This past Sunday I completed my first formal rifle course, Vickers Basic Carbine in Carthage, NC. Vickers is a first-rate instructor and I learned some excellent information and tips from him. A bit of background...I'm not new to the shooting scene and compete locally in pistol/3-gun matches and recreational shooting, but I'm always looking for ways to improve my firearm handling skills. As a self-taught shooter, I've had to overcome some training issues that I had developed when teaching myself how to shoot. For several years I shot pistol/rifle/shotgun right handed, with my left eye closed. Turns out, I'm cross-eye dominant and no one told me to shoot with your dominant eye and train around the dominant hand issue. So last year, I started running my pistol right handed with my head canted to the right so my left eye lines up behind the sights (and I was able to keep my right eye open). Major epiphany moment! So this year I vowed to transition shooting shotgun and rifle left-handed to take advantage of my left-eye dominance and train myself to get competent with my non-dominant side. The Basic Vickers course was my first step in easing into this transition. Some things I learned from my first rifle class:
1.) It pays to have a proper zero ahead of time. I was the only shooter in the class who did not have to adjust/re-zero. While this is a basic class and I realize there were new shooters who were unfamiliar with the zeroing technique (Vickers prefers a 100M zero), having the proper zero allowed me to be good-to-go in 5 shots. It took the majority of the class between 20-30 shots and an hour and a half to get zeroed. Walking back and forth and pasting targets takes up valuable class time, especially on a one-day class.
2.) I was unsure of the best way to carry spare mags on my person, and borrowed a buddy's HSGI Costa drop-leg holster to use in order to find out what I like. There are some complications when trying to run a pistol and rifle mags on the same side, and I think the HSGI setup is a good compromise for me. Vickers agreed, and unless I run my pistol AIWB whenever I'm running my rifle, the mags will be ran in a drop-leg.
3.) I really need to work on my sitting and kneeling shooting positions. Shooting from my non-dominant side was initially frustrating because my wobble zone was quite large. Continued training will overcome this, and I look forward to regularly incorporating shooting from kneeling and some sitting positions into regular aspects of my training.
4.) I also really need to work on my trigger control. I threw some shots because I was smashing the trigger when the sights wobbled over the center of the target. Dry firing will now be a regular practice as well. Increased trigger control with my non-dominant hand as a result of running rifle/shotgun left handed from now on will also help me manipulate my pistol better when shooting with my support hand, which is a bonus.
5.) I quickly learned that my gear setup wasn't ideal. Vickers gave me a helpful hint on how he runs his sling setup and his setup is 100x better than how I was running mine. This minor adjustment totally transformed the way I use my 2 point sling and was extremely beneficial.
6.) Bring good ammo to class and keep your boom-stick well lubed. There were some students that had ammunition problems (some related to not enough lube as well). I ran XM855 throughout the class and my rifle was well-lubed. Some students re-lubed after lunch but I personally did not find this was necessary on my rifle as the BCG was still adequately wet.
7.) Variable scopes are HEAVY when you run them all day and aren't very forgiving in odd positions (such as sitting). While the capability of these optics are nice (1-6x in my case), this class experience has changed my view on them. I had been trying to build a "do-it-all" rifle for everything from local 3-gun matches to long range plinking to HD and training classes. I had some eye-relief issues with my setup and struggled to find the reticle in some drills (of course under the crunch of the timer as well). After the class ended, I handled several students lightweight setups that featured T1's and fixed/flip-up irons. It felt like I was holding a toy gun by comparison. My setup had at least a good pound and a quarter over most rifles in the class, and a pound and a half compared to a few others. Vickers personal gun is exceptionally light for a 14.5" middy and I'm now looking into selling the 1-6x and switching to fixed irons and a T1. In all reality, while a variable optic is nice, to me (now) a carbine is a sub-250M gun. If I'm engaging anything further than that, I want a different caliber and platform than 5.56 regardless.
8.) Perhaps the most important thing I learned is that I need more training, and I will be seeking more in the future. I'll be incorporating various drills that I've read about on this site and others, along with regular dry fire practice and reloading practice. The gear setup changes and weapons manipulation changes that I learned in this class were invaluable and well worth the price of admission.
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