brian556
11-22-10, 09:14
I just had the pleasure of finally attending this carbine course after having to reschedule several times because of work conflicts. The instructor Wade Rorich was very understanding and let me change dates several times. This was the same class he did a month earlier that had an attendance of 16 shooters. This class was created to accommodate all the people who wanted to take the course after it filled up. Just days before the first day he had several cancelations dwindling the head count to just 4 students. First off I have to say I was very impressed that Wade went ahead with the class even though only 4 people confirmed they would be there. Actually I was stoked because I knew we would get a lot of trigger time and personal instruction.
Just a little background on me:
Im 33 and live in Tampa FL. I've been a recreational shooter since I was 18 but recently really took an interest in improving my skills and signed up for my first class last year with Randy Cain Handgun 101. After that I was hooked and wanted to take as many classes as time and my checking account would allow. Since then I have attended Bushido Tactical's Level 1 and 2 Handgun courses as well as the Magpul Dynamics carbine 3 day course in CO.
Gear used in the course:
Stag Arm AR15 left handed w/ Aimpoint M4, Blackhawk Xiphos NT weapon mounted light, Magpul ACS stock, Magpul sling attachment, YHM Free float rail, KAS ambi mag release, and ambi selector.
Magpul single point sling
Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm with TLR 1 light
Blade tech Holster, and mag pouches( 2 belt AR mag pouches 1 double pistol mag pouch and a single pistol mag pouch)
Eagle M4 3 mag chest rig
Sordin electronic ear pro
cheap ass "tactical" knee pads
PMC hotshot .223 55gr carbine ammo
Winchester 9mm 115gr white box target pistol ammo
Day 1:
Safety Briefing
Even though we had a very small number of people whom all have taken Wade's handgun course, we started the day with the all important safety briefing. I really appreciate the level of safety with all of the Bushido classes I have taken. There is always a slight pucker factor for me when Im training with strangers as I would really like to leave at the end of the day with the same number of holes in my body that I showed up with. Wade never lets his guard down and is always watching for violations of the 4 rules of safety. If he catches you violating them you get to do pushups or jumping jacks. If it's a muzzle sweep or ND you're out. The level of consistency carries out through the entire 2 days never letting up on safe practice.
Weapon Zero
After the briefing we all went to the 25 yd line to zero our optics and iron sights. We discussed the benefits and disadvantages for the different types of weapon zeros and after the discussion he let us choose which zero we were going to use. It was an eye opener for me to hear the differences and the pros and cons of each. after we confirmed zero on both irons and optics we went right to drills.
Drills
We started out with the basics and covering height over bore, stance, grip, trigger control, recoil management, and weapon manipulation. I started out shooting "magpul style" since this was the only way Ive been taught. What I call magpul style is where you stand square on to the target with your support hand extended to the end of your foregrip and thumb on top. It is a very effective method for recoil management but kind of sucks if you need to keep your muzzle on target for longer than 10 seconds. Honestly Ive always found it very awkward but wanted to maintain an open mindedness when I took the magpul class so I did it the entire 3 days drilling with them. it did allow for very rapid fire and controlled movements but I never tried any other grips and stances so I assumed it was the best for me. Wade advocates you do it how you want to, he will just show you his way and explains the benefits as to why he does it that way. Since I was paying for his instructions I decided that no matter if it conflicted with other training I had I would do everything his way and decide later what worked for me and what didn't. He teaches the more traditional semi bladed, standard method of rifle shooting that feels much more natural to me. by the end of the day I removed my vertical grip and was going to the mag well or just past it for my support hand with much success. What works for me and what works for others may be different but after running both methods I've decided that Wade's method just works better for me.
After lunch we discussed the pros and cons of staying in your rifle sling and went over some basic weapon retention (or lack there of ) and those of us who choose to stand by our slings learned all the fun ways Wade could drop you to your back and punish you mercilessly with your own weapon. Just one more example of Wade letting you choose which gear you want to run but expects you to complete his drills with or without the shortcomings of gear choices and placement.
The next morning my sling was "forgotten" in my range bag and I ran the rest of the course sling free. Another great thing that I appreciated during the drills was that every single drill we did included shooting from our left side and our right side. There was no strong side weak side mindset. Drilling in this manner starts the process of breaking you from favoring one side or the other which would severely limit you in a tactical situation regarding utilization of available cover and/or cornering a doorway. I found that much to my disbelief I was able to get the same number of good hits in the same amount of time shooting right or left sided.
We also learned all the different fighting positions and trained dry both left and right handed positions until it came very natural to transition from one to the other. We learned all the pros and cons of each position and when and when not to shoot from them and the best ways to utilize cover with minimal body exposure towards the enemy (paper targets)
We wrapped up day 1 covering weapon transitions to our secondary firearms and basic weapon light methods.
