There’s not much that will create an argument more than asking “What is the best firing stance and grip?” in a forum of AR shooters. While everyone has an opinion and many feel theirs is the only one that counts. I’ll give you my quick answer – “The one that you are comfortable with and allows rounds to be sent down range – accurately.”
Pretty simple.
Several years ago I heard of this method competition shooters were using to control recoil and shoot very accurately – called the “C-Clamp”. I tried and hated it. It felt so uncomfortable. I preferred to hold the magazine well, however, I just could not control recoil well and get multiple rounds on target quickly. This is a popular way of holding a gun while playing paintball. I had signed up for a defensive carbine and pistol course from Wolf-Fire Firearms Training and decided to try the C-Clamp again. I used it throughout the class and it really grew on me. This is now the primary method I use for shooting the AR and have done so for years.
The video below gives some perspective on the “thumb over bore” and explains my position on it well. I agree with this guy 100%.
this may be just the ticket for newbies just getting started out. if you have had a rifle or shotgun in your hand for 60 yrs like me and calluses on your shoulders from shooting, stay with what works for you.
hitting a target from a snap shot is the key. eye-hand coordination and muscle memory is paramount.
when i was 16 i took a mt lion that was over head of me in a cottonwood tree by a spring, i didn’t think about it , i just raised my 30.30 and fired. i took him under his jaw and it came out of the top of his head. he dropped at my feet. i truly hated to kill him but it was him or me.
P.S. as i have become older i have given up hunting. i just don’t want to kill anything anymore. i still shoot alot for fun and money, but i hunt with a camera now, and always armed!! ya know JIC
Same as geezer. I’ve hunted since I was 12 years old. In my mid 60s I stopped. I just don’t want to kill anything anymore.
Technically any grip on the forend of a rifle is a C clamp grip. It just means your hand looks like the letter “C”. What we began to see was an over exaggeration with the support elbow getting higher and higher as the grip migrated over the top of the rifle. I us both grips you referenced depending on the objective. Some like the mag well for CQB and the extended C clamp grip for longer distance shooting. Some claim the mag well grip can lead to unintentional pressure on the magazine leading to fail to feeds. I have never experienced that with Magpuls, but have heard of it with GI mags. So, the bottom line is to fine what works for your personal body mechanics and go with it.
I actually posted my above comment before watching the video. However, there was nothing in the video that I disagreed with!!!
for youngins and newcomers to the art of marksmanship. all are good if you are comfortable with it but i can tell you that a thumb over will spoil your sight picture with a shotgun or something with iron sights, it blocks your sights.
you will not hit many clays or birds with it and the old timers in the field or at the ranges will laugh at you and walk away. but as i have said, do what works for you. i am only trying to pass on my 60 yrs of experiance on this subject. before i got my first real rifle at 8, an old 514 remington. i had my Daisy pump action BB gun in my hands at 5yrs old every day. remember the yellow and black tubes of BBs that were sold in every store? those were good times. i could see the BBs come out the end of the barrel and i learned windage and elevation from that : ) HAHA
best of luck all,,, and there is absolutly no subsitute for practice.
geezer,
I think you are correct on mastering the fundamentals first. I also agree you would not clay shoot or deer hunt using CQB tactics and vice versa. The objective is to a have big toolbox of skills that will allow you to be successful whether it is clay or CQB or even three gun. We have to be adaptive to our workspace.
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