Wayne Dobbs
01-23-08, 12:01
We just completed a three-day Vickers Tactical Carbine and Pistol Course taught by Larry Vickers at the Adrenaline Proving Grounds Range in Greenville, TX. In attendance were a great mix of law enforcement officers, physicians, high tech types, one gun writer and plenty of “regular good guys”. Attendees were mostly Texans, with a few legal “immigrants” from PA, UT and LA.
Carbines in use were a variety of Colts, LMT, Noveske, LWRC and one Steyr AUG, none of which displayed any significant problems. Pistols included several Glocks, several 1911 pattern .45 ACPs, a Sig 226 .357 and one Beretta M92FS ably operated by a veteran Dallas PD Firearms Instructor and former DPD SWAT operator. Handgun malfunctions were very few and appeared to be confined mostly to one 1911.
The weather was dry, with very cold mornings and cool afternoons. Wind chills in the single digits were a significant factor on Day 2.
Larry’s background and experience are widely known and include long service in Delta as an operator, instructor and weapons program principal in that organization. Additionally, his 1911 pistolsmithing skills are highly regarded and he’s a frequent consultant to the firearms industry on weapons design and employment.
TD-1 began with a Real World/Big Boy’s Rules safety brief from LAV followed by his beliefs, developed of much experience, about the use of weapons in deadly force situations. Larry also pointed out the aspects of how range training introduced a dangerous “comfort zone” for most shooters that was counterproductive for real world consideration. This was an eye opener for many of the guys and I think some folks there got their first exposure to the concept of the real world’s “two way range”.
Accuracy was a constant theme of Larry’s, and he delivered the truth that the only dependable way to quickly end a gunfight was accurate and effective hits on the opponents. To reinforce that stance, each target was overlaid with a bullseye center that imposed a 5.5” circular zone to remain “clean” on any specific drill from arm’s length all the way back to 25 yards with pistols. This was a significant wake-up call for many shooters who were used to much more generous full count zones. Larry’s accuracy “sermon” was, that under deadly stress situations, our accuracy performance would likely deteriorate by a factor of two (in other words, groups would double in size) and therefore we should always train to much higher standards so that actual street performance would remain effective.
Proper trigger control was the fundamental most stressed throughout the class and a variety of dry fire and “ball and dummy” drills were employed to both expose poor technique and to start a shooter down the long road to consistent trigger control skills. LAV clearly has an excellent grasp of all the fundamentals of shooting and utilizes many communication and explanation techniques, some quite colorful, to teach those skills. I’ve been privileged to attend many firearms training courses over nearly 30 years and Larry’s delivery was consistently excellent and attention getting.
All of the other fundamentals were covered in detail, yet done quickly and we were soon shooting lots of drills that tested and demonstrated skills and deficiencies of all of us in attendance. These drills pushed all of us in some way, whether by time demands, accuracy demands or manipulations demanded during those shooting drills.
Manipulations were covered well and explained in detail for being presented the way they were. As I hoped, I found some conventional thinking of mine challenged along the way and this was the most prominent spot of that challenge. The accuracy demands and manipulations training were worth the cost of admission from my standpoint.
Frequent competitions were conducted using the drills with “swag” prizes for the winners. Larry awarded the winners of these competitions many Vickers Tactical/Tango Down Glock magazine catches over the three days, along with Warren Tactical sight sets, MagPul Pmags and Blue Force Gear/Vickers Tactical slings.
Larry was very upfront about his preferences in equipment, training technique and anything else that attendees at such a course would be concerned with knowing or learning. While clearly having strong beliefs, LAV was also quick to state the basis of his knowledge, preferences and beliefs about those topics. In my experience, that is the litmus test for any instructor, trainer or teacher. Asking the “why?” question will usually expose the BS artist or inexperienced/unknowledgeable trainer.
At the end of TD-1, the class was worn out from the mental demands of Larry’s accuracy standards (done at realistic speeds) and from digesting more information in a shorter period of time than most of us were used to handling.
