Gutshot John
06-25-09, 18:30
Range, Students and Instructors:
LRI (http://longrangeinternational.com/home.html) brings whole new meaning to the word “range.” Right outside of Lance Creek Wyoming about four hours North of Denver Colorado. The class was held on a fraction of 50K acre horse/cattle ranch with wide fields of view with depressions, outcroppings and ridges that act as backstops. Ranges could easily exceed 2000 yards for just about any rifle you could want. Beyond this they have the capability of doing mounted/dismounted courses of fire that permitted an application of marksmanship techniques in tactical scenarios such as a rooftop in Iraq to an IED attack on a convoy in Afghanistan. There are bunk/squad bay facilities for students and lodging/meals are provided at a modest price with an excellent cook who provided hot breakfasts and dinners with MREs for lunch. All you need to bring is gear, guns and ammo.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0302.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0303.jpg
The students and instructors represented a broad swath of knowledge and expertise. In the case of one student had 40+ years of firearms experience that was a profoundly eye-opening encounter. While the military background was prominent, the top-shooter in the class was civilian. Almost all were competition shooters who had significant competition experience and other things to contribute. Bill, Jason and Rob are extremely knowledgeable/effective instructors and with their backgrounds, the training was based on real-world experience. Rob is also a skilled/accredited/equipped gunsmith and we spent several hours trouble-shooting a problem I was having with my rifle. He’s extremely smart and knowledgeable in his craft and is almost more of a weapons historian, which I certainly appreciated.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0306.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0307.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0304.jpg
Curriculum and Overview of Training:
The two-day class was about 24 training hours. The long TD1 began with the didactic portion of the concept of the DMR. The DMR is NOT a sniper and is given a role of providing rapid, accurate gunfire support to 800 meters primarily as a modified service rifle. The fundamentals of Marksmanship (position, aiming, breathing and trigger control) and Ballistics (internal, external and terminal) were well defined. Significant time was spent on the importance of fundamentals such as natural point-of-aim and mastering your chosen optic as higher power optics and longer distance ranges make parallax a significant issue. By late-morning we were on the range sighting-in zeros and applying the vagaries of how altitude, temperature and humidity affect bullet performance giving us a solid foundation in doping our weapons and beginning the process of collecting data. In some courses, zeroing is often a chore to get through; in the DMR class it became a significant learning opportunity. We then spent time on positions before moving into some basic CQB drills to establish how to manipulate and maximize performance up close.
After lunch we jumped into barricades before breaking into shooter/spotter pairs and moving on to known distance shooting out to 600 yards to firmly establish our weapon’s “dope” on 18”w x 24”h steel targets about the size of a torso without legs. LRI operated on “big boy rules” meaning if your gun went down on the range you were expected to fix the problem yourself. I started having problems and so it turned out I got a lot of valuable malfunction experience on the FAL due to a bizarro ammunition problem with West German AB-22. All in all the emphasis was on speed and accuracy by using the semi-auto capability to get on target within 3 shots at unknown distances using rapid range estimation and a BDC reticle. It was also a chance to learn and hone spotting skills. The late afternoon sun made it extremely difficult to acquire targets no matter what type/color of reticle you were using. We broke for chow before coming back to low-light and night shooting that culminated in a chemlight target competition. We got in about 11pm making for a long 15 hour training day. Everyone was sore and tired as TD1 was a bit of an ass-kicker.
The real fun (and I do mean fun) began on TD2 with an unknown distance shoot that applied everything we had learned on TD1 with several timed competitive shoots between the paired teams. The ammunition problems persisted until I switched to my partner’s Federal Match .308, and with that the FAL/ACOG combo delivered a very impressive performance in terms of speed and accuracy easily (with single-shots) putting effective fire on 600-yard steel. The ACOG paid huge dividends in terms of rapidly estimating ranges. After that the fun really began as we began to incorporate tactical situations including patrolling, shooting and moving in pairs, bounding and breaking contact within 200 yards.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0309.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0346-1.jpg
After lunch Urban techniques were covered using a simulated Baghdad/Iraqi rooftop and how to use solid structures for shooting support and creating a variety of shooting positions. A foot patrol assault course incorporated this rooftop and different cover/concealment. Vehicle technique was followed by vehicle assault course along a 2-3 mile trail with targets set at random intervals. A pistol proved to be an excellent tool to mark a target for a wide variety of distances. Scenarios continued with a simulated convoy under IED attack using a Tannerite target. Here again a FAL/ACOG and a spotter proved to be a very effective in the DMR role even with problems caused by late-afternoon sun. TD2 may have been the most pure fun I’d ever had in a training day. By early evening we were all pretty crushed and went back to the bunkhouse for some drinks and a comprehensive debrief of the IED shoot and the class in general.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0343.jpghttp://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0344.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0347.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0345.jpg
Equipment and Ammunition:
The class was centered around the AR/M4 system but I was using a DSA FAL with a G1 barrel, 3x30 ACOG on TA-51 mount and DSA rail and FH. I had never used the FH and had an impact on groups from 1-2 (using South African 7.62) to 2-3 (using German AB-22) moa, but given the nighttime requirements it was recommended that I zero it with the FH on and leave it there. This was sound advice as constantly putting it on or taking it off would have rendered it useless at night. The FH was vital. The other optics ranged from a standard EOTech, a Pride Fowler and a 4x ACOG. All were perfectly capable of making shots out to 600 yards with the 16” carbine system though at the 500-600 yard range the FAL was making hits within 2-3 shots where the AR was making them in 4-5. Match ammo lends a huge advantage at farther distances, but the top shooter who started with Black Hills Match 75 and ended with Wolf 62 was still quite capable of making hits out to 600 yards with an AR with groups going from 1 moa to 3 moa, still within DMR tolerances.
