Scrounger
10-18-08, 16:30
Trident Concepts conducted their 2 day Combative Carbine 1 and 1 day Shoot on The Move class for a total of 3 days at Mike’s Gun Sales and Service private range in Aransas Pass Texas on October 10-12th, 2008. This was the first class at this facility and all went well. The weather was in the 60’s in the mornings to the high 80’s in the afternoons. This was an open enrollment class with a good mix of skill levels and professions with LEO’s, contractors, lawyers, Feds and your average earth people.
While the weather was very cooperative, the fresh sandy silt from a fresh range on the Texas coast did find its way into all sorts of places we didn’t think about cleaning before but are now .
Course Content: Jeff Gonzales is a former Navy SEAL with 12yrs active time and many more since then in various capacities. It was a pleasure to train with him and true to his reputation, he came at us hard and fast. On TD1 we started out with the standard safety brief and then moved into equipment and gear. After that we worked up our 50yrd zero’s and then got into the meat of the course after lunch. Suboptimal guns started choking up pretty early on and fortunately the guys from MGSS were able to troubleshoot and fix some of the problems. Gun and gear problems would plague us for most of the course though. Along with some optics and gear, Jeff loaned out his extra rifle and an extra upper. MGSS also loaned out one extra rifle and some other equipment as well. This was a little frustrating and put us behind schedule, but we managed to meet all the days training objectives.
TD2 Started out early, so we could try to catch up from TD1. We swapped out some equipment and sights and hustled to get everyone re-zeroed so we could tackle the day’s events. We got into the drills and it started coming together for those struggling, with the high repetitions finally working their magic and students getting used to the new techniques. Jeff talked to us about the 3 step process to improve your techniques and replace old techniques with new ones. First you have to recognize the action in question. Next you learn to intercept it before it happens and then replace it with the new action. Lastly you reinforce the new action with lots of repetitions. This process proved to be very reliable for most of the students.
We started the afternoon with a speed drill on paper starting at the 50 yard line. While we were making slow progress, things weren’t going as well as we would have liked, so Jeff switched us to a diagnostic drill on 8” steel plates. After a few repetitions of this, things really started to fall into place and more students were tightening their groups and performing much better. We went back to the speed drill and it went a lot better for most the second time around.
We finished up TD2 with the final standards test and while several passed a few did not. The majority of those who failed did so by getting DQ’ed for putting a round in the white or off the target. (which were mostly on the head shots we made at distance) Any round off the target is a DQ for graded evolutions. Despite ending on a sour note for some, overall improvement across the board was huge. This was obvious sitting in the debrief and listening to the students describe the major learning points as things that they improved upon. Again, we hear a common theme, the major points tend to be the universal fighting stance, first best sight picture, pulling the rifle into your mount and follow through.
TD3 started the Shooting on The Move package and things started well with most students focusing more on shooting and less on moving. Unfortunately, we continued to see problems with guns and equipment but we made some adjustments and continued on. Many of the concepts from TD1&2 came together and the light bulb turned on for several students throughout the day. Jeff has several drills starting at 25yrds and working in that really show the importance of solid fundamentals while moving. We burned through several drills during the day that were both fun and challenging. We ended the day shooting a standards test which the entire class passed, some with very high scores. A great finish to a great 3 days.
Guns: Well, we had a broad selection of guns from all makes and unfortunately more than our fair share of issues. Most of the problems were from non tier 1 guns ranging from standard length guns shortened to 11.5 having gas issues, to a POF having intermittent gas issues. We also had a couple of Colt SBR’s that had their rail hand guards and lo-pro gas blocks installed by a`gunsmith having gas issues. The POF appeared to be having ammo issues causing double feeds. That went away when the shooter switched to the “good stuff”. But then later the issues came back on day 3 with the “good stuff”? Hard to say when you are starting with suboptimal to begin with. Quality of ammunition is also suspect as we are all feeling the crunch of finding good reliable ammo at a reasonable price. Some of us just have to do the best we can with what we have. Fortunately, my rifle was a Bushmaster SBR that I had gone through and replaced/upgraded all the parts that needed it and it was one of the ones that was trouble free throughout.
Equipment: There was a mix of EoTechs and Aimpoints and as expected several of the Eotechs went down or had to be constantly tightened up. Jeff loaned out a couple Aimpoints to those who needed them and they all worked well. There were several wardrobe and nylon malfunctions, again with some loaners being passed around to eliminate issues. It is always better to wring out gear in a class setting than at a more important time, like when your life depends on it. Jeff gave us some tips on good gear to use and everyone understood that it is best not to scrimp on life saving gear. Of course some of the top names like Eagle, Tactical Tailor, DBT, Vickers, Viking, Blue Force Gear, TangoDown, Vltor and others were represented and were trouble free.
Overall, it was a great course with lots of learning had by all. We look forward to the next one. Here are some of the pics from the class.