TD-2 dawned clear, cold and windy with a chill index of about five degrees and was the beginning of carbine work. Larry discussed his preference for two things: reflex optics on a fighting carbine (preferably Aimpoint) and a 100 yard zero. Shooting started at 100 yards to verify zeros and amazingly, no big problems of zeroing appeared. I’ve been in several classes where the “lay in the dirt and walk to the targets” process took up over an hour to get everybody on the same page of music. This and the lack of malfunctioning equipment were big plusses in the class. Without taking too much credit, the entire class received a briefing memo from me weeks before class to resolve equipment issues, show up with a zeroed carbine and to bring plenty of weapons lubricant and dependable magazines. I think that may have paid off. At any rate, we had the entire group done with three firing sessions and the last one was done for mostly feel good reasons.
Following zeroing, Larry commenced the drills and competitions. The very first drill was a great one of 10 shot sets from the following distances: 100 yards standing to prone in 60 seconds; 75 yards standing to sitting in 45 seconds; 50 yards standing to kneeling in 30 seconds and finally, standing at 25 yards in 15 seconds. Remember, the old 5.5-inch bullseye was staring at you and to stay clean, you had to hit the bull. Hitting the 10.5” x 10.5” bull target paper took you down three points and hitting the cardboard IDPA silhouette off the bullseye target paper took you down five points. We had some great rifle shooters in the group, with some of these guys being down points in the single digit range after the drill.
We then started working drills from three yards all the way back to 50 yards with carbines and LAV continued to be an accuracy Nazi throughout. Manipulations were taught and discussed and he continued to explain why he taught what he did.
The group moved into instruction on transitioning from carbine to pistol and the considerations of that action with regard to distance and technique. LAV advised that if your carbine quit running in a fight at a distance of under 25 yards from an opponent, to immediately transition to your handgun. What was most enlightening about Larry’s dedication to doing the job right was the fact that he wouldn’t work carbine reloads or malfunction clearances at distances inside 25 yards. I don’t know how many trainers I’ve seen preach that 25 yard theme and then turn around and work carbine reloads and stoppages at close quarters because they were too lazy to back up and present a realistic scenario to their students.
Then the drills commenced. Another thing useful about the transition training was the use of one or two carbine shots, followed by the transition to the blaster. Lots of folks do a meaningless “throw away” dry shot with the carbine before the transition. Larry often required a center hit on that damn bullseye with the carbine before transitioning to the pistol. Again, winners of the drill-based competitions received some goodies for their shooting bags!
Towards the end of TD-2, LAV stripped his personal carbine, an LMT lower with one of those “hen’s teeth” scarce HK416 uppers, and gave a detailed and solid presentation on the merits of that upper’s gas system. To also be objective, Larry did not imply that the M4’s direct impingement gas system should go away, but he was upfront about the merits and shortcomings of that DI system.
After a dinner break, we all returned for a low light session with carbine and pistol. Larry discussed light usage, light mounting, laser sights usage and various tactical considerations. We ran several drills with both carbine and pistol and the accuracy demands continued. I think that most folks did much better than the norm in a low light training session due to the prior accuracy demands of the course.
TD-3 arrived along with a bunch of tired dudes at the range. The weather was cold and clear with very light winds.
LAV discussed carbine and pistol malfunctions in detail and the approaches to reducing them. My old conventional thinking on this was again challenged and new information was received and new thinking began. Again, this was justification for the admission price to me as an instructor. We began working pistol malfunction drills, followed by dealing with carbine malfunctions and clearances. Enough repetitions were successfully completed by all to build a good basis for future practice, learning and competence. Again, drill-based competitions began using the clearance techniques and more prizes went into shooting bags for the trip home!
Larry then began to teach shooting on the move and its value. He was very straightforward on his beliefs and while it conflicted with some of the class members’ beliefs, he had the benefit of his experience to explain his stance. Principles of how to move with minimum disturbance to the weapons platform were explained, demonstrated and practiced in all four directions: forward, reverse, left lateral and right lateral. Drills and competitions followed and while lots of the shooting was ugly from the accuracy standpoint, most folks came away with another “tool for the toolbox”.
LAV then did a short presentation on the AK and its manipulations and operations and we moved into final assessment.
The final was a carbine and pistol test of all the skills covered in the course and was extensive and challenging. The top three finishers received slings, sights and magazine catches for their efforts.
If you’ve been thinking about a Vickers Tactical course, all I can say is to just do it. You won’t be disappointed and you won’t be bored. You will get the opportunity to reinforce skills and develop new ones. You will get new tools for your tactical toolbox and you will for sure get some new ways to describe things that just aren’t right!
