Jeff_M
07-01-09, 20:12
We conducted our two day General Defensive Rifle Course in Lewisberry, PA at the West Shore Sportsman’s Club. Fortunately, we were able to spend the entire weekend on the rifle range. This was my first trip to Lewisberry, and their rifle range is perfect for a carbine class. There is a covered area then 100 yards of grass that gently slopes uphill to the berm, then above the berm on the hillside are various steel targets at 150 and 200 yards. Weather cooperated throughout the weekend. Earlier in the week it was forecast for 90 and humidity. But both days were in the low 80s and the humidity wasn’t too bad. We had some slight scares with drizzle but nothing stuck.
The goal of this course is to not only provide students with the necessary skills for the individual deployment of a rifle in a violent encounter but also provide an introduction to the proper mindset and tactics to triumph in a violent encounter. There is a lot of information to pack into two days with lecture, practical exercises, and range work. It takes a hardworking focused group of students who will allow an instructor to not just skim the material, but provide the students with a detailed explanation and demonstration of the how and why and then develop the individual skills into progressively more complex drills.
There were nine students, mostly private citizens, a couple feds, a doctor who moonlights as a SWAT medic, and one cop (who was a pleasure to have at the class. In addition to being a skilled operator, he is a well respected and professional instructor in the industry). This was a great group of people to spend the weekend with. Everyone had a great attitude and worked hard. As always, the students make the class, and this was a fun diverse group.
As in all our classes, day 1 started off with a detailed discussion of the four Universal Firearms Handling Rules. We then moved on to a discussion of external ballistics and zeroing methods. We zeroed our rifles and then started working on close quarters marksmanship and gun handling (ready positions, mechanical offset, reloads, and clearing malfunctions). We then moved on to cover scanning, position shooting (squatting, kneeling, sitting, and prone), and deliberate movement.
Day 1 also included a discussion about equipment. Most shooters spend the majority of their time dwelling on what widget to put on their rifle, despite the fact that equipment is by far the least important factor in surviving a violent encounter. Mindset, tactics and skill carry the day. The principle to remember is that equipment should make YOUR job easier. You must first identify YOUR job (i.e. home defense, LE, Mil, etc). If you find yourself fighting your gear, then it is time to discard it and find gear that complements your tactics and skills. The problem that new shooters find is that they either have no tactics and skills or very poor tactics and skills. Thus, there is no frame of reference for selecting proper equipment. The best advice for budget conscious new shooters is to not buy anything but a sling and maybe an inexpensive light for their rifles until they have the training and experience to make proper equipment selection on their own, or until they find a system they are going to embrace and then buy exactly what the instructor/mentor uses.
Day 2 started off with a review of sight picture, trigger control, follow through, and drills to reinforce those principles. We then moved on to introduce pivots and then worked drills to integrate the gun handling, position, and movement skills that had been previous covered. The morning ended with a discussion of pieing corners and deliberate clearing of rooms. We then moved to a building on the range and practiced the pieing technique and clearing corner and center feed rooms.
After lunch, we put the tactics into practice on the range shooting around barricades standing, kneeling and prone.
After a discussion of terminal ballistics, wounding, and “stopping power.” We lined up just in front of the covered area and gave the steel a good workout. At distance, when one combines proper sight picture, trigger control, and follow through with natural point of aim and proper respiratory pause targets are easily hit with rapid controlled shots. At the 200 yard line there is an IPSC size silhouette and 12 inch disc. Students found that the 200 yard silhouette could be consistently hit prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing. Even with irons and non magnified optics, students were able to reliably get hits. I think everyone hit the 200 yard silhouette standing and most were able to hit the 12 inch disc at that distance. Some had to transition to a more classic rifleman shooting platform to hit the 12 inch target. However, for those that were using an adjustable two point sling, they were able to easily get hits in a squared up close quarters platform with the assistance of sling tension.
We then transitioned back to close quarters marksmanship working head shots at the 20 and 25, and then we moved in for some fast and furious drills combining speed, movement, pivots, gun handling, transitions and other skills covered over the weekend. As the pace picked up, students experienced how task layering and friction effects one’s ability to maintain awareness, handle the gun, and stay focused on the job before them. We were a long way from the stress of a violent encounter, and these drills helped illustrate to students how much mental preparation and hard work it will take to enable a successfully outcome.
Most students ended up shooting around 700 rounds. There were a variety of guns (Colt, Bushmaster, RRA, LMT, Knights, etc). There were no noticeable issues with guns not working. The few unintentionally induced malfunctions we had were all magazine related. This is a non issue as magazines are a known wear item. If one does not work then discard it and move on. There were a few “Frankenguns.” However, it seems that people have figured out that quality in-spec parts from top manufactures can be combined and the end result is a reliable accurate rifle. A Colt upper, LMT lower, and BCM bolt don’t have the same problems as a Model 1 upper, DPMS bolt, and Oly lower.
Thanks to all the instructors/coaches who were there to help out (C. K., G. D., Heath D., and Mike W.).