Day 2:
The weather was perfect with a slight overcast and temps from the 70s to low 80s. We got a slight drizzle around lunch time but nothing worth noting. There was an ISPC shoot going on at the range that day so there were a lot of people shooting in the other areas of the range making it a little noisy for discussions
Safety briefing started out the day and we did a refresher of the 4 rules of firearm safety and the different range commands. We jumped right into shooting drills and covered all the different fighting positions we learned the day before. We went over the different types of reloads and malfunction drills which later I got to do a lot of. The one thing I will mention about Wade's classes is that he is a firm believer of keeping your sights up and on target so if you have a lot of shit hanging on your rifle and try to maintain a straight support arm no matter how big you are you will hurt in the shoulders and start to have trouble keeping your sights on target. About an hour before lunch we started an endurance test which was fun and physically demanding. Without going into details of what we did, I will say it pays to close your dust cover when ever you put your rifle on the ground. Half way through the test I dove to the ground behind my rifle kicking up a shit ton of dirt which all managed to land inside my bolt locked open receiver causing major weapon failures. I had gotten so much dirt in my chamber that I got a casing stuck and had to use a rod to clear it out. Wade offered me his rifle to complete the drill. I spent the better half of my lunch break cleaning my rifle to get it back up and running as it would not feed rounds into the chamber even after I cleared the stuck casing. My rifle ran fine the rest of the day after that but I was very cautious about getting dirt in the receiver after that.
After lunch we went into movement drills which was my favorite part of the class. We learned how to effectively move quickly keeping sights on target. We continued to transition from left or right handed shooting depending on the direction of movement and engaging multiple targets quickly without stopping for reloads or side arm transitions. I found this drill the most valuable and rewarding as you are starting to put together everything you learned standing on a line and applying it in a fluid real world type situation. After the movement drills which ate up a lot of ammo we finished off the day with a timed combat course. It involved all the aspects of shooting positions and transitions we learned during the entire class along with some more physical endurance activities which gets your breathing up and heart rate beating.
All in all this was my favorite course that I've taken to date. I've learned so much during those 2 days and would recommend it to anyone regardless of your level of competence. Even though it says level 1 do not be tuned off by thinking you are more advanced than that. It is just level 1 to Wade's methods of doing things and that's it. The great thing about Wade's courses is that they all tie together. The things we learned in the hand gun course carried over to the rifle class and made so much more sense after taking both. What may have felt silly in the handgun class such as one handed weapon manipulation proved invaluable when applied with a rifle in your hand. I learned what worked and what didn't work as far as gear placement and carbine set up. The best thing of all is Wade himself is not an ego maniac or close-minded to other methods of doing things. He is a great guy with a funny sense of humor and he never makes you feel like an idiot when you can't do something and will work tirelessly to help you improve. The classes are fun but he never lets his guard down when it comes to proper technique or safety.
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1530
Wade Rorich, Instructor
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1541
Me shooting from behind cover
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1540
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1539
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1538
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1537
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1536
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1535
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1534
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1533
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1532
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1531
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1529
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1528
Just a little background on me:
Im 33 and live in Tampa FL. I've been a recreational shooter since I was 18 but recently really took an interest in improving my skills and signed up for my first class last year with Randy Cain Handgun 101. After that I was hooked and wanted to take as many classes as time and my checking account would allow. Since then I have attended Bushido Tactical's Level 1 and 2 Handgun courses as well as the Magpul Dynamics carbine 3 day course in CO.
Gear used in the course:
Stag Arm AR15 left handed w/ Aimpoint M4, Blackhawk Xiphos NT weapon mounted light, Magpul ACS stock, Magpul sling attachment, YHM Free float rail, KAS ambi mag release, and ambi selector.
Magpul single point sling
Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm with TLR 1 light
Blade tech Holster, and mag pouches( 2 belt AR mag pouches 1 double pistol mag pouch and a single pistol mag pouch)
Eagle M4 3 mag chest rig
Sordin electronic ear pro
cheap ass "tactical" knee pads
PMC hotshot .223 55gr carbine ammo
Winchester 9mm 115gr white box target pistol ammo
Day 1:
Safety Briefing
Even though we had a very small number of people whom all have taken Wade's handgun course, we started the day with the all important safety briefing. I really appreciate the level of safety with all of the Bushido classes I have taken. There is always a slight pucker factor for me when Im training with strangers as I would really like to leave at the end of the day with the same number of holes in my body that I showed up with. Wade never lets his guard down and is always watching for violations of the 4 rules of safety. If he catches you violating them you get to do pushups or jumping jacks. If it's a muzzle sweep or ND you're out. The level of consistency carries out through the entire 2 days never letting up on safe practice.
Weapon Zero
After the briefing we all went to the 25 yd line to zero our optics and iron sights. We discussed the benefits and disadvantages for the different types of weapon zeros and after the discussion he let us choose which zero we were going to use. It was an eye opener for me to hear the differences and the pros and cons of each. after we confirmed zero on both irons and optics we went right to drills.
