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AAR
Dynamic Carbine 1
Racine Wisconsin
Racine County Line Rifle Club (RCLRC)
July11-13
Preamble
This all started from a thread in the IL home town forum about getting some top notch instructors to come in and give some training. After some debate and after watching the Art of the Tactical Carbine from Magpul Dynamics I wanted to see if these guys are everything they are cracked up to be or if they were just internet hype. After a few calls with local ranges, and with Chris Costa we had had some dates and a range. Once I made the post advertising the class we filled up in less than a week with 13 signing up the first day or two.
Range
The range we used was Racine County Line Rifle Club in Racine Wisconsin which is right on Lake Michigan made for some pretty decent weather. It rained on Friday night but the range was dry for the rest of the weekend with nominal temps. Because of some range restrictions we were confined to the 35yd range. After speaking with the board of the club it looks like we maybe doing some range work so classes moving forward will be on the 500yd range giving us greater range of training opportunities.
Students
We had a mixed bag of students like most other classes. About half were either prior or active military or LEO and the rest being civilians of all walks of life. We had two mother son teams, a robot designer, fireman, Chip from TNVC, Paul from Bravo Company, and a few sales guys. There was also a wide variety of experience from seasoned shooters to just started shooting 6 months prior.
Equipment
Gear was also a mixed bag with mostly AR’s but with 3 or 4 guys with AK-74s. I think there were a few Colts, KAC, Bushmasters, Franken guns and about 6-7 BCM’s. The BCM’s ran like a top. We had a few gun problems with one that stemmed from an improperly built GGG upper that Paul from BCM fixed, and the rest seemed to be ammo issues. I shot Wolf for the first day and a half which ended up being a big mistake. I have shot well over 20k of wolf over the years and never had a problem till this class. Cases stuck in the chamber were my pain in the ass. I shot a LE 6920 decked out in LaRue and Magpul. It would run fine until we got close to the lunch or the end of the day and problems started to arise. At the breaks I would clean the gun and chamber and would be fine for a little while. I ended up switching to M-193 after lunch of TD2 and never had a problem after that.
Sights
The Instructors
Chris Costa and Mike Lamb of Magpul Dynamics flew into teach the class and they far exceeded my expectations. I originally thought that Travis Haley was going to come in for the class apparently due to scheduling we had Mike Lamb step in for the class. I don’t think anyone was disappointed. I’m pretty sure Jules from Pulp Fiction stole Mike’s wallet because he is truly a bad mother fucker. He is also a very knowledgeable instructor who has been there and done that and a really funny guy. I think he is best described in Costa’s words as “Travis Haley on steroids.” Chris Costa has the perfect storm of teaching ability. You get a guy who has done lots of real world action and the natural ability to teach. He gets his ideas across in a way that you understand the how and why. I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of instruction.
The Class
Well it’s been awhile since the class ended and for some reason I can’t find my notes, so this wont be as exact as USMC03’s AAR’s. This is just a brief overview of what we did for the class.
We worked on the admin reload, proper stance and grip, recoil management, BSA drill, press checks, speed reloads, tac reloads, malfunctions. We worked shooting and moving, reaction shooting, position shooting, shooting from barricades, transitioning, multiple target engagement, a brief pistol introduction, reflexive shooing, check drills, moving drills , mindset, moving with others, and lastly gear selection.
Rounds fired
~1850 Rifle
~100 Pistol
Take Away’s
I went into the class with the mindset of doing everything as the instructors said and to absorb as much information as possible to take with me for future training. With that said I have never improved my shooting ability as fast as I have training under Chris and Mike. These guys know what they are talking about and have learned these lessons under real world conditions, so listen. Have an open mind and try what they teach. There were a few in the class that didn’t take the teachings to heart and you could definitely tell as they had not excelled with the same speed as the others.
The Magpul Dynamic way of running the gun is the best I’ve seen thus far. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is truly looking to become a better shooter.
Thank you to the RCLRC RSO’s who helped out with keeping the class run smoothly. Also thank you to Paul from Bravo Company for the free hats and the expert help with fixing a few of the guns at the class. Paul is a great guy who makes superior product. I will be buy from him in the very near future. Lastly thank you to the folks from Magpul(Chris, Mike, Travis, Jill, and Justin) for putting this all together.
Pics to follow later.