Proper Wear of Armor (with anatomical diagrams)

[uwe1]

RE: buttstock placement...you will find that it is MUCH easier to get your buttstock on your shoulder and off your plate with "shooter cut" plates. I tend to cant my rifle and follow the outline at the corner of the plate to get a good lock-up with my buttstock, but I can shoot with my buttstock on the plate if I wanted to due to the low profile that the plates/carrier provide.

Is it more advisable to shoot with the rifle canted, following the cut of the plate, or is it better to shoot with the buttstock on the plate?

With my stance, bladed a bit more squared to the target than 45 degrees, putting the buttstock on the plate might cause it to slip off under recoil.

Anyone else other than Ironman8, feel free to weigh in.

[JSantoro]

If squared up, the problem isn't so much whether or not the stock is in a "shoulder pocket," which is tatamount to myth to me to begin with, but that if you keep the stock to your shoulder, you have to crane your head sideways to get behind the sights. Throws off all sorts of crap, or at least forces you to try and compensate for that in ways that start affecting everything below the neck, as well.

Hence, if squared, likely better to bring the stock more toward your center, so you can tuck your chin like normal and bring the sights up into your view as is desirable.

If bladed, stop worrying about getting the stock off your shoulder, because you're angling the weapon "across" your body in such a way that you don't need to crane yout neck as much as bladed just by nature of the physiology. Bringing it more to center isn't likely to do anything for you in the absence of a bolster (which I'm not a fan of, either). If one insists on blading to that degree while wearing plate, you may just have to reconcile yourself to getting a good shrug going with your weapon-side shoulder so you have something to put the stock on.

[Ironman8]

Is it more advisable to shoot with the rifle canted, following the cut of the plate, or is it better to shoot with the buttstock on the plate?

With my stance, bladed a bit more squared to the target than 45 degrees, putting the buttstock on the plate might cause it to slip off under recoil.

Anyone else other than Ironman8, feel free to weigh in.

I said that as just an illustration of why it is preferable to get shooters cut plates. There are alot of guys who like the buttstock on the plate. That "technique" was shown to me by a SWAT guy, and I just ran with it because it felt good to me. You'll have to work with it to figure out what works for you.

I was finding that under recoil, the rifle would slip (just enough to be annoying) if I had it on the plat due to the fact that I am slightly bladed when I shoot. With this "technique", the rifle "felt" more stable, grabbed enough of my shoulder, and was only canted *maybe* 15 degrees, so it didn't throw things off enough to make a difference to me. The stability outweighed the slight cant, if you will. Maybe if I was perfectly square to the target, things would be different...

[uwe1]

If squared up, the problem isn't so much whether or not the stock is in a "shoulder pocket," which is tatamount to myth to me to begin with, but that if you keep the stock to your shoulder, you have to crane your head sideways to get behind the sights. Throws off all sorts of crap, or at least forces you to try and compensate for that in ways that start affecting everything below the neck, as well.

Hence, if squared, likely better to bring the stock more toward your center, so you can tuck your chin like normal and bring the sights up into your view as is desirable.

If bladed, stop worrying about getting the stock off your shoulder, because you're angling the weapon "across" your body in such a way that you don't need to crane yout neck as much as bladed just by nature of the physiology. Bringing it more to center isn't likely to do anything for you in the absence of a bolster (which I'm not a fan of, either). If one insists on blading to that degree while wearing plate, you may just have to reconcile yourself to getting a good shrug going with your weapon-side shoulder so you have something to put the stock on.

If I completely square up, my short ass arms (5'7") can't get as far out on the handguards. One rifle has the DD QD endplate as the sling attachment and an MOE stock. This makes it nearly impossible to collapse the stock all the way down which would be most comfortable for me shooting fully squared. I am stuck with leaving it one notch out, but that's ok, because I don't believe my body size favors me shooting fully squared.

The first day I got the plates set up in the carrier and tried to practice, I ended up with a neck cramp and sore neck muscles the next day making me come to the conclusion that I had to get things figured out or I'd never shoot with the plates on due to lack of proper knowledge on how to get adjusted.

