914 Consulting LLC-Vickers Shooting Method 1-Day Carbine Class –Sept 15, 2013– Virgin

[chris914]

http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af8/chris914_photos/914Consulting.gif http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af8/chris914_photos/vickers-shooting-method-logo-1.jpg

914 Consulting LLC-Vickers Shooting Method 1-Day Carbine Class –September 15, 2013– Virginia Beach, VA

http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af8/chris914_photos/131.jpg

Topics covered include carbine safety, stance, zeroing sights, sight alignment and trigger control. Familiarization with their carbine topics includes field stripping and maintenance. Other subject matter that is covered includes reloads, presentation, strong side & weak side shooting, shooting positions, use of cover, and introduction to different skill drills including dry fire, bullseye shooting and malfunction clearance . Timed fire drills and evaluations based on class skill level.

Instructor: Chris "Hans" Frank

Class date: September 15, 2013

Cost: $175 (10% discount to Mil/LE/EMT/NRA Member). Now accepting credit cards with a 3% processing fee.

Location: Virginia Beach, VA

Range:
C2 Shooting Center
6025 Marvin Road
Virginia Beach Virginia 23457

www.thec2center.com

http://i846.photobucket.com/albums/ab25/greygroupcommunity/400_C2_Logo_Center_Crop_with_lettering.jpg

http://i846.photobucket.com/albums/ab25/greygroupcommunity/C220overhead.jpg


http://i846.photobucket.com/albums/ab25/greygroupcommunity/C220100.jpg

Class size:
Minimum four students
Maximum twelve students

Weapon & Gear Class Requirements:

Carbine:
- Serviceable duty grade carbine 22lr carbines are acceptable just make sure it runs.
- Serviceable sling (tactical type preferred.)
- Minimum of 3 serviceable carbine magazines
- Optics – (Optional, but highly suggested)
- Minimum 1 carbine magazine pouch - or method to carry at least two spares magazine(s)

MISC:
- Eye and ear protection (electronic hearing protection is preferred)
- Suitable range wear depending on the season
- Weapon cleaning & lubrication supplies
- Good attitude

Zeroed Weapons: 100-yard carbine preferred, but others are acceptable if you have a good reason why and understand it. We will cover zeroing the carbine with both iron sights and optics.

Ammo Requirements:
- 250 rounds of carbine ammo

If you are interested in attending this class please contact 914 Consulting via email :
hans@914consulting.com

[chris914]

I still have 4 slots available. I am also working with a supplier for ammo if anyone is in need of ammo.

[mikejg]

After having the weather we did this past weekend, I must admit I was a little jealous and bummed I didn't sign up for this class.

Having said that, Chris, sign me up for your Dec 8th class!

[chris914]

I have you down Mike. Looking forward to shooting with you again.

[Formula73]

Hey all. I figured I'd post this over here in the carbine thread despite my having taken both classes on the 14th and 15th. I know there are pics on 914 Consulting's facebook page. I'm the little guy with the epic lovehandles and the underfolder.

Here we go!

I took 2 Vickers Shooting Method courses this weekend, pistol on Saturday and carbine Sunday, and I figured I’d share what I learned from both. I ran a Norinco 1911A1 for pistol, stock aside from Trijicon sights, and a milled AK with a K-Var Classic barrel, Ultimak, and el-cheapo Primary Arms red dot built from a surplus Bulgarian underfolder kit on a CNC Warrior Russian-pattern receiver. The instructor was Chris Frank from 914 Consulting.

As a shooter with no previous formal instruction, I noticed there were a lot of common basics.

1. Trigger control is more important than how many rounds you have, especially when everybody else has wondernines and you have a 1911A1. In the beginning, we had to put 5 rounds into a 3x5 card. I didn’t do well. I think I got 2 on the paper. In fact, I was arguably the worst there, throughout the class, and it certainly wasn’t the heavy, gritty trigger. It was all me. There were a few times I was ready to throw in the towel and walk off but thankfully, didn’t. While brutally honest, Chris kept it light-hearted and fun as well as instructional. It wasn’t until close to the end I realized while most of the other guys shot better, I had improved exponentially as a shooter and even if I couldn’t keep up with them at the moment, the me from 8 hours earlier couldn’t have kept up with the me at 4 pm. That goes for carbine, as well. The one thing that improved me the most was an evolution where you balance and empty casing on the front sight and practice a smooth trigger pull.

2. Reloading is insanely important. This is magnified when you’re running a 1911 against a bunch of guys with double stacks. While I spent a lot of time, sometimes up to an hour a night, working on emergency reloads for my AK, I absolutely blew when it came to pistol. It could have been my stumpy fingers not being able to reach the mag release without pivoting the gun nearly 90 degrees to get the button. It could have been that I didn’t have a magwell. It WAS that I didn’t practice enough. There is a generally-accepted overall technique for AR reloads but what I learned running an AK in the carbine course was that repetition is as important as doing things the ‘right’ way. There’s no way to make an AK reload as efficient or as intuitive as the ARs the majority were running, but the high point of my Sunday was after coaching each AR guy on a fast reload and THEN a (funny) bit on how we AK guys were at a disadvantage, I did my reload and Chris just said, “That’ll work,” and moved on. Practice, practice, practice.

3. 1911 feed problems don’t apply to all of them. During the pistol malfunction drill, Chris talked about choking a Glock. We had a live round in the chamber and had to put an empty case in the mag to cause a FTF. I nearly shit myself when my craptastical Norc fed it like a champ. I was even more shocked to see it fly out when I racked the slide. I did, however, have 2 FTEs, one that I believe was from the last round on a loaner mag with a really weak spring and one that might have been me limp-wristing it.

4. Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire. This goes back to #1 but it also applies to reloads.

5. Don’t short change yourself. From here on out, every time I go to the range, I’m taking my chest rig and not counting my rounds. As an AK guy, I know my bolt carrier will not lock back on the last round and that I need to be prepared for the sickening ‘click’ when the mag is empty. I NEED to be caught off-guard because I fumbled a few times when it actually happened vs my homegrown reload drilling.

6. 1911 Hammer Bite is a very real thing. On all my previous trips to the range, everything was controlled, easy, and slow. When you’re on the clock and flopping the goddamned thing around for reloads or moving between targets, your grip might be a hair off where you were to start with and that thing might take off skin. It sucks to find that out with hand sanitizer. I need a beavertail grip safety.

7. I carry. A lot of my friends do, as well. If you think that, by itself, makes you safe, you’re sadly mistaken. A fit member of the class sprinted 7 yards in a good bit less than 2 seconds. My best draw, open carry, was just under 3 seconds and I missed the target. Do the math. Think about how fast you might be able to draw your handgun from a IWB holster or from underneath a bunch of crap from the bottom of your purse. As Chris told us, “It doesn’t matter how fast you miss.”

The one monstrous thing I came home with was to drill, and you don’t need a range or live rounds to do it. If you want to work on trigger control with the empty casing on your front sight, you can do the same thing with a coin balanced on your front sight, indexed against a push pin on the wall. Drill.

It was an incredible experience. There were more than a few lows, for me, but getting better was it’s own reward. I look forward to the next few classes and hopefully, at some point, I’ll be one of the guys that gets the recognition as a ‘damned good shooter’ that the noobs like me look up to.