Monday, June 04, 2007

Art of the Rifle

My order of Art of the Rifle by Jeff Cooper finally came in. It's easy to see why he is so idolized by gunners.

I had no idea that a sling can be used to increase your accuracy by making your firing position more stable.

He speaks of the purpose of a rifle, the mindset of a marksman, and of an emotional connection with your rifle.

I took my tactical sling apart and remade it to a military-style sling that I could use in firing positions.

I studied the pictures and descriptions and practiced dry-firing in some of the shooting positions he layed out, using the sling to achieve a remarkable level of stability. This is something one can practice sitting on the floor in front of the TV in the evening. I hope to improve my stability in the open-legged sitting position, and have little doubt that I will succeed.

Even after only reading part of the book, I regarded my AR differently. I thought that I needed an older rifle with a wood stock in order for it to be a rifle I could connect with, but excused that as clinging to nostalgia. When I picked up my rifle to practice last night, I definitely felt differently about it. I should stop thinking about my rifle as an AR-15 (type), and start thinking about it as a unique rifle with qualities and requirements unique to any other rifle.

I'll continue to cultivate my appreciation for my rifle in practice and hope to impress myself the next time I head out to the desert.

4 comments:

Fletch said...

I found it amusing that the "tactical" served less function than a plain military one.

John R said...

He he;

I use the IDF version on my AR. Anything that depends upon parachute cord gets hi marks in my book.

defiant_infidel said...

Good job writing that, ET. Slings are very useful indeed.

NotClauswitz said...

Slinging-up is the first thing I learned in "Garand-school"! Got a Turner on order from Sinclair, the Creedmore one was too short and slippery - mostly I've been using the web-sling with good results.