AAR: LSHD Vickers Shooting Method Kalashnikov Basic ~ Beaver Falls, PA ~ December 18t
My previous experience:
I should start out by saying that as far as training goes, I have had around 80 hours of training this year, mostly handgun, but some carbine as well. My interest for this class mostly came from wanting an AK and being presented the opportunity to shoot not only the type of AK I want to buy, but one of the nicest out there. That gets the biggest checkmark that one can fit in the "WIN" column. In addition, I regularly try to participate in IDPA matches at the host club, Beaver Valley Rifle and Pistol Club.
Disclosure:
It should be noted that Jay is among a few people I give much credit for getting me started into training, as well as helping me with things along the way. I feel most people that know me will see that I am more than objective about the reviews I write, but you never know what someone will say. I try to keep my reviews as close to my perspective, that of a paying customer who is hoping to get what was posted about the class and anything else that can be squeezed out of the time I paid for.
Class details:
The class was hosted by Low Speed High Drag, LLC The total cost was $150 for one day of training. Given that the instructor has a nice collection of AK's, 5 loaner guns were available as well. This made is possible for myself and two others to shoot a gun we are interested in but do not own. The students were required to bring 400 rounds and 3 magazines with a means to take a spare magazine to the line. Given the fact that I was running a loaner gun, this point was great, no fancy nylon and kydex were needed. I will get more into the gear in a bit, but this was a BASIC class, BASIC gear was needed. Fast roping was not on the course description.
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www.lowspeed-highdrag.com
Morning:
We started out in the clubhouse of the range with intros and the usual gun talk. Things got rolling at the advertised time, and actually got rolling well. We had a quick review of the expected safety standards. Given that this was a "foreign platform" (or weapons system if you prefer), a brief history was presented, with many parallels to the Stoner rifles most of us own many of. This part for me, despite spending a good bit of time investigating the gun, presented a good bit of new info on the subject. The most shocking differences I saw was the comparison of the AK magazines vs the STANAG magazines.
The next step was getting into the guns themselves. We had 6 or 7 different AK's in the front of the room that all had features unique to them, as well as a "modernized AK" and a suppressed AK. After comparing the differences, two AK's were left on the table to go over the internals, field stripping, and any other quirks to the design. Given that there was a well worked over AK-105 present, various upgrades were discussed and shown to the class. For myself, this was nice to see a bunch of the parts I will probably end up with for the AK I intend to obtain.
After the inside work, the live fire portion begun with zeroing and an explanation of the zero that is preferred and some discussion concerning effectiveness in between. Given that this was a basic level class, we were doing everything under 25 meters, which is where we zeroed. With the western PA weather being cold and snowy as usual, it was nice to see everyone not only dressed properly for the occasion, but everyone went prone in the snow without issue. After a few strings of zeroing and adjustment, we broke for lunch and warmed up for a bit.
It should be noted that the 25 yard rough zero was presented as just that, a rough zero. Verification at range was the proper way to check the zero and this was discussed. For our purposes, learning the basics with the gun, shooting to 200 yards or more was not worthwhile.
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Loading up and getting ready for the cold
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Targets all set up.
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Prone to rough zero at 25 yards.
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Sight adjustment
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A few of the guns used
Afternoon:
The afternoon continued some sling discussion and presenting from various slings, as well as the quirks of the AK, especially the safety that appears to have been designed to not be used. I was using a SWIFT lever, so I had minimal issues in this area, and I doubt I will own an AK without one. The class also had a few people who were left handed, so folks got to see how the ergonomics of a gun are drastically different if you are left or right handed.
After presenting the gun was discussed, we went into offset/holdover. This was similar enough to the AR for me that the concept wasn't new, but having the sights closer to the barrel made shots on the 1x1 square in the head were a little sketchy at first. Couple that with me trying to win the fastest shooter award and you get a few less than desirable hits, and you may or may not be made into the wrong type of example. All with the benefit of learning for others. A few more strings of fire took us into reloads with the AK.
Reloads with the AK are a little more work than the AR, but they were shown to be pretty easy. I have seen a few fancy reloads with the AK on YouTube, as many probably have, and they were shown as well, but the preferred technique taught was quite simple and far more fool proof.
During reloads, there was one AK that had a few malfunctions that led us right into clearing malfunctions with the AK. And yes, I said we had an AK that malfunctioned. It was a 5.56 AK which goes to show that when you change a design from one thing to another you can drastically increase your chances of having problems. This is a big point that I feel would be blindingly obvious to most people here, but others would still not get it. I am confident the students in the class now understand why you don't want to mess with something so much if you intend to stake your life on it.
One of the final things we worked on was turns, both 90 degree and 180 degree turns. We ran many iterations of turns in order to present a few reloads to the students and then worked on standard vs non-standard response at a distance to where the offset/holdover would come back, but with a few of the other skills learned tied into it. The big learning point was that accuracy was important and people shouldnt forget what is involved in making accurate hits, more so, what may be at stake when those hits need to be made.
Gear:
As noted above, I had to come back to gear. Given the fact that one cannot purchase competency, we all get worked up over the first useless thing we can, and that is normally gear. I have been fed up with the availability of quality kydex gear as of late and was originally going to dedicate some time to making a few mag pouches to take this class. It was later mentioned that that would be unnecessary and that the class would be taught in a manner that did not require the latest nylon contraption or any of my HALO gear. Holding true, the instructor demonstrated everything from a pair of cargo pants, just as most guys were dressed.
Guns... The AK I was loaned was an AK-105 with an UltiMAK optics mount, an Aimpoint T-1, a Surefire G2 in a Vltor-ADM mount, topped off with a VCAS sling. After much discussion over the past 4-5 months along with the usual internet browsing this is about what I decided I had wanted for an AK anyway, so it was great to use it for a day.
The Swift lever was great, and there were a few to loan out if the gun would accept it, as well as the opportunity to try it with live fire was available as well.
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Tweaking
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Overtweaked...
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People also got to run a suppressed AK, I know a few guys checked this out after class.
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One of the unique AK's present
And finally, probably new new project to start:
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Overall:
Overall, I very much enjoyed the class and learned more than I have on the internet (SURPRISE!) about the gun in a few hours in the morning. Many of the nuances about using a different gun were highlighted and methods to use the gun were shown to be very easy.
As mentioned earlier, I hope to remain as objective as possible, so in doing so, comparing the class I took to other VSM course reviews I read, along with other basic reviews from classes taught by Larry Vickers himself, I got everything I had paid for. The structure and pace was good and I noticed many times guys that own AK's and have used them for a while were still learning, even in a basic level class. This is probably why "guys who know" will suggest taking more fundamental based classes over taking another Advanced Tactical Truckbed Off-road Platform Shooting Dynamics class. Taking the class with a new gun, or a new way to screw with ones head is another way to also drive home the idea that the basics are key.
Photos:
The photo set is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomkell...7625509172845/
Feel free to steal, pillage, and do whatever you wish. Not that my pics are ever too stellar, but I certainly need to spend more time doing winter stuff to see what I need to do.
