I just took Bob Vogel's 2 day handgun class at Chabot Gun Club in Castro Valley, CA. The class was arranged through Grey Group Training. Bob Vogel is a multiple time world champion in IDPA and USPSA, and was a LEO for years.
The class had a mix of competitors and people who train for defensive handgun use who wanted to get better at shooting. Vogel's opinion on competition shooting as it relates to tactical shooting is that competition shooting is a good way to test your skills in a stressful situation, and that fast accurate shooting goes a long way towards winning fights.
At the beginning of the class, while we were waiting for the range to allow live fire in the morning, he gave a lecture on fundamentals of shooting. A big focus area he had was grip and stance, which don't matter much for slow fire marksmanship, but which are critical for being able to shoot fast and accurately. His grip technique especially is fairly unique. It involves pinching at the top of the frontstrap and backstrap with the strong hand, rather than gripping evenly all around, and the support hand is a little farther forward than most people have it, with the support hand's index knuckle almost even with the front of the trigger guard. And most importantly, both hands apply torque inwards, i.e. your right hand applies rotational force counter clockwise, and your left hand applies force clockwise. This causes the elbows to rotate outward and applies a static force high and inward on the gun. One of his Panteao Productions videos, "Building World Class Pistol Skills" also shows this grip technique. When he demoed various drills, the gun barely moved at all when he was firing very fast.
He checked each individual's grip and stance and offered feedback and what they were doing differently from him.
He said he dry fires at a ratio of 10 to 1 dry fire to live fire, and that dry fire is very important. For speed shooting, he recommends pressing the trigger and hearing the click, and then continuing to press the trigger more times even though the gun doesn't reset. He gave some more tips on dry fire training. He talked a lot about seeing the sights while shooting and tracking them during transitions.
Aside from grip and stance, some techniques that were covered include the draw, trigger control, strong and weak hand shooting, tracking the sights and shot calling, reloads of various kinds, and seeing what you need to see to get the hit at various distances.
The live fire portion of the class was a lot of different shooting drills. For most of the drills, he had everyone on the line do the drill a few times, then came by each person and had them do it individually on the timer and gave individual feedback on the person's performance and any issues he saw. This was nice compared to some other classes where the instructors run the whole line every time and don't give as much individual attention. If we did some drills twice on the timer, this allowed us to try to incorporate the feedback and see if there was any improvement. There were also some longer, more complicated drills that were like small USPSA stages that could only be run one at a time. There was down time for the other people who weren't shooting, but they could observe and watch Vogel feedback and see if some of that feedback applied to themselves. Drills included strong and weak hand only shooting, reloads (slide lock, speed, tactical, or 'with retention'), shooting on the move in various directions, shooting from cover, Bill drills at various ranges, transition drills between different targets at various ranges, El Presidente, and some drills that involved random dice rolls which required quick thinking to determine which targets to shoot in what order.
Vogel said that a lot of practical shooting is the ability to think fast under time pressure and that doing drills that force you to do that helps to build that skill.
He talked about some of the mental issues in competitive shooting. He recommends two books, Lanny Bassham's "With Winning in Mind" and Saul Kirsch's "Thinking Practical Shooting".
I think that competitive or tactical shooters can both get a lot out of this class.
Another AAR of this class is at
http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?5859-Robert-Vogel-2-Day-Pistol-Class-AAR-01-Nov-2012
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Southnarc ECQC AAR
I took Southnarc's Extreme Close Quarters Combat class in Sacramento CA in October 2012, and this is a belated AAR. I normally don't go to Sacramento for training since there is a lot of quality instruction already in the Bay Area, but Southnarc does not come to the Bay Area since there isn't a host here who's set up for him. It was well worth the trip, and I would have to say it was probably the best shooting related class I've ever taken.
Craig Douglas, a.k.a. Southnarc, was a SWAT team leader and did undercover narcotics work as a LEO. ECQC focuses on defending yourself in a weapons based environment where the attacker is within arm's length.
Self defense situations most commonly start within arm's length. Having the fastest draw or Bill Drill or El Presidente time in the world doesn't matter much when the attacker can grab your gun arm and get in a tangle with you and take the gun away. Also keep in mind that one or two handgun shots may not be enough to stop an attack. It's important to be able to deal with a determined attacker who continues to press forward and crash into you even after taking some hits.
This situation is underexplored in the civilian shooting training world. Most shooting courses have most of the training take place at 5 yards or beyond. To the extent that they do cover close quarters work, it typically involves shooting from the retention position on a paper target, and practicing some disarms and retention techniques with a non resisting partner. ECQC is very different in that a lot of the curriculum involves going against a resisting partner who is trying to accomplish a goal of his own. When you are wrestling with someone over a gun, you need to know wrestling techniques and training methods; the gun isn't automatically going to solve the problem for you. This training with resistance is _crucial_ for getting the right feeling when it comes to wrestling with someone over a gun.
To understand why, I refer you to the video "Matt Thornton on Aliveness in martial arts".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imjmLWj5WCU&feature=related
ECQC is the only open enrollment class for civilians that I'm aware of that combines shooting and combatives with resistance. This is for several reasons.
- Many shooting instructors don't have a deep combatives background
- Many instructors may be concerned about liability due to injuries
- Many shooting students are not willing to get dirty and get sweaty wrestling around and getting beaten up and shot with Simunition rounds.
Friday night started at a martial arts gym in Rocklin with a 4 hour block on Managing Unknown Contacts. This went quickly but was some of the most valuable part of the curriculum. Southnarc covered a little bit about how criminals think and how they choose their victims, and how best to handle encounters with suspicious people, without necessarily overreacting or being rude unless they cross a certain threshold. He described common pre-assault cues that are a hint that someone may be about to attack. He taught a basic defensive posture, 'The Fence', and a defensive move to protect your head when someone punches you. Each of these were followed by unscripted improvised role playing training with a partner, where the technique was put into context. We finished the night with some drills to teach fundamental wrestling concepts, including the mountain goat drill (see the pictures in the Calguns AAR linked at the end) and a pummeling drill.
See
http://www.safeism.com/pdfs/SNContacts.pdf for a taste of what MUC is about. Reading the PDF and actually practicing it in person is a very different experience. Knowing it in your head and actually doing it are very different.
Training days 2 and 3 were on the range at Sacramento Valley Shooting Center.
Both days had live fire shooting in the morning, then being thoroughly scrubbed for live weapons and training force on force with Sims in the afternoon. One major takeaway from the live fire drills is that most people were doing 'retention shooting' from the #2 position(#2 count in the standard 4 count draw stroke) in a very lazy way. At close quarters, a few inches can make a big difference in whether or not the opponent can get their hands on your gun. So it's important to pull the hand as far back and as high as possible, to the point where it's uncomfortable to your shoulder. This also makes it more consistent, since it's at the limit of your range of motion. The consistency is important when shooting in a tangle since you may be moving around in circles while wrestling the opponent and shooting and it's important to know where your rounds are going to go.
The force on force training had a lot of basis in wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. There wasn't much material on striking due to time and safety limitations. Some key concepts are
- Don't try to access your weapon in-fight until you have a dominant position where the opponent can't grab the weapon. Pulling your gun out when the opponent can grab it is generally causing more problems than it solves. Generally you want to get to your opponent's back or side.
- It's not over until it's over. Getting a few shots on the opponent did not end the scenario, so we had to develop the mentality to continue fighting until Southnarc called the scenario over.
- Controlling the arms is more important than controlling the head, since the arms can access weapons. This can be tricky for people with prior experience with grappling in a non weapons based context since they may be more used to going for head control.
- On the ground, it's preferable to disengage rather than to dominate position, since a second or third opponent could attack you while you're winning the fight on the ground. Of course, if the opponent that's with you on the ground has a gun, maybe disengaging is a bad idea until they have been disarmed.
- Some techniques that were used standing up include underhook, whizzer, arm drag, and on the ground included bridging and shrimping to escape a pin, and some open guard work against a standing or kneeling opponent.
- Having more weapons on you, such as a gun and a knife, can be very useful, but it's also more things that the opponent can take away from you and use on you.
- Knives are actually more scary than guns at contact distance because they're much harder to disarm. When you go to disarm a gun, you can grab the gun itself, but grabbing the blade on a knife is very difficult in a live situation.
Southnarc is very smart about adult education and how to get someone to learn something. Each technique was drilled first with no resistance, to learn the basic mechanics of the move.
Then it was drilled with a resisting partner who was attempting to accomplish his own goal. But the drill was isolated so that each person could only do a very limited set of moves.
Then it was drilled in a more open ended context where many moves were available.
Finally everything was put together in very open ended scenarios where almost any move was available.
The students who came to the class were all very cool about training at an appropriate level of resistance, and no one got hurt. The type of person who shows up to this kind of class can keep control of their ego and not care too much if they win or lose. Big ego types typically don't show up. Also, not everyone that showed up was young / big / strong / experienced in martial arts. Far from it. Many of the guys were older or smaller or less fit or had no experience and may have had a hard time 'winning' the scenarios but I saw them all learn a lot and improve greatly compared to the start of the class. They came away with a realistic understanding of what they can or can't do. The videos you see on YouTube of ECQC are of the scenarios which are the culmination of the day's training. Most of the training is at a much lower intensity. So if you are out of shape, or old, or small or weak, I wouldn't worry about it. Just go to the class and you will get a lot out of it. Winning or losing doesn't matter, it only matters if you got better.
