When utilizing a blunt &/or bladed weapon in a combat situation, a big deal is the
understanding on how & when to employ them. But you must understand that YOU
HAVE TO GET YOUR FIREARMS INTO THE FIGHT! A couple of possible situations
where you might want to employ a blunt or bladed weapon into the fight would be:
- When in a close quarters battle, and all your firearms has either failed or you
simply ran out of ammo (in this situation, possibly your rifle &/or pistol can
be used as a blunt object, to muzzle strike, pistol whip, etc..)
- If you have to go to a meeting within a non-permissive environment (or semi-
permissive) and you are told to not bring any weapons (or you have them
taken away by the security guards). You will have to do a quick scan of your
surroundings as you are approaching the meeting area, as well as inside the
meeting area, for weapons &/or possible improvised weapons that can be
used (ie; a pen, a broom, a mop, water boiling on the stove, pots, pans, eating
utensils, extension cord, glass bottle that you can break, etc…)
Whatever the situation is, it’s a good thing having the ability (& skills) to employ anything, &/or everything, you can utilize in a combat situation, to keep you
in the fight. MISSION ACCOMPLISHMENT &/or SURVIVAL, is vital!
A lot of the techniques used with a “baton-like” weapon, can generally be
transferred over into techniques with a bladed weapon. The most common
technique that someone with no skill using a baton, is generally holding it like a
baseball bat and swing away. I am not saying that is a bad thing, you may get lucky
and hit a ‘Home Run’. But if you have some training with using a baton or a knife,
you will feel more comfortable to allow your other hand to be free to grab, push,
pull, &/or whatever is necessary to get the job done. I would often carry a
lightweight mini collapsible baton on my kit, as well as a fixed blade (and a folding a
blade in my cargo pocket). It was small & lightweight, so it was out of the way and
didn’t really add anymore weight to the kit I wore in combat. When I needed it, it
was easily accessible for possible nonlethal means but was readily available to do a
lot of damage &/or destroy whatever or whomever I please. With a blunt object,
you can strike just about anywhere on the body, and notice that when striking
certain areas you will get a better outcome.

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Thanks for watching. Strength & Honor, TR.

This week Rob shows us a great drill for practicing the manipulation of your rifle around a barrier, which may be a door frame or another person in front of you.

    We are not talking about switching shoulders from strong-side to weak-side, as you would not do that while just breaking the threshold into a new room. Rather, we reserve switching shoulders for when you need to shoot around the off-side of a barrier. This allows the shooter to keep the majority of his body behind cover. This is a valuable technique, and we will be covering it in another video.

   Again, in this video, we are just showing a great drill for practicing the manipulation of your rifle around a barrier. Most people on the flat range only practice “Up Drills” from the “Low Ready” position, but once they go into the shoot house many of them are running “High Ready” position.  You need to practice both.

   So, watch the video a couple of times, and see how smooth Rob is using all three techniques (muzzle down, muzzle up, muzzle back). Then, go out to the range and run the drills yourself. The goal is to use the technique that is the fastest for each situation. While “muzzle back” might be faster on most drills, you would flag your buddy in front of you. “High Ready” may seem slower to get that good cheek weld, but it allows better position for non-lethal strikes. All have strong & weak points. So, you need to master all three techniques.

    Once you have all three techniques down, try running it against the Pro-Timer. Identify which technique is the fastest for you. Remember accuracy still counts.

    Thanks for watching. Strength & Honor, TR.

This week at Tactical Rifleman we had the opportunity to spend some time with our friend David Ives from Nemesis Arms, and his very impressive creation, the Valkyrie ambidextrous precision rifle.  You can find them online at nemesisarms.com You may have seen a glimpse of the Valkyrie in a few popular movies and television shows such as; The Bourne Legacy, Person of Interest, and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, just to name a few.   The Valkyrie is also currently serving with several U.S. and Allied SOF forces on the frontlines around the globe.
As the Chief Engineer, President and Owner of Nemesis Arms, David described to us, how he set out to create and engineer the first ever purpose-built fully ambidextrous, multi-caliber, take down precision rifle system.  David told us he achieved his primary design goal by engineering and machining the Valkyrie receivers; in house at his facility in Park City Kentucky, to accept both a right and left hand bolt.  When the Tactical Rifleman team got behind the rifle we found that the bolt exchange was achieved extremely rapidly and required absolutely no tools!  You simply depress a single bolt release detent button, remove one bolt and swap if for the other. In addition, all of the fire controls and magazine release are designed around the receiver center-line so they can be manipulated with either hand from both sides of the weapon system.  The ingenious tool-less design is carried throughout the weapons system as you can see in the video.
The ambidextrous, multi-caliber, take down conceal-ability, and portability of this type of weapons system is very attractive to SOF forces; because for them this means less cost for the units, both in procurement and employment. It reduces the cost of purchasing and shipping both left and right handed precision rifles to deployed units.  To the trained operator these features allow the Valkyrie to be employed in a multitude of different mission parameters, in addition the ambidextrous design provides the operator the flexibility to achieve a more covered and/or concealed firing position during the mission.   This can directly translate into the operator's increased survivability and mission success!  The multi-caliber options of the Valkyrie allow it to be tailored to specific mission requirements.
The Valkyrie's proprietary return-to-zero, tool-less take down chassis technology and 11 pound overall weight showcases its conceal-ability, portability, and versatility.  Throughout the course of the day at the T1G facility the Tactical Rifleman team assembled and disassembled the Valkyrie at least six times and the weapon returned to zero every time and continuously delivered a high degree of accuracy!
If you have the opportunity to get behind and shoot a Valkyrie we highly recommend it!
If you have questions or comments please let us know or contact Nemesis Arms directly.  You can find them online at nemesisarms.com

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Again thanks for watching! Strength & Honor, K