Soft jackets provide the least amount of support and are typically (and effectively) used as training aids to get new shooters used to firing while wearing a shooting coat. Shooting coats fall into three general categories, based primarily on the level of support they provide to the shooter.

Once you’ve picked a discipline or two in which to concentrate your efforts, the mist of confusion surrounding shooting coats thins considerably.Ī good shooting coat should allow you to easily move your body into shooting position-and stay there. Your shooting coat will determine what types of matches in which you can legally compete. Movement is the enemy, no matter what you’re shooting. The same goes for air rifle shooters, who aim for a center ring the size of a pinhead. In fact, the smaller bulls and tightly packed scoring rings make precise alignment of shooter and gun even more vital. Unerring buttplate-to-shoulder contact is just as important here. High power guns aren’t the lightest one in the stable by a long shot-my DCM AR-15 tips the scales at nearly 15 pounds.īut don’t think that smallbore shooters have it any easier either. No matter how much you can bench press, the first time you heft a high power rifle designed for long range shooting, you’ll appreciate this. The spandex portion (pictured right) covering the inside of the arm allows the shooter to get into a proper shooting position very easily.Ī shooting jacket helps you to support your firearm properly and for longer periods of time than you would otherwise be able to. Shooting jackets are usually constructed from panels made of different materials. And while cinching your coat super-snug may feel like it gives you a more stable shooting position, it restricts your breathing and may actually do more harm than good. Nylon buckles (left) are perhaps the easiest way to secure a high power coat. All of this adds up to give you a more stable shooting position, which translates into more hits in the X-ring.

Shooting coats are designed to do three main things: give you a non-slip grip in the shoulder and elbow areas provide a limited amount of support in each shooting position-especially standing and give your body some padding. It will also help your shooting development immeasurably. If you do your homework properly, suiting up in your new shooting coat will, at the very least, be comfortable. Jackets range from the low hundreds to thousands of dollars for a custom-made jacket. From high power to 3-position smallbore, each shooting discipline has at least one coat specifically designed to help you shoot more efficiently. Shooting coats come in about as many varieties as Baskin-Robbins has ice cream flavors, each of which serves a distinct shooting taste. If you think, as I once foolishly did, that’s all there is to it, you’ll probably be surprised at just how specialized shooting coats can be.

Use of storm patch coat