Highest recommendations for this class. It is as far as I know the only class of its kind in the whole country open to civilians. I won't name them, but I have taken 3 other shooting classes that were meant to be for close quarters, and ECQC is head and shoulders above them. This class is more applicable to civilian self defense than any other shooting class I can think of.
There is another AAR with pictures at
http://calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=630853
Southnarc's website is http://shivworks.com and a class schedule can be found there.
Craig Douglas, a.k.a. Southnarc, was a SWAT team leader and did undercover narcotics work as a LEO. ECQC focuses on defending yourself in a weapons based environment where the attacker is within arm's length.
Self defense situations most commonly start within arm's length. Having the fastest draw or Bill Drill or El Presidente time in the world doesn't matter much when the attacker can grab your gun arm and get in a tangle with you and take the gun away. Also keep in mind that one or two handgun shots may not be enough to stop an attack. It's important to be able to deal with a determined attacker who continues to press forward and crash into you even after taking some hits.
This situation is underexplored in the civilian shooting training world. Most shooting courses have most of the training take place at 5 yards or beyond. To the extent that they do cover close quarters work, it typically involves shooting from the retention position on a paper target, and practicing some disarms and retention techniques with a non resisting partner. ECQC is very different in that a lot of the curriculum involves going against a resisting partner who is trying to accomplish a goal of his own. When you are wrestling with someone over a gun, you need to know wrestling techniques and training methods; the gun isn't automatically going to solve the problem for you. This training with resistance is _crucial_ for getting the right feeling when it comes to wrestling with someone over a gun.
To understand why, I refer you to the video "Matt Thornton on Aliveness in martial arts".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imjmLWj5WCU&feature=related
ECQC is the only open enrollment class for civilians that I'm aware of that combines shooting and combatives with resistance. This is for several reasons.
- Many shooting instructors don't have a deep combatives background
- Many instructors may be concerned about liability due to injuries
- Many shooting students are not willing to get dirty and get sweaty wrestling around and getting beaten up and shot with Simunition rounds.
Friday night started at a martial arts gym in Rocklin with a 4 hour block on Managing Unknown Contacts. This went quickly but was some of the most valuable part of the curriculum. Southnarc covered a little bit about how criminals think and how they choose their victims, and how best to handle encounters with suspicious people, without necessarily overreacting or being rude unless they cross a certain threshold. He described common pre-assault cues that are a hint that someone may be about to attack. He taught a basic defensive posture, 'The Fence', and a defensive move to protect your head when someone punches you. Each of these were followed by unscripted improvised role playing training with a partner, where the technique was put into context. We finished the night with some drills to teach fundamental wrestling concepts, including the mountain goat drill (see the pictures in the Calguns AAR linked at the end) and a pummeling drill.
See
http://www.safeism.com/pdfs/SNContacts.pdf for a taste of what MUC is about. Reading the PDF and actually practicing it in person is a very different experience. Knowing it in your head and actually doing it are very different.
Training days 2 and 3 were on the range at Sacramento Valley Shooting Center.
Both days had live fire shooting in the morning, then being thoroughly scrubbed for live weapons and training force on force with Sims in the afternoon. One major takeaway from the live fire drills is that most people were doing 'retention shooting' from the #2 position(#2 count in the standard 4 count draw stroke) in a very lazy way. At close quarters, a few inches can make a big difference in whether or not the opponent can get their hands on your gun. So it's important to pull the hand as far back and as high as possible, to the point where it's uncomfortable to your shoulder. This also makes it more consistent, since it's at the limit of your range of motion. The consistency is important when shooting in a tangle since you may be moving around in circles while wrestling the opponent and shooting and it's important to know where your rounds are going to go.
The force on force training had a lot of basis in wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. There wasn't much material on striking due to time and safety limitations. Some key concepts are
- Don't try to access your weapon in-fight until you have a dominant position where the opponent can't grab the weapon. Pulling your gun out when the opponent can grab it is generally causing more problems than it solves. Generally you want to get to your opponent's back or side.
- It's not over until it's over. Getting a few shots on the opponent did not end the scenario, so we had to develop the mentality to continue fighting until Southnarc called the scenario over.
- Controlling the arms is more important than controlling the head, since the arms can access weapons. This can be tricky for people with prior experience with grappling in a non weapons based context since they may be more used to going for head control.
- On the ground, it's preferable to disengage rather than to dominate position, since a second or third opponent could attack you while you're winning the fight on the ground. Of course, if the opponent that's with you on the ground has a gun, maybe disengaging is a bad idea until they have been disarmed.
- Some techniques that were used standing up include underhook, whizzer, arm drag, and on the ground included bridging and shrimping to escape a pin, and some open guard work against a standing or kneeling opponent.
- Having more weapons on you, such as a gun and a knife, can be very useful, but it's also more things that the opponent can take away from you and use on you.
- Knives are actually more scary than guns at contact distance because they're much harder to disarm. When you go to disarm a gun, you can grab the gun itself, but grabbing the blade on a knife is very difficult in a live situation.
Southnarc is very smart about adult education and how to get someone to learn something. Each technique was drilled first with no resistance, to learn the basic mechanics of the move.
Then it was drilled with a resisting partner who was attempting to accomplish his own goal. But the drill was isolated so that each person could only do a very limited set of moves.
Then it was drilled in a more open ended context where many moves were available.
Finally everything was put together in very open ended scenarios where almost any move was available.
The students who came to the class were all very cool about training at an appropriate level of resistance, and no one got hurt. The type of person who shows up to this kind of class can keep control of their ego and not care too much if they win or lose. Big ego types typically don't show up. Also, not everyone that showed up was young / big / strong / experienced in martial arts. Far from it. Many of the guys were older or smaller or less fit or had no experience and may have had a hard time 'winning' the scenarios but I saw them all learn a lot and improve greatly compared to the start of the class. They came away with a realistic understanding of what they can or can't do. The videos you see on YouTube of ECQC are of the scenarios which are the culmination of the day's training. Most of the training is at a much lower intensity. So if you are out of shape, or old, or small or weak, I wouldn't worry about it. Just go to the class and you will get a lot out of it. Winning or losing doesn't matter, it only matters if you got better.
Highest recommendations for this class. It is as far as I know the only class of its kind in the whole country open to civilians. I won't name them, but I have taken 3 other shooting classes that were meant to be for close quarters, and ECQC is head and shoulders above them. This class is more applicable to civilian self defense than any other shooting class I can think of.
There is another AAR with pictures at
http://calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=630853
Southnarc's website is http://shivworks.com and a class schedule can be found there.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Firearms training class preparations
Here are some things I do before going to a firearms training class. I just leave the small items in my range bag all the time.
- Verify functionality of the gun by shooting it for at least one session before the class. In other words, don't come to a class with a gun that I've never shot before, since the gun might be messed up.
- If I haven't run this set of gear before, try it on all together. For example, I try on my holster, mag pouches, belt, and pants that I'm going to be using. Even if you have experience running each individual piece, you need to make sure they all work together. You don't want to find out too late that your belt is too big for your belt loops on your pants, or the belt loops on your holster, or the belt loops on those particular pants are positioned poorly for the location that you want to run your holster or mag pouches.
- If I have adjustable sights, especially on a carbine, make sure they're zeroed before the class. Often the zeroing process on the first day of carbine class takes 2 hours or more, which is time that could have been spent learning. Bring the necessary tools to adjust the sights, even if they are already zeroed.
- Load all the magazines that I'm going to bring to full(check your local laws and make sure you're transporting them legally). It saves a lot of time when the class starts if you're already loaded and ready to go. I've never seen an instructor that minded the student coming in with loaded mags, although it is possible you may have to unload one or two for some drill that the instructor wants to do.
- Check that I have extra batteries for ear pro, optics, flashlights, etc. Check that the batteries currently in those accessories are not dead.
- Label everything, including mags, loading tools, ear pro, even your holster and mag pouches if they are common. I use a paint pen for this purpose. Certain gear, I engrave with a cheap hand engraving tool. If you do enough training, eventually someone will grab your stuff if you leave it on a table or in a common area, not because they were trying to steal it, but just because they thought it was theirs. Having labels settles the matter if there is any dispute. I have had this happen to my mags, Uplula, and ear pro. All mags are labeled with a number as well, to keep track of any mags that are malfunctioning.
- Check tightness on all screws/bolts, including any mounts on guns, lights, sidesaddle, optics, holster, mag pouches. I just kind of poke the screw with my finger in a turning motion, to save the effort of finding the appropriate bit for each screw, and to avoid breaking the Loctite if it was there.
- Pack an allen wrench set and a multitool which has needle nose pliers and flat head and philips screwdrivers just in case they come loose. I just leave these in my range bag all the time.
- Pack water and food if needed. Always more water than you think you need. Sweets like candy and cookies are good for a burst of energy.
- Pack an extra holster if I have one.
- Pack lube and spare parts for the gun. Generally a recoil spring and an extractor will solve most problems on a semi auto. For Glocks, a trigger spring would be good. For ARs, a full bolt carrier group would solve the vast majority of problems. If shooting a carbine, always bring a cleaning rod, not so you can clean it, but so you can knock out a stuck case from the chamber. A magazine makes a good hammer for this.