Many thanks to Tango Down, Blue Force Gear, Warren Tactical and MagPul for their support of this training effort with the gear prizes!
Carbines in use were a variety of Colts, LMT, Noveske, LWRC and one Steyr AUG, none of which displayed any significant problems. Pistols included several Glocks, several 1911 pattern .45 ACPs, a Sig 226 .357 and one Beretta M92FS ably operated by a veteran Dallas PD Firearms Instructor and former DPD SWAT operator. Handgun malfunctions were very few and appeared to be confined mostly to one 1911.
The weather was dry, with very cold mornings and cool afternoons. Wind chills in the single digits were a significant factor on Day 2.
Larry’s background and experience are widely known and include long service in Delta as an operator, instructor and weapons program principal in that organization. Additionally, his 1911 pistolsmithing skills are highly regarded and he’s a frequent consultant to the firearms industry on weapons design and employment.
TD-1 began with a Real World/Big Boy’s Rules safety brief from LAV followed by his beliefs, developed of much experience, about the use of weapons in deadly force situations. Larry also pointed out the aspects of how range training introduced a dangerous “comfort zone” for most shooters that was counterproductive for real world consideration. This was an eye opener for many of the guys and I think some folks there got their first exposure to the concept of the real world’s “two way range”.
Accuracy was a constant theme of Larry’s, and he delivered the truth that the only dependable way to quickly end a gunfight was accurate and effective hits on the opponents. To reinforce that stance, each target was overlaid with a bullseye center that imposed a 5.5” circular zone to remain “clean” on any specific drill from arm’s length all the way back to 25 yards with pistols. This was a significant wake-up call for many shooters who were used to much more generous full count zones. Larry’s accuracy “sermon” was, that under deadly stress situations, our accuracy performance would likely deteriorate by a factor of two (in other words, groups would double in size) and therefore we should always train to much higher standards so that actual street performance would remain effective.
Proper trigger control was the fundamental most stressed throughout the class and a variety of dry fire and “ball and dummy” drills were employed to both expose poor technique and to start a shooter down the long road to consistent trigger control skills. LAV clearly has an excellent grasp of all the fundamentals of shooting and utilizes many communication and explanation techniques, some quite colorful, to teach those skills. I’ve been privileged to attend many firearms training courses over nearly 30 years and Larry’s delivery was consistently excellent and attention getting.
All of the other fundamentals were covered in detail, yet done quickly and we were soon shooting lots of drills that tested and demonstrated skills and deficiencies of all of us in attendance. These drills pushed all of us in some way, whether by time demands, accuracy demands or manipulations demanded during those shooting drills.
Manipulations were covered well and explained in detail for being presented the way they were. As I hoped, I found some conventional thinking of mine challenged along the way and this was the most prominent spot of that challenge. The accuracy demands and manipulations training were worth the cost of admission from my standpoint.
Frequent competitions were conducted using the drills with “swag” prizes for the winners. Larry awarded the winners of these competitions many Vickers Tactical/Tango Down Glock magazine catches over the three days, along with Warren Tactical sight sets, MagPul Pmags and Blue Force Gear/Vickers Tactical slings.
Larry was very upfront about his preferences in equipment, training technique and anything else that attendees at such a course would be concerned with knowing or learning. While clearly having strong beliefs, LAV was also quick to state the basis of his knowledge, preferences and beliefs about those topics. In my experience, that is the litmus test for any instructor, trainer or teacher. Asking the “why?” question will usually expose the BS artist or inexperienced/unknowledgeable trainer.
At the end of TD-1, the class was worn out from the mental demands of Larry’s accuracy standards (done at realistic speeds) and from digesting more information in a shorter period of time than most of us were used to handling.
TD-2 dawned clear, cold and windy with a chill index of about five degrees and was the beginning of carbine work. Larry discussed his preference for two things: reflex optics on a fighting carbine (preferably Aimpoint) and a 100 yard zero. Shooting started at 100 yards to verify zeros and amazingly, no big problems of zeroing appeared. I’ve been in several classes where the “lay in the dirt and walk to the targets” process took up over an hour to get everybody on the same page of music. This and the lack of malfunctioning equipment were big plusses in the class. Without taking too much credit, the entire class received a briefing memo from me weeks before class to resolve equipment issues, show up with a zeroed carbine and to bring plenty of weapons lubricant and dependable magazines. I think that may have paid off. At any rate, we had the entire group done with three firing sessions and the last one was done for mostly feel good reasons.
