Parabellum9x19mm
07-28-09, 22:52
On July 27, 2009 I attended MilCopp Tactical's Practical .22LR course. I had loads of fun, but most importantly, as with all good training, I was able to identify some of my weakness and problem areas. During the course of training I was able to make improvements in these areas and when I practice on my own, these are things I'll make sure to focus on.
The course began with a safety briefing and overview, which included a description of the advantages of using .22 analogs as well their limitations and weaknesses. Descriptions of various pieces of gear were given, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Soon we moved to the firing line to zero our weapons and to shake out some cobwebs by firing through a magazine. We were instructed that we should treat our rifles as if they were centerfire battle/assault rifles, and should pull them tight into our shoulders as if they were our actual defensive arms with all the recoil that comes with them.
Things moved through the familiar “Crawl-Walk-Run” progression, with each new thing we learned, we started with a dry-run and then to live fire, as we added more and more building blocks to the picture and started putting them all together.
At first it was all static shooting, as we practiced shooting from different positions, transitioning from one position to another (Delta drills and Up-Down drills), transitioning from our primary weapon to pistol and pistol reloads. We also practiced transitioning our rifles from strongside to weakside and shooting from behind cover. While behind cover, everyone practiced shooting through the holes in the barricades and getting accustomed to the sight-offset for our particular weapon, without crowding our cover, flagging our muzzles and maintaining proper form.
One of the next things we did was to start getting our heart rates up. We shot a cold group first. Everyone either had tight groups or exhibited vertical stringing. After we did some suicide sprints and ran back to our rifles, shouldered them and fired a group, everyone had horizontal stringing. This was very helpful to show what our patterns would look like under stress with increased heart rates and adrenaline flowing.
As everyone began to feel more confident and got smoother, movement was brought into play. We practiced the slow-walk, keeping our sights level while firing, as well as hauling ass and dashing from covered position to covered position. Soon we were putting all the pieces together and running blind-drills at full-speed.
By the end of live fire portion of the class everyone was feeling tired, and there was a brief wrap-up portion where we went over everything we learned and discussed some of the things that we weren't able to cover while using .22LR analogs: recoil management, malfunction drills, tactical magazine changes, and so on. The course lasted seven hours.
As I said before I had a great time during the course and it was great meeting members of the forums who I was not yet acquainted with as well as seeing those who I already count as friends, but most importantly I was able to take away many important lessons for myself. I'll briefly iterate a few of the most important ones for me.
Go over the recommended equipment lists carefully: I didn't think I needed elbow and knee pads and left mine at home. I was wrong. Ouch!!!!
I've been planning on getting a .22 AR conversion. I wish I had one for this course. My 10/22 functioned well, but an AR would have been more beneficial and would have allowed me to use my VTAC sling instead of a single point. I already knew I didn't much like single point slings and this only confirmed that aversion.
I already had a predilection towards red dot sights, but now I am 100% sold on them. They are so much easier to use on the move and are totally essential when shooting a rifle from the weak-side.
Speaking of shooting from the weak-side, I really improved during the class, but this is something I really need to focus on during my own time.
In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I've known Dave from Milcopp personally for a few years, have shot a few competitions with him and had a few beers with him as well. I've always known him as a good competition shooter and a good person, I can now also add a good instructor to that list.
Bio blurb:
Dave served two combat tours in Iraq with the USMC. In Iraq he participated in numerous combat actions and was involved in the weapons training of Iraqi Special Forces and other coalition troops. After his second tour he was a foreign weapons instructor for American soldiers and Marines. He also instructed urban patrolling, urban assault, and close quarters combat classes.
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603458305_rdhgh-M.jpg
Enough boring talking right? Here are some pictures of the course.......
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603450703_ju9p3-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603447697_hteXC-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603448787_EGtGD-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603454550_SwqQ8-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603457330_CjtXq-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603448170_XCR7W-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603449925_4vFBS-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603447522_r4Mpv-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603455221_fhbam-L.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603454836_TJcgH-M.jpg
The course began with a safety briefing and overview, which included a description of the advantages of using .22 analogs as well their limitations and weaknesses. Descriptions of various pieces of gear were given, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Soon we moved to the firing line to zero our weapons and to shake out some cobwebs by firing through a magazine. We were instructed that we should treat our rifles as if they were centerfire battle/assault rifles, and should pull them tight into our shoulders as if they were our actual defensive arms with all the recoil that comes with them.
Things moved through the familiar “Crawl-Walk-Run” progression, with each new thing we learned, we started with a dry-run and then to live fire, as we added more and more building blocks to the picture and started putting them all together.
At first it was all static shooting, as we practiced shooting from different positions, transitioning from one position to another (Delta drills and Up-Down drills), transitioning from our primary weapon to pistol and pistol reloads. We also practiced transitioning our rifles from strongside to weakside and shooting from behind cover. While behind cover, everyone practiced shooting through the holes in the barricades and getting accustomed to the sight-offset for our particular weapon, without crowding our cover, flagging our muzzles and maintaining proper form.
One of the next things we did was to start getting our heart rates up. We shot a cold group first. Everyone either had tight groups or exhibited vertical stringing. After we did some suicide sprints and ran back to our rifles, shouldered them and fired a group, everyone had horizontal stringing. This was very helpful to show what our patterns would look like under stress with increased heart rates and adrenaline flowing.
As everyone began to feel more confident and got smoother, movement was brought into play. We practiced the slow-walk, keeping our sights level while firing, as well as hauling ass and dashing from covered position to covered position. Soon we were putting all the pieces together and running blind-drills at full-speed.
By the end of live fire portion of the class everyone was feeling tired, and there was a brief wrap-up portion where we went over everything we learned and discussed some of the things that we weren't able to cover while using .22LR analogs: recoil management, malfunction drills, tactical magazine changes, and so on. The course lasted seven hours.
As I said before I had a great time during the course and it was great meeting members of the forums who I was not yet acquainted with as well as seeing those who I already count as friends, but most importantly I was able to take away many important lessons for myself. I'll briefly iterate a few of the most important ones for me.
Go over the recommended equipment lists carefully: I didn't think I needed elbow and knee pads and left mine at home. I was wrong. Ouch!!!!
I've been planning on getting a .22 AR conversion. I wish I had one for this course. My 10/22 functioned well, but an AR would have been more beneficial and would have allowed me to use my VTAC sling instead of a single point. I already knew I didn't much like single point slings and this only confirmed that aversion.
I already had a predilection towards red dot sights, but now I am 100% sold on them. They are so much easier to use on the move and are totally essential when shooting a rifle from the weak-side.
Speaking of shooting from the weak-side, I really improved during the class, but this is something I really need to focus on during my own time.
In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I've known Dave from Milcopp personally for a few years, have shot a few competitions with him and had a few beers with him as well. I've always known him as a good competition shooter and a good person, I can now also add a good instructor to that list.
Bio blurb:
Dave served two combat tours in Iraq with the USMC. In Iraq he participated in numerous combat actions and was involved in the weapons training of Iraqi Special Forces and other coalition troops. After his second tour he was a foreign weapons instructor for American soldiers and Marines. He also instructed urban patrolling, urban assault, and close quarters combat classes.
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603458305_rdhgh-M.jpg
Enough boring talking right? Here are some pictures of the course.......
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603450703_ju9p3-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603447697_hteXC-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603448787_EGtGD-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603454550_SwqQ8-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603457330_CjtXq-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603448170_XCR7W-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603449925_4vFBS-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603447522_r4Mpv-M.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603455221_fhbam-L.jpg
http://photos.milcopptactical.com/photos/603454836_TJcgH-M.jpg