MAGPUL DYNAMICS AAR (MAC) Advanced Carbine August 29/30 (Pops Miami, FL)

Dealers/ Manufacturers/ Regional/ Info Magpul CORE
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Here is my review and AAR of MAC. I can guarantee that I missed a ton of stuff and that the sequence of events is probably off. Its my first AAR. I was so compelled by the quality and dynamics of this course I felt the strong urge to create this post. Thank you to everyone that participated and ESPECIALLY to Travis and Chris. You guys took my training to a level never previously attained. I AM now a couple rungs higher then before on the ladder of excellence.

My background:

I’m in no way a expert but I am also not a noob. I have taken courses from several instructors in the past including at least 4 other advanced carbine courses. I’m not an LEO and have no former military experience worth noting but I am a training junkie.

The Class:

MAGPUL DYNAMICS (MAC) Advanced Carbine. 16 students participated and the location was at Pop Dean’s Range in Southwest Ranches, FL (outskirts of Miami). Range was a 100 yard outdoor range. Carbine round count was around 1500-1700 depending on the operator.

Instructors:

Travis Haley and Chris Costa. Assisted by Neil AKA “new-arguy”.

Carbines Used:

We had 1x Vector .40 MP5K-PDW, 1x FN FS2000, 2X Sig 556, 1X AK-47, 1XAK-74 and the rest were various variants of the ar-15 platform.

Rifle Issues:

FS 2000 went down early on and the Sig’s gave some gas setting related issues. Vector MP5 gave issues with zeroing. Minor issues with a stuck casing here and there on the AR’s. My 10.5" LMT upper short-stroked consistently and was shelved early on.

Pistols Used:

Almost everyone ran glocks. I did notice 1x 1911, 2x M&P’s and 1x XD .45 Tac.

Pistol Issues:

None I recall.

Gear and Gear issues:

There were combinations of every type sling, vest, carrier and holster you could imagine. I know a class is where to go to check your gear. In the past I was a Vickers sling fan (2 up for sale in you know anyone interested [BD] ). I did not like single points. I just found them way to uncomfortable to use (read that as I don’t enjoy rifles knocking the family jewels) . Another class recently had me sold on not even using a sling and I attempted this technique for this class. I failed with the attempt. There was simply to many issues that arose that could of been easily solved by a single point sling. I actually drove back home that night (hour drive versus 5 minutes to my mom’s house) just to get my single point sling. I personally did not have any other gear issues but others had minor issues and I will let them discuss it if they desire.

Weather:

Temp high ranged around 85-88 and humidity was around 90%. We did have some off and on light rain on both days.

Day One: 08:00 – 22:30

We started the day with the safety briefing followed by a verification of zero on both irons and optics. This took a little longer then expected because several students were quite off on their zero. Next we moved to shooting drills. We engaged targets with our primary and then quickly transitioning to secondaries when carbines either ran dry or malfunctioned. Soon after we were teamed up and used “check - ok” drills to communicate with our partner allowing us to bring primary weapons back online under cover of our partner. This remained protocol for the entire class.

The next evolution was what the instructors called the “BSA Template”. We shot under timer from several distances ranging from the 5yard line to the 75 yard line (range restricted). This drill gave us the chance to see where we stood in relation to accuracy and speed and where we needed to be. Initially we were slow but it did not take long before the instructors has us all past the initial targets.

Next we started shooting from several different positions and began drilling on weapon manipulation including moving our weapons between primary and reaction shoulders.

We ended the daytime shoot with movement drills.

Day One: Night Shoot

Instructors began by teaching hand held light techniques and continued to weapon mounted techniques. We learned how to use our primary weapon mounted light while transitioning and engaging with our secondary weapon. Various techniques were discussed as well as the dreaded light AD. We also learned techniques for engaging a target using a partners light source or other available light.

Day Two: 09:00 – 6:00

Our second day had us incorporate everything from the prior day from the start. First up was a test of our skills prior to any warm up. We raced against the clock and each other in a simple test of what we learned and speed. fastest time was awarded a CTR stock. We then moved on to another timed drill similar to the first day. Our times improved drastically making it obvious everyone in the class had improved tremendously over the course of just one day. Best shooters were awarded with some MIAD grips.

Next up was the barricade. We shot from both the right and left side of the barricade as well as through various port sizes at different heights and in different positions.

After the above we moved on to malfunction drills using both hands followed by drills simulating an injury and requiring the use of either the lone support or primary hand. We cleared double feeds using only one hand. This was one of the coolest drills I have ever participated in.

The day ended with team movement and communication. Another fun and intense drill.

