Vickers Tactical 1911 Operators Class Pictures & Review Thread

[VA_Dinger]

Please post any pictures & reviews in this thead.

So far, everybody I've talked to loved the class.

[VA_Dinger]

SHAFT (Matt E.) posted this over on 1911 forum.

"Holy Crap!!!!

We finished the class yesterday. It should have been called the "everything you EVER wanted to know about the 1911 (and maybe more)" class.

I have eluded before about what Lav "really thinks" about the 1911. (This if VERY contrary to what you would expect his opinion to be, as I've mentiond before) This time we got both barrels/ the whole 9 yards.

My gun ran fine, but it always has (some were not as luckey). This was enhanced buy the "personal atention" he gave to all the pistols. This alone was worth the price of admiton, the 10 hour drive, and the price of the ammo that was shot. (of course, my ammo was provided by, bob-left-his-ammo-at-my-house.org, so it was not an issue )

As far as the "shooting" portion of the class, I can describe that with one word..."humbling"...
If you think you can shoot well 'cause you have been to a bunch of schools besides his, he may (rather early in the game) show you you have been giving yourself too much credit!

When giving his sumation of the class, at the end of the last day, he stated "I will not give you what you want...I will give you what you need."

Good golly, if that was not the truth!!! I'm sure the other guys will chime in, right now my head is still spinning...

Thanks to VA-Dinger for setting this up and "haveing my back", Larry Vickers for being...well...Larry Vickers, and to his "not as famous, but just as skilled" AI whome I'll just call "Dude". He gets more credit then he will ever recive.
When is the "Glock" or "M&P" Operators class?? I'm gasing up the truck, time now!!!"
__________________

[SHIVAN]

I didn't see any cameras.

It was a great class. Pistol skills are a diminishable resource. They are not like riding a bike. When you don't shoot for 1-1.5 months, you will look like ass.

So there I was, looking like an ass.......which ism of course, nothing new.

[Papershooter]

Larry's class was one of the best i've ever attended .
Trigger control , shooting drills , field stripping and maintenance , couldn't ask for much more in two days.
I had a camera but never got a chance to use it , to bad though it probably would of out shot my Kimber ! lol
As Larry would say , Was that your Kimber Choking and Puking again! lmao

[Peacekeeper1408]

I had a camera, but I didn't get a chance to use it unfortunately. Thanks to VA_Dinger for making this possible. This was by far the very best training I have ever had period. I can't wait for more.

[Hawkeye]

When is the "Glock" or "M&P" Operators class?? I'm gasing up the truck, time now!!!

Now THAT would snag my attention...

[SCULLY]

When looking at and going over some if the classes 1911's, what were some of the problems he was pointing out, and what were the remedies he might have suggested. Did he have one of his Vickers Tactical 1911's with him there. Thanks alot.

[subzero]

I don't think a single picture was taken.

The VT 1911 class was aimed at the “enthusiast” market that LAV has asserted time and time again is the remaining user of said weapon. Time and time again he said it: we are living in a Glock world, while everyone else sits around playing catch up. I admire the guts it took to say that in front of paying customers that would no doubt love to hear that the 1911, when properly assembled, is still a viable choice for serious fighting. Round count for the class ended up low (~350) due to the intense heat, the amount of classroom instruction (a first for the VT classes I have attended, but a must in this class), and the simple fact that some drills don’t require lots of rounds downrange. LAV expanded on his standard “Ball and Dummy” drill, adding two new facets: a timed version and a command fire version, both of which brought more versions of the El Snatcho virus to the surface.

The first day found most of the morning spent on drills aimed at improving trigger control (read: the 3 versions of Ball and Dummy). After lunch the class was given the opportunity to shoot both the HK 45 and S&W M&P 45 as well as hear LAVs thoughts on each. The remainder of the day focused on manipulating the gun, reloading techniques and such. Basically a shortened version of what you’d get in the normal VT Pistol/Carbine class. I’ve noticed that this is par for the course for Larry’s classes where he doesn’t have 3 days to really drill into you his methodology. This, the AK class and the Low Light classes all featured shortened versions of the VT message boiled down to it’s most essential: trigger control is the key to accurate shooting. Accurate shooting is good because it produces vital zone hits that stop the fight. I think this is a good thing. It brings the heart of the matter to the surface as quickly as possible for the people who don’t have the benefit of a full 3 or 5 day class. Having said that, I still think that you’re putting yourself at a major disadvantage by going to a “specialty” class before having had any “basic” class. Time and schedule doesn’t always permit as we all know, but with the abbreviated format of the shorter specialty classes, I think some of the message and a lot of the fine points get lost in the time it takes to effectively cover the main message.

The real meat of this particular course was the 4 hours or so of classroom instruction on the 1911 on day 2. Larry took the entire class through a detail strip of a 1911 giving us the main points to look for wear, lots of items of note, tweaks on parts for enhanced reliability as well as fixes for common problems. Larry said it and I believe it: now we have the info we need to diagnose some common 1911 problems, as well as info on how to fix it without a trip to a gunsmith. My 1911 has seen many thousands of rounds by this point, and I was sure it was starting to get worn. Sure enough, 3 or 4 problem areas popped up on my gun, most of which were tweaked on site. The subsequent trip to the range proved the efficacy of said tweaks, though I was thisclose to getting steamed, as I started the morning with a gun that worked and after lunch my gun choked on 3 of the first 4 rounds fired! A quick tweak on the extractor (not by me) got me going again and no malfs were seen the remainder of the day (save for one hard primer that popped up in the middle of the Humbler!).

Did I mention we shot the Humbler? Yes, at JV range, but it still sucks. The best thing about that drill, I think, is when it’s over. Personally, regardless of how I score on it, I feel like a soup sandwich by the end of it.

Equipment check:
I’d put the average cost of the gun used in this class in the $1700 range. I saw Kimbers, Springfield Armory stuff, at least one Wilson, Baers, and a custom gun or two. Larry was (of course) shooting a Nighthawk Vickers gun. At least one other Vickers gun was present (a loaner from Larry to one of the guys in the class). Due to the fact that we spent NO time on malfunction drills, I’d say we saw remarkably few malfs throughout the class, save for one problem pistol that will likely be retired in favor of a Glock 19 by the time I post this. I wanted to ask how many people were running guns that were mechanically “as delivered” from the factory (allowing for changes in grips or sights), but never got the chance.

On the gunsmithing portion: this was the reason I took the class. I asked Chris, who has watched those AGI 1911 ‘smithing videos a time or two, how much of the stuff Larry talked about was in the videos. He said roughly half of the stuff Larry covered was in there, meaning roughly two hours worth of instruction and tips were not the basic “Hey file this down to make it fit” type of info. Again, I’m quite confident I got my money’s worth. I’d be interested to take a similar class for a Glock or and M&P sometime down the road. But can we do it when it’s a bit cooler?

Many thanks to Paul, Larry, D and to the South Hill Police Department for allowing us to use their AIR CONDITIONED facility for the detail strip. I'm sure that saved many a recoil spring plug from being shot off a bench.


ETA other threads discussing the class:
http://www.10-8forums.com/ubbthreads...0&page=0#50341
http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=174213

[Ed L.]

Great review, guys.

I really wish I had been there.

My sole 1911, a Kimber Warrior, is still at the gunsmith being made to work as it should have straight from the factory and having some of the MIM parts replaced with better ones. If I whined anymore about it, Pat Rogers would order a vagisil airstrike on my position.

[SCULLY]

Great reports subzero and SHAFT, thanks.