AAR: Paragon 6 Consulting VSM 1-Day Basic Carbine Course

[serbonze]

Class: VSM Basic Carbine
Instructor: Stony Smith of Paragon 6 Consulting
Location: Rocky Creek Ranch Myakka City, FL
My Gear:
Spikes Mid-Length Upper with Battlecomp 2.0
BCM Lower
Eotech XPS2-0
VTAC Brokos Belt
HSGI Tacos
XM193

I joined M4C looking to gain knowledge from experienced shooters in a no-nonsense format. I was also starting to evolve from plinking at the range, as it just wasn’t as fun anymore and I saw very little practical use for it. I have no military or law enforcement background so I have been hesitant to take training classes since I never want to be the guy that fumbles around and slows the rest of the class down. My local ranges don’t allow you to shoot past 50 yards unless you are at a bench, so I felt that transitioning from that to a two day carbine class would probably leave me overwhelmed, frustrated, and just slow down a class of more experienced shooters.

When the Paragon 6 VSM Basic Course was announced, I knew right away that I would get two things; quality instruction from a quality instructor and a pace of instruction that was right for me. Stony certainly didn’t disappoint in either. I left my ego at home, and went into the class ready to learn. It was a small class of only three, but I was actually really happy about that. I felt that I would get more individual instruction and more range time.

We met at the lodge and made our way out to the Blue Stem range. After introductions, we each spoke about our backgrounds and what brought us there for training. I had grown up shooting, but other than an Appleseed last year and a one day intro class by a local instructor, I have never had any real carbine instruction. We talked about gear, and what we were using.

The other rifles in the class were:
Bushmaster with a large flash suppressor (6”?) pinned and welded to make it legal and iron sights
Daniel Defense mid-length with an Eotech 512
Daniel Defense mid-length with an Aimpoint T-1 (Stony’s)

We started the day with confirming zeros. Stony didn’t make us change our zeros as long as we were comfortable with what we were using and we knew our holdovers, or at least how a holdover works. Before the class, I had gone to my local range to confirm at 50y (personal choice) so I was pretty much dialed in, especially since we were shooting from prone which I cannot do at my range. After confirmation at 50y, we all moved back to 100y and worked from there for a bit. At this point, the rain moved in so we took a short break and then continued working at 100y until lunch. For lunch we headed back to the lodge and where Chris Baden provided an excellent lunch of turkey and ham quesadillas, bean salad, and coleslaw.
The afternoon is when the instruction really began. We focused on reloading, search and assess, and shooting drills. I don’t know the exact names of the all of the drills that we did, as I was more focused on the shooting. Three that really stood out to me are listed below.

100 yard and in
10 shots, 100yds, prone, 60 seconds then scored
10 shots, 75yds, sitting, 45 seconds then scored
10 shots 50yds, kneeling, 30 seconds then scored
10 shots, 25yds, standing, 15 seconds then scored
This was an eye opener for me, as I learned that I really need to slow down and work on accuracy. I finished with enough time on the clock in each stage that I could have taken more time on each shot and bettered my score of -34. As I mentioned earlier, this is a very big transition from bench shooting. The winner was awarded a Vickers sling, kindly provided by Blue Force Gear.

VTAC 1-5
This one was really interesting, as we were able to transition between multiple targets. For those that don’t know, you have three targets spaced 1y apart and shoot from (I think) it was 5y. One shot in the left target, two in the middle, three in the right, four in the middle, and then finish with five on the left. Anything outside the black is +1 second and a miss was +10 seconds. We ran this drill several times, and my best time was 11.40 seconds with all shots in the black.

Reload Drill
This was a very simple, but effective drill that we ran several times. We loaded one round in the chamber and then inserted an empty mag. We then fired one shot, dropped the mag, reloaded, and then fired a follow up shot. Stony stressed the importance of accuracy on the follow up shot and seemed giddy that we were all keeping the follow up shot in the black.

Takeaways
Bench shooting does not adequately prepare you for real world scenarios.
Accuracy takes time and practice, both of which I will work on going forward.
Accuracy is greater than speed.
Ego has no place in a learning environment.
There were a few equipment malfunctions throughout the day which we had to work through.
All of my gear worked flawlessly.
Having a confirmed zero prior to the class will increase the amount of instruction that you can get.
Hydration and sunscreen are just as important as gear while training in Florida.
Humor can do a lot to make people feel more comfortable.
Having a good instructor is very important. Stony did a great job of keeping it simple, understandable, and he didn't use military terms without explaining what they meant.
Rocky Creek Ranch is an amazing training facility, and next time I will go and stay there the night before instead of waking up at 5:30 in the morning.

I look forward to hearing what the other guys and Stony thought of the class and the experience. I hope that this helps anyone else who is on the fence about taking a training class. I definitely look forward to more instruction in the future.

[Flash740]

Excellent AAR. It sounds like you had a good time and learned a lot. Keep building on the skills learned and keep taking classes. I find the more you stack classes, the better the info is retained.

[serbonze]

Thanks! I fully intend on taking the Applied Carbine 1 class when it's available.

[stony275]

You guys were a great group and I really enjoyed training with you.

Regarding my being "giddy" I prefer "overtly enthused". I've observed in numerous classes, to include advanced ones, that if the engagement sequence is interrupted by either a reload or a malfunciton, the subsequent shots are not to the accuracy standard previously stated and taught. You guys did a great job of keeping your shots in the black after your reloads.

With that being said, here are some pics from that class:






















Unfortunately our "photographer" had to cut out early, so the majority of the class went without pictures.

The follow on class, Applied Carbine 1, is in the works.

[mathematician]

Finally got on the forum so I wanted to comment about this training experience. First, thanks for the terrific AAR. I think it covers the topic well. Next, thanks to the staff of Rocky Creek Ranch for their part in making this a great experience. They worked hard to provide hydration, good food and good times.

If you have not had the opportunity to train with Stony Smith, you owe it to yourself to do so. Stony is that rear breed who combines real world experience, a recognized shooting heritage, and the ability to instruct. He is very observant and mindful of student ability. He will demonstrate and take time with each individual student driving them to excell. With a good sense of humor, or a needed stern look, Stony will drive your performance to the next level.

It is well known that if you take a class and do nothing afterwards, your skill level will fall to its lowest denominator. Stony works hard to avoid this by providing each student with a personalized understanding of what they need to work on in order to reach that next level. (yes I'm working on my "list" for improvement).

So if you are in Florida and want some outstanding instruction, the answer is Paragon 6's Stony Smith and Rocky Creek.