This class was conducted at Frank Proctor’s great facility in Eastaboga, AL. WOTG
For this class Kyle brought Bill Rapier from American Tactical Shooting Instruction. Bill is recently retired after twenty years in the Navy, where his duty assignments included several years at SEAL Team 3 and over 14 years at Naval Special Warfare Development Group. Positions held include assaulter, breacher, sniper, team leader, troop chief and military working dog department senior enlisted adviser. Bill and Kyle went through BUDS together, have remained friends and both have a passion for shooting. While a diversion from the norm it was an added bonus for us to have both him and Kyle. Bill will be expanding his current training schedule and is based out of Northern Idaho. http://www.amtacshooting.com/home/index
Day one started with introductions, more about Kyle and Bill’s backgrounds, what they have coming up next and the many good things they’ll be offering to the civilian market. The class had a great cross-section of guys. 14 to be exact. Kyle has set that as the limit for his courses. The class was made up of a few attending their first course, a few LE, and some current duty MIL. A third of us being repeat students.
Kyle had us all individually talk about our guns, the self-rifle setup. Specifically, could we. What where the specs, why did we use it, what purpose did it serve. Not to be critical but to see where we were as a group with understanding our individual set up for our guns. A lot of those things changed over two days for some. Another key reason for this was weather. It was raining and that affects all of it. Slings, optics, clothing, eye pro, etc. Then Kyle and Bill related to their own set ups and the how’s and whys. Barrels, comps/breaks, suppressors, slings, triggers, stocks, magazines, ammo. All of it. A lot of questions and good information came from that with this group. They both made it clear on day one that their way is not the “right “way but more to a point how they do it based on their experiences. Fundamentals don’t change but other things need to be fluid based on situation.
We all started at 100 and zeroed in two groups of 7 with Bill and Kyle. Getting in and out of prone, all the admin involved with loading and unloading all covered. Taking advantage of the weather we all went on optics and spent a good amount of time with irons. Most had irons or BUIS but not everyone had them zeroed or used them. The importance of proficiency with irons can’t be overstated. Things fall off guns, batteries die, and stuff fails, and fogs up. We dedicated a bit of time to it. We then moved to 50 and 200 to see the actual results at these ranges with a 100 yard zero. Prone, sitting, kneeling, all covered at length. I choose a 100 yard zero and know my holds from 3 to 300. It always sparks debate and discussion but it’s personal choice at the end of the day. With a 100 yard zero 50% of the class hit center at 200yards and most at 50 yards. Some may view day one as simply zeroing the gun and calling it a day. Not the case. At the end of the day everyone was on the same line with what their individual gun would do at those ranges, specifically, accurately, and with both sighting systems.
The second day we went back to 100 and started again after everyone had adjusted their selves from the previous day. After positional shooting at distance we all convened on the 25 and continued to cover a lot. I won’t run through exact specifics. One needs to attend a course for that because it’s a lot of good information. As mentioned before the instruction and presentation of material will change based on the class, weather, needs of the group, weather, location. Kyle is always going to make them better and evolve. Another reason people keep coming back.
Shooting from 25 to 7 and knowing your holds with optics and irons. Low and high ready positions were covered at length. How each is used, and shooting from both. We also did timed shooting, on the move, individual stations with Kyle and Bill providing individual attention to all constantly. Kyle and Bill also added their individual experiences with moving with a gun. Not separated by much but they both had nuances to share from their past and current work. We covered malfunction clearing and a better way to clear the bullet over bolt than needing to bust a stock. This all took up a good block of time and ammunition. Everyone got to burn good reps and it was all made better by the good investment of time on fundamentals the previous day. Latter part of the day was focused on barricades and distance. We had steel at 80, 100, 200, and 300. Optics and irons discussed again and most used both. With barricade work we went into approach, positions, exposure, body positon, and angles.
The first course I took with KD was in the summer of 07. One thing Kyle has clearly done over the last 7 years is evolve. Not only as an instructor and teacher but evolved the curriculum as well. In recent years he’s offered Blade and Combative, CC Pistol, Lead Climber, Scoped Rifle course and some other specialized offerings. He stays relevant with his own personal training and methods as a student of his profession and also integrates that into what he offers. He also supports and is supported by some special people. Hit his page for that info.
-C
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