I've been watching these guys website for over a year now, waiting for a civilian class to pop up. They were managing Front Range Gun Club, which is an indoor range in Loveland, Colorado and providing the civilian training classes that were provided at the range, but they didn't offer any carbine courses. Something occurred and they ended their management of the gun club, but continued with their LE and Mil training only.
Then a few months later they started a new company called Colo CCW. They stated off by offering CCW classes that were classroom only. Now they've expanded out to offer an advanced CCW class that includes a range portion as well as a FOF portion. And they now offer a Defensive Rifle class. It's a one day class that requires 750 rounds, a pistol with 100 rounds and what ever gear you want, but they preferred no tactical gear (plate carriers), as this was a personal/home defense based class. As far as I know, the first one they offered was in August of 2010. I wasn't able to make that one, but a buddy of mine and I were able to take the class last weekend on 9/25.
Here's the link to their Mil/LE only website...
http://www.frontrangetraining.com/
Here's a link to their civilian web site...
http://www.coloccw.com/
So onto the actual class. The instructor for the day was Scott Chambers...
Scott arrived early before the class and was ready to go at the start time of 8am. My buddy and I arrived at the range about a hour early to sight in his brand new rifle, more on that later. The class consisted of eight students, all civilians. A couple with military backgrounds, a couple casual shooters/hunters, a guy with all the toys you could think of, my buddy and I.Scott Chambers
Scott is a veteran of the US Army where he served as a Ranger with the Second Ranger Battalion. Scott participated in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom as a forward observer for company and battalion sized elements. Scott has operated on numerous multi-service and multi-national training and combat missions. Scott is an NRA rifle, pistol, and shotgun instructor, an EMT graduate, and holds a BS Degree in Criminal Justice and is currently completing a second B.S. in Microbiology.
Scott started out with a safety brief and and assignments were given for a medical response with a kit identified that was provided. There was then a brief discussion of their beliefs about training and style. There was a nice point about how there is not any one "right" style and that we need to decide what works for us as an individual based on our body type, skill and limitations. Scott stated that he would attempt to demo several different techniques for different skills and suggested that we try them all before deciding on how we were going to do thinks our selves.
Then he went onto grip, stance and the other basics. This was a quick review which was nice to not spend too much time prior to actually getting down to shooting. We then got up on the shooting line and went over the admit load and reloads... Then we got right on it. We went through a long string of drills that consisted of single shot, controlled pairs, hammers and longer strings of fire. Then on to multiple target drills, turns and then movement. Scott did a nice job of adjusting shooters as needed and making suggestions.
To me this is where being a good instructor really shows. Scott was able to make suggestions while keeping the students comfortable and without causing the students to shut down due to being defensive. I even got a few good chuckles along the way...
Then before the lunch break, I got the chance to use the M4 that Scott was running in the class. It's belongs to Front Range Training is consists of an M16 lower with a SBR (I think 10.5" barrel) piston upper with a Battle Comp Brake. This was my first chance to squeeze off some rounds from a full-auto gun so it was quite the treat. I must say it was impressive and the Battle Comp really worked with muzzle rise... There was non, it recoiled straight back and was very controllable.
Running movement drills continued after lunch with a very good explanation of the kinds of speeds that are practical to get the shots that you're looking for at specific distances. After that we moved onto some barrier shooting and finished up with several different multiple target/movement drills that pulled it all together.
All in all, I was very happy with the class. It was exactly what I needed to get out and get used to the AR platform. I recently switched to the M&P15TS as my rifle from having AK's exclusively before. I was able to run about 800 rounds through the new rifle without any issue and had a great time doing it.
My buddy was also successful with his new build. His Spikes Mid-length upper on a Surplus Arms lower ran perfect except that he never cleaned or lubed it after putting it together so it was totally dry and wouldn't lock the bolt back on an empty mag. A little lube fixed that and he was good to go... Beside the gum wrapper that got stuck in the feedlip of a mag in his pocket that was then chambered into the barrel extension. It stopped the bolt from going into battery, but after a little remedial action, the gum wrapper was actually ejected and he was back in business....
For those of you in Eastern Colorado looking for training, I would suggest that you take a look at the links above. I'm planning on taking their Advanced CCW course in the near future.
Thanks, Jason
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