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View Full Version : AAR: S&T VSM Basic Carbine, Nov 10 Bethlehem PA



tikifrei
11-20-12, 19:30
Class: S&T VSM Basic Carbine Class 1 day
Instructor: Joe Riedy
Location: Bethlehem PA


While I have taken other firearms training. but this was my first carbine class. I had no experience with a carbine other than a trip to the range pre-class to get the new rifle zeroed. The other students seemed to be from a wide range of abilities. From the seasoned to the brand new.


We started the class with a solid safety talk as all classes should have. We then moved to the line and worked on zeroing and were instructed on the pros and cons of various zeros, proper stance, trigger control, proper hand placement, sight alignment, etc. There was instruction on gear selection based on the individuals needs.

We practiced loading and unloading, different shooting positions, pros and cons of various ready positions. We practiced strong and weak side shooting and transitions from one to the other.

We were instructed on and practiced weapons transitions, shooting on the move as well as how to clear various malfunctions and spent a good amount of time practicing that.

Summary:

I would highly recommend this class to anyone regardless of experience as I feel everyone can gain something going over the basics. I have told my friends to take this class, and being new, I would take it again. Joe is a great instructor and I learned a ton. I am still processing everything and need a lot of practice but I am glad I took this class to learn the right way instead of having to go back and correct improper techniques.

I hope this was helpful. Sorry for no pictures...too busy shooting :D

CoryCop25
11-23-12, 01:57
I will try to add a little to this AAR....

First off, I will say that I have been a firearms instructor since 2001. I have taken various classes from several big names.
I may be a little biased here because I have known Joe for about 20 years.
I will say this... I have taken a few of JoeR's classes and I ALWAYS come away learning something new!

This was a basic carbine class but it was still challenging for shooters of all skill levels.

We started off the morning with a safety brief. I have noticed that these are a bit longer in basic classes, as they should be. Joe is thorough with the safety rules and he also digs into why you should or shouldn't do things. He spoke about sympathetic reflex which I found interesting and his "bullets don't work" speech is also eye opening and inspiring.
Next we moved onto zeroing. Joe likes the 50 yard zero (as do I, so I didn't have to play with my rifle) but we did shoot some groups at 25, 50 and 100 yards to show the difference in each zero.
After this, we worked on off sets. Joe explained how to adjust for point of impact at closer distances.
Next, we worked on reloading. Emergency and tactical reloading were covered and by the time we finished that, it was time to break for lunch.

After about a 45 minute lunch break, we started with the Test. For those who are unfamiliar, that's 10 rounds in 10 seconds at 25 yards. The highest score in the class was a 95 out of 100. For some reason, Joe refused to award the winner with a prize. I still can't figure out why.....
We then went pretty in depth into malfunctions. The VSM style of malfunction clearance is in my opinion the best, most thought out process.
Next was transition to handgun. We were then tasked with remembering to transition at closer distances instead of reloading our rifles for the rest of the day. If we failed to do so, it was quickly brought to our attention...
We briefly did some support side shooting and then began movement.
We started off with what I have unofficially named the flamingo drill. We would pick up one foot and then the other and press off a round as one foot was in the air. We then worked on shooting and moving in all four directions.
After shooting and moving, we did the Navy drill. If I can recall, we were at 40 yards. We fired 5 rounds standing, reloaded, dropped to a kneeling position, fired 5 rounds, dropped to prone and fired five rounds. My gloves caused me to hit my bolt release before I seated the mag causing me to have to perform immediate action and loosing a bit of time.
We then did the El Presidente at 25 yards with three rounds per target. I had an empty mag stick in my mag well and I dropped my full mag as I stripped the empty out. I quickly recovered with my second spare mag and finished the last 9 rounds while screaming a slew of obscenities.
We finished up the day with the test again. The cold and dwindling daylight was getting to all of us. The highest score was a 93 out of 100. If you can believe it, Joe again refused to award the winner of this final run with a prize. I guess Aimpoint hats are getting scarce now a days.
At the end, Joe had us get in close and shoot a nice group as an end of class confidence builder.

There were no issues with any carbines the whole day. There were a ton of different rifles. I noticed a Sig M400, a Smith and Wesson M&P, a couple of Colt 6920s, a New Yorker with a Noveske with a Surefire Sound and Flash enhancer on the end of it (holy boom Batman!) and a Colt M4 that was an issued weapon. I ran my issued M16 with 12.5 inch upper on a Vltor VS2A receiver with an AAC Mini4 suppressor for the first 3/4ths of the class. The gas from the can was driving me nuts at the end so I switched to my 10.3 Daniel Defense barreled Mega Mono upper on a Mega Billet lower. Both guns ran the Vltor A5 receiver extensions so my guns basically had no recoil.

I would recommend any VSM class that Joe teaches to anyone who wants to learn how to master the basics of handgun and carbine shooting. As I stated earlier, I always learn something from Joe. I am confident that anyone that takes his classes will not be disappointed.