My Personal Feelings About the Class:

The dynamics between Travis and Chris resemble that of twins who have grownup together sharing a lifetime of experience as one. Looking at them from the perspective of an educator I was left truly in awe. They were fun, informative, supportive and yet critical when necessary. When demonstrating techniques and drills their passion for both teaching and their techniques was unequivocal. These are the type of guys that teach for the love of teaching and the satisfaction they receive when they see their students progress. They truly are out there to share their experiences in the hopes that others don’t have to learn the hard way.

Chris and Travis combined ooze experience I believe is unparalleled in the industry. They have both “been there and done that” and use their extensive experiences to fine tune their techniques. On several occasions I thought a method I had in my tool box would be better for me than a method Chris and Travis were teaching. They did not blow off my idea or force me on to their method. Instead they let me try my way and then their method letting me decide on my own what method worked best. Their method worked best every time. Their methods come from the spilled blood of friends lost and experience received from multiple engagements. Its this true world knowledge acquired under fire and the fact that they wear their hearts on their sleeves that makes this dynamic duo the best instructors I have ever trained with.

[b]Pics and more info can be found on the original ARFCOM post:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=8&f=10&t=322279&page=1[/b]

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To start i would like to send a big thanks to MiamiTJ, Chris Costa, Travis Haley, the Magpul team, Sharon at Pop Deans Hunt Club and all of the students at this class for making this experience as memorable as it was.

Before i continue i would like to say a couple things. First off, this was the first class that i walked away from truly impressed and at the same time stunned. I have never before in my life seen such professionalism from two individuals. Chris Costa and Travis Haley composed themselves in a way i have never been exposed to before. I have always had a great appreciation for the soldiers and special forces operators of my country but prior to this class i had never before met anyone with as much operational experience as Chris and Travis. I walked away from this class with such a sense of pride, not in myself but in the fortitude, composure and again, professionalism that our nations soldiers and special forces operators possess. These guys are the best of the best and i am humbled and supremely appreciative of what they have done for my country and what they continue to do by training other operators and civilians like myself.

Thank you Chris and Travis for the excellent class and all that you’ve done and continue to do on a daily basis.

On to the AAR:

Day 1 started at 8 am in the humid swamps of the everglades. To say it was humid, sticky and hot would be an understatement. We started by confirming zero at 50 yards. Travis and Chris went down the line and assisted those students who needed the help and were slightly off in their iron sight zero.

Zeroing took a little longer than expected mostly due to nimrods like myself being off. Travis assisted me with my iron sight zero and my red dot zero and we moved into the next evolution.

The next several hours of training consisted of a steady pace of drills with all of the students on the line firing from different distances ranging from seven yards out to about 80-85 (a portion of the range was basically under water). The drills consisted of several different firing positions. Standing, kneeling and Prone. We were also asked to fire certain strings, ie 2 shots, or four.

Travis and Chris emphasized combat accuracy over anything else. “Dont take what you can get”. They urged the students to always go for combat accuracy, make the hits count, dont just fire bullets for the sake of making noise.

To me this made sense. It made me slow down and relax a little. Sure, the sense of urgency was still there but it was now centered around hitting my target, ie the chest instead of just hitting the paper. The extra millisecond spent relaxing, breathing right and getting the shot that i WANTED paid off, first lesson of the day learned.

During the entire evolution Chris and Travis were everywhere on the line. It was pretty impressive how two pairs of eyes are able to see so much. They were constantly everywhere making their presence known, fixing improper grips, correcting improper stances, offering advice and just making sure everyone was shooting safely.

Let me digress for just a second. Previous to this class i had never stood on a line with 18 other shooters and fired a fairly large volume of rounds. Walking into the class i was a little worried about my own safety and the safety of others simply because it was a new experience. I have a very healthy fear and respect for firearms and i hope it never disappears as im pretty sure the day that happens is the day i have an ND. Thirty minutes into the class and my fears were allayed and i spent the rest of the next two days learning instead of worrying about accidents. My hat again goes off to Chris and Travis for creating a safe learning environment for their students. I will again tip my hat to my fellow students for exceptional muzzle discipline and a marked concern for their own personal safety and the safety of everyone else.

As we moved further back Travis and Chris patrolled the line and again, made corrections where ever they were necessary. Grip, stance, body position when in prone or kneeling, you name it, they were there making corrections and offering suggestions.

We then did a few drills in the Urban Prone position going from weak to reaction side shoulder. For the guys that have never experienced urban prone, myself included it was an interesting experience but the class seemed to do very well with it. Making hits at 85ish yards was no problem for most students. Again, the instructors were on hand either literally or with the aforementioned advice. At one point i wasnt leaning into my shots and had an improper cheekweld, travis rolled my contorted ass over and i was immediately able to pick up my sights.

