zacbol
11-09-11, 14:32
This was my second time (AAR for first class here: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?p=1093718) attending the Intermediate Carbine Clinic with LMS Defense. It was taught by Kevin Williams who also taught it the last time around, though the material and pace differed slightly. There were only five students and since we had one guy who was new to the AR, Kevin made sure to spend a bit more time on some of the basics. The course itself was held at Cascade Shooting Facilities on the 50-yard action bay. While I'd expected heavy rain, given it was in Washington in November, it was actually a fair clear day, though fairly cold--probably mid forties.
For a majority of the course, I ran my SCAR 17S which has the following modifications/accessories:
TangoDown angled charging handle
TangoDown aluminum stock latch
Geisselle Super SCAR trigger
Magpul MIAD grip
Viking Tactics low-profile sling mount
Magpul selector
Aimpoint H1 (have an Aimpoint 3X with twist mount but left it off for the course)
Ares Armor Huskey Amentum sling
Surefire FH762SV-SCAR flash hider/suppressor adapter
Other than the sling and the H1, all of these were new to the rifle since the last course (Insights General Defensive Rifle). I also had issues with floor-plate sliding off in that class when my mags hit the ground (https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?p=1101524), so had bought some 308 Magpuls, but as I only had three only three of my magazines had them. Since we were on gravel for the course, it wasn't as much of an issue but I had at least one instance where the mag floor popped off slightly. I did notice a definitely increase in muzzle jump with the Surefire device over the PWS, though I didn't think the recoil significantly worse. I also brought an SR15 which I lent to another student for most of the course. It had an XPS. Towards the end of the course, I switched to it as I had worked my way through the DAG ammo I had brought (about 400 rounds) and I didn't feel like de-linking the Radway Green I had.
As we had one new student, Kevin started with sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, and stance as well as briefly going over disassembly, maintenance, and cleaning of the AR. We then talked a bit about the trade-offs of different zeros. That was probably the first hour to hour and a half but was still a good review to get his take on various aspects of this stuff.
We then proceed to zero our rifles from 50. I asked what the proper zero for a 7.62 was, Kevin admitted it was not his area of expertise as he doesn't shoot the caliber. He promised to send me some information that another instructor who was not present that day, Jordan, had calculated and we settled for a zero at 50 for the course. I'd already zeroed my rifle prior to the class at 25 yards (based on some half-assed Internet research) but I was still low and right at the class. Perhaps this was in part due to having had the Surefire muzzle device installed, but likely also because I shot off a bipod and only used three round groups. Kevin said it was important to use more than three rounds as typically the ammo folks use in training is not accurate enough to get a meaningful group with just three rounds. It took around three or four iterations to get everyone appropriately zeroed. I will add, having used my SCAR 17S in two classes now zeroing is my least favorite part. Shooting the SCAR while using the mag as a monopod seems to redirect a lot of force into my cheek to the point that I ended up with a minor bruise and my cheek still hurts slightly a few days later. Not a big deal, but I wouldn't call it enjoyable either.
After zeroing, we then did a few dot drills from 7 yards and discussed offsets at close range. The last time I did the course I was using my SR15 which has an EoTech XPS and for all the hate EoTech sometimes receives, I did miss the bottom hash mark that let me be fairly precise at these closer ranges. I managed to do okay with my Aimpoint micro, but it took slightly more thought and effort.
We then spent time on tactical and speed reloads. While this had proved challenging in the last class where I used the SCAR due to the increased weight and size of the mags, this time I really had no problems with these manipulations. So, at least in that respect, I saw some improvement. We then moved on to pivots where Kevin explained he didn't feel it necessary to have a very rigid, patterned way of moving but rather look at the threat and simply turn. We practiced this via a number of drills, pivoting from both directions, and going 180 degrees.
After this we spent some time on transitioning to sidearm, though Kevin pointed out that in most cases if you are a civilian you will not be transitioning to a sidearm. The one thing he kept correcting for me was that as I pulled the weapon to my side, I kept ending up with the ejection port facing up, rather than down as Kevin was instructing. I can't recall the reasoning beyond, I think, that the weapon will move less when slung in that position.
