Long-Range Off-Hand Rifle Tactics

By GunSpot

Posted in
#Skills

What if the situation arises where you need to shoot a target off-hand from a standing position over several hundred yards? Would you be able to do it? If it does, GunSpot has got you covered.

What if you have to take a long-range shot off-hand and do not have a rest or cannot go prone?

In the early 90s, Grant competed in the USMC shooting competitions and he used a couple techniques to be effective shooting off-hand over distance. We detail the stances and ways of holding a rifle to accomplish this in our video above.

While a rifle like the SAINT Victor B5 has the accuracy required, do you have the skills to employ it?

Stability, Not Strength

The idea behind these stances is to take as much muscle out of the equation as possible. Instead of muscle we will focus on balance, steadiness and using bone structure for support. This is really the opposite of trying to shoot in a tactical way.

“Tactical” shooting calls for strength and muscle to control recoil and stay on target.

In tactical use, you want your muscles readily available to be able to manage recoil effectively and get back on target. From a purely marksmanship standpoint, the management of recoil doesn’t matter. Instead, it matters that we hit the target on the first shot.

The key is using your bone structure for stability rather than muscle for strength.

There are a few steady ways to brace your rifle, and that will depend on what kind of rifle type you are using. For instance, the best way to hold the rifle would be different with an M1A versus a SAINT.

When shooting off-hand, only your feet interface with a solid surface.

Eye on the Target

Besides the stances used, there are two methods Grant has used to control the rifle’s movement. No matter what, there is going to be some natural movement when you’re aiming because we are humans with heartbeats and we have to inhale and exhale. Grant advocates trying to control that natural movement and steer it onto target.

Cupping the support hand under the magazine is one option for off-hand shooting.

The first method Grant uses is a controlled descent method, Meaning he aims above the target and controls the vertical drop of the aiming point. Then, when the reticle intersects with the target, you time your trigger squeeze for that moment.

The second method Grant uses is a figure eight. Instead of letting your random body movements steer the gun, put your reticle on a controlled path like a figure eight and when the middle of the eight intersects with the target, you squeeze the shot.

Grant shows in the video at top how to get effective long-range hits off-hand.

Conclusion

These are some proven methods Grant used during his competitive shooting years. Keep in mind that when making shots over distance, it helps tremendously to have match grade ammunition like we used. For this video we used Black Hills Match Grade .223 ammunition in the SAINT Victor B5. Try these out on the range and let us know which combination of methods work best for you.

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