Tactical Urban Rifle: Close Quarter Battle Tactics for Today's Urban Environment
Mr. Rayburn, the consummate, practical, realist, who rarely endorses such accoutrements such as gun sights, brings the firefight to the operator with an abundance of means, options, nuances and tips not commonly revealed in traditional law enforcement combat training. His lessons are simplicity personified. No matter the contortion of the so-called stance, Mike has found a method to perform, engage and develop a survival option, which takes a disadvantaged position to its safest and most effective dominance. Mr. Rayburn gets right to the point as he starts out making the practical distinction between a traditional sight and cheek weld versus a time driven urgency for speed and vision. His repeated mantra of keeping it simple and fast is a great reminder of how the time compression of the real world just screams out for Mike s counsel. To this point, Mike illustrates his practical confidence building method of checking the sights after assuming his various combat-ready techniques, so as to verify the non-sighted position. And it works. Mike is the ultimate tutor. His repeated quote: It s always better to have someone with you to act as a coach , made me feel like he s right here with me. He utilizes a simple paper plate on a target to get us to better define a point and shoot reaction while at the same time; Mike s search for outside the box rifle tactics knows no natural limit. The book reveals a clear reinforcement of the need for adaptation in many varied positions for those unpredictable encounters that simply cannot be scripted. In drawing the comparison to a military warrior s clearing of darkened trenches while employing various snaking and pivoting methods, I found it brings home Mike s guidance towards engaging the threat as quickly as possible, while conditioning the operator to respond as one, single recoil spring . Tactical Urban Rifle, by Mike Rayburn, is a must read, but moreover, a must practice recipe for taking the gunfight to the streets. I think one simple and defining quote of his invaluable work might be best stated: Where you point the gun is where the bullets go .  Lt. Al Baker NYPD/ESU (Retired)  Commanded Citywide Operations for ESU Inventor of the Baker Batshield President of Baker Batshields, Inc. --Lt. Al Baker - NYPD Emergency Services Unit (retired)