Following zeroing, Larry commenced the drills and competitions. The very first drill was a great one of 10 shot sets from the following distances: 100 yards standing to prone in 60 seconds; 75 yards standing to sitting in 45 seconds; 50 yards standing to kneeling in 30 seconds and finally, standing at 25 yards in 15 seconds. Remember, the old 5.5-inch bullseye was staring at you and to stay clean, you had to hit the bull. Hitting the 10.5” x 10.5” bull target paper took you down three points and hitting the cardboard IDPA silhouette off the bullseye target paper took you down five points. We had some great rifle shooters in the group, with some of these guys being down points in the single digit range after the drill.
We then started working drills from three yards all the way back to 50 yards with carbines and LAV continued to be an accuracy Nazi throughout. Manipulations were taught and discussed and he continued to explain why he taught what he did.
The group moved into instruction on transitioning from carbine to pistol and the considerations of that action with regard to distance and technique. LAV advised that if your carbine quit running in a fight at a distance of under 25 yards from an opponent, to immediately transition to your handgun. What was most enlightening about Larry’s dedication to doing the job right was the fact that he wouldn’t work carbine reloads or malfunction clearances at distances inside 25 yards. I don’t know how many trainers I’ve seen preach that 25 yard theme and then turn around and work carbine reloads and stoppages at close quarters because they were too lazy to back up and present a realistic scenario to their students.
Then the drills commenced. Another thing useful about the transition training was the use of one or two carbine shots, followed by the transition to the blaster. Lots of folks do a meaningless “throw away” dry shot with the carbine before the transition. Larry often required a center hit on that damn bullseye with the carbine before transitioning to the pistol. Again, winners of the drill-based competitions received some goodies for their shooting bags!
Towards the end of TD-2, LAV stripped his personal carbine, an LMT lower with one of those “hen’s teeth” scarce HK416 uppers, and gave a detailed and solid presentation on the merits of that upper’s gas system. To also be objective, Larry did not imply that the M4’s direct impingement gas system should go away, but he was upfront about the merits and shortcomings of that DI system.
After a dinner break, we all returned for a low light session with carbine and pistol. Larry discussed light usage, light mounting, laser sights usage and various tactical considerations. We ran several drills with both carbine and pistol and the accuracy demands continued. I think that most folks did much better than the norm in a low light training session due to the prior accuracy demands of the course.
TD-3 arrived along with a bunch of tired dudes at the range. The weather was cold and clear with very light winds.
LAV discussed carbine and pistol malfunctions in detail and the approaches to reducing them. My old conventional thinking on this was again challenged and new information was received and new thinking began. Again, this was justification for the admission price to me as an instructor. We began working pistol malfunction drills, followed by dealing with carbine malfunctions and clearances. Enough repetitions were successfully completed by all to build a good basis for future practice, learning and competence. Again, drill-based competitions began using the clearance techniques and more prizes went into shooting bags for the trip home!
Larry then began to teach shooting on the move and its value. He was very straightforward on his beliefs and while it conflicted with some of the class members’ beliefs, he had the benefit of his experience to explain his stance. Principles of how to move with minimum disturbance to the weapons platform were explained, demonstrated and practiced in all four directions: forward, reverse, left lateral and right lateral. Drills and competitions followed and while lots of the shooting was ugly from the accuracy standpoint, most folks came away with another “tool for the toolbox”.
LAV then did a short presentation on the AK and its manipulations and operations and we moved into final assessment.
The final was a carbine and pistol test of all the skills covered in the course and was extensive and challenging. The top three finishers received slings, sights and magazine catches for their efforts.
If you’ve been thinking about a Vickers Tactical course, all I can say is to just do it. You won’t be disappointed and you won’t be bored. You will get the opportunity to reinforce skills and develop new ones. You will get new tools for your tactical toolbox and you will for sure get some new ways to describe things that just aren’t right!
Many thanks to Tango Down, Blue Force Gear, Warren Tactical and MagPul for their support of this training effort with the gear prizes!