanks

This is the best training outline I've read since participating in the Appleseed Project.  Essential training that everyone should be working through every visit to the range.  Thank you for this excellent reference.  The only thing I would add would be mag changes in step two or three...Excellent!