Tactical Carbine Nights

[Complication]

Holy crap, awesome.

[wedgehead30]

Just a reminder. Tomorrow is Tactical Rifle Night. The gate will be open by 5:00pm. I don't know what the weather will hold for us. But unless it's raining heavy I'll be there. I have three ranges set up. Long range steel, the shoot house and some kick ass drills on the container range. It gets dark early so we'll get some low light in also.

Should be a good time.

See ya on the range,
Scott

[Complication]

It was cold and rainy tonight but that turned out to be a boon as there were only 5 of us there and we moved quickly and did what we wanted.

Lessons learned:

It's hard to identify dark and dull steel plates in twilight, especially out past 150 yards. And even though, at those ranges, a 3x magnifier feels pathetic, it stands head and shoulders above just a straight-up 1x RDS/holographic. Despite the fact that I'll almost never use my carbine defensively (at least not this one) and, if I do, I'll never need the magnification, I'm very pleased with the slightly enhanced capability a 3x flip-up gives me.

I found my emergency reloads on the carbine were quick and relatively neat. Although I knew that I was going to run dry and knew roughly when, the only conscious thought I can recall during the speed reload was "Okay, there's the bolt release, hit it." I really need to incorporate a cant to observe the chamber real quick before reloading, however. During the drills I've run I always know that I ran dry when the gun doesn't go boom but I probably won't be that aware when I deploy my carbine defensively and going into a speed reload when I've really got a double-feed is bad news. Perhaps I need to start taping up my PMAG windows and loading 20 +/- 5 rounds in each mag.

In low-light in the improvised shoot-house I found I was point-shooting when illuminating my target. Not a big deal as targets weren't more than 5-8 ft away, but I should really focus on getting a sight picture so if I ever need to make longer-range shots I'm not used to point-shooting and calling it a day. Also, I just need to do more low-light shooting in general.

The last time I shot in this improvised shoot-house with cardboard targets, I really had to push myself to unload more than 2 rounds into a target. After shooting at photo-realistic targets in Marietta, that was no longer a problem. I think the fewest rounds I dropped on a target tonight was 3 (and that was a 4" group of headshots point-shooting low-light). I also found that after dealing with photo-realistic targets my eyes went straight to the spray-paint weapons on the cardboard before I decided the drop the hammer.

I also found I was making more complex decisions like "Knife to hostage, need to make headshots" or "No hostage, center mass hits." Admittedly the cardboard cut-outs had hostages attached and weapons painted on when last month they did not, but I think a demanding, high-stress experience like photo-realistic targets and a bunch of tricky shoot/no-shoot decisions (in Marietta) got me thinking on a higher plane even though these targets were, by comparison, much less complex.

I think the addition of hostages, spray-painted weapons, and the variety of positions (standing and "kneeling") was a big step up from last month. I think we all get a little too comfortable shooting at IDPA targets at chest-height and even if photo-realistic targets aren't available, anything to spice it up and present different scenarios is great.

Suggestions for next time:
I know it's not as fancy as the one in Marietta and the intent isn't to use it for hardcore training, but I'd like to see a lot more crappy scenarios in the "shoot house" that make you really think about where you're putting your bullets. So little of all the other drills we do emphasize anything but speed and/or accuracy. If we can add some stuff in that makes the shooter think not just about hitting the target, but WHERE he needs to hit the target, I think it'll benefit people a lot, especially since if they ever have to defend themselves, that level of thought might be critical to their own or others' lives.
Maybe some targets at an angle, presenting a smaller profile, maybe a no-shoot behind and just to the side of a shoot, forcing the shooter to focus on accuracy and to mind the background.
Maybe paint a badge on a "shoot" target to turn it into a tricky no-shoot.
Maybe making some no-shoots that aren't spray-painted red so that the shooter has to identify a weapon before shooting. Or, even meaner, spray paint some other crap on there, like a can of pepper spray, or a beer bottle. Take the thought level from "Okay, it's not red, shoot it" to "okay, it's got something in its hands, shoot it" all the way up to "okay, it's got a weapon, shoot it." (And, if you toss in badges, it elevates the thought required even further to "okay, it's got a gun, but it also has a badge, no-shoot.")

Most of the target suggestions require a lot of painting and a lot of targets to the point where it's probably easier just to get photo-realistic targets. And given that this isn't a home-defense school but just a once-monthly summer carbine night for fun, that complexity might take some building-up-to, but those are all just suggestions for added "fun."

All in all, I had a good time tonight. I got a chance to practice what I know, feel good about some of the things I've gotten better at, and identified some weaknesses to focus on in the future... you can't really ask for more.

[huklbrry]

Complication, good write up man. Sorry I missed hangin with you guys last night, I had to teach at the Kali school.

[wedgehead30]

Thanks to those of you who braved the shitty weather to come out and shoot. It wasn't the best of nights but it beats going to work.

We have the last rifle night scheduled for Tuesday November 9th. We'll play it by ear and see what the weather looks like as the date gets closer.

Scott

[wedgehead30]

Just a heads up! There will be no combat rifle night in November. It's getting dark to soon to get anything done.

Thank you to everyone who came out to shoot and help. We had a great year! Next year should be just as good if not better.

I hope everyone has a great winter. Hopefully the jolly fat man will bring you new toys for next year.

Scott