Just had to add a buttload of Kudos to Jeff and Jack for all the hard work they put into setting up the course!!
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Senior Member
Just had to add a buttload of Kudos to Jeff and Jack for all the hard work they put into setting up the course!!
We must not believe the Evil One when he tells us that there is nothing we can do in the face of violence, injustice and sin. - Pope Francis I
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The best aspect of NightFighter is the training shooting under, over, around, and THROUGH vehicles - daytime and nighttime. Kyle led drills shooting strong side and support side, and one support hand only (imagine your right arm is shot, and you need to work your carbine only with your left hand, including clearing malfunctions).
We shot at cars using various handguns and rifle rounds. A .45 230gr FMJ round goes right through a windshield or car door.
Gear: I ran a Noveske N4 with 16" barrel, Trijicon ACOG scope and Surefire M962 light. Worked like a charm. Also shot a new Noveske N4 10.5" upper on an HK416 lower with Aimpoint CompM4s and Surefire M952 light. I had some feeding problems with the 10.5" until I changed to a lighter buffer. I thought I'd use a tape switch on the Surefire lights, but the rear button worked much better, particularly as Kyle had us switch from strong side to support side frequently. Kyle's classes really do test your gear!
Last edited by rparetti; 11-14-09 at 15:15.
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Last edited by GLOCKMASTER; 11-15-09 at 20:43.
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Kyle Lamb of Viking Tactics conducted his three day Night Fighter specialty class in Fayetteville, NC November 6-8. This is the first time he conducted this class as an open enrollment class. Kyle had Dan B. and Tom D. (Dito) as his assistants for this class. All three of these instructors bring an abundance of special operations combat experience to the classroom. This adds a lot of credibility and validity to what they are trying to pass to the students. Not only do they have the experience but they have great skills as instructors which allows the transfer of material to the student to be easy and pleasurable.
If you plan on taking one of Viking Tactics specialty courses, then it is a must that you take the VTAC Carbine 1.5 or you will be well behind the learning curve.
Even though this class was titled Night Fighter, about half of the class was prior to sunset. This was so the instructors could make sure the students could perform safely, but also gave the students time to work out some of the awkward shooting positions prior to the sun setting. Shooters in the course were mainly civilians with some LE and military special operations mixed in.
Day one started off with confirming zeros. Once zeros were confirmed from the hundred, we put up the new VTAC target and Kyle explained the new target in detail and his reasoning behind the target design (more on the target later). After putting up new targets Kyle got our heart rates up then we shot a 100 yard course of fire that ended at the twenty five yard line. This course of fire was shot first strong side then support side. This is a great way to warm up and push the shooter prior to getting into the meat and potatoes of the course. Kyle and his staff do not give you anything in the VTAC classes. You earn every bit of it by shooting small targets from distance and from awkward shooting positions and making you think your way through a course of fire. In other words if you are expecting three days of ballistic masturbation then you would be very disapointed. Once we finished the 100 yard cof, we moved in close and started working out issues with shooting and working with your rifle light. We did multiple drills at the ten as Kyle attempted to work out these issues with light manipulation. After a few drills we gathered where Kyle talked more in depth about shooting the human body and the VTAC target’s design. He briefly mentioned how bullets tend to bounce of the front of the skull and how the pelvis is a great place to shoot someone. He talks of pelvis shooting from his experiences seeing lots of people shot in the pelvis, to include his mates, and how effective a pelvis shot is with a rifle at stopping someone. After this discussion we worked the VTAC targets from the ten yard line with chest shots, head shots and pelvis shots. During this drill we worked not only our targets but also other targets on the line. Once we completed these drills Kyle discussed hand held and weapon mounted lights. During this discussion he talked about the advantages of lights, where to mount them to get the most out of them and how to carry hand held lights. After completing the light discussion we moved into some low light drills and this completed day one.
Beginning of day two started with a discussion on shooting around vehicles with focus on positions and what part of the vehicle is good cover. After this discussion, which included position demos, we started shooting around the vehicles at the 100 yard line. After everyone had an opportunity to shoot all the positions around the three vehicles, all the students went down range and Dan demonstrated each position around the vehicles so the shooters could see how effective the different shooting positions are and how difficult it would be to have to shoot someone using those positions. We moved on to shooting different scenarios that Kyle and crew put together around the vehicles.
Later in the class we moved into actually shooting the vehicles to demonstrate how bullets perform on vehicles and that depending on the vehicle, angle of glass and type of glass that ballistics is not an exact science. You would be surprised at what will stop bullets when you start actually shooting vehicles.
During the low light portion the class was split into two groups so we could work onto two different ranges. While Kyle and Dito worked one group with carbines around vehicles, Dan worked the second group with some carbine and pistol drills. I will say the High Smith drill is challenging during the day however, it is more challenging in low light.
Day three started with shooting some drills around vehicles during day light hours. Once the sun went down, Kyle and crew turned devious again with their crafty drills around vehicles in low light. Some of the low light shooting on day three consisted of running the carbine and light with just one hand. I found that this can really push one out of their comfort zone. Kyle demonstrated how to clear some malfunctions with just one hand since a few of the students had yet to take carbine 1.5. So during a drill if your weapon malfunctioned during the drills you were required to clear it with just one hand. This can really add stress, however; I find that it’s a valid training point because most people refuse to push themselves out of their own comfort zone when they are at the range just practicing. Also most shooters hardly ever practice clearing malfunctions with just one hand.
For this class I used a very simple belt rig that held two rifle mags, two pistol mags, hand held light holster, modified Safariland 6004 and an EAG Dump Pouch. My weapons were a Glock 19 and my S&W M&P-15 14.5” duty rifle. For weapons lights I used a Surefire rifle light that mounts on the front base and a Surefire X300 for my pistol. For a handheld light I used a Surefire G2Z and a Surefire Viking Tactics L4.
This was an amazing course spent with a great group of shooters who at some time and place during the class had their wheels fall off only to find a way to put them back on. I could see a lot of improvement in everyone’s skills by day three and that showed that everyone paid attention and learning occurred.
Last edited by GLOCKMASTER; 11-15-09 at 00:17.
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Class photo.
Last edited by GLOCKMASTER; 11-22-09 at 18:15.
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The new Viking Tactics target. It's available for purchase here.
Front view of target.
Rear view.
Last edited by GLOCKMASTER; 02-26-10 at 18:55.
Member
Chris P. at the beginning of a drill making car noises. I think I heard him singing the wheel's on the bus go round and round.
Last edited by GLOCKMASTER; 11-15-09 at 20:53.
Member
Kyle giving advice and discussing an issue.
Last edited by GLOCKMASTER; 11-15-09 at 20:53.
Member
Nice Pics Jeff.
I'm always impressed by folks that can take decent pictures.
The VTAC targets are really nice. It is very handy to see the skeleton under the 'skin' and to see how a traditional competition target doesn't really match the true human shape. My friend Bob also pointed out how 'Zombieish' these targets are at night. Nothing like shooting zombies, eh?
Jake
Member
What is the reasoning behind the target?
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