I experimented with different barrel lengths flowing through my house, practicing threshold clears and pie-ing, and getting my muzzle on my sector from different positions. Using different clearing techniques. Since there has been some discussion lately on stupid short barrels, I decided to make a thread on this.
I used one lower, for laziness sake: an A5 pistol with Tailhook, which is about the same LOP as a regular carbine lower, one click out. I also did it with a “Warsaw” stocked AK with 16” barrel to ensure that my thoughts translate to other guns. I used several uppers. 11.3” with suppressor, 12.3” with A2, 14” with A2, 14.5” P/W, 14.5” with suppressor. I’ve also done this in the past with a 16” AR, both with and without a suppressor, and a suppressed Mk18. I’ve also cleared mobile homes with a 16” gun plus suppressor. And with all of the above.
I explored these thoughts yesterday first in PT shorts and a T-shirt, then added a plate carrier, complete with all the crap that lives on it, including hydration pouch in the rear.
My home is fairly typical, in that it has fairly open areas, for approximately half its square footage, but the focus of this post is on the hallway with 3 rooms branching off it. One left, then one right, then another left, all corner fed, but different directions. And, I of course do it backwards, as well.
I did this many times, working different techniques of varying age and relevance. I’ve also done it many times in the past in several of my homes.
Well, what did I find? When I used the 12.3”, I was able to be very, very lazy with my technique. To the point that I didn’t even bother to try anything shorter. Even with body armor. If you can’t do CQB, on your own turf, with a 12.3” gun, quit hoarding, and lose some weight. Or move your picture frames above shoulder level. Even with the 14.5” suppressed and the 16” AK, I was able to work this structure effectively. With armor. I just had to be more disciplined with my technique. If you are in the habit of clearing other peoples’s homes, with armor, sometimes it gets a little claustrophobic, and gun length can matter more, which is why I have a unsuppressed 12.3”.
So, how can technique allow me to use a more ballistically effective barrel length? I thought the cool kids use a 8” BLK? Whaddaya mean a 16” gun works fine?
Many of us are still using the same techniques we were taught in basic. Muzzle pointed at the floor, then it comes up to your first “point of domination” as you move into, and through, the “fatal funnel”. This technique works really well to prevent minimally trained 11b’s from shooting each other. It is not wrong, and like many techniques, it is a “tool” that we should all have, and be prepared to use. But it is not the only tool. In pistol language, this use of the rifle is similar to “Sul”. The rifle has a very long feel to it with this technique.
Another method of trying to flow through a structure is using the low ready position. When done correctly, you will flag your muzzle well before you get into any room. It works, but you have to get your muzzle into the room before you can pie or threshold clear it. A shorter barrel can mitigate this, but not as much as you might hope. You also need to be cognizant of trim around doors. Body armor makes the gun feel longer, because you have to have more standoff from opposing walls. We have a tendency to run our muzzles into stuff with this technique, which trains us more toward that “sul” position in the last paragraph.
Remember the high ready we all saw in old school cop shows? The ones with the revolvers pointed at the ceiling prior to entering a room? Turns out, theres some validity to this ridiculous looking crap. Working a structure with a rifle, you can mitigate the negatives of a long gun this way. To do it, you put the buttstock in the area of your belt, and the muzzle at eye level. (Edit: I noticed myself in a mirror, and my muzzle is actually a bit above my eye when I do this, slightly above the top my head, which makes sense.) DON’T POINT YOUR WEAPON AT YOUR PARTNER’s DOME. Safety on and finger outside the trigger guard until you are ready to fire. These things are always important. As you cross the visual plane of the long wall, you SNAP the weapon horizontal and work your corners. An instructor recently told me that working with gravity is faster than working against it. But thats not really the whole story here. Whats happening is that we are rotating the weapon around its magwell, whereas coming up from the floor requires us to rotate the weapon around its buttplate. Additionally, in a team environment, your buddys’ shoulders disappear around a corner before their hips do. So, if you are the second+ man into the room, you can get your weapon horizontal more quickly, safely, going from ceiling to horizontal than from floor to horizontal. If you are working the room more slowly, you can bring your muzzle very close to horizontal, being mindful of trim or other wall garbage, and as soon as you are committed to the room, you snap into a firing position.
But what about the No 1 man, or the guy clearing his own house? Do you know the “compressed ready” pistol position? Well, there’s a rifle version of that. And its waaay more useful. Check this out. Place your rifle on the floor in a hallway, perpendicular to travel. Does it fit? If so, you can threshold clear 90% of most rooms without even entering or flagging your muzzle. Of, course, there will always be that one corner you have to actually step inside if you want to yell “clear”. But, this technique works well for that, also. What you do is, as you approach the danger area that is a door, you rotate your rifle toward your non-firing side and pull the buttstock up over your shoulder. For a right handed shooter, this means your ejection port is skyward. You lefties are used to figuring out the inverse. I can walk down a hallway nearly sideways, like this, and I don’t need a 8” gun to do so. As you cross that point of commitment, defined by the stupid trim your wife is worried about the color of, you press your weapon out, and SNAP it into a firing position. Into your first point of domination. The cool thing is, for threshold clearing short rooms, you can get A-zone hits all day, with the weapon still in the “compressed ready”, before you even press it out; try it. With this technique, your barrel stays horizontal, so it very fast. Rules about flagging your buddy still apply, of course. But as you intentionally clear a room, from the threshold, as soon as the doorway makes the space for it, you snap the weapon out. Then, if you choose to make entry, your weapon is already horizontal, buttstock in the pocket, and you are ready to launch lead.
But, we’ve only talked about corner fed rooms, what about center fed? Whaddabout the shed in my yard? The game does not change, except you gain more likelihood of getting smoked if you’re doing it solo. Hallways are ~35” and doors are ~28”. So coming into them, the same tricks apply for having your muzzle into your first corner as quickly as possible. These techniques let you work your corner more quickly, work to the other edge of your sector, while moving slowly, regardless if you are trying to threshold clear a corner fed, then peek to the last corner, or going dynamic on a center fed, with a fire team.
Try working the high ready and compressed ready with your rifle. You might be pleasantly surprised by how much barrel you can swing, safely and quickly. Go on; try it.
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Originally Posted by diving dave
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