We then performed timed drills running from the 20 to 10 to 5, with 10 shots from each distance where I turned in this golden performance:
http://youtu.be/lvWlsDPvxIg
I was a bit 'off' the whole day and this was probably my low point. The drill was not meant to include magazine changes and due to the lower capacity SCAR mags, with which I only load 18 rounds, and the fact one was not totally full I ended up with two. Oddly, during the first magazine change the mag did not drop free (I've never had this happen before) and when I hit the bolt release a round was not chambered. You can see me futzing with it in the video somewhat confused by what happened. At first I thought I simply had not disengaged the safety. We thought maybe I had a bad round, but in re-watching the video it's clear nothing is ejected when I charge the weapon manually. That was the only time anything like that happened and I'm still not sure what the hell happened.
After this we worked on different shooting positions, first running them dry, then moving to live fire. This included: prone, seated, kneeling, urban prone, supine, and rollover prone. We then ran timed drills a number of times with five shots at each of prone, kneeling, and standing. Towards the end we used VTAC-style barricades to work our way through the firing positions. At around this point, with an hour or so left in the class I switched over to my SR15. I ran through the drill once with my SCAR and let a few others give it a go with that rifle. We then concluded the class and Kevin very graciously handing out a free set of Glock sights to one student who'd won a competition PWS muzzle devices to a couple of us (for nothing other than that he had them!)
The biggest thing I took away was that when running a 7.62, even a more lightly recoiling one like the SCAR, you really have to be on it. I think the super light recoil of the SR15 has let me be a little lazy about making sure to have my weight on the balls of my toes and another student even remarked that during the running drill he could see me rocking backward. Additionally, I really had to take quite a bit more time to make my shots, which is especially apparent if you watch me run this same drill wtih the SR15 from the last time I did this class:
http://youtu.be/KzUR_0IiET0
All in all a great day. I'm not very happy with the shooting I did, but I definitely took home some new stuff to work on and improve, got a free muzzle device, and had a lot of fun with some great folks. Thanks to all who were in attendance and Kevin, in particular, for his great instruction.
EDIT: Will post pics if/when I get them. I didn't take any myself.
For a majority of the course, I ran my SCAR 17S which has the following modifications/accessories:
TangoDown angled charging handle
TangoDown aluminum stock latch
Geisselle Super SCAR trigger
Magpul MIAD grip
Viking Tactics low-profile sling mount
Magpul selector
Aimpoint H1 (have an Aimpoint 3X with twist mount but left it off for the course)
Ares Armor Huskey Amentum sling
Surefire FH762SV-SCAR flash hider/suppressor adapter
Other than the sling and the H1, all of these were new to the rifle since the last course (Insights General Defensive Rifle). I also had issues with floor-plate sliding off in that class when my mags hit the ground (https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?p=1101524), so had bought some 308 Magpuls, but as I only had three only three of my magazines had them. Since we were on gravel for the course, it wasn't as much of an issue but I had at least one instance where the mag floor popped off slightly. I did notice a definitely increase in muzzle jump with the Surefire device over the PWS, though I didn't think the recoil significantly worse. I also brought an SR15 which I lent to another student for most of the course. It had an XPS. Towards the end of the course, I switched to it as I had worked my way through the DAG ammo I had brought (about 400 rounds) and I didn't feel like de-linking the Radway Green I had.
As we had one new student, Kevin started with sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, and stance as well as briefly going over disassembly, maintenance, and cleaning of the AR. We then talked a bit about the trade-offs of different zeros. That was probably the first hour to hour and a half but was still a good review to get his take on various aspects of this stuff.
