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Posted: 10/20/2006 6:01:42 PM EDT
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I am not sure if this is the right forum for this, i looked around and this one seemed best. Anyway, I have only recently become aware that soldiers/operators switch their rifles from shoulder to shoulder when taking corners in CQB...ie righty going around a rigt turn switches his rifle to his left shoulder to reveal as little of he body as possible. My questions:  1. Is this proper technique?2. What branches/forces teach this technique?3. Are there alternative techniques?Thanks!! |
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Not if you want to stay alive CQB requires reflex motor skills and switching shoulders to weak side will only slow you down or cause you to miss You don't do CQB alone either so switching shoulders would promote fragging and lower muzzle awarness Where did you see this technique? and There are always alternatives... |
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Many many many people have been referring to it in various threads regarding bullpups. SMGlee mentioned it too and i have high regards for his opinion. In fact, you are the first person i have seen who does not advocate this technique when mentioning it. Thanks for the reply, looking forward to more responses and info. Im kinda a rifle addict at the moment |
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Anybody who'd use this technique would be more of your special forces and training to work together in training with it. They'd also have to be just as proficient in acquisition and accuracy with their strong and weak side. Most people aren't and wouldn't do this by choice unless they wanted to get killed.  |
| I realize this is not common for regular guys like me to do, but i was just wondering if its effective. I do realize this is utilized with the help of a team. I would definitely prefer a weapon that is capable of this. I would not want my mission to be dictated by the limitations of my gun. But that's another subject. Im rambling. |
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Seperate from the moving CQB aspect we're talking here, practicing to be more proficient with your weakside is definitely a plus in your favor especially if your strong side gets immobilized in one way or another so you can fight on. Being able to switch from one side to the other fast and be just as effective will always be to your benefit as example if the cover your moving to or left fighting from is only giving you the option to shoot from or the better option at one moment to shoot from your weakside and/or switch between the two quickly for new targets. I aspire to be as good with both sides myself in pistol and rifle, but I'm far from there yet to look to switch fast on the move in a CQB role. There are lots of good rifles that work for ambidextrous use and it's just which one suits you and your needs the best. The new fashion of bullpups now are one choice that depends on the ejection alot, but your normal more forward receiver rifles like the AR or Sig 550's leave you good room to work with and than where the controls are and how they run come more into play. |
1. For CQB, as in room clearing? Not that I'm aware of. For coming out from behind cover during a gunfight in fairly close (<25 yards) quarters? Absolutely. 2. Not .mil/LEO, so I couldn't tell you. On the other hand, I know of at least two schools (Defensive Edge and Tactical Response) that teach mil/LEO/contractors to switch sides from behind cover as detailed above. 3. Again, I'm no door kicker, so I don't rightly know. Contrary to the second post in this thread, some folks (myself included) train weak-handed - both as an alternative for fighting from cover, and to gain speed and proficiency with both hands. It can not hurt to build muscle memory. BTW: This question might get a better response if asked here: Arfcom Tactical Rifle Training Forum |
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The alternative is called a "rollout". A good example of the technique is if you've seen the movie "Blackhawk down". One scene where one of the actors shoots one direction down the street from a doorway, right handed with his right side leaning out. He then shoots a couple rounds down the other direction of the street using a "rollout". Right-handed using the left side of the doorway. Yeah, it's a movie, but it's about the easiest way to visualize it and so many people here have it on DVD anyway. I know this technique is taught by the military. It was also brought up in GD long ago in some thread and there was a link to the USMC manual that showed it. I don't think I kept the link though. |
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Training the weak side is something thats is always recommended and seldomly done. The military doesn't do it (outside of SF) and VERY few LE districts train weakside (outside of SWAT) That being said I am a civilian now and don't have time to spend hours a day learning to shoot left handed, heck I don't even have a place to train CQB, On the other hand doing real world clearing, in Iraq & Bosnia I will say that CQB in a building you've never been in before is confusing, dangerous, and scary as hell and thats when you only think someone is in the building. When you know a hostile is in the building it becomes complete chaos once shots are fired. Most importantly it will last less than .5 seconds and you don't want your rifle on your weak side when the bad guy has his on the strong. Also many situations you will find that obsticles will have been thrown in your way, try clearing a hall way with a matress in the middle or a dresser behind the door, it gets worse juyst saying in a place where everything can go wrong in 1/2 a second why help it. |
You definitely have some good points. I had some room clearing training before heading to Iraq. It was run by special forces and a few private security types. They recommended weak side when pieing off a corner if you were going around a corner to your weak side, but in any other situation, staying with your strong side. Most room clearing is done with a relatively fast entry, so it normally wouldn't be an issue, but pieing off corners definitely does happen as well. To be perfectly honest, my unit ended up running convoys, so we never cleared any buildings for real, but that is the way we were trained if the situation ever came up. |
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Bond....if you want an AUG...get an AUG for Pete's sake. The draw back is that almost every single American carbine course is taught with guys that have limited to NO experience with the AUG and you'd be better served with an AR if you are new to assault rifles. |
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