[natedog]

How accurate can you guys shoot from the hip? I've tried it at 25 yards against metal gongs, it's not so difficult once you get a feel for it. And with my shotgun I was able to hit a clay pidgeon in flight once. The key word there is once...

[TrapperReady]

Don't know. Never tried. Never plan to.

[cratz2]

Never tried it with a rifle. I used to shoot with a guy that could point/hip shoot with scary accuracy. I'm not talking 1" groups or anythign like that but he could draw and shoot on paper at 25 yards every single time. EVERY TIME! I tried it a bit but mostly went with aimed fire. I got on paper (8.5"x11") at 7 yards almost every time. At 15 yards, it was a bit better than 50/50 but I think I got on paper maybe 5 times out of 50 at 25 yards.

I'll have to try with a rifle some time.

[El Rojo]

That is a fun activity with the .22LR. I like to shoot at shotgun shells or other small objects from the hip from 10 yards and on out. I am surprisingly pretty good too. Or it just isn't that hard. One or the other.

[Hkmp5sd]

I can hit something 100% of the time while firing a rifle from the hip. Every once in a while, it is the target. Mostly, it is the ground or the backstop.

[cookhj]

shooting an M-60 or a M-249 SAW from the hip can be fairly accurate at moderate ranges. all you have to do is walk the tracers in. and it's a lot of fun. :evil:

[HSMITH]

I shoot shotguns and pistols from the hip quite a bit, have shot a 14/25 in skeet and a 12/25 at 16 yard trap. Man sized sillouettes at 25 yards with slugs are easy. Pistols are about 8" groups at 10 yards just as fast as the gun will cycle for a 1911, 4" for a 22lr. I can hit a man sized sillouette every time at 25 yards from the hip with a 1911 too. Rifles and hip shooting are strictly a full auto endeavor IMO, and yes an M60 can be shot effectively from the hip out to 400 yards, but not as well as it can be shot from the shoulder. Most other rifles do not hold enough ammo to be really effective past 75 yards or so full auto.

It is a desirable skill IMO, and TONS faster than any sort of aimed fire. Also keep in mind that it is a LOAD of fun.

[Ian]

I've done a bit of hip-shooting with a Ruger Single Six. I've read that some cowboy matches include a stage of hipshooting, so I decided to practice it a bit. The best technique I could find was to rest my elbows on my hips, hold the gun right in front of my navel, and aim with my body. Doing that, I was able to get the windage right easily, although elevation was tricky.

[DMK]

Just for kicks and to put gun grabber's pistol grip fear to the test, I set a 8x11 piece of paper about chest high at about 15 yards out. Using my Dragunov stocked SKS, I emptied a 20 round mag at a fairly brisk pace. There were 7 holes in the paper.

Yea, lesson learned. I'll use the sights from now on. Strangely, I do shoot from the hip much better with a pistol. Perhaps the practice thing has something to do with that.

[Art Eatman]

Practice is the key. Years back, a couple of us meddled around with fanning Ruger Blackhawks, hip-shooting. Got fairly good at it, but no Bob Mundens...

I was surprised at how easy it was to put quick bursts from a Thompson into an IPSC target, at around 15 yards. Hold the butt between elbow and ribs, and pop two or three at a time. We had some targets set up for an El Presidente, and it was fairly easy to hit three in each, and mostly centered.

:), Art

[ahadams]

I dunno, a l-o-n-g time ago I was taught/practiced a close assault drill with the M16A1 that involved bracing the stock of the rifle against the side of my hip with pressure from my arm... personally the bad guys would have had to be about 8 feet away to insure solid hits. Other than that, it's either aimed fire or something I was taught in a defensive pistol drill which is short range 'pointed fire' looking over the sights...again beyond 8 feet I wouldn't want to bet my life on it.

[Marshall]

With a laser projected sight it's fairly easy. :neener:

Seriously, with a lever rifle or shotgun I can do a decent job but, with a handgun the broadside of a barn would hit me first. I just haven't tried it, much less practiced.

[JGReed]

I did it with a shotgun a few times during Cowboy matches. Actually hit pretty well, but I shot a little different than others. Rather than bracing against my hip I held the gun loose and a bit in front of me. Felt very "point and pull."

Course recoil moved the gun more than if it was braced, so it was actually slower than a proper shoulder hold on multiple targets.

[PATH]

Never have shot from the hip. The ranges I belong to do not allow me to do so! I always shoulder my rifles for accuracy!

[444]

I fired a full 32 round mag from the hip today using a 9mm submachine gun fired at an 8" square steel plate at about 10 yards. I fired 3-4 round bursts and managed to hit the plate twice.

[AK103K]

I think your time would be better spent practicing shooting from "realistic" shooting positions. Once you start shooting groups that most shoot from the bench, your there. I think you'll find that the need for "hip shooting" wont be necessary as you will have ingrained the proper shooting tecniques into your muscle memory so that you will shoot properly, unconsciously with speed and precision. If your going to take the time to practice and learn something, why not do it right, instead of learning bad habits.

[Texas Gunman]

Two handed, I can average 2" groups at 25 yards, fast draw, I can draw my .44 with in a blink of the eye & hit mid chest target at 25 & 30 yards.

Been a member of the Texican Ranger for the past 5yrs, we have monthly shoots.


TG

[uglymofo]

I haven't had a reason to try it with a rifle, though I've practiced it seriously with a 1911 at 3 yards. I can keep it in the white rings fairly consistently at 7yd. Tried it a couple of times with a shotgun on the trap field just for kicks. I hit the bird harder than I do from the shoulder when I did hit it; the last time out of three tries.

About twenty years ago I actually hit a set of doubles with a 12ga Rem 1100; I was on the 6th set of birds as I recall. That's probably the luckiest shot I can think of that I've ever pulled off. I let my cop friend think it wasn't uncommon; (he's my friend--) it motivated him to practice more. Wish I'da bet money on that set of doubles.

[Coltdriver]

I used to go to a place in Iowa out in the country that had a 100 yard lane about 75 feet wide with a backstop with a full length burm on each side that was as tall as the back stop.

I used to take an AK 47 out there and shoot it from the hip. It was not difficult to see where the rounds were hitting the dirt and getting onto a paper plate was surprisingly easy.

It always took a few rounds to get to the plate, but once on it the plate was in trouble. An AK is excellent for this type of shooting.

For as much as they generally have junk status as rifles, it was an excellent object lesson in the firepower of the AK, not to mention lots of fun:D

I have never tried hip shooting with any other rifle simply for want of a safe place at which to try this kind of shooting.

[Mannlicher]

not vary. Thats why my guns all have stocks, and sights.

[4 eyed six shooter]

I too have not tried hip shooting a rifle, but am darn good with a pistol. What I do is focus intently on my target, almost will the bullet to it. It has worked well for me. :D

[Brad Johnson]

A good friend encouraged me to start practicing speed rock drills a couple of years ago. Until then, I had no idea just how pathetically slow I was at getting shots on target.

Fortunately, and to my amazement, I found that keeping all your shots on paper plate was pretty easy out to around 10 feet. Accuracy fell off dramatically after that, but it was still possible to keep 90% of your shots on target (not x-ring, just on target) out to around 25 feet. I'm guardedly confident that I could a serious dent in, if not a permanent end to, a Bad Guy's day if I'm ever forced into a "point-and-shoot" scenario (which I pray to God never happens).

Brad