One really interesting thing that they continually stressed was that shooting in the urban prone is the same as shooting while standing up, nothing should change with your cheekweld or your upper body. Square yourself away, shoulder the rifle correctly and hit your target, nothing to it. I personally definitely need to practice this more as i had trouble picking up my sights on my reaction side shoulder.

I may have screwed up the order here but i believe the next evolution consisted of moving and shooting on the line. Travis and Chris stressed that we MUST have situational awareness for this drill. The students were ordered to always be aware of what was happening around them and to always keep in mind the position of their partners to the right or left of them. They urged the line to stay together, this forced the students to scan while moving to ensure that they were in line at all times.

The first time we ran the drill my dumb ass took off like a scalded cat. Tunnel vision set in and i basically shuffled at warp speed to the target firing two shot strings. After the drill was run Travis shot me a raised eyebrow and came over to talk to me. Immediately i knew my mistake and learned on the spot that while moving, i MUST scan and be aware of my surroundings and what is going on around me. I slowed down on the next drill and kept myself in line with my partners. I also relaxed a little, made better shots and felt less tense, smooth is fast, fast is smooth.

After running this drill a few times Travis again explained about, forgive me for butchering this, the Pupillary response and how it lends itself to tunnel vision. Basically the idea was that under a situation of stress, blood rushes to your eyes and…well, maybe i should stop explaining it as i dont remember the exact details and im sure if he is so included, Travis or Chris will step in and explain the physiology. Or, better yet, take a Magpul class and learn it first hand.

We broke for dinner next and prepared for the night shoot. Let me tell you, this was my first time shooting at night and boy was this an experience for me. The night shoot consisted of several nuggets of pure informational gold. I had never press checked in the dark before. Chris started with the pistol and then promptly taught us how to check the ar15.

Chris and Travis then proceeded to begin educating us on proper light techniques. Oddly enough, i found it rather easy to hit the targets with the taclight when the proper technique was employed. I will say that i was greatly aided by the use of an aimpoint. My irons, even when my white light was illuminated were generally obscured.

We worked several different drills down the line and quite frankly, i was amazed at how effectively ONE light can illuminate an entire line of targets. We ran some drills were one man on the line would illuminate the target and the rest of the line would commence firing. I can only imagine being on the receiving end of this. Imagine the bad guys surprise when he sees that taclight and thinks to himself “I GOT YOU NOW”.

The next thing he knows, 18 other guns are trained on him and well…you can assume the rest.

Very cool technique.

We ran several other similar drills and then moved on to the final drill of the evening.

The next drill showed the usefulness of just a brief glimpse of light on your target. We were roughly 50-60 yards from a steel pepper popper and we were asked to illuminate the target for roughly 2-3 seconds, turn the light off and then fire in complete darkness. I was elated when i hit the target. The rest of the class did exceptionally well on this drill and we all ended the night feeling tired and beat to shit yet excited for what was to come on day two.

I fired 1163 rounds on the first day of the class and i couldnt wait to fire more in an effective manner on the second day.

I am going to go grab some dinner and i will write my AAR for day 2 when i return!

EDIT:

Day 2.

Day two started bright and early at 9 am and we went right into the shooting. Day two focused primarily on malfunction clearing, one handed manipulation and one handed malfunction clearing. Let me tell you guys…one handed malfunction clearing is freaking physically and mentally stressful. We ran strings of five malfunction clearance drills at a time and man, by the end i was dripping with sweat and about ready to fall over and pass out. The weird thing is that i and many other students felt a huge sense of fulfillment after completing these drills. The harder we worked, the more we sweat the better we all felt. I never, not in a million years would have thought to perform the drills that Chris demoed for us should the need arise. I am extremely grateful to Chris and Travis for explaining how to go about performing these types of drills. I truly hope i never, not in a million years have to perform one of these techniques outside of a training class.

We broke for Lunch and Chris read an article that he had stowed in his truck. The main theme was mindset. Take the class and hope that Chris brings the article again, it was…amazing to say the least.

We then moved on to barricade drills. I at this point borrowed a friends carbine he so graciously offered (thank you SO much Neal!) to allow me to use and honestly, i had difficulty operating the short barrel behind cover…go figure. Travis explained that he uses his peripheral vision to ensure that the barrel is clearing the ports in the barricade or whatever it is that hes shooting through, around or over. With the short barrel i had trouble finding exactly where my muzzle was when i was shooting through the barricade. In the urban prone position we were also warned that when using optics we should always be aware of the fact that the height over bore of our optics could deceive us as to where our muzzles are in relation to where we are aiming. This caused me to slow down a little and take the time to ensure that my barrel was clear of obstruction before firing at the target.