My ammunition issues began with breaking a cardinal rule: going to a class with ammo I hadn’t tested in my gun. My FAL has had about 1000-1500 rounds of miscellaneous mil-surp of various quality with no problems whatsoever, so I didn’t really fear that West German NATO ammunition would be a problem. It functioned initially ok but problems increased after about 150 rounds. After ruling-out every other issue including the gas system (tried every setting) with Rob the gunsmith, he pretty much came to the conclusion that the ammo was underpowered or underperforming in other ways causing the bolt to short-stroke. The only obvious difference is the nickel-plated projectile that may or may not have contributed to the problem. Total round count was approximately 400 rounds over two days.
The importance of mastering your chosen optic and recording data in a book can’t be overstated. The EOTech performed quite well even if 600 yard shots were problematic without a spotter. A quality-magnified optic makes all the difference and I learned more about maximizing the capability of the ACOG in ways I never realized. It is a wonderful low-powered optic that can easily fill the gap between 100-800 yards with the right dope. The class seemed to teach more about one’s optics than one’s rifle.
Overview:
One might expect that an inaugural class is going to have some kinks but perhaps due to the instructor/student ratio this was minimized, as there was always a spare hand to address the minor hiccups. Instructor knowledge and experience made all the difference for keeping the curriculum focused and paced. Some ranges have fancy facilities but are limited by what their hard assets can do, LRI’s space and instructor creativity gave them significant capability few ranges or million-dollar training facilities could hope to match or exceed. LRI offered a unique and valuable training opportunity to do things that only a few civilian ranges offer. The instructors were very interested in passing on their knowledge of their craft and cared very much about their students’ performance. They elicited a lot of feedback about what could be improved or changed. One thing is that I would have preferred it be a 3-day class but as LRI moves forward and more people take this already excellent class it will only get better as it is refined. I will be returning to LRI for more.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0350.jpg
LRI (http://longrangeinternational.com/home.html) brings whole new meaning to the word “range.” Right outside of Lance Creek Wyoming about four hours North of Denver Colorado. The class was held on a fraction of 50K acre horse/cattle ranch with wide fields of view with depressions, outcroppings and ridges that act as backstops. Ranges could easily exceed 2000 yards for just about any rifle you could want. Beyond this they have the capability of doing mounted/dismounted courses of fire that permitted an application of marksmanship techniques in tactical scenarios such as a rooftop in Iraq to an IED attack on a convoy in Afghanistan. There are bunk/squad bay facilities for students and lodging/meals are provided at a modest price with an excellent cook who provided hot breakfasts and dinners with MREs for lunch. All you need to bring is gear, guns and ammo.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0302.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0303.jpg
The students and instructors represented a broad swath of knowledge and expertise. In the case of one student had 40+ years of firearms experience that was a profoundly eye-opening encounter. While the military background was prominent, the top-shooter in the class was civilian. Almost all were competition shooters who had significant competition experience and other things to contribute. Bill, Jason and Rob are extremely knowledgeable/effective instructors and with their backgrounds, the training was based on real-world experience. Rob is also a skilled/accredited/equipped gunsmith and we spent several hours trouble-shooting a problem I was having with my rifle. He’s extremely smart and knowledgeable in his craft and is almost more of a weapons historian, which I certainly appreciated.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0306.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0307.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0304.jpg
Curriculum and Overview of Training:
The two-day class was about 24 training hours. The long TD1 began with the didactic portion of the concept of the DMR. The DMR is NOT a sniper and is given a role of providing rapid, accurate gunfire support to 800 meters primarily as a modified service rifle. The fundamentals of Marksmanship (position, aiming, breathing and trigger control) and Ballistics (internal, external and terminal) were well defined. Significant time was spent on the importance of fundamentals such as natural point-of-aim and mastering your chosen optic as higher power optics and longer distance ranges make parallax a significant issue. By late-morning we were on the range sighting-in zeros and applying the vagaries of how altitude, temperature and humidity affect bullet performance giving us a solid foundation in doping our weapons and beginning the process of collecting data. In some courses, zeroing is often a chore to get through; in the DMR class it became a significant learning opportunity. We then spent time on positions before moving into some basic CQB drills to establish how to manipulate and maximize performance up close.