As a closing comment, it is always a challenge to conduct realistic training on the square range. There are a lot of bad habits we can pick up in a sterile training environment. We need to constantly remind ourselves of the real world context for the different skills and drills we perform. Mental focus and great attention are required to correctly visualize a real world context for deploying a firearm. Those who have and maintain a contextual understanding of training are much better prepared to win the fight.
I had some technical issues with the camera. I hope to get those resolved shortly with pictures to follow.
The goal of this course is to not only provide students with the necessary skills for the individual deployment of a rifle in a violent encounter but also provide an introduction to the proper mindset and tactics to triumph in a violent encounter. There is a lot of information to pack into two days with lecture, practical exercises, and range work. It takes a hardworking focused group of students who will allow an instructor to not just skim the material, but provide the students with a detailed explanation and demonstration of the how and why and then develop the individual skills into progressively more complex drills.
There were nine students, mostly private citizens, a couple feds, a doctor who moonlights as a SWAT medic, and one cop (who was a pleasure to have at the class. In addition to being a skilled operator, he is a well respected and professional instructor in the industry). This was a great group of people to spend the weekend with. Everyone had a great attitude and worked hard. As always, the students make the class, and this was a fun diverse group.
As in all our classes, day 1 started off with a detailed discussion of the four Universal Firearms Handling Rules. We then moved on to a discussion of external ballistics and zeroing methods. We zeroed our rifles and then started working on close quarters marksmanship and gun handling (ready positions, mechanical offset, reloads, and clearing malfunctions). We then moved on to cover scanning, position shooting (squatting, kneeling, sitting, and prone), and deliberate movement.
Day 1 also included a discussion about equipment. Most shooters spend the majority of their time dwelling on what widget to put on their rifle, despite the fact that equipment is by far the least important factor in surviving a violent encounter. Mindset, tactics and skill carry the day. The principle to remember is that equipment should make YOUR job easier. You must first identify YOUR job (i.e. home defense, LE, Mil, etc). If you find yourself fighting your gear, then it is time to discard it and find gear that complements your tactics and skills. The problem that new shooters find is that they either have no tactics and skills or very poor tactics and skills. Thus, there is no frame of reference for selecting proper equipment. The best advice for budget conscious new shooters is to not buy anything but a sling and maybe an inexpensive light for their rifles until they have the training and experience to make proper equipment selection on their own, or until they find a system they are going to embrace and then buy exactly what the instructor/mentor uses.
Day 2 started off with a review of sight picture, trigger control, follow through, and drills to reinforce those principles. We then moved on to introduce pivots and then worked drills to integrate the gun handling, position, and movement skills that had been previous covered. The morning ended with a discussion of pieing corners and deliberate clearing of rooms. We then moved to a building on the range and practiced the pieing technique and clearing corner and center feed rooms.
After lunch, we put the tactics into practice on the range shooting around barricades standing, kneeling and prone.
After a discussion of terminal ballistics, wounding, and “stopping power.” We lined up just in front of the covered area and gave the steel a good workout. At distance, when one combines proper sight picture, trigger control, and follow through with natural point of aim and proper respiratory pause targets are easily hit with rapid controlled shots. At the 200 yard line there is an IPSC size silhouette and 12 inch disc. Students found that the 200 yard silhouette could be consistently hit prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing. Even with irons and non magnified optics, students were able to reliably get hits. I think everyone hit the 200 yard silhouette standing and most were able to hit the 12 inch disc at that distance. Some had to transition to a more classic rifleman shooting platform to hit the 12 inch target. However, for those that were using an adjustable two point sling, they were able to easily get hits in a squared up close quarters platform with the assistance of sling tension.
We then transitioned back to close quarters marksmanship working head shots at the 20 and 25, and then we moved in for some fast and furious drills combining speed, movement, pivots, gun handling, transitions and other skills covered over the weekend. As the pace picked up, students experienced how task layering and friction effects one’s ability to maintain awareness, handle the gun, and stay focused on the job before them. We were a long way from the stress of a violent encounter, and these drills helped illustrate to students how much mental preparation and hard work it will take to enable a successfully outcome.
Most students ended up shooting around 700 rounds. There were a variety of guns (Colt, Bushmaster, RRA, LMT, Knights, etc). There were no noticeable issues with guns not working. The few unintentionally induced malfunctions we had were all magazine related. This is a non issue as magazines are a known wear item. If one does not work then discard it and move on. There were a few “Frankenguns.” However, it seems that people have figured out that quality in-spec parts from top manufactures can be combined and the end result is a reliable accurate rifle. A Colt upper, LMT lower, and BCM bolt don’t have the same problems as a Model 1 upper, DPMS bolt, and Oly lower.
Thanks to all the instructors/coaches who were there to help out (C. K., G. D., Heath D., and Mike W.).
As a closing comment, it is always a challenge to conduct realistic training on the square range. There are a lot of bad habits we can pick up in a sterile training environment. We need to constantly remind ourselves of the real world context for the different skills and drills we perform. Mental focus and great attention are required to correctly visualize a real world context for deploying a firearm. Those who have and maintain a contextual understanding of training are much better prepared to win the fight.
I had some technical issues with the camera. I hope to get those resolved shortly with pictures to follow.