Chicken Winging And Other Suggestions To Military Riflemen

The book was published in 1909, so maybe chicken winging was embraced back then?

This police officer from Marble Falls, TX must have studied a copy of the book as part of her training.

Since the detachable box magazine was not widely used back in 1909, I’m sure the tip on putting your magazine in backwards was picked up by the officer from another source. :lol:

Suggestions to Military Riflemen is available at Amazon, but unfortunately it appears to come with a generic cover.  Hopefully there is plenty of chicken wingin’ goodness inside to make up for it.


Comments

20 responses to “Chicken Winging And Other Suggestions To Military Riflemen”

  1. I live in Marble Falls, that image was 3 years ago. I like how the date on the right side is cropped out. Yes that officer is famous around here.

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      Hahha I bet she is famous! I saved that image when it first came out, and have been waiting for an opportunity to use it ever since :P Poor woman will never live that down.

  2. Eddieapoc Avatar

    Wow that’s classic!

  3. How the hell is the magazine even staying in?

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      I tried, and I was able to get it to stay by rocking it in and pushing fairly hard. It seems like it would fall out easy though. :P

    2. While the chicken winging takes front and center stage, my eyes spy the magazine backwards?

      1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
        Admin (Mike)

        A Backward magazine will trump a chicken wing any day of the week!

  4. It says “courtesy photo” …. does that mean it was stage for the photographer???

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      You see that a lot of places. I’m pretty sure that just means someone unnamed gave them the picture, rather then a pro photographer taking it, or having to buy a stock image for the article.

  5. I think that cover image was chosen to suggest that military riflemen truly needed these suggestions in 1909. As in, look how bad our state of affairs is…Col. Whelen is here to help. I can’t imagine the chicken wing was ever a best practice.

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      According to page 36 of the book (and the picture on page 37) “The right elbow must be held high enough to insure that the entire butt-plate from toe to heel rests against the shoulder” Referring to the “Standing Position, Full-Arm Extension” ( Page 43 of the pdf – http://theriflemansmanual.com/Suggestions_to_military_riflemen.pdf )

  6. If anyone’s interested you can read “Suggestions to Military Riflemen” in its entirety for free on Google Books.

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      I couldn’t see a free version on google books. Maybe i’m not looking in the right place though. I did find this however which appears to be from google, just hosted on another site http://theriflemansmanual.com/Suggestions_to_military_riflemen.pdf

  7. Wow, I had to read that again and look hard to catch it. That’s some good training, lol. I’ve seen upside down a few times, that’s the first backwards. Anybody photoshop that into a Brady poster yet, “the only proper way to load” type of thing yet?

  8. Jeff Cooper recommends a chicken wing in his book The Art of the Rifle when shooting from a standing position. Kind of surprised me.

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      Jeff Cooper advocated the chicken wing?! Damn…

      1. Jeremy Avatar

        That is how they taught it at the Appleseed clinic, it does help when standing. It does look a little goofy though.

  9. Phaedrus Avatar
    Phaedrus

    I have been on a Mail Call binge on Hulu and noticed that Gunny Lee Ermy uses the chicken wing stance as well.

    1. Admin (Mike) Avatar
      Admin (Mike)

      Yea he’s done a few different stances and holds I am not familiar with. I assume he knows what hes doing though.

  10. Who cares if the date is cropped out? What difference does that make? Pathetic police force, I don’t care how untrained or new a cop is, that isn’t acceptable.