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View Full Version : AAR - Insights Training Center - Intermediate Defensive Rifle course



Jeff_M
08-01-08, 16:06
On 7/25/08, Insights Training Center put on a 3-day Intermediate Defensive Rifle course. Greg Hamilton was the primary instructor. Due to facility problems in the past, this was the first time we were able to offer this course. The course was conducted at the Cascade Rifle Club in Ravensdale, Washington. Cascade Rifle Club's excellent facility allowed us to work everything from up close and personal distances out to 500 yards.

Our two-day General Defensive Rifle was required as a prerequisite to this course. This showed as the competence of the students in the course was high. This allowed for a fast paced course and drills that are often not covered in open enrollment classes.

Weather throughout the course was excellent. As I often say, there is no better place in the world than the Seattle area in the summer. This weekend was no exception. On the first two days it was slightly overcast in the morning then sunny in the afternoon with highs in the mid 70s. The final day it rained slightly in the early morning hours. It was overcast in the beginning or the day and then again sunny and in the mid 70s again in the afternoon.

Training Day 1 started off with a quick intro and then short discussion of a ballistics chart and a proper zero.

We then moved to range and started with fast and furious work at CQB distances. The emphasis for the entire weekend was a race. Greg wanted everyone to try and have the quickest first shot every time and have the most accurate shot every time. We incorporated scanning, kneeling, tac loads, speed loads, and transitions.

We then moved back to the 50 yard line and worked on our zero and then to the 100 yard line to confirm zero and work on distance shooting.

Overall for the course guns ran pretty well with only a few problems. It was a mixed group Colts to POFs and 11.5" Commandos to a couple of 20"A3s.

On day 1, a very squared away fire fighter medic who spends his spare time as a SWAT team medic had his agency issued Bushmaster 11.5" go full auto with 2 and 3 round bursts (and there was no fun switch on the gun). There was a standard carbine buffer in the gun, and he stated that the agency armorer did a "trigger job" on the gun. He swapped out the buffer for an "H" buffer and the problem went away until training day 2 when the triples started again. As Greg pointed out, you can't do trigger jobs on stock AR trigger groups. The metal is only hardened on the surface and anything more than polishing will work through to the soft metal and you end up with problems like guns going full auto that aren't supposed to.

We also took some time to discuss staying away from match triggers for a fighting gun. The light springs can lead to light primer strikes with the hardened primers of mil-spec ammo. If you want a better trigger pull in a fighting gun polish surfaces to create less friction, don't change spring weights.

The first day also saw people working out problems with gear. Mag pouches, holsters, slings, and other gear are always a problem if you don't work them out before a class. When you buy gear spend the time working drills dry or going to the range to make sure that your gear does not interfere with your tactics and skills. Equipment should make life easier, not harder.

We then moved back up close and worked left, right, and 180 pivots. Again the gunning was fast and furious and students enjoyed drills where we queued off the movement of the person next to you to start your turn.

We then went to the 150 yard line. Greg took the time to discuss natural respitory pause and the body's natural point of aim and how the two need to intersect to result in accurate slow fire shots at distance. This helped everyone. My groups went from 5" to sub 3" inches with my 11.5" colt, a 4 MOA Aimpoint, and M193.

We finished the day with more up close work. We introduced shooting on the move. Greg then integrated all pivots and kneeling with shooting on the move.

Due to an administrative error, some students only brought about 500 rounds to class. We called up Lance, the owner of West Coast Armory in Issaquah, WA, and he had his lovely wife deliver 10,000 rounds of ammo to the range for student to purchase. Thank you to Lance for his great customer service and helping us out in a pinch.

The line shooting on the move
http://m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=5&pictureid=9

Zeroing from the 50, sporting a signature Insights t-shirt
http://m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=5&pictureid=11

I will have more pictures and the AAR for the rest of the weekend shortly.

Neville
08-02-08, 05:25
Thanks for the AAR! Insights should really get more attention as they have been the pioneers of integrated gun-knife-unarmed training as well as force on force for civilians.

Wayne Dobbs
08-02-08, 09:08
And Greg Hamilton is one of the very best communicators of information and technique out there today. If you have a chance to train with Greg you will come away very pleased and better informed.

