Last weekend I attended a Viking Tactics (http://www.vikingtactics.com/) Carbine 1.5 Class. The Primary Instructor was retired SGM Kyle Lamb, President and CEO of Viking Tactics. SGM Lamb spent most of his military service as part of the non-existent US Army unit that specialized in performing super-secret Black Operations all over the world. In fact, he was on of the hockey-helmet wearing Operators involved in the incident in Mogadishu, Somalia that was depicted in "Blackhawk Down". His Assisiant Instructor was "Talkative Dan" (a name we gave him because of he only spoke when necessary).
Here is a sample of one of the drills we did in this class: http://www.vikingtactics.com/pop-instr_video11.html
In this 3-day class, I ended up shooting more than 1,200-rounds, almost 600-rounds of that during the first day alone. Unfortunately, I was using Wolf polymer for that first day and everything went fine until about the 500th round. That's when I experienced my first stuck case during one of the high-round count drills (multiple targets). It was so stuck that a piece of the STEEL case was tirn right off. I pulled myself off the line and rod the case out.
First Stuck case:
I went back onto the line and experienced a second one soon after. This one would not come no matter what I did and resulted in me having to switch to my other SBR (LMT MK 18 upper) for the last two magazines worth. I had to soak the stuck case in "Carbob Killer" for more than 4-hours before I could get it to loosen enough to be able to knock it out using a cleaning rod and a hammer.
Second stuck case (after successful removal):
I was amazed on just how much gunk I had to clean out both from the bolt and the chamber!! I can't believe just how much crap those Wolf rounds leave behind.
I finished the rest of the class using a mixture of brass-cased ammo without a single issue. What is curious was the fact that there were other shooters in the class who also shot Wolf but did not experience the same issues. However, there were others who did experience problems similar to what I experienced to include one who was shooting 5.45x39 ammo (curiously, his barrel would ring/resonate after each last shot). The biggest difference was that those who did not have any problems actually took the time to lean and lube their rifles (at least the chambers) during the short breaks.
The good news is that the chrome bolt and extractor combination I installed in my rifle worked very well!! So well that it actually ripped a piece right off two steel-cased rims. The bad news is either I have a very tight chamber (doubtful after over 9,000-rounds through it) or I have a rough chamber (quite possible).
After I got back, I did a complete and thorough cleaning of the whole rifle. Yesterday I let a couple of people shoot a total of 40-rounds of Polymer Wolf through it. When I got home, I inspected it to determine just dirty this ammo is. Below are the results.
After 40-rounds of Wolf:
LESSONS LEARNED:
- Using dirty ammo like Wolf negates the advantages of using a gas piston system in terms of reliability and reduced maintenance. One should clean and lubricate the chamber (at least) every chance they can.
- Chrome extractors with black rubber inserts and Wolff power extractor springs work as advertised!!
- The VTAC Carbine 1.5 class is well worth the time and money. So much so that I am hoping to retake the same class next year. In thi class SGM Lamb will force anyone who has taken a Basic Carbine Course well out of their comfort level. I highly recommend it to anyone who has taken a Level 1 Carbine class.






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