- Duct tape and zip ties can be useful for field rigging a fix for holsters, slings, etc.
- Pack a baseball style cap, even if shooting indoors where sun isn't a concern. This is mainly for keeping brass shells out of my face from the guy standing to my left.
- If it's going to be hot, don't wear a cotton shirt. Once you get soaked in sweat, cotton gets very uncomfortable and takes a while to dry. If the temperature cools down as the sun drops, you can get cold very quickly. Synthetic UnderArmor type shirts, or merino wool shirts are preferred. Similarly, synthetic or wool socks are preferred over cotton socks.
- Consider bringing sunscreen and/or a shemagh or other neck scarf if it's going to be at an outdoor range. Sunburn is no fun and is distracting.
- Consider packing an extra gun if I have one, ideally the same caliber, and really ideally one that can use the same holster and mags. Note a G19 can use a G17's holster and mags, but not vice versa. Depending on logistics it might not be worth it to pack a totally different gun with its own holster, mag pouches, mags, and ammo.
- Consider bringing a folding chair. Depending on the range and class size, there may or may not be sufficient seating.
- Consider bringing a bucket for brass. Most classes will let students keep brass that they pick up at the end of the class. People who reload or who think they might get into reloading would be silly to miss the chance to save some money and get free brass.
- Consider packing allergy medication or taking it in the morning if it's at an outdoor range.
- Depending on the range facilities, if running water isn't available, some wet wipes and/or hand sanitizer would be handy for wiping your hands prior to eating or after using the porta potty. Don't underestimate the importance of this; I've gotten sick at least twice after shooting on ranges with no plumbing and using the portapotty without washing my hands.
- Verify functionality of the gun by shooting it for at least one session before the class. In other words, don't come to a class with a gun that I've never shot before, since the gun might be messed up.
- If I haven't run this set of gear before, try it on all together. For example, I try on my holster, mag pouches, belt, and pants that I'm going to be using. Even if you have experience running each individual piece, you need to make sure they all work together. You don't want to find out too late that your belt is too big for your belt loops on your pants, or the belt loops on your holster, or the belt loops on those particular pants are positioned poorly for the location that you want to run your holster or mag pouches.
- If I have adjustable sights, especially on a carbine, make sure they're zeroed before the class. Often the zeroing process on the first day of carbine class takes 2 hours or more, which is time that could have been spent learning. Bring the necessary tools to adjust the sights, even if they are already zeroed.
- Load all the magazines that I'm going to bring to full(check your local laws and make sure you're transporting them legally). It saves a lot of time when the class starts if you're already loaded and ready to go. I've never seen an instructor that minded the student coming in with loaded mags, although it is possible you may have to unload one or two for some drill that the instructor wants to do.
- Check that I have extra batteries for ear pro, optics, flashlights, etc. Check that the batteries currently in those accessories are not dead.
- Label everything, including mags, loading tools, ear pro, even your holster and mag pouches if they are common. I use a paint pen for this purpose. Certain gear, I engrave with a cheap hand engraving tool. If you do enough training, eventually someone will grab your stuff if you leave it on a table or in a common area, not because they were trying to steal it, but just because they thought it was theirs. Having labels settles the matter if there is any dispute. I have had this happen to my mags, Uplula, and ear pro. All mags are labeled with a number as well, to keep track of any mags that are malfunctioning.
- Check tightness on all screws/bolts, including any mounts on guns, lights, sidesaddle, optics, holster, mag pouches. I just kind of poke the screw with my finger in a turning motion, to save the effort of finding the appropriate bit for each screw, and to avoid breaking the Loctite if it was there.
- Pack an allen wrench set and a multitool which has needle nose pliers and flat head and philips screwdrivers just in case they come loose. I just leave these in my range bag all the time.
- Pack water and food if needed. Always more water than you think you need. Sweets like candy and cookies are good for a burst of energy.
- Pack an extra holster if I have one.
- Pack lube and spare parts for the gun. Generally a recoil spring and an extractor will solve most problems on a semi auto. For Glocks, a trigger spring would be good. For ARs, a full bolt carrier group would solve the vast majority of problems. If shooting a carbine, always bring a cleaning rod, not so you can clean it, but so you can knock out a stuck case from the chamber. A magazine makes a good hammer for this.
- Duct tape and zip ties can be useful for field rigging a fix for holsters, slings, etc.
- Pack a baseball style cap, even if shooting indoors where sun isn't a concern. This is mainly for keeping brass shells out of my face from the guy standing to my left.
- If it's going to be hot, don't wear a cotton shirt. Once you get soaked in sweat, cotton gets very uncomfortable and takes a while to dry. If the temperature cools down as the sun drops, you can get cold very quickly. Synthetic UnderArmor type shirts, or merino wool shirts are preferred. Similarly, synthetic or wool socks are preferred over cotton socks.
- Consider bringing sunscreen and/or a shemagh or other neck scarf if it's going to be at an outdoor range. Sunburn is no fun and is distracting.
- Consider packing an extra gun if I have one, ideally the same caliber, and really ideally one that can use the same holster and mags. Note a G19 can use a G17's holster and mags, but not vice versa. Depending on logistics it might not be worth it to pack a totally different gun with its own holster, mag pouches, mags, and ammo.
- Consider bringing a folding chair. Depending on the range and class size, there may or may not be sufficient seating.
- Consider bringing a bucket for brass. Most classes will let students keep brass that they pick up at the end of the class. People who reload or who think they might get into reloading would be silly to miss the chance to save some money and get free brass.
- Consider packing allergy medication or taking it in the morning if it's at an outdoor range.
- Depending on the range facilities, if running water isn't available, some wet wipes and/or hand sanitizer would be handy for wiping your hands prior to eating or after using the porta potty. Don't underestimate the importance of this; I've gotten sick at least twice after shooting on ranges with no plumbing and using the portapotty without washing my hands.
Gear for carbine classes
The purpose of this post is to describe how I set up my gear and why. Everybody's needs are different, so it's not to say that this is the best way to go, just what works for me.
I just took a class today using a VTAC Brokos Belt with VTAC Cobra belt for the inner belt, with 3 HSGI taco mag pouches on my left side and three handgun tacos attached to them, and an Atomic Dog holster on the right side, and a dump pouch in the back that I use to hold my gloves and empty mags. I think this setup is ideal for someone who doesn't need more than 4 rifle mags, and who doesn't wear armor. If extra mags are needed, they go in the left cargo pocket. It's relatively comfortable even with all the weight on the hips since the belt spreads the weight over a large area. And you can put on and take off the whole rig in about 1 second using the Cobra buckle. I don't have to change anything to switch to a different rifle system since the tacos can hold any rifle mag. This is very nice for me because I usually run an AK, but sometimes I run an AR. My dump pouch is a cheap 5.11 one. As far as I can see, there is no need for anything fancy in a dump pouch. The gloves I run are Mechanix MPact, which have been working well for me. I would recommend at least having gloves on you if you're going to run a carbine, since the handguard and barrel can get very hot after rapid fire. A quad rail AR handguard can be sharp, and an AK especially has lots of sharp edges all over it.
The HSGI tacos are expensive but really nice. They fit any rifle mags, the retention is adjustable, you can attach a pistol mag pouch to it, you can run bullets forward or backwards as you wish without changing anything, and they're fast since there's no retention device like a flap or bungee strap.
The Brokos belt is a lightly padded MOLLE belt that uses an inner belt to provide the tension around your waist and a buckle. It buckles around your waist over the top of your pants belt(which is not the same as the inner belt). The Brokos belt has the nice feature that you can expose the inner belt to the outside and use your existing OWB holster or other belt mounted accessories. It's also light and comfortable. The downside is that it isn't really anchored to your pants belt, so it can ride up a little bit. I found that it only rides up on my hips when I drop to prone, but then when I stood up, it automatically went back down to its normal position without me having to adjust it in any way. So it wasn't really a big deal.
On sizing: the inner belt should be a little bit longer than usual, since it has to go outside your pants waistband and your pants belt. The Brokos belt can be quite a big longer than usual, since that just means that the MOLLE extends closer to your centerline.
I wear 34 or 35 inch waistband pants, and I have the Brokos belt in XL, but the inner Cobra belt in Large. I originally tried the XL Cobra belt but it was too long and the excess was getting in the way of my holster. The Large Cobra belt is almost a little too small, but is workable. If I were to do it again I would probably go with the XL and just trim it down.
I don't like chest rigs because they can be uncomfortable when you go prone. Also, if you're training in the rain or cold, if you have a chest rig, you have to take it off and on when you want to add or remove layers of clothing. You may or may not need to do the same thing for the battle belt, but a battle belt comes off and on much easier.
I would avoid any double(meaning two mags in one compartment, like this: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/MOLLE940-1.html) mag pouches because if you take one of the mags out, then the other one is loose and can fall out, unless you remember to reapply the velcro or other retention device. Each mag should go in its own compartment that has its own retention.
Kydex mag pouches are great but if you have too many of them with fully loaded mags on your belt, the weight becomes uncomfortable and most designs don't have any way to attach pistol mag pouches.
Some people would say that you should 'train as you would fight'. I would agree with that, except for the fact that in my lifestyle, I wouldn't really ever use the carbine in a fight unless it was a serious SHTF where anything goes and more gear would be appropriate. I leave my carbines in the gun safe and I have a quick access lock box with a handgun in it for emergencies. That said, I do think that beginners to carbine training should keep their gear simple and inexpensive so they can look at what other people are running and get an idea of how it works.
