How has Magpul Dynamics's "Art of the Tactical Carbine" stood the test of time?

[superstratjunky]

We need to really step back & take a good hard look at what these vids have done. Like some have said, it has opened doors. Doors that otherwise wouldn't have opened. We also have to look at our current cultural climate & realize just how much ignorance is out there with new shooters. Even the concepts like the more pistol style stance has had it's share of nay sayers in the gun culture. It still does. But still, these vids have a shit ton of useful info & a lot of it is still relevant.

What I'd like to see is instructor summits so they can trade ideas & see what works & what doesn't. With egos & endorsements left in the parking lot. It would solve a lot of misinformation & conjecture. Thus making our culture stronger, more unified, & better served in the long run. More & more are getting into firearms & if we want them to fully embrace it & then later introduce others, then we need to be more involved & educated.

[jondoe297]

I'm guessing the criticism is of folks who mechanically perform "search and assess" motions as part of a rote memorized habit pattern, rather than actually taking the opportunity to "look" during the search part and "evaluate what they're looking at" during the assess part.

This. I generally make it a point to pick something out when I do a S&A, and remember what it was. Example being, something on the wall of the range, a specific tree if I'm outdoors...just some minute detail to force myself to actually look and not just go through the motions.
I believe that a lot of people dismiss the value that the S&A has, if for no other reason than to help break tunnel vision.

[Arctic1]

This. I generally make it a point to pick something out when I do a S&A, and remember what it was. Example being, something on the wall of the range, a specific tree if I'm outdoors...just some minute detail to force myself to actually look and not just go through the motions.
I believe that a lot of people dismiss the value that the S&A has, if for no other reason than to help break tunnel vision.

How is looking at a specific tree or something on the wall beneficial when training to get better at increasing situational awareness? Which really is why the scan and assess is done.
I do not dismiss the value of the scan and assess, I believe situational awareness is best taught during scenario based training, not standing at the range shooting courses of fire. How realistic is that?

Maintaining situational awareness is geared towards the following:

-Locating additional threats and determining what they are doing
-Assessing terrain for cover, concealment, possibilities to advance toward threat, stay in place or to break contact
-Keeping aware of friendlies

Your first task when you have engaged a target, is to assess the effectiveness of your fire. This is done through your sights, and here tunnel vision helps you. The you can start focusing on the above.

In a military setting this is simplified somewhat in that you have teammates around to cover the areas you are not focusing on. Based on the number of guys in your team, you only have a small area to control; for maintaining 360 degree awareness in a 6 man team, each guy has a dedicated sector of maybe 80 degrees. In a civilian setting this is quite different, and can become overwhelming because of the large amounts of people potentially present. Looking at a pre-determined object during training is not realistic. Achieving and maintaining 360 degree awareness by yourself is hard.

Developing the ability to achieve and maintain good situational awarenes requires training over a long period of time in a setting where it is always required (training is focused on revealing lapses). It is not learned solely from doing a few repetitions on the square range.

[trinydex]

Given that the current Magpul curriculum, and the curriculums of the two instructors featured in the videos are significantly different than what is featured in those videos, I would say, "not terribly well". Really though, that's not a bad thing. What I teach today is different than what I taught 7 years ago. Good instructors evolve.

There are very solid concepts in the videos, namely; efficiency of motion and rapid multiple hits. These concepts were foreign to the general shooting community at the time of those videos' release, and making the idea of "gunfighting training" appealing to a wide audience significantly helped the current crop of instructors and trainers.

do you ever question how much of the evolution is just the training personalities developing new stuff to keep the interested viewers (money) coming in? sometimes I see the new stuff from the costa/haley camps and I wonder.

I do appreciate that the evolutions from multiple instructors seems to be based more on scientific approach. diagnosing what is needed in any situation and using scientific principles to justify various solutions.

[trinydex]

People mock the chamber check but god if I my coworkers would do it when they get a stoppage. You should really be able to diagnose an empty mag by the feel of lock back. I watch people over and over stuff fresh mags into double and triple feed malfunctions. You shoot the gun twice a year. Just look first!

I feel like there is a gap that's hard to bridge between teaching to the lowest common denominator and then teaching to the interested few who might seek out a dvd from a top instructor. that gap can't even be bridged simply by showing someone a dvd either. it's a very difficult problem to solve. you can't teach people what they don't feel like learning. you also can't teach everyone to the lowest common denominator because it destroys the quality for everyone else who could benefit. what to do, what to do?

They're easy to criticize, but if you'd watched Clint Smith's sahara-dry, staccato delivery in his videos, you'll understand why he had limited market penetration, and why Magpul was so successful and ubiquitous. They made training exciting and the sugar-coating of slick production value and signature moves are what made them so visible. I still employ techniques I learned from those videos, along with others I picked up since then. Like anything else, absorb everything and keep only what works for you. I always thought the mag-flip was a little silly, myself, but the branding worked for them.

this is pretty important. I recall a paraphrase from an automobile designer that said the most efficient cars in the world will not be useful if no one wants to buy them. the best training in the world won't matter if no one wants to attend, if you can't reach the person who needs to be reached.

[polydeuces]

The Mag-Flip. Totally Awesome!
Super Ninja stealth power!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEEEy1dMceI&sns=em

[MSparks909]

Watched Proctor's Performance Carbine today. Picked up a bunch of stuff I will incorporate into my training. Really enjoyed his teaching vibe and explanations when describing different things. Need to watch it a couple more times to fully digest all that was thrown at my brain. Recommend buying as opposed to renting so you can refer to it whenever you want. I opted to download it to my computer. Will download his Performance Handgun video tomorrow!

[cbx]

I thought the videos were good. Some parts were meh, but over all I would buy again.

My trooper buddy said it was worth the watch after I loaned it to him.

I felt that the communication lessons were excellent. The malfunction parts were good. The one hand manipulations were very enlightening. Mindset parts were good also imo.

For me as an individual, I learned a lot. More than I thought I would. I'm sure the seasoned high speed low drag guy would fall asleep. But it has opened the door way for me to other things.

[Steve]

There was a few things i never agreed with and didn't teach.....when i was left after chris went, and when Duane and Jon and myself where running course i had all ready implemented a lot of changes and it kept on evolving..with their input as well ... things change, while there was good and bad many just came to train with the personalities(this is in a lot of classes not just magpul)
understanding and taking different classes and putting together what works best for you is the key.....

[Failure2Stop]

That pretty much put the matter to bed.

Thanks for your perspective Steve.