We then proceed to zero our rifles from 50. I asked what the proper zero for a 7.62 was, Kevin admitted it was not his area of expertise as he doesn't shoot the caliber. He promised to send me some information that another instructor who was not present that day, Jordan, had calculated and we settled for a zero at 50 for the course. I'd already zeroed my rifle prior to the class at 25 yards (based on some half-assed Internet research) but I was still low and right at the class. Perhaps this was in part due to having had the Surefire muzzle device installed, but likely also because I shot off a bipod and only used three round groups. Kevin said it was important to use more than three rounds as typically the ammo folks use in training is not accurate enough to get a meaningful group with just three rounds. It took around three or four iterations to get everyone appropriately zeroed. I will add, having used my SCAR 17S in two classes now zeroing is my least favorite part. Shooting the SCAR while using the mag as a monopod seems to redirect a lot of force into my cheek to the point that I ended up with a minor bruise and my cheek still hurts slightly a few days later. Not a big deal, but I wouldn't call it enjoyable either.
After zeroing, we then did a few dot drills from 7 yards and discussed offsets at close range. The last time I did the course I was using my SR15 which has an EoTech XPS and for all the hate EoTech sometimes receives, I did miss the bottom hash mark that let me be fairly precise at these closer ranges. I managed to do okay with my Aimpoint micro, but it took slightly more thought and effort.
We then spent time on tactical and speed reloads. While this had proved challenging in the last class where I used the SCAR due to the increased weight and size of the mags, this time I really had no problems with these manipulations. So, at least in that respect, I saw some improvement. We then moved on to pivots where Kevin explained he didn't feel it necessary to have a very rigid, patterned way of moving but rather look at the threat and simply turn. We practiced this via a number of drills, pivoting from both directions, and going 180 degrees.
After this we spent some time on transitioning to sidearm, though Kevin pointed out that in most cases if you are a civilian you will not be transitioning to a sidearm. The one thing he kept correcting for me was that as I pulled the weapon to my side, I kept ending up with the ejection port facing up, rather than down as Kevin was instructing. I can't recall the reasoning beyond, I think, that the weapon will move less when slung in that position.
We then performed timed drills running from the 20 to 10 to 5, with 10 shots from each distance where I turned in this golden performance:
http://youtu.be/lvWlsDPvxIg
I was a bit 'off' the whole day and this was probably my low point. The drill was not meant to include magazine changes and due to the lower capacity SCAR mags, with which I only load 18 rounds, and the fact one was not totally full I ended up with two. Oddly, during the first magazine change the mag did not drop free (I've never had this happen before) and when I hit the bolt release a round was not chambered. You can see me futzing with it in the video somewhat confused by what happened. At first I thought I simply had not disengaged the safety. We thought maybe I had a bad round, but in re-watching the video it's clear nothing is ejected when I charge the weapon manually. That was the only time anything like that happened and I'm still not sure what the hell happened.
After this we worked on different shooting positions, first running them dry, then moving to live fire. This included: prone, seated, kneeling, urban prone, supine, and rollover prone. We then ran timed drills a number of times with five shots at each of prone, kneeling, and standing. Towards the end we used VTAC-style barricades to work our way through the firing positions. At around this point, with an hour or so left in the class I switched over to my SR15. I ran through the drill once with my SCAR and let a few others give it a go with that rifle. We then concluded the class and Kevin very graciously handing out a free set of Glock sights to one student who'd won a competition PWS muzzle devices to a couple of us (for nothing other than that he had them!)
The biggest thing I took away was that when running a 7.62, even a more lightly recoiling one like the SCAR, you really have to be on it. I think the super light recoil of the SR15 has let me be a little lazy about making sure to have my weight on the balls of my toes and another student even remarked that during the running drill he could see me rocking backward. Additionally, I really had to take quite a bit more time to make my shots, which is especially apparent if you watch me run this same drill wtih the SR15 from the last time I did this class:
http://youtu.be/KzUR_0IiET0
All in all a great day. I'm not very happy with the shooting I did, but I definitely took home some new stuff to work on and improve, got a free muzzle device, and had a lot of fun with some great folks. Thanks to all who were in attendance and Kevin, in particular, for his great instruction.
EDIT: Will post pics if/when I get them. I didn't take any myself.