For a relatively slick setup, I'd probably just go with one or two kydex Ready Tactical mag pouches and then run the rest out of pockets, and have one dump pouch for empties. The Ready Tactical pouches are relatively inexpensive and you can run your AR mags bullets pointing forward or to the rear. I prefer pointing to the rear, but that's something each individual has to decide for themselves. The LAPolicegear.com 'operator pants' have two pockets that are just the right size for AR mags and will fit AK mags too. They're the horizontal slits right below the plastic D-rings on the belt loops. http://www.lapolicegear.com/elastic-...ator-pant.html
California-specific:
For info on carbine legality in California, see http://www.tenpercentfirearms.com/index.php?main_page=ar15
Between featureless carbines and bullet button carbines, I would definitely go for featureless. Being able to use the mag release normally is well worth not having a flash hider or collapsible stock or the other evil features. On the negative side, I have found that not being able to wrap my thumb around the grip makes it harder to do rapid fire consistently. Also, on an AR, you're going to want to install an ambi safety if you're right handed, since your thumb will be on the right side of the rifle. Featureless rifles can also be used with legally owned pre-ban magazines, while bullet button rifles can not. I like the Solar tactical grip wraps, which bolt on to a normal pistol grip and therefore can be easily removed if you visit or move to a free state.
http://solartactical.com/SOLAR-TACTICAL-KYDEX-GRIP-WRAP-FEATURELESS-BUILDS_c19.htm
If you go the bullet button route, the gpik works reasonably well:
http://www.gpik.net/bullet-button-release-tool.aspx
You stick it on your middle finger and can use it to drop the mag. It does require you to be fairly precise to poke the bullet button in exactly the right place. One caveat: if you have to draw your pistol, it really messes with your grip.
If you are running 10 round magazines, I would recommend getting 10/30 magazines, which are 30 round magazines that have been internally blocked to only hold 10 rounds and then permanently fixed so they can't be disassembled. The reason I recommend 10/30 mags this is that they will fit in normal pouches, and you can get a much better grip on them for malfunction clearing and tactical reloads, compared to short 10 round magazines. Solar Tactical has 10/30 mags or the kits to make them. If you want to make them yourself, you'll need disassembled mag rebuild kits, which can be had from Solar Tactical, or http://www.copesdistributing.net, http://www.calegalmags.com/, or http://midwestpx.com/, among others.
I just took a class today using a VTAC Brokos Belt with VTAC Cobra belt for the inner belt, with 3 HSGI taco mag pouches on my left side and three handgun tacos attached to them, and an Atomic Dog holster on the right side, and a dump pouch in the back that I use to hold my gloves and empty mags. I think this setup is ideal for someone who doesn't need more than 4 rifle mags, and who doesn't wear armor. If extra mags are needed, they go in the left cargo pocket. It's relatively comfortable even with all the weight on the hips since the belt spreads the weight over a large area. And you can put on and take off the whole rig in about 1 second using the Cobra buckle. I don't have to change anything to switch to a different rifle system since the tacos can hold any rifle mag. This is very nice for me because I usually run an AK, but sometimes I run an AR. My dump pouch is a cheap 5.11 one. As far as I can see, there is no need for anything fancy in a dump pouch. The gloves I run are Mechanix MPact, which have been working well for me. I would recommend at least having gloves on you if you're going to run a carbine, since the handguard and barrel can get very hot after rapid fire. A quad rail AR handguard can be sharp, and an AK especially has lots of sharp edges all over it.
The HSGI tacos are expensive but really nice. They fit any rifle mags, the retention is adjustable, you can attach a pistol mag pouch to it, you can run bullets forward or backwards as you wish without changing anything, and they're fast since there's no retention device like a flap or bungee strap.
The Brokos belt is a lightly padded MOLLE belt that uses an inner belt to provide the tension around your waist and a buckle. It buckles around your waist over the top of your pants belt(which is not the same as the inner belt). The Brokos belt has the nice feature that you can expose the inner belt to the outside and use your existing OWB holster or other belt mounted accessories. It's also light and comfortable. The downside is that it isn't really anchored to your pants belt, so it can ride up a little bit. I found that it only rides up on my hips when I drop to prone, but then when I stood up, it automatically went back down to its normal position without me having to adjust it in any way. So it wasn't really a big deal.
On sizing: the inner belt should be a little bit longer than usual, since it has to go outside your pants waistband and your pants belt. The Brokos belt can be quite a big longer than usual, since that just means that the MOLLE extends closer to your centerline.
I wear 34 or 35 inch waistband pants, and I have the Brokos belt in XL, but the inner Cobra belt in Large. I originally tried the XL Cobra belt but it was too long and the excess was getting in the way of my holster. The Large Cobra belt is almost a little too small, but is workable. If I were to do it again I would probably go with the XL and just trim it down.
I don't like chest rigs because they can be uncomfortable when you go prone. Also, if you're training in the rain or cold, if you have a chest rig, you have to take it off and on when you want to add or remove layers of clothing. You may or may not need to do the same thing for the battle belt, but a battle belt comes off and on much easier.
I would avoid any double(meaning two mags in one compartment, like this: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/MOLLE940-1.html) mag pouches because if you take one of the mags out, then the other one is loose and can fall out, unless you remember to reapply the velcro or other retention device. Each mag should go in its own compartment that has its own retention.
Kydex mag pouches are great but if you have too many of them with fully loaded mags on your belt, the weight becomes uncomfortable and most designs don't have any way to attach pistol mag pouches.
Some people would say that you should 'train as you would fight'. I would agree with that, except for the fact that in my lifestyle, I wouldn't really ever use the carbine in a fight unless it was a serious SHTF where anything goes and more gear would be appropriate. I leave my carbines in the gun safe and I have a quick access lock box with a handgun in it for emergencies. That said, I do think that beginners to carbine training should keep their gear simple and inexpensive so they can look at what other people are running and get an idea of how it works.
For a relatively slick setup, I'd probably just go with one or two kydex Ready Tactical mag pouches and then run the rest out of pockets, and have one dump pouch for empties. The Ready Tactical pouches are relatively inexpensive and you can run your AR mags bullets pointing forward or to the rear. I prefer pointing to the rear, but that's something each individual has to decide for themselves. The LAPolicegear.com 'operator pants' have two pockets that are just the right size for AR mags and will fit AK mags too. They're the horizontal slits right below the plastic D-rings on the belt loops. http://www.lapolicegear.com/elastic-...ator-pant.html
California-specific:
For info on carbine legality in California, see http://www.tenpercentfirearms.com/index.php?main_page=ar15
Between featureless carbines and bullet button carbines, I would definitely go for featureless. Being able to use the mag release normally is well worth not having a flash hider or collapsible stock or the other evil features. On the negative side, I have found that not being able to wrap my thumb around the grip makes it harder to do rapid fire consistently. Also, on an AR, you're going to want to install an ambi safety if you're right handed, since your thumb will be on the right side of the rifle. Featureless rifles can also be used with legally owned pre-ban magazines, while bullet button rifles can not. I like the Solar tactical grip wraps, which bolt on to a normal pistol grip and therefore can be easily removed if you visit or move to a free state.
http://solartactical.com/SOLAR-TACTICAL-KYDEX-GRIP-WRAP-FEATURELESS-BUILDS_c19.htm
If you go the bullet button route, the gpik works reasonably well:
http://www.gpik.net/bullet-button-release-tool.aspx
You stick it on your middle finger and can use it to drop the mag. It does require you to be fairly precise to poke the bullet button in exactly the right place. One caveat: if you have to draw your pistol, it really messes with your grip.
If you are running 10 round magazines, I would recommend getting 10/30 magazines, which are 30 round magazines that have been internally blocked to only hold 10 rounds and then permanently fixed so they can't be disassembled. The reason I recommend 10/30 mags this is that they will fit in normal pouches, and you can get a much better grip on them for malfunction clearing and tactical reloads, compared to short 10 round magazines. Solar Tactical has 10/30 mags or the kits to make them. If you want to make them yourself, you'll need disassembled mag rebuild kits, which can be had from Solar Tactical, or http://www.copesdistributing.net, http://www.calegalmags.com/, or http://midwestpx.com/, among others.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Center Mass Group on Habits of highly effective shooters
Center Mass Group is run by retired Navy Seals, and they have an excellent blog. I especially like their series "Seven habits of highly effective shooters", which is about the fundamentals of marksmanship. Articles so far:
http://centermassgroup.com/2011/07/the-first-habit-of-highly-effective-shooters/
http://centermassgroup.com/2011/08/the-second-habit-of-highly-effective-shooters/
http://centermassgroup.com/2011/09/the-third-habit-of-highly-effective-shooters/
http://centermassgroup.com/2011/09/the-fourth-habit-of-highly-effective-shooters/
http://www.itstactical.com/warcom/firearms/you-want-me-to-do-what-with-my-finger/
http://centermassgroup.com/2011/07/the-first-habit-of-highly-effective-shooters/
http://centermassgroup.com/2011/08/the-second-habit-of-highly-effective-shooters/
http://centermassgroup.com/2011/09/the-third-habit-of-highly-effective-shooters/
http://centermassgroup.com/2011/09/the-fourth-habit-of-highly-effective-shooters/
http://www.itstactical.com/warcom/firearms/you-want-me-to-do-what-with-my-finger/
Saturday, April 9, 2011
John Jardine 1911 Essentials class AAR
I attended the first 1911 Essentials class taught by gunsmith John Jardine at Reed's Indoor Range in Santa Clara.
