Author Topic: Hold that Forend!  (Read 1265 times)

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Online Elderberry

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Hold that Forend!
« on: June 08, 2018, 08:29:57 pm »
Terminal Ballistics Research

After many years of research and having had many clients take advantages of our services over the last several years, I have been fortunate enough to be in a position to observe which shooting techniques work and which techniques can be counterproductive to precision shooting.

Of the many factors that determine successful shooting habits, one the greatest, perhaps the greatest influence on accurate shooting, is associated with rifle forend control and forehand tension.  Many hunters, snipers and police marksmen have gradually shifted to the now fashionable crossed arm shooting position, one hand on the grip/ trigger, the other hand supporting the butt,  leaving the rifle forend resting free.   In my experience, this is not only detrimental to accurate shooting, but is the single greatest cause of my client’s failures in the field- assuming the rifle they are using is accurate.  My clients come from all backgrounds, civilian, military, police, farmers, laborers- there is no set stereotype.  Many are highly experienced riflemen. Unfortunately, the gradual trend towards the omission of forend control has produced undesirable results when prone shooting at extended ranges. Results range from minor errors through to complete misses.

For those of you who are experienced shooters and use the crossed arm prone shooting position, whether you are a hunter, sniper or police marksman, please be patient and read through this article in its entirety without judgement in order to understand its relevance.

Military trends

To gain an insight into the current trends in prone shooting (shooting from a bench or lying down), it is perhaps best if we go back to the beginning of the 20th century and study what came before. In this instance, I would like to begin with the shooting technique of the military marksmen of the early 1900’s, of which there are many great photos to reflect on.


USMC marksman with the 1903 Springfield rifle.

In the above photo, a USMC marksman poses for a photo in the prone shooting position. He is using his sling, double wrapped and the sling is set to optimum tension.  The marksman’s fore hand is supporting the forend of the 1903 Springfield rifle as far forwards as he can comfortably hold it without losing the stable triangle his elbows have formed.  The forehand will also be locked in place once he settles for his shot. In this example, the marksman is actually cycling the bolt and not fully locked into position. One last and important aspect to note is that the marksman does not use any rest/aid under the forend. Although he could have used his pack, marksmen around the world were trained to shoot off their elbows, demanding an incredibly high level of skill and discipline.

In early days, marksmen did not use a front rest for two reasons. The first is that of tactics, it was considered imperative that the soldier be able to advance forwards at a run, then drop to the prone position and be able to shoot quickly- as quickly as possible.  There was no time for making use of front rests in early military training doctrine. In practice however, soldiers did make use of rests wherever possible, mostly in the form of natural terrain such as high spots in the ground.  Sand bagged trench tops were also used, all of which greatly aided precision shooting as well as offering cover to the soldier.

More: https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/Hold+that+Forend.html