My carbine training has all taken place without a plate sitting on my chest and the stance I prefer most is bladed about 30-35 degrees, with the stock position centered on my chest between the nipple and sternum, or sometimes just above the nipple. The stock is two clicks out from fully collapsed.

With the plate on, and adopting the same stance, I'm left with positioning the buttstock on the plate, which seems to keep slipping when I'm practicing dry fire at home. I've also considered blading less, but the more squared up I get the less natural things feel.

I had already tried to do what Ironman8 suggested and found it to more comfortable as an alternative, but was concerned about practicing to shoot two different ways and developing some weird muscle memory. I didn't think the 15-20 degree cant was going to affect anything much, but that was also a point of consideration.

I said that as just an illustration of why it is preferable to get shooters cut plates. There are alot of guys who like the buttstock on the plate. That "technique" was shown to me by a SWAT guy, and I just ran with it because it felt good to me. You'll have to work with it to figure out what works for you.

I was finding that under recoil, the rifle would slip (just enough to be annoying) if I had it on the plat due to the fact that I am slightly bladed when I shoot. With this "technique", the rifle "felt" more stable, grabbed enough of my shoulder, and was only canted *maybe* 15 degrees, so it didn't throw things off enough to make a difference to me. The stability outweighed the slight cant, if you will. Maybe if I was perfectly square to the target, things would be different...

[Ironman8]

If I completely square up, my short ass arms (5'7") can't get as far out on the handguards. One rifle has the DD QD endplate as the sling attachment and an MOE stock. This makes it nearly impossible to collapse the stock all the way down which would be most comfortable for me shooting fully squared. I am stuck with leaving it one notch out, but that's ok, because I don't believe my body size favors me shooting fully squared.

The first day I got the plates set up in the carrier and tried to practice, I ended up with a neck cramp and sore neck muscles the next day making me come to the conclusion that I had to get things figured out or I'd never shoot with the plates on due to lack of proper knowledge on how to get adjusted.

My carbine training has all taken place without a plate sitting on my chest and the stance I prefer most is bladed about 30-35 degrees, with the stock position centered on my chest between the nipple and sternum, or sometimes just above the nipple. The stock is two clicks out from fully collapsed.

With the plate on, and adopting the same stance, I'm left with positioning the buttstock on the plate, which seems to keep slipping when I'm practicing dry fire at home. I've also considered blading less, but the more squared up I get the less natural things feel.

I had already tried to do what Ironman8 suggested and found it to more comfortable as an alternative, but was concerned about practicing to shoot two different ways and developing some weird muscle memory. I didn't think the 15-20 degree cant was going to affect anything much, but that was also a point of consideration.

Haha I'm 5'8 and being bulky doesn't help matters much either lol...I also shoot one notch out. Although I don't seem to blade off nearly as much as it sounds like you do. Stock placement without plates is probably right above/on the nipple...with plates its about an inch further toward the shoulder. I don't find it to be awkward or so different between the two that it throws me off...but I guess you do have to practice with it.

[variablebinary]

Without getting too far into the weeds, someone summarized plate size and placement very simply.

Wear the largest plate you can until your ability to function is impaired. The more likely you are to get shot at or take frag, or even a shotgun blast, the more coverage you'll tend to want.

I could sport a medium plate, but wear the large instead to cover more of my spine and organs (vital and otherwise). The ultimate goal being, if there is projectile flying in my direction, the odds of it hitting plate is greater if my plate is a little larger.

[trinydex]

what's the name of that stock pocket thing that i've seen. it's like a polymer scoop thing that is on the shoulder of some plate carrier system.

[JSantoro]

Any item that's specifically designed to trap a stock on an armor vest/PC is often called a "bolster," though many variants just have some sort of supplementary high-friction cloth/material added to the area that a stock rests.

[trinydex]

So ive seen a polymer bolster device, i dont know what its called. It may be part of a specific plate carrier. It looks like a plastic saddle that is on the should strap of the plate carrier. Any ideas?

[Kentucky Cop]

http://www.tyrtactical.com/products/...dyne-or-cerco/

I have to admit that I am not up on the plate game like I should be. This thread is very useful. Does anyone know what kind of plates the PICO takes. The carrier is $600 but I am curious on how much more for plates. Again, sorry for the rookie question.

KC