The blurb on Reed's site states:
He noticed some problems with the improperly fitted extractor on my 1911 and demonstrated the problems it was having holding proper tension even after fiddling with it for a while, and how it was rotating(clocking) slightly. I left it with him and picked it up the next day with a new extractor fitted and tensioned and with some other minor work he'd done after noticing problems during the extractor fitting process. He charged a very reasonable rate for the work and it was obvious that he cared about the students and their learning and making sure they were satisfied with the class and the work. Note: he did not in any way solicit gunsmithing business from the students. A few people, including me, approached him and asked about it.
The negative thing I would say about the class is that most students, including myself, had very little experience detail stripping and reassembling the 1911, so he had to come around to each person and help them out, which took a really long time. It would have been better if he had some assistants to help everybody, or if maybe he showed a video clip on the projector of how to do each step, so that only people who were having serious problems would need help.
I would say the class is well worth your time and money if you're a 1911 aficionado. The 1911 as a serious defensive use gun is best suited for those who are willing to take the time and effort to maintain it properly and check it regularly for problems. See http://vickerstactical.com/faqs-with-larry-vickers/
The blurb on Reed's site states:
John Jardine is a master pistolsmith who has enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for simply outstanding work. Firearms produced by Jardine's Custom are heirloom quality pieces of work. Made to be functional and reliable yet with attention to beauty and the fit and finish that customers expect in a truly custom-made firearm.
Jardine's 1911 EssentialsThe class covered detail stripping the 1911, cleaning and lubing it, checking the extractor tension and retensioning it, inspecting the pistol for common problems, and Jardine answered many questions, and took a look at students' 1911s and found various minor or major problems with most of the students' pistols, including several very expensive pistols from highly regarded makers. He repeatedly stated his opinion that the firearms industry as a whole cuts corners in terms of quality because most guns don't get shot enough for problems with them to become apparent. It was very clear that in his own work he considers it very important to take the time to do it right, even if it ends up costing more. He also noted repeatedly that the standard 5" government size 1911 in .45 ACP tends to be the most reliable, and that shortening the length of the slide makes it much more difficult to keep the gun running reliably.
A 6 hour course designed to teach you cleaning, maintainance, diagnosis, performance, enhancements, and more. This class is sure to save anyone owning a 1911 pistol both time, and money. $200.00
He noticed some problems with the improperly fitted extractor on my 1911 and demonstrated the problems it was having holding proper tension even after fiddling with it for a while, and how it was rotating(clocking) slightly. I left it with him and picked it up the next day with a new extractor fitted and tensioned and with some other minor work he'd done after noticing problems during the extractor fitting process. He charged a very reasonable rate for the work and it was obvious that he cared about the students and their learning and making sure they were satisfied with the class and the work. Note: he did not in any way solicit gunsmithing business from the students. A few people, including me, approached him and asked about it.
The negative thing I would say about the class is that most students, including myself, had very little experience detail stripping and reassembling the 1911, so he had to come around to each person and help them out, which took a really long time. It would have been better if he had some assistants to help everybody, or if maybe he showed a video clip on the projector of how to do each step, so that only people who were having serious problems would need help.
I would say the class is well worth your time and money if you're a 1911 aficionado. The 1911 as a serious defensive use gun is best suited for those who are willing to take the time and effort to maintain it properly and check it regularly for problems. See http://vickerstactical.com/faqs-with-larry-vickers/
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Low light training
I got a chance to take a training course with a low light component recently. Here are some thoughts.
If you are using a hand held flashlight, it's really really useful to have a lanyard on it that you can wrap around your wrist, for when you need to reload or clear a malfunction, you can just let the flashlight hang (after turning it off ideally).
I'm not a fan of flashlights where you push the tailcap switch gently for momentary use and click it hard to keep it on. Under stress, you'll pretty much always click it hard, which is undesirable because now you have to click it again to turn it off. This is assuming that your style is to turn the light off most of the time, which may be too complicated for some (possibly including me).
The ideal flashlight switch style would have different motions for momentary and permanent on.
The Crimson Trace Lasergrip on my Dan Wesson PM7 1911 fared pretty well. It held zero over about 500 rounds, and was very useful in fast shooting, especially on multiple targets. In near full darkness it actually also helped light up the target a little, enough to see features on the target. One downside to it, is that it's another switch to manipulate, especially if you want to have discipline about turning it off as soon as the shooting is done. To illustrate:
A target appears. You:
- light it up with the flashlight
- decide to shoot
- activate the laser
- switch off the safety
- pull the trigger several times
When the threat stops (but theoretically there may be other threats there so it might behoove you to turn the light off):
- click the safety on
- deactivate the laser
- deactivate the flashlight
That's a pretty complicated dance to do, and would be simplified with no laser and no safety lever. As always, it's a matter of training and doctrine. e.g., one could train to do this dance proficiently, or one could choose to just not turn the light/laser off or re-engage the safety at this point. When shooting normally I have no problem clicking the safety off and on without even thinking about it, but throwing in the light and laser was causing me to get my wires crossed a little.
The Dan Wesson PM7 did not fare so well. It was having some major malfunctions where there was a horizontal stovepipe and the slide would not move forward or back without a lot of fiddling with it. It's going to be on its way back to Dan Wesson pretty soon. Unlike most other companies, which email you a shipping label, Dan Wesson sends it to you physically, which is kind of weird. I'm hoping they can get to the bottom of it. It's apparently pretty unusual and only reproduced about once every hundred rounds.
If you are using a hand held flashlight, it's really really useful to have a lanyard on it that you can wrap around your wrist, for when you need to reload or clear a malfunction, you can just let the flashlight hang (after turning it off ideally).
I'm not a fan of flashlights where you push the tailcap switch gently for momentary use and click it hard to keep it on. Under stress, you'll pretty much always click it hard, which is undesirable because now you have to click it again to turn it off. This is assuming that your style is to turn the light off most of the time, which may be too complicated for some (possibly including me).
The ideal flashlight switch style would have different motions for momentary and permanent on.
The Crimson Trace Lasergrip on my Dan Wesson PM7 1911 fared pretty well. It held zero over about 500 rounds, and was very useful in fast shooting, especially on multiple targets. In near full darkness it actually also helped light up the target a little, enough to see features on the target. One downside to it, is that it's another switch to manipulate, especially if you want to have discipline about turning it off as soon as the shooting is done. To illustrate:
A target appears. You:
- light it up with the flashlight
- decide to shoot
- activate the laser
- switch off the safety
- pull the trigger several times
When the threat stops (but theoretically there may be other threats there so it might behoove you to turn the light off):
- click the safety on
- deactivate the laser
- deactivate the flashlight
That's a pretty complicated dance to do, and would be simplified with no laser and no safety lever. As always, it's a matter of training and doctrine. e.g., one could train to do this dance proficiently, or one could choose to just not turn the light/laser off or re-engage the safety at this point. When shooting normally I have no problem clicking the safety off and on without even thinking about it, but throwing in the light and laser was causing me to get my wires crossed a little.
The Dan Wesson PM7 did not fare so well. It was having some major malfunctions where there was a horizontal stovepipe and the slide would not move forward or back without a lot of fiddling with it. It's going to be on its way back to Dan Wesson pretty soon. Unlike most other companies, which email you a shipping label, Dan Wesson sends it to you physically, which is kind of weird. I'm hoping they can get to the bottom of it. It's apparently pretty unusual and only reproduced about once every hundred rounds.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
AAR: Louis Awerbuck Yavapai Firearms Academy 2 day shotgun
This is a review for the Shotgun stage 2 class at Reed's Indoor Range in Santa Clara. Note: This is actually the first level shotgun class. The curriculum at classes at Reed's are slightly different from YFA classes at other ranges. See http://reedsindoorrange.com/training.html for more.
The ammo requirement on the paper handout I got when I registered said 200 buck, 50 slugs, but in the actual class, buck was only required for the initial patterning stage(maybe 10 rounds at most), then the rest of the class, birdshot was acceptable. I wish I had known that so I could have brought the much cheaper birdshot. Slings are mandatory for the class.
The first half of the first day was in the classroom where he discussed types of shotguns, accessories, ammo, and the importance of patterning shot for each combination of (barrel, choke, ammo, distance). It's important to know both the group size and shape, since you're responsible for every pellet that goes downrange, and if you miss the target a stray pellet may hit some grandma 100 yards away. On the other hand, for some situations like a riot, you may prefer a wider pattern, but either way you should know ahead of time what the gun and ammo will do. He said he prefers to just use slugs exclusively to avoid worrying about the pattern at different ranges and to avoid needing to mix different kinds of ammo if a longer range shot is needed.
There was a lot of diversity in the class in terms of experience levels, and at least 4 different models of guns, with many different sling systems. Four out of 12 were left handed.
A bunch of 870s, 3 Mossbergs, and 2 Benelli Super 90s, and 1 Benelli Nova.