Jeff_M
08-02-08, 20:26
On training day 2, we started on the 600 yard range at the 200 yard line. On the way down to the range that day Greg and I had a discussion about mil-spec guns and mil-spec ammo. He maintains that they are generally about 1 MOA guns. At two hundred yards, my better 5 shot groups were 3 to 4 inches. I had Greg shoot my 11.5” Colt Commando sporting a 4 MOA dot Aimpoint ML3, and shooting M193. Greg shot a sub 2” 5 shot group proving to me that the gun will definitely shoot about 1 MOA.

We then moved back to the 300 yard line before lunch. Everyone loved the time spent at distance. For most of us that are stuck shooting from the 25 yard line at an indoor range, shooting at 200 and 300 yards under the watchful eye of Greg was a real learning experience.

In the afternoon we started at the 100 yard line working rapid assumption of prone on steel. We moved down the line with the next shooter waiting for the “ping” on the steel as the signal to go prone and make their steel ring as fast as possible. This was an excellent drill and got the heart racing for some on the line. Students always love the pressure of the entire class watching them shoot! Performance under stress is what we are looking for and anytime we can increase the stress level in training even a little, there is value to the students.

We moved back to close range and worked diagonal and lateral movement left and right. With the set up of the range, we were able to get a lot of reps in. This was very beneficial to all the students. Often at indoor ranges, we don’t get the number of reps we would like moving lateral due to the confined space.

A few students wanted some more ammo, we ordered up another 5000 rounds from West Coast Armory and Lance had it promptly delivered. Lance’s son got the rare treat to shoot without his dad. I hooked him up with my dedicated .22LR upper, and he got to show Bin Laden what he was made off!

At the corners of the range, we put up some small West African style huts with bad guys inside. Really it was just a couple walls of black visquine, but it served our purposes well. We built upon the shooting on the move, and started with one man dynamic entry of the rooms. Targets were placed in the center and students got several runs through the rooms dry.

We then moved to live fire. This was an excellent drill for the students, and they loved bringing together many of the pieces we had been working in one cumulative drill that incorporated dynamic movement, shooting on the move, scanning, and more. The comment I got over and over again was that it looks really easy, but they all found it was fairly difficult to do correctly. And that is without people shooting back at you!

A couple shooters ran suppressors for the entire course including one on a POF build piston gun. This student learned that there are adjustable gas ports for a reason. The gun started having problems at the end of day 2, and we examined the buffer and found that the plastic on the tail end of the buffer had been smashed down due to excessive gas. There is a switch on the front of the gun for a reason.

To conclude the day, we went back and worked on more pivots and more dynamic movement on the target. In addition, we staggered the firing line slightly so students could feel what it was like to be slightly forward of the muzzle during live fire. This is a valuable drill to prepare one for the 360 degree two way range, but should only be done with the right group of students and under the right controls. The students did great and all appreciated the drill.


Greg Shooting the 11.5 Colt at 200 yards
http://m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=5&pictureid=17

Greg demonstrating movement in the shoot house
http://m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=5&pictureid=18

Student making entry to the shoot house
http://m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=5&pictureid=13

A few of the guns
http://m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=5&pictureid=20

The line work rapid assumption of prone on steel at 100 yards
http://m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=5&pictureid=21

Go4broke
08-18-08, 01:23
Hi JMau,

Nice AAR on the InSights Intermediate Rifle class. I was one of the students there and had a great time and also learned alot.

It was a real eye opener to be able to shoot out to 600yds with my Aimpoint M-3 and get hits on target when i could hardly see my target. I especially enjoyed shooting the mover at 200yds. and when Greg decided to mess us up by changing the direction an speed of the target- what a gas !

I ran my LMT lower & Noveske N4 upper hard for 3-days without cleaning with no malfunctions , only lubercating the bolt & carrier during breaks.

I ran through about 1500rnds of Black Hills 55grn. FMJ blue box ammo and like you reported some of the students ran low so thanks again to West Coast Armory for their ammo resupply drops.

Thanks again to Greg Hamilton and the InSights crew for putting togather a great class. By the way is it possible to get any Pix of the class from you ?

Thanks , Mike K.

they
08-18-08, 01:57
Good AAR,

And that is the coolest old guy I've ever seen.

Go4broke
08-19-08, 19:38
Hey - who you calling an old guy !:confused: