AAR: Viking Tactics 1.5 Pistol (21-24 May) in Kathleen, FL
Just finished up the Viking Tactics 1.5 Pistol Course at www.southernexposuretraining.com yesterday. The conditions were mostly clear sky's, temp in the low 90s, and thank God for a good breeze for most of the class. Class weapons were mostly Glocks, M&Ps, a few 1911s and one XD.
TD1: Started with an introductory of the instructors (CSM (Ret) Kyle Lamb and his AI, Dan, who is a Active Duty SF Soldier and Instructor at the school house for CQB), A Safety briefing was conducted, then went right into accuracy drills to practice the fundamentals with two handed (20 yards), strong side only (10 yards) and support side only (7 yards). Shooting 10 rounds each, at your own pace, then ran the drill two more times, timed, with each time being reduced, the closer you got to the targets. We moved on to break the class in half, 12 with Kyle Lamb and 12 with Dan, to work various timed and rapid fire drills, emphasizing on "A" and "B" zone hits two handed, then shooting steel with the other instructor. The standards quickly shrank to "A" zone hits only for the remainder of the course. The Free Style drill was interesting because you had to shoot as fast as you possibly could, with as many rounds as possible, and as accurately as possible in 7.5 seconds, two handed, then strong, and support side only. We ended the day shooting 6 steel plates for speed and accuracy. I was a little worried if I had brought enough ammo since we went through 700 rounds that day of the 1800 round required for the course. I brought 2K with me and ran to Walmart that evening to get 300 more, just in case.
TD2: Q&A, followed by a safety briefing, then more drills to practice the fundamentals, followed by various prone, kneeling and sitting positions shooting steel from 25 yards, covering two handed, strong and support side manipulations and shooting around and through each barricade side and slot a few times, before performing the drill again, this time in relays, doing the same, except when finished, you ran to the next two barricades to perform the same, practicing all the covered shooting positions, both strong and support side. We moved on to various multiple target drills, running the drills twice for practice, then under the timer for score. The class was broken down into two groups where one performed the "High Smith" drill, while the other performed the "Zig Zag" drill, twice for practice, then the 3rd time for record.
Zig Zag Drill: Goal, move down the left side shoot the left side steel 3 times, traverse across shooting 2 rounds to the 3 steel targets in the middle, run up the cones, do a 180, then down the other side of the cones, shooting the end steel 3 times, then traverse across again, engaging the 3 center targets with two rounds, as fast and as accurately as you can, with a mag change.
High Smith Drill: Goal is to shoot 2 rounds around the barricade, then move to other barricade while shooting the three targets in the middle with 2 rounds, mag change behind the other barricade, shoot the 3 targets in the "A"Zone, then do the same going the other way, as fast and as accurately as you can.
TD3: Q&A, safety briefing, then on to shooting steel from the prone position from 25, 50 and 100 yards. Then running it again from a modded kneeling position, then standing. I was quite surprised at how accurate you can shoot from the 50 (pretty easy) and 100 yard line (obviously being the most difficult. With practice and proper fundamentals usage, you can consistently ring the steel, even with a 1911). In the afternoon, one group performed the "Tri-Lambda" drill (another favorite), under the timer. Then finished off with the "Zombie" drill, using three skeleton VTAC targets with 3 target boxes (head, chest, pelvis), which was another one of my favorites. The goal was to shoot the center target 3 times to the chest, one to the head, the one to the pelvis, your choice, then the right, then left target, under the timer, for practice, then for score.
Kyle testing his speed on the Tri-Lambda, where you shoot the center targets, mag change, then the right targets, mag change, then the left targets. 2 rounds in the "A" zone on all targets is the goal. Outside the "A" zone or shoot the hostage, you get Nada.
On TD2, one student had an issue with his G19, when pressing down on the barricade with the dust cover, you would hear an audible "click" but the weapon would not fire. He was able to demonstrate this several times. When Kyle disassembled the weapon to clear, remove and inspect the round, there was no firing pin mark on the primer.
This advance pistol course was outstanding, and was my second class with Viking Tactics. Kyle and Dan's knowledge, humor and laid back attitude, coupled with the ability to answer any question, no matter how bazaar, was key to understanding various scenarios as to the "whys" in which you could employ the weapon, while shooting accurately. Every drill incorporated one mandatory magazine change, with some, experiencing several more. Accuracy and speed was emphasized and demanded at every level. The student could not finish the drill until all required hits were made, no matter how many mag changes you had to make. I will definitely add this course to my annual training schedule and look forward to VTAC's Street Fighter's course. We also got to look at the prototype for the VTAC pistol, which Kyle was using. It's a good look weapon up close and the sights are not as busy as initially thought of.
Overall, the class was great with many familiar faces in the class. Great sense of humor all around, with Irv's being the sickest, as usual.The range is very manicured and is always a pleasure to train there. Irv has made a few changes to the layout, as well as a shoot house under construction. Irv always has different kinds of training going from pistol, carbine, AK, shotgun, and lady's only classes. If you haven't trained at southern exposure training, get on the mailing list and check it out. They have always provided a great training experience.
Pics to follow.
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Originally Posted by CENTCOM_Survivor
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