He went over how to sling up, and how to load and unload and manipulate the safety, which took a while with all the different systems. When loading, he said for most people, it's preferable to just load through the magazine and not through the ejection port. For most people, it's too complicated to use two different ports for loading. Ejection port loading is okay if you know you're empty and you're loading administratively, but while fighting, your bolt should always be forward since you always cycle the bolt after firing. It's easier to just load from the mag tube, and if the chamber happens to be empty, to just quickly rack the slide and fire.
We patterned with buck at a few different ranges and observed the patterns growing. Patterns varied greatly depending on gun and ammo used. Federal buck with flite control wads had a very tight pattern.
We did the rolling thunder drill, where each person fires once, then twice, and so on, up to 5 shots per person. Later we did a different version with the order of firing and the number of shots fired at each step all scrambled up, so communication was important to indicate to the next person when it was their turn.
We did some shooting on negative targets, with a hole cut out of the chest of the target. You'd only hit the paper if you missed. After shooting 1-3 rounds we would reload immediately.
We did shooting at multiple target drills. With a pump-action, it's important to shoot, then as you run the bolt you are already transitioning to the next target, so you're ready to shoot by the time the muzzle gets to the next target. When you finish hitting your last target, swing the muzzle back to cover the first target, because he's the most likely that you need to deal with soon.
We zeroed with slugs. He demonstrated shooting from prone or sitting and we had to choose one.
For precision shots, manipulate the trigger more like handgun/rifle, with squeeze and follow through. In order to follow through properly, don't run the bolt right away on a pump.
Snap shots with slugs.
Slug select drill: mag tube must be downloaded by one. Put slug in the mag tube and rack the slide to put it in the chamber. This may eject a live round from the chamber, which is acceptable.
We did some drills where we had to mix slugs and buck in the mag tube and it quickly became confusing, which is the point; don't do it.
There were a few more drills I think but this is all that I remember.
I thought it was a good class and I learned a lot. He mentioned that in a 2-day class, there isn't enough time to go over everything he'd want to, so he'd rather just cover certain things in depth than to try to cover everything briefly. The class did not involve any shooting while moving, shooting a moving target, transitioning to handgun, or low light shooting.
Some other notes:
All defensive shotguns need, in order of importance:
- a well fitted stock (stock fitting for fighting is not necessarily the same as fitting for trap/skeet)
- a sling
- a white light (SureFire forends are the best)
Proper length of pull is a function of neck and forearm length, not so much overall height.
For most people 12.5 - 13 inch is a good fit. Generally the standard stock as it comes from the manufacturer is too long. With the stock on your bicep in the crook of your arm, the second knuckle from the fingertip should be on the trigger comfortably.
With a well fitted stock you can:
- reach the forend and rack the bolt comfortably
- mount the gun comfortably by raising it up to your face and not deviating your neck at all from its natural position.
- lean forward aggressively to control recoil
- stand more square with both hips facing the target. If you have a more sideways stance with hips facing to the right, then you can't easily swivel to shoot a new target to the left. A sideways stance would also be more uncomfortable when moving around.
An overly long stock may interfere with these things.
Mossberg safety position is good, can keep trigger finger straight as on rifle/pistol, and keep the same firing grip through all manipulations.
A crossbolt safety requires you to keep your trigger finger crooked on the safety which happens to be near the trigger.
But he prefers the 870 anyways, because it's a very reliable, sturdy design that hasn't changed since the 50s or 60s.
Bead vs ghost ring:
He said he generally will leave whatever came on the gun, and has a few of both. He mentioned a soldier who could get a cloverleaf group at 50 yards with slugs and a bead sight, so it is possible to be accurate with a bead, although of course rifle / ghost ring sights are generally better at distance. If you add sights to your barrel, you should always have the gunsmith use silver solder. Don't trust any claims of super space shuttle epoxy, with any glue, that sight will be flying off at some point.
Vang comp:
choke / backboring is useful, porting is not so useful. If tight pattern is desired, that can be accomplished more cheaply by picking the right ammo.
When using a traditional stock (non full pistol grip), always shoot with your thumb of your firing hand on top of the receiver, not wrapped around the receiver. This is to avoid hitting yourself in the face with your thumb.
The ammo requirement on the paper handout I got when I registered said 200 buck, 50 slugs, but in the actual class, buck was only required for the initial patterning stage(maybe 10 rounds at most), then the rest of the class, birdshot was acceptable. I wish I had known that so I could have brought the much cheaper birdshot. Slings are mandatory for the class.
The first half of the first day was in the classroom where he discussed types of shotguns, accessories, ammo, and the importance of patterning shot for each combination of (barrel, choke, ammo, distance). It's important to know both the group size and shape, since you're responsible for every pellet that goes downrange, and if you miss the target a stray pellet may hit some grandma 100 yards away. On the other hand, for some situations like a riot, you may prefer a wider pattern, but either way you should know ahead of time what the gun and ammo will do. He said he prefers to just use slugs exclusively to avoid worrying about the pattern at different ranges and to avoid needing to mix different kinds of ammo if a longer range shot is needed.
There was a lot of diversity in the class in terms of experience levels, and at least 4 different models of guns, with many different sling systems. Four out of 12 were left handed.
A bunch of 870s, 3 Mossbergs, and 2 Benelli Super 90s, and 1 Benelli Nova.
He went over how to sling up, and how to load and unload and manipulate the safety, which took a while with all the different systems. When loading, he said for most people, it's preferable to just load through the magazine and not through the ejection port. For most people, it's too complicated to use two different ports for loading. Ejection port loading is okay if you know you're empty and you're loading administratively, but while fighting, your bolt should always be forward since you always cycle the bolt after firing. It's easier to just load from the mag tube, and if the chamber happens to be empty, to just quickly rack the slide and fire.
We patterned with buck at a few different ranges and observed the patterns growing. Patterns varied greatly depending on gun and ammo used. Federal buck with flite control wads had a very tight pattern.
We did the rolling thunder drill, where each person fires once, then twice, and so on, up to 5 shots per person. Later we did a different version with the order of firing and the number of shots fired at each step all scrambled up, so communication was important to indicate to the next person when it was their turn.
We did some shooting on negative targets, with a hole cut out of the chest of the target. You'd only hit the paper if you missed. After shooting 1-3 rounds we would reload immediately.
We did shooting at multiple target drills. With a pump-action, it's important to shoot, then as you run the bolt you are already transitioning to the next target, so you're ready to shoot by the time the muzzle gets to the next target. When you finish hitting your last target, swing the muzzle back to cover the first target, because he's the most likely that you need to deal with soon.
We zeroed with slugs. He demonstrated shooting from prone or sitting and we had to choose one.
For precision shots, manipulate the trigger more like handgun/rifle, with squeeze and follow through. In order to follow through properly, don't run the bolt right away on a pump.
Snap shots with slugs.
Slug select drill: mag tube must be downloaded by one. Put slug in the mag tube and rack the slide to put it in the chamber. This may eject a live round from the chamber, which is acceptable.
We did some drills where we had to mix slugs and buck in the mag tube and it quickly became confusing, which is the point; don't do it.
There were a few more drills I think but this is all that I remember.
I thought it was a good class and I learned a lot. He mentioned that in a 2-day class, there isn't enough time to go over everything he'd want to, so he'd rather just cover certain things in depth than to try to cover everything briefly. The class did not involve any shooting while moving, shooting a moving target, transitioning to handgun, or low light shooting.
Some other notes:
All defensive shotguns need, in order of importance:
- a well fitted stock (stock fitting for fighting is not necessarily the same as fitting for trap/skeet)
- a sling
- a white light (SureFire forends are the best)
Proper length of pull is a function of neck and forearm length, not so much overall height.
For most people 12.5 - 13 inch is a good fit. Generally the standard stock as it comes from the manufacturer is too long. With the stock on your bicep in the crook of your arm, the second knuckle from the fingertip should be on the trigger comfortably.
With a well fitted stock you can:
- reach the forend and rack the bolt comfortably
- mount the gun comfortably by raising it up to your face and not deviating your neck at all from its natural position.
- lean forward aggressively to control recoil
- stand more square with both hips facing the target. If you have a more sideways stance with hips facing to the right, then you can't easily swivel to shoot a new target to the left. A sideways stance would also be more uncomfortable when moving around.
An overly long stock may interfere with these things.
Mossberg safety position is good, can keep trigger finger straight as on rifle/pistol, and keep the same firing grip through all manipulations.
A crossbolt safety requires you to keep your trigger finger crooked on the safety which happens to be near the trigger.
But he prefers the 870 anyways, because it's a very reliable, sturdy design that hasn't changed since the 50s or 60s.
Bead vs ghost ring:
He said he generally will leave whatever came on the gun, and has a few of both. He mentioned a soldier who could get a cloverleaf group at 50 yards with slugs and a bead sight, so it is possible to be accurate with a bead, although of course rifle / ghost ring sights are generally better at distance. If you add sights to your barrel, you should always have the gunsmith use silver solder. Don't trust any claims of super space shuttle epoxy, with any glue, that sight will be flying off at some point.
Vang comp:
choke / backboring is useful, porting is not so useful. If tight pattern is desired, that can be accomplished more cheaply by picking the right ammo.
When using a traditional stock (non full pistol grip), always shoot with your thumb of your firing hand on top of the receiver, not wrapped around the receiver. This is to avoid hitting yourself in the face with your thumb.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
AAR: LMS Defense one day carbine clinic
See
http://www.lmsdefense.com/lms/home/coursesbycategory/8
for more.