Jeff demonstrating moving
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1471&stc=1&d=1224364937
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1472&stc=1&d=1224364937
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1473&stc=1&d=1224364937
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1474&stc=1&d=1224364937
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1475&stc=1&d=1224364937
While the weather was very cooperative, the fresh sandy silt from a fresh range on the Texas coast did find its way into all sorts of places we didn’t think about cleaning before but are now .
Course Content: Jeff Gonzales is a former Navy SEAL with 12yrs active time and many more since then in various capacities. It was a pleasure to train with him and true to his reputation, he came at us hard and fast. On TD1 we started out with the standard safety brief and then moved into equipment and gear. After that we worked up our 50yrd zero’s and then got into the meat of the course after lunch. Suboptimal guns started choking up pretty early on and fortunately the guys from MGSS were able to troubleshoot and fix some of the problems. Gun and gear problems would plague us for most of the course though. Along with some optics and gear, Jeff loaned out his extra rifle and an extra upper. MGSS also loaned out one extra rifle and some other equipment as well. This was a little frustrating and put us behind schedule, but we managed to meet all the days training objectives.
TD2 Started out early, so we could try to catch up from TD1. We swapped out some equipment and sights and hustled to get everyone re-zeroed so we could tackle the day’s events. We got into the drills and it started coming together for those struggling, with the high repetitions finally working their magic and students getting used to the new techniques. Jeff talked to us about the 3 step process to improve your techniques and replace old techniques with new ones. First you have to recognize the action in question. Next you learn to intercept it before it happens and then replace it with the new action. Lastly you reinforce the new action with lots of repetitions. This process proved to be very reliable for most of the students.
We started the afternoon with a speed drill on paper starting at the 50 yard line. While we were making slow progress, things weren’t going as well as we would have liked, so Jeff switched us to a diagnostic drill on 8” steel plates. After a few repetitions of this, things really started to fall into place and more students were tightening their groups and performing much better. We went back to the speed drill and it went a lot better for most the second time around.
We finished up TD2 with the final standards test and while several passed a few did not. The majority of those who failed did so by getting DQ’ed for putting a round in the white or off the target. (which were mostly on the head shots we made at distance) Any round off the target is a DQ for graded evolutions. Despite ending on a sour note for some, overall improvement across the board was huge. This was obvious sitting in the debrief and listening to the students describe the major learning points as things that they improved upon. Again, we hear a common theme, the major points tend to be the universal fighting stance, first best sight picture, pulling the rifle into your mount and follow through.
TD3 started the Shooting on The Move package and things started well with most students focusing more on shooting and less on moving. Unfortunately, we continued to see problems with guns and equipment but we made some adjustments and continued on. Many of the concepts from TD1&2 came together and the light bulb turned on for several students throughout the day. Jeff has several drills starting at 25yrds and working in that really show the importance of solid fundamentals while moving. We burned through several drills during the day that were both fun and challenging. We ended the day shooting a standards test which the entire class passed, some with very high scores. A great finish to a great 3 days.
Guns: Well, we had a broad selection of guns from all makes and unfortunately more than our fair share of issues. Most of the problems were from non tier 1 guns ranging from standard length guns shortened to 11.5 having gas issues, to a POF having intermittent gas issues. We also had a couple of Colt SBR’s that had their rail hand guards and lo-pro gas blocks installed by a`gunsmith having gas issues. The POF appeared to be having ammo issues causing double feeds. That went away when the shooter switched to the “good stuff”. But then later the issues came back on day 3 with the “good stuff”? Hard to say when you are starting with suboptimal to begin with. Quality of ammunition is also suspect as we are all feeling the crunch of finding good reliable ammo at a reasonable price. Some of us just have to do the best we can with what we have. Fortunately, my rifle was a Bushmaster SBR that I had gone through and replaced/upgraded all the parts that needed it and it was one of the ones that was trouble free throughout.
Equipment: There was a mix of EoTechs and Aimpoints and as expected several of the Eotechs went down or had to be constantly tightened up. Jeff loaned out a couple Aimpoints to those who needed them and they all worked well. There were several wardrobe and nylon malfunctions, again with some loaners being passed around to eliminate issues. It is always better to wring out gear in a class setting than at a more important time, like when your life depends on it. Jeff gave us some tips on good gear to use and everyone understood that it is best not to scrimp on life saving gear. Of course some of the top names like Eagle, Tactical Tailor, DBT, Vickers, Viking, Blue Force Gear, TangoDown, Vltor and others were represented and were trouble free.
Overall, it was a great course with lots of learning had by all. We look forward to the next one. Here are some of the pics from the class.
Jeff demonstrating moving
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1471&stc=1&d=1224364937
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1472&stc=1&d=1224364937
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1473&stc=1&d=1224364937
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1474&stc=1&d=1224364937
https://www.m4carbine.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1475&stc=1&d=1224364937