AAR-Vickers Tactical Basic Carbine- Carthage, NC, 11-21-2010

[chris914]

How about that AAR guys? It was a good class with some really good shooters. I enjoyed being part of it. Dinger should be posting up the pics today.

[Tm11387]

I had an exceptional time, Larry is a first rate instructor.

[chris914]

Vickers Tactical
www.vickerstactical.com



Grey Group Training
www.greygrouptraining.com

Host range
Getting zeroed

Postions

[Tm11387]

Hey Chris, you got any more pictures to put up? If you don't want to post them do you mind sending them to me? Tm11387@gmail.com (I was that fellow in the blue shirt/plate carrier)

Thanks.

[Watrdawg]

Overall I thought it was a very good class. There was a good mix of people and some pretty good shooters. Class went smoothly and we got to do a good bit of shooting. Will definitely be taking another Vickers Carbine course.

[Tm11387]

I had a great time, four years in the infantry and two deployments later and I still come out with a page full of notes in a basic carbine class. Good stuff, everyone had great attitudes and team drills always make you push yourself that much harder.

See you guys soon.

[VA_Dinger]

Vickers Tactical
www.vickerstactical.com



Grey Group Training
www.greygrouptraining.com

The rest of the class photos;

[VA_Dinger]

Vickers Tactical
www.vickerstactical.com



Grey Group Training
www.greygrouptraining.com

[VA_Dinger]

Vickers Tactical
www.vickerstactical.com



Grey Group Training
www.greygrouptraining.com

[bulbvivid]

I’ll give my best recollections, which will likely be missing parts and/or out of order. Hopefully some of the others can come along and fill in the blanks and flesh out everything we did.

We started the class around 8:30 with an introduction and some talk about safety and the importance of trigger control. We then moved to the firing line at 25 yds., where we worked in relays to zero the rifles. Larry is a proponent of the 100 yd. zero, so we used the center of a bullseye target as a point of aim while looking for point of impact about two inches below the bullseye. During this process, Larry and the other instructors worked with the students to help dial in groups and obtain the appropriate zero.

After a few volleys, we moved back to approximately 50 yds. to check zeros. During this time, and many other times throughout the day, Larry would—in a most diplomatic fashion—helpfully critique students’ rifles and gear setups.

After everyone was comfortable with their zero, Larry discussed various shooting positions and their uses, going from prone to sitting, kneeling, and standing. Then we did some dry and live fire from the sitting position as the instructors fielded questions and helped students obtain proper form.

After each “block” of instruction, Larry would pause and ask for and answer questions from the group.

We then shot a version of a Delta drill for score, with 10 shots prone in 60 seconds from 50 yds., 10 shots from sitting at 50 yds. in 45 seconds, 10 from kneeling in 45 seconds, and then 10 from standing at 25 yds. in 30 seconds.

Then we answered some trivia questions to pick team captains, who then picked teams for team drills. We loaded up and then each team member in succession put a round on six different targets with the total team time kept for score. In a dazzling display of speed and marksmanship, as well as pure grit and determination, team For Those About to Rock came out with the fastest time.

After lunch we regrouped and Larry talked about different reloading methods. We stepped to the line and did live-fire reload drills.

We shot some more team drills, including putting two rounds each on a steel target ~40 yds. away.

The class moved along enough for Larry to introduce us to shooting on the move. We worked going toward and away from the target, dry firing first and then moving to live-fire drills. At the command to walk, we would move toward the target, and then start shooting at the buzzer from the timer, firing a specified round count. We did this in relays going both toward and away from the target.

After a break, we worked on a figure-eight drill, moving around two barrels spaced apart to allow enough room for movement. To end the day, the teams did a figure-eight drill for time.

At some point in the afternoon (can't remember if it was before or after shooting on the move), Larry introduced concepts for turning to shoot, and we worked in relays with both dry and live fire to try the presented methods, including 90º from right and left as well as 180º turns.

We then gathered around as Larry fielded any final questions from the group. After a class photo, we broke apart and headed for home.

I have more experience with handguns than rifles, so this instruction gave me quite a bit to work with in my quest to improve. First and foremost is the importance and difficulty of shooting on the move. I’m going to try to work on it, with both pistol and rifle, at every range session if I can. The same with reloads—I need to work on rifle reloads as much as possible.

it was a good class with a good group of shooters and an excellent instructor, and it capped off an overall enlightening and fun weekend for me.