CSAT Tactical Rifle Course AAR
I attended the Tactical Rifle Course at the CSAT Range in Nacagdoches TX, on 10-11 April 2010.
Instruction: The Class was taught by Paul Howe and a small cadre of instructors. Most of the instructors were students of the 6-day Rifle Instructors course taught earlier that week. The student/instructor ration was 2:1 with additional instructors and support personnel on site. Each lesson was introduced and demonstrated by either Paul or one of the student instructors. The quality of the student instructors was outstanding and there was little difference what was being put out from instructor to instructor helping to keep the training uniform. Paul oversaw the entire course and was very active on the ground level engaging the students during and between drills. Training started at 0800 each day and lasted until approximately 1700 with a 1 hour lunch break.
Class Organization and Topics Covered: Day 1 – Zero, Prone, Kneeling, Standing, Failure Drills, Target Transition Drills. Day 2 – 200/300 Meter Engagements, Shooting from Cover, Surgical Shooting “hostage drills”, and Weapons Maintenance. The skills learned culminated in two capstone exercises: a “run and gun” course called the “scrambler” where targets were engaged between 25 yards and 240 yards while moving between various positions, and a “Standards” test where a series of drills were shot for score to give each student a base from which to measure progress. Paul also gave a brief “room clearing” demonstration in one of the ranges “kill houses” and element of home/active shooter preparation were discussed, this also served as an “infomercial” for his upcoming Home Defense classes. On day one, students were paired with a battle buddy and an instructor. The same partner and instructor were kept throughout the two days. Round count at the end of the course was right around 600 rounds. The course flier called for 700 rounds of rifle ammunition as well as 50 rounds of pistol ammunition. While the round count was not as high as some other classes might be, there were several exercises that heated up the rifle enough that you could smell and feel it. While many brought a secondary weapon, the focus was on the use of the rifle and most did not shoot their pistols. Weapon transitions were not covered. The course also included a CD which included all the course drills and standards as well a bundle of articles about tactics, AR maintenance, mindset, and training which we could help to continue our training at home.
Facilities: The CSAT range is located in Nacagdoches TX which is about 2.5 hours North of Houston. The terrain is wooded with rolling hills. The range complex consists of several ranges, including rifle, pistol, and long range rifle. Additionally, there are “kill houses” as well as ranges to practice vehicle tactics. The range is located about 10 minutes drive from several hotels and restaurants making access very easy. Additionally, lodging is available in a barracks on site. Weather for the class was awesome with temps in the 70s-80s and humidity more than tolerable.
Philosophy of Doctrine: The philosophy of doctrine behind Paul’s instruction can be best summed up as “fundamentals.” Paul teaches the basics first and keeps the drills simple. Accuracy is stressed over speed. While the vast majority of the course is focused on marksmanship, Paul does discuss tactics as they pertain to shooting from cover as well as movement. Paul’s general guidance in this matter is that if you have the drop on the adversary, do what you need to get a stable shooting position and engage, if the adversary has the drop on you, your first concern is finding cover and not standing “flat footed” and engaging. This philosophy is battle proven. Paul also advocates a 100 yard zero as he feels it makes you a better shooter, makes knowing hold over easier, and allows the shooter to have a good “battle sight” zero out to the effective range of a typical carbine.
Equipment: I attended the course with my Smith M&P 15A and Trijicon Tripower. Other than using Magpul MOE furniture and a V-Tac sling, my rifle was run slick. All other students were running M4 variants as well. I know of two rifles went down during the course – both high dollar piston guns. One other gun had issues, a newly put together rifle of unknown origin, this shooter also used a Tri-Power which apparently had issues but I don’t know what they were. I found it interesting to note that 2 high dollar systems went down while the Bushmasters and DPMS rifles ran without issue. My rifle ran without any issue the duration of the class only requiring a heavy coating of CLP on the BGC at the end of day 1. I used an assortment of USGI magazines upgraded with MagPul followers and some 1990s Canadian thermold magazines – there were no issues with either although the upgraded USGI mags did inspire the most confidence. The MOE furniture worked typical MagPul well and the fore end was able to keep my hand cool throughout all of the courses of fire. I was very happy with the performance of my Tripower optic which was frankly one of my major concerns as I was not fully confident in the optic. I have had issues on my local range with washout when shooting from a dark enclosed area into a bright background. As most of the shooting was conducted in the open, the fiber optic lamp provided more than adequate reticle illumination and I never needed to use battery power during the course. The chevron reticle provided a precise point of aim for the zero and precision shooting, but was big enough to allow for quick acquisition. The LaRue mount provided me an excellent co-witness which minimized LOS over bore issues where important in the surgical shooting portion of the training. I could write a lot more about the Tripower but won’t, suffice say that it proved to good optic for the course and is an adequate optic for most conditions. I equipped my rifle with a Yankee Hill muzzle brake early on in order to allow me to shoot it as a “non-featured” rifle in Kalifornia. This was really my first chance to try the brake under rapid fire type shooting and it did seem to help stabilize the muzzle. I know a lot of factors are going into it here including stance, body mass, and brake, but I was very pleased and surprised with how quickly I was able to get back on target while firing from the standing position. The sling used was a Viking Tactics 2-point. It worked well during the course although there was not a lot of shoulder transitioning. Other than the MagPul furniture, muzzle brake, and Optic, I ran my rifle “slick.” This helped me to realize how I use the rifle and where the best locations for mounting lights and other accessories would be.