This review is for LMS Defense's one day carbine clinic which was taught by Todd Nielsen and took place at the Metcalf range in San Jose.
This course is intended as a basic introduction to carbine shooting.
We spent a lot of time zeroing the carbines, with both iron sights and optics. He also covered:
- field stripping and cleaning an AR-15 (good tip: turn your charging handle upside down and use it as a tray to hold all the other little pieces that come out of the bolt carrier group)
- speed and tactical reloads,
- shooting and basic marksmanship while prone, kneeling, and standing,
- shooting up close and compensating for sight over bore offset.
- shooting while moving forward
- failure to stop drill; transitioning from shooting at the body to the head or pelvis
It was a good introductory class and I intend to try the Carbine 1 2-day course if I get a chance.
http://www.lmsdefense.com/lms/home/coursesbycategory/8
for more.
This review is for LMS Defense's one day carbine clinic which was taught by Todd Nielsen and took place at the Metcalf range in San Jose.
This course is intended as a basic introduction to carbine shooting.
We spent a lot of time zeroing the carbines, with both iron sights and optics. He also covered:
- field stripping and cleaning an AR-15 (good tip: turn your charging handle upside down and use it as a tray to hold all the other little pieces that come out of the bolt carrier group)
- speed and tactical reloads,
- shooting and basic marksmanship while prone, kneeling, and standing,
- shooting up close and compensating for sight over bore offset.
- shooting while moving forward
- failure to stop drill; transitioning from shooting at the body to the head or pelvis
It was a good introductory class and I intend to try the Carbine 1 2-day course if I get a chance.
AAR: 2 day defensive pistol by Brian Normandy at Jackson Arms
See
http://jacksonarms.com/Classes.htm
for more.
This is a review of the 2 day pistol class at Jackson Arms in South San Francisco, CA.
The details aren't on the website but you can call the range for details, they have a variety of defensive shooting classes from time to time.
This course assumes you already know how to operate your weapon and that you know the basics of marksmanship. Marksmanship wasn't really covered at all. The course covered a wide variety of topics, including:
- drawing from the holster(you'd better yell Stop!) and reholstering(always reload very slowly in case you need to use the gun again for some reason, and also to prevent possible unintentional discharges).
- after action drill in which you sidestep, scan the area and check your six, and reholster slowly.
- legal issues related to shooting someone in self defense, taught by Brian's brother Alan, who is a LEO.
- shooting from very close contact range
- shooting around a barricade, slicing the pie and rolling out
- night shooting with a flash light
- clearing malfunctions (and also notably what all the possible causes for each malfunction are, in order to better understand the weapon and how each cause is fixed).
- shooting while moving in a V-pattern
- shooting multiple targets quickly
- moving through hallways/doorways
- communication while shooting (for example asking for cover while reloading, acknowledging the request, and then signaling that you're ready)
- shooting while kneeling and prone
- Zombie Apocalypse drill (you'll have to take the class to find out about that one)
I found it to be a very interesting and worthwhile course.
http://jacksonarms.com/Classes.htm
for more.
This is a review of the 2 day pistol class at Jackson Arms in South San Francisco, CA.
The details aren't on the website but you can call the range for details, they have a variety of defensive shooting classes from time to time.
This course assumes you already know how to operate your weapon and that you know the basics of marksmanship. Marksmanship wasn't really covered at all. The course covered a wide variety of topics, including:
- drawing from the holster(you'd better yell Stop!) and reholstering(always reload very slowly in case you need to use the gun again for some reason, and also to prevent possible unintentional discharges).
- after action drill in which you sidestep, scan the area and check your six, and reholster slowly.
- legal issues related to shooting someone in self defense, taught by Brian's brother Alan, who is a LEO.
- shooting from very close contact range
- shooting around a barricade, slicing the pie and rolling out
- night shooting with a flash light
- clearing malfunctions (and also notably what all the possible causes for each malfunction are, in order to better understand the weapon and how each cause is fixed).
- shooting while moving in a V-pattern
- shooting multiple targets quickly
- moving through hallways/doorways
- communication while shooting (for example asking for cover while reloading, acknowledging the request, and then signaling that you're ready)
- shooting while kneeling and prone
- Zombie Apocalypse drill (you'll have to take the class to find out about that one)
I found it to be a very interesting and worthwhile course.
AAR: Louis Awerbuck Yavapai Firearms Academy stage 1 and 2
See
http://www.reedsindoorrange.com/training.html
for more.
Louis Awerbuck is a nationally known firearms instructor who has been teaching for many years, including at Gunsite.
I took both the stage 1 and 2 classes at Reed's indoor range in Santa Clara CA. Note: the curriculum for YFA handgun stage 1 and 2 are slightly different at Reed's than at other facilities.
Both classes require that you already own a firearm and a holster and mag pouch, and that you're familiar with its basic operation. Note: for both classes you should either bring a lunch or have a plan to go somewhere in Santa Clara for lunch. There is a one hour lunch break in the middle of the day.
The stage 1 one-day class focused mostly on marksmanship, with Awerbuck going into deep detail in the classroom, then diagnosing everybody's problems on the range. His ability to see and correct people's mistakes is uncanny. Near the end of the class, he had everybody shoot at a small ammo box from about 15 yards away, and everybody hit it or almost hit it within 2 shots. One fundamental of shooting that he focuses on a lot that many people had a problem with is follow through and trigger reset. When you shoot, you should pull the trigger fully to the rear and hold it there for a moment, and then slowly let it out until it retreats and no further, while keeping the sights aligned on target. When people shoot and then take their finger off the trigger quickly, it can misalign the sights even though the bullet has no fully left the barrel. This doesn't get emphasized enough by most instructors. He went over safety, drawing from a holster and tactical reloads, but otherwise it was not really a 'tactical' or defensive course. The description on Reed's site mentions coverage of handgun and use of force laws, but there wasn't really any of that.
The stage 2 class started with a review of safety and asking if anyone was having any shooting problems. On the range, we warmed up with a review of the things that were covered in the first class until everyone was shooting satisfactorily. Once that was done, they set up 3 dimensional curved paper targets, which changes the game somewhat. For example, if the target is standing somewhat sideways to you, you don't want to shoot in the middle of the chest (between his nipples) because that will not damage as much tissue as hitting somewhere on the side of his body that's closest to you. So in other words as the target turns, you need to hit at the center of the target relative to you, and not keep aiming at the same spot on the target. The targets were also tilted from 45 to 90 degrees sideways, which again presented challenges in terms of deciding where to shoot on the target.
Later, shooting on the move was added, including moving sideways and forward and back. Movement is important both to help make yourself harder to hit, and also to gain the best angle to hit the target with a stopping hit.
Finally, no-shoot targets were added. Now movement was even more important in order to find the right angle to hit the target without hitting the no-shoot target, which could be in front of or behind the target.
At the end there was a very cool drill while Awerbuck set up a set of mannequins that were moving on pulleys and you were supposed to head shot one of them without hitting the others. Everybody was able to do it within 2 or 3 shots, and many within 1 shot.
During the class he also covered tactical reloads, speed reloads, shooting from kneeling and clearing malfunctions.
Note: for both classes, students were allowed to pick up the brass off the range at the end of the class, which may be useful to know if you reload. It would definitely also be useful to bring brass sorting trays since a lot of different calibers were being shot.
After completing the stage 2 course, you get a card which entitles you to shoot on the right hand side range at Reed's, which includes the privilege to shoot from the holster and to rapid fire. I think you have to stay 'current' which means shooting there at least once a month.
Both classes were well worth while, and I would say especially the stage 1 is very worthwhile if you have any problems with your shooting. The stage 2 was very good, but just make sure you understand what you're getting, which is an intermediate level shooting class. Again I felt like there wasn't so much of defensive, gunfighting material. I would say actually from the perspective of all-around defensive firearms training, the 2-day pistol class taught by Brian Normandy at Jackson Arms was a lot more well rounded.
http://www.reedsindoorrange.com/training.html
for more.
Louis Awerbuck is a nationally known firearms instructor who has been teaching for many years, including at Gunsite.
I took both the stage 1 and 2 classes at Reed's indoor range in Santa Clara CA. Note: the curriculum for YFA handgun stage 1 and 2 are slightly different at Reed's than at other facilities.
Both classes require that you already own a firearm and a holster and mag pouch, and that you're familiar with its basic operation. Note: for both classes you should either bring a lunch or have a plan to go somewhere in Santa Clara for lunch. There is a one hour lunch break in the middle of the day.
The stage 1 one-day class focused mostly on marksmanship, with Awerbuck going into deep detail in the classroom, then diagnosing everybody's problems on the range. His ability to see and correct people's mistakes is uncanny. Near the end of the class, he had everybody shoot at a small ammo box from about 15 yards away, and everybody hit it or almost hit it within 2 shots. One fundamental of shooting that he focuses on a lot that many people had a problem with is follow through and trigger reset. When you shoot, you should pull the trigger fully to the rear and hold it there for a moment, and then slowly let it out until it retreats and no further, while keeping the sights aligned on target. When people shoot and then take their finger off the trigger quickly, it can misalign the sights even though the bullet has no fully left the barrel. This doesn't get emphasized enough by most instructors. He went over safety, drawing from a holster and tactical reloads, but otherwise it was not really a 'tactical' or defensive course. The description on Reed's site mentions coverage of handgun and use of force laws, but there wasn't really any of that.
