22 Apr 16
AR Monopod
When shooting ARs, and most other rifles that accept AR magazines, from the prone position, a thirty-round magazine can be used as a monpod for increased stability. It is just a matter of lowering your body until the bottom of the magazines meets the deck.
This technique enables most shooters to achieve a high level of stability, a level unobtainable via any other posture.
Some will argue that allowing the magazine to thus touch the deck will throw the next shot off target, but we’ve made good use of this technique for some time now, and that contention has demonstrated itself to be untrue, at least at the ranges where we commonly shoot.
I think this technique represents a valuable addition to the Operator’s toolbox, but it will not work with a twenty-round magazine, nor a forty-round magazine. The former is too short, and the latter too long.
For this, and other reasons, I regard thirty-round magazines to represent the best option for ARs
We’ve conducted Urban Rifle Courses in NJ and other states where non-police possession of thirty-round magazines is restricted. Fortunately, there are always sufficient “loaners” about so that all students can experience the above technique.
Precision placement of high-velocity projectiles into targets at ranges beyond what is normally considered effective for pistols is the reason we keep our military rifles close at hand. “Accuracy” is, of course, a relative term, but competent Operators, using their personal rifles, can be extremely effective at any range where a legitimate threat can be perceived and identified.
Maintaining a high hit-probability with every shot launched, regardless of range, is the mark of a competent Operator. Accomplished Operators know or to use sights, run triggers, and decisively employ positioning and every other available advantage to maximize opportunity for victory.
That is what separates the live professional from the dead amateur!
“Only a fool wants war, but once war starts, it cannot be fought half-heartedly. It cannot be fought with regret, but must be waged with savage joy!”
Bernard Cornwell
/John