After lunch we jumped into barricades before breaking into shooter/spotter pairs and moving on to known distance shooting out to 600 yards to firmly establish our weapon’s “dope” on 18”w x 24”h steel targets about the size of a torso without legs. LRI operated on “big boy rules” meaning if your gun went down on the range you were expected to fix the problem yourself. I started having problems and so it turned out I got a lot of valuable malfunction experience on the FAL due to a bizarro ammunition problem with West German AB-22. All in all the emphasis was on speed and accuracy by using the semi-auto capability to get on target within 3 shots at unknown distances using rapid range estimation and a BDC reticle. It was also a chance to learn and hone spotting skills. The late afternoon sun made it extremely difficult to acquire targets no matter what type/color of reticle you were using. We broke for chow before coming back to low-light and night shooting that culminated in a chemlight target competition. We got in about 11pm making for a long 15 hour training day. Everyone was sore and tired as TD1 was a bit of an ass-kicker.
The real fun (and I do mean fun) began on TD2 with an unknown distance shoot that applied everything we had learned on TD1 with several timed competitive shoots between the paired teams. The ammunition problems persisted until I switched to my partner’s Federal Match .308, and with that the FAL/ACOG combo delivered a very impressive performance in terms of speed and accuracy easily (with single-shots) putting effective fire on 600-yard steel. The ACOG paid huge dividends in terms of rapidly estimating ranges. After that the fun really began as we began to incorporate tactical situations including patrolling, shooting and moving in pairs, bounding and breaking contact within 200 yards.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0309.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0346-1.jpg
After lunch Urban techniques were covered using a simulated Baghdad/Iraqi rooftop and how to use solid structures for shooting support and creating a variety of shooting positions. A foot patrol assault course incorporated this rooftop and different cover/concealment. Vehicle technique was followed by vehicle assault course along a 2-3 mile trail with targets set at random intervals. A pistol proved to be an excellent tool to mark a target for a wide variety of distances. Scenarios continued with a simulated convoy under IED attack using a Tannerite target. Here again a FAL/ACOG and a spotter proved to be a very effective in the DMR role even with problems caused by late-afternoon sun. TD2 may have been the most pure fun I’d ever had in a training day. By early evening we were all pretty crushed and went back to the bunkhouse for some drinks and a comprehensive debrief of the IED shoot and the class in general.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0343.jpghttp://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0344.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0347.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0345.jpg
Equipment and Ammunition:
The class was centered around the AR/M4 system but I was using a DSA FAL with a G1 barrel, 3x30 ACOG on TA-51 mount and DSA rail and FH. I had never used the FH and had an impact on groups from 1-2 (using South African 7.62) to 2-3 (using German AB-22) moa, but given the nighttime requirements it was recommended that I zero it with the FH on and leave it there. This was sound advice as constantly putting it on or taking it off would have rendered it useless at night. The FH was vital. The other optics ranged from a standard EOTech, a Pride Fowler and a 4x ACOG. All were perfectly capable of making shots out to 600 yards with the 16” carbine system though at the 500-600 yard range the FAL was making hits within 2-3 shots where the AR was making them in 4-5. Match ammo lends a huge advantage at farther distances, but the top shooter who started with Black Hills Match 75 and ended with Wolf 62 was still quite capable of making hits out to 600 yards with an AR with groups going from 1 moa to 3 moa, still within DMR tolerances.
My ammunition issues began with breaking a cardinal rule: going to a class with ammo I hadn’t tested in my gun. My FAL has had about 1000-1500 rounds of miscellaneous mil-surp of various quality with no problems whatsoever, so I didn’t really fear that West German NATO ammunition would be a problem. It functioned initially ok but problems increased after about 150 rounds. After ruling-out every other issue including the gas system (tried every setting) with Rob the gunsmith, he pretty much came to the conclusion that the ammo was underpowered or underperforming in other ways causing the bolt to short-stroke. The only obvious difference is the nickel-plated projectile that may or may not have contributed to the problem. Total round count was approximately 400 rounds over two days.
The importance of mastering your chosen optic and recording data in a book can’t be overstated. The EOTech performed quite well even if 600 yard shots were problematic without a spotter. A quality-magnified optic makes all the difference and I learned more about maximizing the capability of the ACOG in ways I never realized. It is a wonderful low-powered optic that can easily fill the gap between 100-800 yards with the right dope. The class seemed to teach more about one’s optics than one’s rifle.
Overview:
One might expect that an inaugural class is going to have some kinks but perhaps due to the instructor/student ratio this was minimized, as there was always a spare hand to address the minor hiccups. Instructor knowledge and experience made all the difference for keeping the curriculum focused and paced. Some ranges have fancy facilities but are limited by what their hard assets can do, LRI’s space and instructor creativity gave them significant capability few ranges or million-dollar training facilities could hope to match or exceed. LRI offered a unique and valuable training opportunity to do things that only a few civilian ranges offer. The instructors were very interested in passing on their knowledge of their craft and cared very much about their students’ performance. They elicited a lot of feedback about what could be improved or changed. One thing is that I would have preferred it be a 3-day class but as LRI moves forward and more people take this already excellent class it will only get better as it is refined. I will be returning to LRI for more.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/GutshotJohn/CIMG0350.jpg