AAR: Vickers AK Operator Course, South Hill VA, Nov 2011

[TOrrock]

Oh, and this bears mentioning/rementioning......

If the people in the country of origin of your ammo piss in their drinking water....you sure as shit do not want to be shooting it.

No Egyptian, Paki, Indian, etc.

Russian steel case is just fine, Yugo brass case M67 is great ammo but requires clean up after use as it uses corrosive primers.

[BaronFitz]

Some sound advice there on the ammo...we found some Egyptian brass cased 7.62 on the range but nobody seemed to want to own up to shooting it.

[subzero]

I had a really good time at this class. It's my 3rd or 4th AK class and the tone is always a little different from a regular carbine class.

The barrel ban has made finding a quality AK pretty much a one shot deal in my eyes: it's an Arsenal or it's not worth getting. I was looking at the gun show today and saw a lot of nice looking AKs. But when I can't tell right away how old it is, if it's not an SLR or an SGL, I have to pass on it.

Of course, that goes out when window when you start looking at the used market where you can find older SA-85s, Norinco/Polytechs and so on.

Back to the class, it was good to see some new faces and interesting setups at this class. There were a LOT of people with red dots on Ultimaks, so I guess the word is finally out that that is the setup of note for the AK. It was the first time I'd seen a full up Rifle Dynamics AK along with one of those IO STG2000s. Even our Canadian friends brought some fun stuff to the game with their original Yugos.

I'm still a fan of the 5.45 but I can see a 7.62 AK in my future they had a much more noticeable thwump on the steel at distance. Even though the 5.45 is pretty flat shooting, there were plenty of 7.62s in the walkback back at 200+ yards.

All in all a very fun class and I hope y'all enjoyed it as much as I did.

[JChops]

Good to see a Polytech Red Sidefolder getting class time. One of the rarer (and neater) Polys from pre-89.

It was the best implementation of a folding stock on an AKM until the AK-100 series came out.

[VA_Dinger]

I was seriously disappointed I could not make it out for this one.

Larry's AK class is always one of the highlights of my year.

[drummerdude1188]

jeez, what happened to the range, it was so nice there

[orionz06]

Looks awesome, I wanted to make it but had too many things going on. So much so that I have a case of 5.45 and don't even own an AK.

[KC_in_Bama]

If I may, i'd like to add to this great AAR. It was a pleasure to finally take a class with "The Living Legend", and quite frankly LAV is off the hook! What an awesome sense of humor! He really is a fun guy to be around. Honestly, I was feeling somewhat intimitated when I signed up for this class, but there was nothing to be worried about. LAV knows the AK for sure, and under his instructions, I learned a lot on operating the AK. I know he's taught this class so much that everything is second nature to him, but he really did pay attention to the details. He is down-to-earth, and his teaching methods are straight-forward. One more note about LAV: If you plan on taking any of his classes, be sure to study up on your firearms history! He is big into firearms-related trivia questions. No joke, our class failed miserably!

I also picked up a lot of data on what I can and can't do to my Polish Tantal (5.45). The class offered the opportunity to meet some really cool people from this forum. I reconnected with an old friend (Sub_Zero), and made some new ones too. I would recommend to new AK owners that sign up for this class: go with your AK as "plain-jane". Use the iron sights, and worry about putting optics, and other "tacticool" stuff for later. You'll see what others have done, and you'll get some ideas on what works, what is junk, and what you can and can't do your specific AK.

One critical issue that stood out for me is trigger control. I certainly need to work on taming that beast we know as "El Snatcho" (Templar's word...), and that applies to all platforms: pistol, rifle, shotgun, etc. I also need to work on SOTM. I really haven't done any SOTM type drills until this class, and I certainly need the practice!

Sub_Zero found this site that sells Beryl parts for us who have Polish Tantal AKs. I plan on getting a Beryl folding stock and rail system, as well as getting new upper and lower handguards so that my Tantal doesn't look so much like a junkyard dog. Here's the site:

http://www.robertrtg.com/index.html

Thank you to LAV for a great class. Thank you to the folks of the South Hill range for letting us shoot there. The range is being renovated, and I think it'll be a great place after the work is done. Thank you to Sub_Zero and Templar for being our unofficial AIs during the class. They both know the AK very well!

If you have an AK, you got to take this class...it's as simple as that.

[subzero]

That Tantal is a mutt like no other AK I've ever seen. Polish parts, American receiver and FCG, Romanian stock, American (Bulgarian) lower handguard, Polish upper handguard, American brake...it's got a little bit from a lot of places. It runs well though, and that's what counts.

If I could find a way to make the left side selector work, it'd be even better.

[KC_in_Bama]

That Tantal is a mutt like no other AK I've ever seen. Polish parts, American receiver and FCG, Romanian stock, American (Bulgarian) lower handguard, Polish upper handguard, American brake...it's got a little bit from a lot of places. It runs well though, and that's what counts.

If I could find a way to make the left side selector work, it'd be even better.

MMmm...how is it that Subzero knows oh so much about my AK

The folks at aimsurplus have this new item for the AK lover in you:

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=XPAAKARSG3

Is it worth looking into if I can't get the Beryl rail instead? I do like the wider rear sight knotch.