Buttstroke

A buttstroke or butt-stroking is the act striking someone with the buttstock of a rifle, shotgun, or similar long gun. It is a common case of the use of a firearm as a blunt weapon. Buttstroke is among the major offensive techniques with the rifle and bayonet in close-at-hand combat and is the recommended method of close combat if the rifleman has no bayonet or sidearm available.[1][2]

Illustration from a WW2 US Army field manual: "Smash following vertical butt stroke."

Effectiveness

U.S. Air Force trainee demonstrating a butt stroke on a strike dummy

Despite technological changes modern soldiers continue to report that hand to hand combat is a continued occurrence in the field, with soldiers stressing the importance of training in grappling and the use of weapons in hand-to-hand combat.[3]

Techniques

Buttstrokes are implemented by a variety of combatants, often trained in a series of transitioned movements to prevent wasted motion and ensure that aggressor is able to make repeated attacks or quickly parry or guard following a failed attempt.[2][4] Buttstrokes can be combined with kicking and kneeing an opponents lower body to further increase effectiveness and provide more variety to routes of attack.[5][6]

Buttstrokes carry the risk of damaging ones weapon and by some schools of thought are considered best a method of last resort, recommending the use of bayonets if possible when engaged in close quarters combat.[7] Even if relying primarily on bayonets, a buttstroke may still prove effective as a transitional move following a failed bayonet charge, bringing the butt of the gun in a vertical, upward swing into the combatants groin.[7]

Part of the butt stroke training regiment involves hitting padded dummies, alongside working through drills with partners in order to avoid damaging ones weapon.[5][7][8]

United States Techniques

The 1918 United States Navy Landing-force Manual describes the following techniques of buttstroking which would be adopted by the United States National Guard and other branches of the military:[2][4][5][9][10][11]

Trench or Vertical Butt Strokes

• Buttstroke I – Upward swing: Swing the butt up at the opponent's crotch, ribs, forearm, etc.,-using a half-arm blow or advancing the rear foot. Buttstroke I is essentially a half-arm blow from the shoulder, keeping the elbow rigid, and it can therefore be successfully employed only when the right hand is grasping the rifle at the small of the stock.
• Buttstroke II – Forward strike: If the opponent jumps back so that the first butt stroke misses, the rifle will come into a horizontal position over the left shoulder, butt leading; the attacker will then step in with the rear foot and dash the butt into his opponent's face.
• Buttstroke III – Downward cut: If the opponent retires still farther out of distance, the attacker again closes up and slashes his bayonet down on his opponent's head or neck.
• Buttstroke IV – Side blow: If a thrust has been made at an opponent and parried, the butt can be effectively used by stepping in with the rear foot swinging the rifle to the left and rear, so that the butt leads and is in front of the right forearm. Then dash the butt into the opponent's face, or against the side of his head or jaw. When the opponent is out of distance, butt stroke III can again be used. In individual fighting, the butt can also be used horizontally against the opponent's ribs, forearm, etc. This method is impossible in trench fighting or in an attack, owing to the horizontal sweep of the bayonet to the attacker's left.

Open Ground or Horizontal Butt Strokes

• Buttstroke I – Advancing the rear foot, with a half-arm blow swing the butt up at the opponent's jaw with your right hand holding onto the small of the stock.
• Buttstroke II – If the opponent jumps back, causing the first stroke to miss, the rifle will come into a horizontal position over the left should, butt leading. the attack will the step in with the rear foot and slash the bayonet into the opponent's face.

See also

• Bayonet charge
• Pistol-whipping

References

1. Stephen F. Tomajczyk (20 November 2004). To Be a U.S. Marine. Zenith Imprint. pp. 42–. ISBN 978-0-7603-1788-4.
2. Corps, United States Marine (1965). Marine Bayonet Training. Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.
3. Jensen, Peter R. (2014-11-19). "Hand-to-Hand Combat and the Use of Combatives Skills: An Analysis of United States Army Post Combat Surveys from 2004-2008". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
4. Wood, Sterling A. (1940). Riot Control by the National Guard. Military service publishing Company.
5. Bond, Paul Stanley; Ellis, Olin Oglesby; Garey, Enoch Barton; McMurray, Thomas Leroy (1921). The Red, White and Blue Manuals: ... a Text Book for the Citizens' Military Training Camp. New York City, NY: Johns Hopkins Press. p. 11.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
6. Military Science and Tactics. Vol 2. University co-operative store. 1921.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
7. The Leatherneck. Vol 35. Madison, Wisconsin: Leatherneck Association. 1952. p. 46.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
8. Moss, James Alfred (1917). Trench Warfare. Geo. Banta publishing Company. p. 196.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
9. Landing-force Manual, United States Navy, 1918 By United States Navy Dept, United States, pp. 508-510 (public domain)
10. Corps, United States Marine (2011-02-23). U.S. Marine Combat Conditioning. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-1-60239-962-4.
11. 2015 MCMAP Publications Combined: USMC Martial Arts Instructor Course Student Outline; Tan, Gray, Green, Brown & Black Belt; Gear List & Log; The High Intensity Tactical Training Methodology & More. Jeffrey Frank Jones. 2019-02-26.