At a recent LE patrol rifle qualification, I stood behind the line, and observed something I guess I’ve known for a while now. The basic patrol officer hangs way too much crap on their patrol rifles, and most of the time, all this stuff they hang on it, doesn’t equate to better accuracy down range.
Hear what I am saying prior to sharpening those pitchforks, and lighting the torches.
Patrol is the backbone of policing in the United States. They are the true first responders. No call is the same, no situation is the same. They have to be prepared for just about everything at any time. I get that. And things such as a good sling, a white light, and a QUALITY Red Dot sight are helpful.
But the trend in patrol these days is gear driven. We over look that keeping it simple, is often better, and we can make the same shots in a patrol setting with a much lighter, simpler gun.
The older I get, the less I appreciate iron sights. In weighing out the carrying handle, versus an Aimpoint H1 in a Larue mount shows virtually the same weight. The T1/H1 is simple, rugged and effective. Some of the “optics” I witnessed come through recently by manufacturers I’ve never heard of, and some that offer stuff to hunt turkey’s with, don’t fit that billet to scale.
Whichever light the patrol officer wants to use really isn’t an issue as long as it too is reliable and bright. It is the insistence in adding full length quad rails to mount said light that I take issue with. For most people all of that rail space is a waste. It is a heavy waste at that. I think a better solution would be something similar to the Midwest Industries style front sight tower light attachment, and a SureFire X300 Ultra.
Some patrol guys are truly locked on. They buy good gear. They train on their own. They put the honest effort into trial and error. They delve into experimenting with things such a muzzle devices to see what helps their shooting at speed. They aren’t really the scope of this article, due to the fact that they have found most of this out already, and stripped their rifle down to make it more efficient.
It is the patrol officer that shows up with a rifle he has set up to assist SEAL Team 29, with an optic that costs $29.
K.I.S.S
That isn’t just LEO tho. I see it at the range all the time.
So much gadget on it, carbine weigh 10 friggin’ pound!
I was there too, and Im now keeping mine as simple as I can.
Aim point, smallest/brightest light, and sling.
That’s pretty much it
This is why I really like MSW blog more than any other. Because they deliver honest, practical truth. Case in point is this post, too many people are putting junk are their carbines that they either A. dont know how to employ or B. dont even use.
Im seeing range jockeys with IR designators on their AR’s, who dont even own a set of NODs but then tell you that EOTechs, Aimpoints and ACOGs are overpriced optics, hence why they “run” a chinese made cheaper product…..the logic is mind boggling.
I blame video games, and the media. Everyone wants to be an “operator” now, everyone wants too look all “cool guy” from gear, to attachments they put on their carbines. Hopefully thanks to true professionals, like the writers of MSW, this trend will end and people will get back to real training and practical employment of firearms, whether they are LEOs, Mils or Civies.
Seal Team 29 🙂 Priceless.
Simple is good. Not too simple, though.
A quality RDS, sling, and white light are must haves. A BCM/VLTOR charging handle is a worthwhile addition.
Methinks that many? most? of these folks who bolt the entire brownells catalog onto their carbine would not do so if they actually used the darn thing, instead of merely firing 50 rounds through it from a bench, 3 times a year, and whose post counts in errornet forums exceed the number of rounds fired in actual training by a factor of 100.
Ok, that was awesome. Internet commando life summed up perfectly! But my post count is high so that means you must listen to me!!!!
I couldn’t agree more. Great article. With the vast majority of officers not being “gun guys” it’s hard enough to teach the basics and keep them up to speed without adding more gear to the formula.
Pretty much must haves are a light and sling. A red dot is nice too but if someone can get solid hits from likely distances in most shooting positions in all lighting with irons alone I am okay with it. Lasers? Meh. Foregrips? If you can show me it actually helps you and isn’t something you bolted on because “everyone is doing it.” Even with a sling it should be a good one but it doesn’t have to be the latest and greatest. Lights should be powerful enough to throw out to the distances you are likely to need one yet not blind you inside tight spots if you are taking your rifle there.
The second most valuable addition to any rifle is good training aimed at the level you are going to be performing. That means while advanced rifle skills are nice, there is no point in learning “Brokeback prone” if you are never going to use it because you have a half a dozen other variations of prone that you can do much better.
The most valuable addition to your rifle would be training ammunition. Even if you just practice the basics until they are second nature you have done far more good than training on things you will never use. I personally think if you are thinking about buying some gadget for your rifle you should first ask yourself if your money would be better spent on ammo.
Meaning before you buy the latest muzzle device to replace the A2 on your rifle ask yourself “How much training can I do with the $75 I am paying for this thing?”
I’m curious if you have ever been in a gunfight? Cause saying that at this point that a quality optic isn’t necessary on a fighting rifle is insane. Inside a room, you could probably make due, but at urban range engagements and beyond, its a necessity. Having to line up shots with irons is’t easy even on the static range when shooting quick, much less when shots are going both ways.
Tools do not make one a mechanic. Understanding the applications for the tools and using them appropriately, does. Get hat what you need, use what you have and become proficient with them.
One thing that drives me crazy is officers who have no idea how to run their firearm. I went shooting with a friend who is a swat officer for a local PD who issues HK UMP 45s to their swat personnel and I was shocked to see that he had a $30 red dot sight on it. What’s worse is that it was WAY off zero. When we were shooting it at first it literally was shooting about a foot to the left. I ended up giving up on using the red dot and luckily he had his BUIS zeroed in correctly. If he had a call where he actually had to take a shot he would have missed the target if it was farther than ten yards away. It really worried me about the state of our police officer’s training.
I hate it when cops have way too much crap on their gun, but for goodness’ sakes put a good optic on it. Just like you said.
“Hear what I am saying prior to sharpening those pitchforks, and lighting the torches.”
What is the most tactical model of torch and pitchfork you recommend for mounting onto an AR-15 carbine?
1. Is that a lefty AR, or is the image flipped?
2. Thats a tacticool grip, so you argument is invalid.
Image is flipped, whoops. You can see the receiver markings are backwards.
The gun in the photo is a left hand gun or the negative was backwards. LOL! Bill the kid was never left handed, The negative was backwards.
Question –
What is all this “crap” hanging off of rifles? Nowadays a light, sling, laser, RDS, VFG are considered essential for a fighting rifle. Past that, there’s not much left to bolt to it.
Don’t get me wrong, I see and understand the need for all of the above and use them on my weapons (sans the VFG), but what I’m asking is what else are ya’ll seeing being used?
Most people won’t need/use the laser, or do enough training with it to make it worthwhile. The main comment is towards quadrails or keymods with all these accessories on a police patrol rifle (and I’ll add an ALG/ACT trigger because they are better than stock and practical in price). We can all probably agree that the light, sling, and quality red dot/holo are practical and a good thing. You don’t need $800 carbon fiber hand guards for this though on a police patrol rifle.
Let’s also be honest that many units aren’t even spending enough time on pistol training, let alone rifle training to make a boutique rifle remotely useful.
^ *would like to edit my comment to place the Trigger comment in the list of stuff that is useful. Sorry about that, clicked the wrong spot to add the thought.
I take exception to the wisdom of mounting a light to the front sight tower. Reason – There will be an extreme POI shift with the light on and off the front sight tower mount. The same holds true for the barrel mounts out there, if anybody still makes them. Pat Rogers covered this problem quite well in a late nineties issue of “The Tactical Rifle”, now out of circulation.