PRO TIPS with MICHAEL VOIGT - LESSON 4 Rifle Shooting Positions The courses of fire in USPSA rifle shooting involve various obstacles to force the shooter to different shooting positions.  Practicing these positions ahead of time will help you get on target quicker with better target scores.  Let’s first talk about the standing position.  The standing position is your fastest to get on target, but also your least stable.  When I’m moving the gun to the target I need to transfer weight forward to help absorb the recoil.  When transitioning between targets I want to turn low at the ankles and knees keeping my upper body stable, that will keep me on target.  Follow along these points while I take a few shots.     The next position we want to discuss is kneeling with a barricade.  There’s several key points to this position. The heel of the left hand is on the barricade, the left thumb and forefinger grasp the rifle’s forend.  The left knee and the left heel support my body when the right elbow and the right knee come together to support the rifle with my right heel solidly against the ground.  Now when I add weight into the rifle, the whole position becomes very steady.  Pay attention to these points while I take a few shots.  Let’s discuss the Prone position next.  On my Open Division rifle I’ve added a bi-pod, but one thing you can see is that I have tied the legs together.  This allows me to, in one motion, deploy both legs.  Let’s walk through the sequence as I get into this Prone position.  I start on the target like always.  The bi-pod’s deployed  while the left hand goes down. The right hand lets the rifle sit on the ground.  The left hand grabs the bi-pod while the shoulder comes in behind the gun.  Now I can pull the bi-pod from target to target to transition.  Watch these points while I get into it at real speed.  The bi-pod is only allowed in the Open Division, so if I am shooting it in the Limited Division, we’re going to reconfigure the gun a little bit for prone shooting.  The first change I am going to make is to the magazine. We have a base pad on here which is rounded on the bottom allowing for small elevation changes.  We’ll put that inside the gun.  The next change I have made is called a Readymag, this is a spare magazine holder allowing quick access to a second magazine, but, the big advantage in Prone is that it holds the 2 magazines parallel to each other. This wider base of two magazines creates more stability while we’re in that position.  The rest of the position is very similar to how we did it with the bi-pod.  Practice these positions and I’ll see you at the range.     CLICK HERE FOR PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION

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