Drills
We started out with the basics and covering height over bore, stance, grip, trigger control, recoil management, and weapon manipulation. I started out shooting "magpul style" since this was the only way Ive been taught. What I call magpul style is where you stand square on to the target with your support hand extended to the end of your foregrip and thumb on top. It is a very effective method for recoil management but kind of sucks if you need to keep your muzzle on target for longer than 10 seconds. Honestly Ive always found it very awkward but wanted to maintain an open mindedness when I took the magpul class so I did it the entire 3 days drilling with them. it did allow for very rapid fire and controlled movements but I never tried any other grips and stances so I assumed it was the best for me. Wade advocates you do it how you want to, he will just show you his way and explains the benefits as to why he does it that way. Since I was paying for his instructions I decided that no matter if it conflicted with other training I had I would do everything his way and decide later what worked for me and what didn't. He teaches the more traditional semi bladed, standard method of rifle shooting that feels much more natural to me. by the end of the day I removed my vertical grip and was going to the mag well or just past it for my support hand with much success. What works for me and what works for others may be different but after running both methods I've decided that Wade's method just works better for me.
After lunch we discussed the pros and cons of staying in your rifle sling and went over some basic weapon retention (or lack there of ) and those of us who choose to stand by our slings learned all the fun ways Wade could drop you to your back and punish you mercilessly with your own weapon. Just one more example of Wade letting you choose which gear you want to run but expects you to complete his drills with or without the shortcomings of gear choices and placement.
The next morning my sling was "forgotten" in my range bag and I ran the rest of the course sling free. Another great thing that I appreciated during the drills was that every single drill we did included shooting from our left side and our right side. There was no strong side weak side mindset. Drilling in this manner starts the process of breaking you from favoring one side or the other which would severely limit you in a tactical situation regarding utilization of available cover and/or cornering a doorway. I found that much to my disbelief I was able to get the same number of good hits in the same amount of time shooting right or left sided.
We also learned all the different fighting positions and trained dry both left and right handed positions until it came very natural to transition from one to the other. We learned all the pros and cons of each position and when and when not to shoot from them and the best ways to utilize cover with minimal body exposure towards the enemy (paper targets)
We wrapped up day 1 covering weapon transitions to our secondary firearms and basic weapon light methods.
Day 2:
The weather was perfect with a slight overcast and temps from the 70s to low 80s. We got a slight drizzle around lunch time but nothing worth noting. There was an ISPC shoot going on at the range that day so there were a lot of people shooting in the other areas of the range making it a little noisy for discussions
Safety briefing started out the day and we did a refresher of the 4 rules of firearm safety and the different range commands. We jumped right into shooting drills and covered all the different fighting positions we learned the day before. We went over the different types of reloads and malfunction drills which later I got to do a lot of. The one thing I will mention about Wade's classes is that he is a firm believer of keeping your sights up and on target so if you have a lot of shit hanging on your rifle and try to maintain a straight support arm no matter how big you are you will hurt in the shoulders and start to have trouble keeping your sights on target. About an hour before lunch we started an endurance test which was fun and physically demanding. Without going into details of what we did, I will say it pays to close your dust cover when ever you put your rifle on the ground. Half way through the test I dove to the ground behind my rifle kicking up a shit ton of dirt which all managed to land inside my bolt locked open receiver causing major weapon failures. I had gotten so much dirt in my chamber that I got a casing stuck and had to use a rod to clear it out. Wade offered me his rifle to complete the drill. I spent the better half of my lunch break cleaning my rifle to get it back up and running as it would not feed rounds into the chamber even after I cleared the stuck casing. My rifle ran fine the rest of the day after that but I was very cautious about getting dirt in the receiver after that.
After lunch we went into movement drills which was my favorite part of the class. We learned how to effectively move quickly keeping sights on target. We continued to transition from left or right handed shooting depending on the direction of movement and engaging multiple targets quickly without stopping for reloads or side arm transitions. I found this drill the most valuable and rewarding as you are starting to put together everything you learned standing on a line and applying it in a fluid real world type situation. After the movement drills which ate up a lot of ammo we finished off the day with a timed combat course. It involved all the aspects of shooting positions and transitions we learned during the entire class along with some more physical endurance activities which gets your breathing up and heart rate beating.
All in all this was my favorite course that I've taken to date. I've learned so much during those 2 days and would recommend it to anyone regardless of your level of competence. Even though it says level 1 do not be tuned off by thinking you are more advanced than that. It is just level 1 to Wade's methods of doing things and that's it. The great thing about Wade's courses is that they all tie together. The things we learned in the hand gun course carried over to the rifle class and made so much more sense after taking both. What may have felt silly in the handgun class such as one handed weapon manipulation proved invaluable when applied with a rifle in your hand. I learned what worked and what didn't work as far as gear placement and carbine set up. The best thing of all is Wade himself is not an ego maniac or close-minded to other methods of doing things. He is a great guy with a funny sense of humor and he never makes you feel like an idiot when you can't do something and will work tirelessly to help you improve. The classes are fun but he never lets his guard down when it comes to proper technique or safety.
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1530
Wade Rorich, Instructor
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1541
Me shooting from behind cover
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1540
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1539
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1538
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1537
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1536
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1535
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1534
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1533
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1532
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1531
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1529
https://www.m4carbine.net/picture.php?albumid=319&pictureid=1528