The stage 2 class started with a review of safety and asking if anyone was having any shooting problems. On the range, we warmed up with a review of the things that were covered in the first class until everyone was shooting satisfactorily. Once that was done, they set up 3 dimensional curved paper targets, which changes the game somewhat. For example, if the target is standing somewhat sideways to you, you don't want to shoot in the middle of the chest (between his nipples) because that will not damage as much tissue as hitting somewhere on the side of his body that's closest to you. So in other words as the target turns, you need to hit at the center of the target relative to you, and not keep aiming at the same spot on the target. The targets were also tilted from 45 to 90 degrees sideways, which again presented challenges in terms of deciding where to shoot on the target.
Later, shooting on the move was added, including moving sideways and forward and back. Movement is important both to help make yourself harder to hit, and also to gain the best angle to hit the target with a stopping hit.
Finally, no-shoot targets were added. Now movement was even more important in order to find the right angle to hit the target without hitting the no-shoot target, which could be in front of or behind the target.
At the end there was a very cool drill while Awerbuck set up a set of mannequins that were moving on pulleys and you were supposed to head shot one of them without hitting the others. Everybody was able to do it within 2 or 3 shots, and many within 1 shot.
During the class he also covered tactical reloads, speed reloads, shooting from kneeling and clearing malfunctions.
Note: for both classes, students were allowed to pick up the brass off the range at the end of the class, which may be useful to know if you reload. It would definitely also be useful to bring brass sorting trays since a lot of different calibers were being shot.
After completing the stage 2 course, you get a card which entitles you to shoot on the right hand side range at Reed's, which includes the privilege to shoot from the holster and to rapid fire. I think you have to stay 'current' which means shooting there at least once a month.
Both classes were well worth while, and I would say especially the stage 1 is very worthwhile if you have any problems with your shooting. The stage 2 was very good, but just make sure you understand what you're getting, which is an intermediate level shooting class. Again I felt like there wasn't so much of defensive, gunfighting material. I would say actually from the perspective of all-around defensive firearms training, the 2-day pistol class taught by Brian Normandy at Jackson Arms was a lot more well rounded.
AAR: Coyote Valley Clays "Experience Package"
See
http://www.coyoteclays.com/Instruction.htm for more details.
Coyote Valley sporting clays in Morgan Hill CA has a very nice sporting clays facility, and I believe it's the only sporting clays facility in the Bay Area. (Sporting Clays refers to a specific sport, as opposed to trap or skeet).
The experience package is a relatively inexpensive package where if you get a group of 3 or more people, you can get one instructor per 5 people, 50 targets, 50 rounds of ammo, rental of a shotgun, and eye and ear protection. It's a good way to get introduced to sporting clays. You have to book it at least a week in advance, and I found that Saturdays are often unavailable, with Sundays and weekdays being available pretty reliably.
I did the experience package twice, with two different instructors. Both times, the instructor got there late. The instructors went briefly over safety and the operation of the shotgun. They explained basically how to shoot the clays and what to look for, but I felt that they were not really 'instructors' so much as shooters who did not necessarily have a lot of experience teaching how to do it in a detailed way or diagnosing problems. The first time I went, we used a 20 gauge over/under, and the second time we used a 12 gauge over/under. They were selected by the instructor, so I guess it's up to the instructor's preference.
At each station, they explained the trajectory of the clays and the basic strategy for hitting them, and we shot 10 rounds at each station, for 5 stations total. Since the facility has 16 stations, you only get to hit 5 out of the 16, which is just enough to get a taste of it.
I feel like the instructors were not that good, but they were certainly adequate for just giving a basic idea of how it works and having a fun afternoon shooting. I intend to try their full day seminar some time in the future.
http://www.coyoteclays.com/Instruction.htm for more details.
Coyote Valley sporting clays in Morgan Hill CA has a very nice sporting clays facility, and I believe it's the only sporting clays facility in the Bay Area. (Sporting Clays refers to a specific sport, as opposed to trap or skeet).
The experience package is a relatively inexpensive package where if you get a group of 3 or more people, you can get one instructor per 5 people, 50 targets, 50 rounds of ammo, rental of a shotgun, and eye and ear protection. It's a good way to get introduced to sporting clays. You have to book it at least a week in advance, and I found that Saturdays are often unavailable, with Sundays and weekdays being available pretty reliably.
I did the experience package twice, with two different instructors. Both times, the instructor got there late. The instructors went briefly over safety and the operation of the shotgun. They explained basically how to shoot the clays and what to look for, but I felt that they were not really 'instructors' so much as shooters who did not necessarily have a lot of experience teaching how to do it in a detailed way or diagnosing problems. The first time I went, we used a 20 gauge over/under, and the second time we used a 12 gauge over/under. They were selected by the instructor, so I guess it's up to the instructor's preference.
At each station, they explained the trajectory of the clays and the basic strategy for hitting them, and we shot 10 rounds at each station, for 5 stations total. Since the facility has 16 stations, you only get to hit 5 out of the 16, which is just enough to get a taste of it.
I feel like the instructors were not that good, but they were certainly adequate for just giving a basic idea of how it works and having a fun afternoon shooting. I intend to try their full day seminar some time in the future.
AAR: Bill Tidwell NRA pistol and shotgun first steps classes
The first 2 firearms classes I ever took were NRA first steps pistol and NRA first steps shotgun taught by Bill Tidwell at Reed's Indoor Range in Santa Clara, CA.
See
http://train2besafe.com/courseschedule.html
and
http://www.reedsindoorrange.com/training.html
for more.
Both were pretty good. Both assume no prior knowledge, and all gear such as eye/ear protection, guns and ammo are provided. In both classes, they went over safety, basics of marksmanship (stance, grip, sight alignment and sight picture, trigger control, etc.)
In the pistol class they covered the operation of semi-auto pistols and revolvers. On the second night of class there was live fire with Ruger MKIIIs and Smith and Wesson .22LR revolvers. On the second night there was also the opportunity to take the California Handgun Safety Certificate test for an additional $25.
I highly recommend taking the optional third night class for the pistol class. In that class you get a chance to shoot a wide variety of handguns in different calibers. I vaguely recall at least:
Revolver in .38 special
.40 S&W Beretta 92
9mm Glock (I think model 19)
Walther PPK in .380 ACP
.45 ACP 1911
revolver in .44 Magnum
All the fundamentals of shooting were taught correctly, however I was having some problems with my trigger control which they were unable to fix(and which were later fixed in a Louis Awerbuck stage 1 handgun class which I'll review later). So I would say that Bill and his helpers may not necessarily have the best ability to diagnose and correct shooting errors.
In the shotgun class we used pump action, semi-auto, over-under, side-by-side, and single shot break open shotguns, with buckshot, slugs, and mostly birdshot. There were 12 and 20 gauge shotguns. Due to the fact that I took the class at Reed's indoor range, it was all shooting at stationary paper targets, which doesn't help you much if you want to shoot flying clays, but is certainly useful for a basic understanding of operating a shotgun for home defense. They do teach the same course in Livermore at a range with clays. By the way, also check out Coyote Valley Sporting Clays if you want to try clay shooting.
Overall both classes were well worth the time and money, and a great way to try out shooting without needing to own any guns or shooting gear. They satisfactorily answered any questions about choosing and buying guns, and legal issues, and covered safely storing and maintaining guns.
See
http://train2besafe.com/courseschedule.html
and
http://www.reedsindoorrange.com/training.html
for more.
Both were pretty good. Both assume no prior knowledge, and all gear such as eye/ear protection, guns and ammo are provided. In both classes, they went over safety, basics of marksmanship (stance, grip, sight alignment and sight picture, trigger control, etc.)
In the pistol class they covered the operation of semi-auto pistols and revolvers. On the second night of class there was live fire with Ruger MKIIIs and Smith and Wesson .22LR revolvers. On the second night there was also the opportunity to take the California Handgun Safety Certificate test for an additional $25.
I highly recommend taking the optional third night class for the pistol class. In that class you get a chance to shoot a wide variety of handguns in different calibers. I vaguely recall at least:
Revolver in .38 special
.40 S&W Beretta 92
9mm Glock (I think model 19)
Walther PPK in .380 ACP
.45 ACP 1911
revolver in .44 Magnum
All the fundamentals of shooting were taught correctly, however I was having some problems with my trigger control which they were unable to fix(and which were later fixed in a Louis Awerbuck stage 1 handgun class which I'll review later). So I would say that Bill and his helpers may not necessarily have the best ability to diagnose and correct shooting errors.
In the shotgun class we used pump action, semi-auto, over-under, side-by-side, and single shot break open shotguns, with buckshot, slugs, and mostly birdshot. There were 12 and 20 gauge shotguns. Due to the fact that I took the class at Reed's indoor range, it was all shooting at stationary paper targets, which doesn't help you much if you want to shoot flying clays, but is certainly useful for a basic understanding of operating a shotgun for home defense. They do teach the same course in Livermore at a range with clays. By the way, also check out Coyote Valley Sporting Clays if you want to try clay shooting.
Overall both classes were well worth the time and money, and a great way to try out shooting without needing to own any guns or shooting gear. They satisfactorily answered any questions about choosing and buying guns, and legal issues, and covered safely storing and maintaining guns.
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