Every Day Carry
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The tripod is the essential tool to allow the precise delivery of fire from any rifle or carbine weapon system. It eliminates dependence on natural features or expedient objects to provide a firm front rifle rest in any setting. Positions of superior stability that are both rapid to assume and can be maintained for long periods of time are achievable by application of correct principles. The supplemental use of common deployment gear to further reduce wobble allows accuracy nearing that of prone.
Three tripod-supported positions form the basis for a skillset with which to work at three common heights above prone: seated, kneeling, and standing. Common to all are four basic principles.
There are many details to perfecting each position and making them rapidly accessible on demand, but there are some common basics.
The Forge Tactical Overwatch Exercise is an economical and efficient way to build and maintain tripod proficiency. It can be performed at any available distance, but the preferred distance is 100 yards. The ten-shot course of fire begins standing wearing all gear. Progressing from low to high, two-shots are made from each position—prone, ground-seated tripod, kneeling tripod, standing tripod, then finally standing sling-supported.
A half of a 3×5” card or a 2-3” paster in the center of an IPSC cardboard is a good target for this exercise. At 100 yards, all tripod-supported shots must fall within a 3-inch radius, the two standing sling-supported shots within the C-Zone. For closer distances, the target zones become proportionately smaller. With practice and experience, at 100 yards, students with precision rifles often keep the eight tripod shots within a 2-inch radius. Non-magnified RDS carbine operators are often able to achieve levels of accuracy very close to the MOA accuracy potential of the weapon.
Achieving accuracy standards is the measure of success, followed by demonstrating smooth and efficient transitions between the different positions. Reasonable time standards can be added, but are of lesser importance in comparison to achieving best accuracy on demand from each position.
A dry run of the exercise followed by the ten-shot course of fire performed on a weekly basis maintains those skills at readiness. Text by Doc Spears & Illustration by Charles “Chip” Lasky
About the Author:
Doc Spears is a director and instructor at Forge Tactical. A former Special Forces 18D, he became a sniper in 1987 and has spent a lifetime teaching and perfecting precision riflecraft for all users. Forge Tactical specializes in procedural training and offers advanced courses in sniper overwatch and sniper/assaulter integration. They are the only courses of their kind for LE and DoD customers, conducted in cooperation with a city government to offer live-fire training in actual urban environments. Forge Tactical Night Precision Engagement teaches sniper skills in the no-light environment. Both were developed by Doc Spears and, like all Forge offerings, are taught with other Forge Tactical instructors from both military and LE special operations backgrounds.
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© 2025 UN12 Magazine
© 2025 UN12 Magazine
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