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View Full Version : AAR: Vickers 1911 Operator's Class ATL, GA 7-8 AUG 2010



ikickhippies
08-08-10, 19:46
We shot a great class with weekend with Larry Vickers. First and Foremost I would like to thank Larry personally as well as all those who make these training opportunities possible.

Below is the After Action Review:

Dates: 7-8 August 2010
Location: Private Range in Fulton Co.

Day One: Due to a storm LAV's plane was held over and the windowlickers at the airport "losing" his bag temporarily we got started about 11:00.
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/DSCI0038.JPG

Topics covered were Trigger Control, Grip, Reloads, Sight Alignment, and Drawing. We also covered lube. See, 1911's need lube. I mean they gotta be W-E-T. We were all told to bear in mind that running a 1911 is both similar and entirely unique in relation to any other handgun. From the draw, to the shooting position to the reload.
Targets primarily consisted of 10-12" Bullseyes and 1" dots. Larry ran us through some of his established drills, and told some infamous stories. The dude was a total riot. Later in the day we split up into 3 teams and ran a couple of friendly competitions. We ran a little late due to starting later, and a few of us cleaned up and then met back up to grab some chow.

http://media.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=20851

Day Two:Bright and Early at 8:00. Instruction was classroom based. In a nutshell Larry assisted us in detail stripping our guns down to frame, slide and parts. It literally look like JMB puked on my table. http://media.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=20849
He then helped us troubleshoot and diagnose our weapons. Parts quality wise we were all running high quality guns. Wilsons, Springers, Ed Browns, Kimbers and a few others. There were no cheap guns that I saw. Even with this high quality the guns are only as quality as the dude that put it together. I was surprised at how much work still needed to be done on some of them. After going through parts and some more stories we then proceeded in reassembly. This is what I personally showed up for. It was pretty straightforward and as Larry says- you gotta have some finesse. After that we broke for lunch.

http://media.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=20852

We also covered how NOT to have a stupid ringtone on a phone.

After lunch we reassembled on the range and Larry demonstrated his function drills to see if our guns still worked. He showed us 3-4 tests to determine the functionality of our guns. After that we did some shooting on the move drills followed by a few more competitions. After that we called it a day and broke.

Equipment:
Wilson CQB
Talon Tactical Holster
Talon Tactical Mag Pouches
Rescomp Inner/Outer Belt
Maxpedition Dump Pouch


Overall I had a great time. Larry is very personable and easy to talk to. He's really used to dealing with shooters and I never felt like he was talking down to any of us. We were all on the same level and he was really supportive and extremely helpful. Hopefully we'll be able to have him come back to town again.

The most important thing I learned over the last two days were to appreciate this style of 1911 over all others:
http://media.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=20845

David Thomas
08-08-10, 23:30
thanks for the AAR.

NCPatrolAR
08-08-10, 23:54
think that's the second time LAV has had problems at the ATL airport

Sam
08-09-10, 04:12
think that's the second time LAV has had problems at the ATL airport

That's true but the problems for both episodes were started by weather and connection flights. The first time it happened, he was only an hour or so late, but his bags were 3 or 4 hours late getting to Atl. This time the weather delayed his originating flight and caused him to entirely missed the connection. His bags actually got here before him. US Airways customer (dis)service was totally no help. They got the bags (for 5 or 6 travelers from the same flight) in storage and there was no employee to open the storage for an hour.

Here are a couple more pics.

Larry putting the file on the extra extra extra long Dan Wesson's ejector.

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/DSCI0047.JPG

Shooting while retreating in 95 degree heat.

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/DSCI0048.JPG

Gingerkid
08-09-10, 08:31
Larry putting the file on the extra extra extra long Dan Wesson's ejector.

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/DSCI0047.JPG


Hey... that Dan Wesson looks familiar! :moil:

Now I got a Vickers gun, right??? :sarcastic:

Sam
08-09-10, 08:55
These pictures were taken and posted by VolGrad, I moved them here from another thread. Thanks, SAM.

I recognized the hat. :)


A couple of pics from the weekend ....

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd208/volgrad/DSC02018.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd208/volgrad/DSC02029_2.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd208/volgrad/DSC02021.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd208/volgrad/DSC02016.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd208/volgrad/DSC02014.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd208/volgrad/DSC02012.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd208/volgrad/DSC02011.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd208/volgrad/DSC02009.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd208/volgrad/DSC02028.jpg

paulee
08-09-10, 20:10
So Sam, what was it the caused you to appreciate the Glock 1911:D over all others? I know that Larry has referred to his Intro to pistol courses as "Glock appreciation class", what did he point out in this one?

Jason Burton
08-09-10, 22:54
Looks like a great class... and I for one am glad to see so many folks interested in learning more about an old, archaic, antiquated, useless and malfunction-prone, slab-sided, and outdated pistol like the 1911. :sarcastic:

The Dumb Gun Collector
08-09-10, 23:21
I took this class a few years ago. Larry is the bomb.

subzero
08-10-10, 08:50
Now I got a Vickers gun, right??? :sarcastic:

LOL, I said the same thing after LAV fixed my burred and extended ejector, making it the standard length.

It was a bad weekend for travel, I think. Every one of my 4 flights this weekend got delayed. At least none of my flight attendants popped the door on us though...

GermanSynergy
08-11-10, 10:45
Looks like a great class! I'll be at the 1911 class in a month. :cool:

VHinch
08-12-10, 21:02
Outstanding class. Thanks to LAV, Rich, Tod, and the others involved in getting it setup.

A few additional pics-

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww123/vhinch/Vickers%201911%20Operators%20Course/1911OperatorsClass009.jpg

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww123/vhinch/Vickers%201911%20Operators%20Course/1911OperatorsClass023.jpg

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww123/vhinch/Vickers%201911%20Operators%20Course/1911OperatorsClass029.jpg

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww123/vhinch/Vickers%201911%20Operators%20Course/1911OperatorsClass014.jpg

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww123/vhinch/Vickers%201911%20Operators%20Course/1911OperatorsClass012.jpg

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww123/vhinch/Vickers%201911%20Operators%20Course/1911OperatorsClass030.jpg

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww123/vhinch/Vickers%201911%20Operators%20Course/1911OperatorsClass031.jpg