Among the various rifle shooting positions, the four most common positions are standing, kneeling, sitting, and lastly prone which is what we’ll be talking about today. Rifle slings and shooting rests are all critical parts to supporting your rifle and stabilizing your shots. Unlike emotionally absent parents, in most instances you can always count on one thing to be there to support you, the ground. So get close to it and let it steady you when you need it the most.

What is Prone Position Shooting Used For?

Any long range precision shooting class will teach you that prone position shooting offers the most stability out of the four positions as the prone position holds the most points of contact to a stable surface. This position also offers the shooter the lowest profile shape from their target. Without any precision shooting equipment save for one’s own body and rifle, shooters will be able to get the tightest grouping possible.

Proper prone position shooting combined with a good shooting rest and a rifle sling will take you far with minimal investment. The prone position helps improve your body’s oxygenation by allowing as much lung volume expansion as possible and facilitates a more evenly distributed pleural pressure gradient.

As you get in position, be sure to spot your target beforehand as the lower elevation can put you at a situational awareness disadvantage.

• Belly facing down on the ground
• Legs extended outwards and relaxed
• Keep feet pointed outwards and away from each other, not dug into the ground
• Connect elbow to the ground to stabilize the front of your body
• Keep elbow under rifle — not to the side of the rifle
• Tighten rifle sling around supporting arm (if you have one attached)
• Pull stock into shoulder
• Make sure your back is straight and perpendicular to shoulders
• Use shooting rest or supporting hand along with sling to stabilize the front of the gun

In regards to suggestions on rifle slings to use, read more on what makes the Best Rifle Slings. To those curious about the various types of shooting rests, read our previous blog on Best Shooting Rests for AR15 and feel free to check out our other articles.

Straight Leg Prone Position vs Cocked Leg Prone Position

To begin, the proper prone position starts with laying your belly down on the ground. A good prone position typically branches off into two different styles, the straight leg prone position and the cocked leg prone position. Most shooters set their legs positioned outwards in a letter ‘V’ shape to use a bigger surface area for better stability.

For our pear shaped shooters or those wearing a significant amount of hardware on their body this straight leg prone position may not be ideal as it can be difficult to breathe while having all of their weight on their torso. This problem can be mitigated by using a cocked leg prone position; by bending a leg and using it to lift the rest of the body off of the ground just slightly to support the weight.

Furthermore, the cocked leg prone position is also known as the prone position that shows off your hindquarters the best to your range bay neighbors. Should you be in a public setting, be wary of searching up the latter especially with your search engine’s safe search off.

What is Good Body Alignment?

To have decent body alignment in the prone position, you should be able to naturally return to the same sight picture after every shot with zero adjustment of the body. You can test yourself to see if you’ve achieved a decent prone body alignment by doing the following:

First, clear your rifle and ensure you have the magazine detached. Assume the proper prone position for shooting. Keep your finger off the trigger and set your safety selector to ‘safe.’With the bolt carrier open and pulled back (or removed), have a buddy push the rifle briefly against you to imitate the recoil of a shot. Remembering your sight picture prior to the rifle getting pushed back against you, close your eyes and open them to compare to what your sight picture was before. Generally speaking, if it’s the same picture then you have achieved a good body alignment. Otherwise, you’ll simply have to reposition your body until you can confidently maintain a consistent sight picture.

What is a Natural Point of Aim?

Practice this in conjunction with how you breathe rather than only how your body returns to position after being pushed by recoil. Begin by starting from the same prone position you were in. Remember your sight picture, then close your eyes to take a breath. Open your eyes and compare sight pictures just like you did before. A natural point of aim (NPOA) should be an aim unaffected by your natural breathing.

Obviously, if it looks different, then you’re not positioned to have a natural point of aim. This is also where your optic’s eye relief or simple things like a good cheek weld on your stock can become huge factors at play. Moving on, once you have your NPOA, you should be able to aim with the shifting of your hips as you rotate on your elbows supporting your body weight.

After you’ve achieved both good body alignment and a natural point of aim, you will find yourself able to make follow up shots effectively and consistently. Being accurate with multiple shots in successions is contingent upon being able to replicate that consistent posture whenever shooting prone.

Why Use A Shooting Mat?

Any shooter using the prone position is going to find themselves at the mercy of what is on the ground or immediately around it. You might get itchy, hot, soaked in sweat or might be poked by something like natural foliage. Undoubtedly, this can be an especially inconvenient problem for hunters or any shooters that plan on being in a position where they have to hold the same position for long durations of time. Inhospitable grounds are unpleasant but sometimes you just gotta get down.

To alleviate some of those issues, you can use a shooting mat instead. As far as precision shooting equipment goes, a heavily insulated PVC nylon shooting mat can be easily appreciated by all. PVC and similar polyester construction mats are water resistant which makes them suitable for wet grass and mud which doubles for easy cleaning with a hose. PVC mats also offer a nice gripping surface for your body’s points of contact against slipping from the potential incline you may be resting on or the recoil from your rifle.

Boyt Harness Max Ops Shooting Mat ($59.99)

Shooters will find the Max Ops design to be everything that a standard prone position shooting mat should be, thickly padded and waterproof with 27” x 85” of surface area. It wraps up neatly with nylon straps to be shouldered or carried as a backpack.

NcStar VISIM Roll Up Shooting Mat ($32.99)

As a more portable option there is also the affordable VISIM Roll Up that comes in a stowable 19.5" by 8.5" profile. When unfolded it provides a shooting mat space of 69" by 35" that is 0.30” thick, enough to be used also as an insulating padding between the cold unforgiving ground and a sleeping bag. If needed, its stowed position can be used as a firm pillow too. 

Why Elbow Pads?

Laying on hot asphalt or rocky terrain where prone position shooting comes at the expense of digging your elbows uncomfortably into the ground, things can grow quite uncomfortable if you don’t have the luxury of a bipod or a shooting mat. Ounces lead to pounds and pounds lead to pains. So for those who really have to pack light, a shooting mat may not be an option. Elbow pads are great for protecting your joints and the harsh impact of the ground in all prone position shooting circumstances while retaining mobility.

ALTA makes elbow pads specifically for prone position shooting with additional surface grip and traction, offered as the AltaFLEX-360 Tactical Elbow Pads with VIBRAM for $33.95. A long sleeved shirt can suffice in most instances involving shooting matches however, and certain shirts designed to be worn underneath plate carriers, such as Crye Precision G3 Combat Shirt, have pockets to be optionally inserted with elbow pads.

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