Personal Performance: I was overall happy with my performance during the course. This was my first rifle instruction since the military and was a very enjoyable experience. While the course was a little bit more basic that I expected it to be, my performance showed me that I needed to concentrate on fundamentals as there were several areas where I was weak. The “scrambler” also served to show me that my cardio is not anywhere near where it should be. Although basic, the low student to instructor ratio allowed the instructors to teach to the level of the students. As a result, weak students did not hold the main body of the group back and very strong students were shown more advanced techniques. Some lessons were learned the “hard way” including when my magazine fell out of my rifle in front of everyone because I did not ensure it was properly seated, but overall the learning environment was laid back, low keyed, and conducive to learning.
Conclusions: This course was easily the best rifle instruction that I have ever received. My rifle shooting had reached a plateau and this course and the drills learned will provide me new direction and focus in my efforts to become a better and well rounded shooter. It was obvious that the time (and rounds) that I have spent the past few years shooting from a bench have been non-productive at best and more than likely counter-productive to my shooting. While it might not always be as comfortable, the world of a tactically oriented shooter does not include a nice stable bench, sand bags, and a chair. It was also made obvious that a timer is a necessary piece of kit to induce some “timer stress” and measure progress. This course should provide benefit to all shooters regardless of skill levels and I would have no problem recommending the course to a person just starting out in the world of tactically oriented shooting. Some shooters had almost no experience with an AR type rifle while others were military, former military, leo, or avid rifle shooters. While this was my first such course, my “battle buddy” has taken several courses in the last few years including Pat Rogers and Gunsite. He left the CSAT course with a very high opinion of the instruction and lessons learned. The course was a pleasure, the instruction was excellent and Paul Howe was easy to engage in conversation and took a very active part in the training (something I was not really expecting), I am certainly looking forward to my next course at CSAT as well as other training opportunities.
Key Lessons Learned:
1) Physical Conditioning – You will never reach your true potential as a shooter unless you are in good physical shape. From just holding a position to running and gunning, if you are fighting, hunting, or just competing fatigued your already behind the power curve.
2) Always ensure your magazine is seated – I have been trained to do it, but never really forced myself to do it. I hope my embarrassment has taught me a life lesson the easy way.
3) Optics are Optional – Optics are cool and there are all sorts of cool guy points you can have for having the best optics, but I saw no correlation between optics and ability. In short a good shooter with iron sights will out shoot a poor shooter with the latest gadgetry known to man.
4) Bench Shooting is a Waste of Time – There really is no reason for me to waste any time shooting from a bench. I will never find a bench in a self defense or hunting scenario. At best a bench is just a crutch and a way to fool ourselves into thinking we are a better shot than we actually are.
5) When Stressed, I Pull Shots Left – Not 100% sure why at this point, it is likely that it may be due to my pistol grip and how I index the trigger. At least I know this now and can go forward to solve this issue.
6) Fundamentals are King – Actually, I already knew this but this course certainly provided me with a reminder of this fact.
7) One technique to increase the precision of Red Dot sights is to zero them using the very top of the dot. It allows for a more precise point of am than simply superimposing the dot over the target but still will allow your zero to be accurate enough when time allows only for a quick sight picture. Although my Trijicon reticle precluded me from using this technique in the class, it is something that I can use back home with my red-dot equipped rifles.
8) Gun People are Good People – Again something I already knew, but it was nice to meet people from all walks of life: Military, LEO, Aviation, as well as IT (seemed to be a lot of IT folks), and Engineers who all have a strong desire to be better shooters.
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Originally Posted by vaspence
We had to have that one on our spelling tests growing up or we wouldn't have been able to spell the name of our home town.
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