After running the barricades and shooting a bit of steel we moved on to the next evolution, a two man move and shoot drill that challenged the entire class. Chris and Travis demonstrated the drill and made it look about as simple as taking a piss. Again, hats off to these two shooters, pure talent. As the teams moved and shot it became abundantly clear that doing this kind of drill requires alot of fundamentals and alot of scanning and peripheral vision. I did terrible in this particular drill and i wish we had more time for us to run it again or maybe another 300 or so times so i could actually pull it off without looking like a useless lump of flesh.

The day ended with Chris and Travis asking for feedback. Feedback was given, certificates were handed out and im fairly certain every student walked away from that class 100% satisfied.

My impressions are as follows. I left wanting more, i could listen to Chris and Travis talk about tactics, physiology, mental conditioning, life experience, etc for hours. When these guys open their mouths, you would be wise to listen.

Last but not least, i would like to thank Neal, i didnt pick up his last name but man, what a nice guy. He was genuinely interested in helping the class progress, and his knowledge about guns and gear was quite frankly, astounding. I wanted to pick his brain more about but im the kind of guy that will ask questions out of genuine curiosity until i become annoying so i decided not to press him too hard. Neal worked behind the scenes setting up targets, supervising shooters and making sure guns ran for the day. He was also our resident photographer so im hoping he will add pictures to this thread.

In closing, i highly recommend this class to anyone that is even remotely interested in learning more about their carbine. The information provided by Chris and Travis is priceless.

Thanks again to everyone that made this class possible. I really hope to see Magpul Dynamics down in Florida again very soon for some more classes!

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Pics from 8-30-08.

Travis Haley overseeing Claudio

Chris Costa

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Very nice AAR guys. :cool: Now if we can just get them to come over to give a class at Southern Exposure in Lakeland!:wink:

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Initial Zero

Talking about position and stance

Starting to shoot the template

Making minor adjustments

Few guys on the line had rifles with slings, but did not use them, apparently as they were instructed by another trainer? The advantage of a sling quickly became obvious and before long, everyone was slung up.

Class line up of guys and their guns

Aside from a few initial problems with feeding and zeroing, the 2 Sig 555’s ran well for the majority of the class

Ian was a great guy, he soaked up a lot of info and was able to mimic what he saw quickly and accurately. His MRP seemed to run well throughout the class.

The FS2000 ran well until it didnt. We started having double feeds which seem tough to clear on this weapon system. Claudio started shooting a very cool old Colt Commando right after lunch on the first day.

With no vert grip or rail pannels, it was tough to hold on all day. Even with a very grip, pannels will keep your hands from getting chewed up

Omi shot a few guns over the class. The AKs run great but many comment they slower and more difficult to manipulate for dynamic and extended shooting

Voot’s MRP with the match barrel had a stick case in the first day. Sadly he had to sit the night shoot and second day out due to aggrivating a previous injury. Heal up bro, hope to see you next time!

There were at least a few S&W M&P’s out there. All ran well but this one seemed to have been an older model that had a difficult time seating Pmags. Once that was cleared up, the gun ran well all day and he shot quickly with the ACOG.

Runnin the AK all day, into the night and all day the second day. As usual, no issues from the gun but the sight did give an issue on the start of the second day. Although I think it was user error.

No one could ID this Aimpoint clone, but we thought it was a SPOT. It ran fine all class.

The Bushnell ACOG clone did not fare so well and lost a mount knob before lunch time. It was ditched for an EoTech. No EoTechs broke this time around, but two of them (including my own) needed new batteries in the middle of a drill.

KISS rifle with good gear, no issues I saw.

Cool little homemade shorty, I keep forgetting the name of the little can he had. IT was nice though. I want to get one.

No issues from this gun that I saw either

What looked to me like an Armalite shorty. Ran good and provided fro some awesome flash at the night shoot!

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Another problem free gun, looked like a Bushmaster upper.

Chris and Travis demo the “CHECK-OK-READY” drill. It became standard procedure from this point on.

Speed Kneeling

The prone

With some coaching here and there

Urban Prone from weapon side

And reaction side

Always search and asess when you’re though

Back to the template, but now under the clock

Moving back

Switching from weapon to reaction side

Incorporating movement and working with others

Night shoot!

Primary light, primary weapon

Primary light, secondary weapon

Secondary light, primary weapon

Like I said, that shorty Armalite provided for some cool night pics!

Lights on, sights on, shoot and move

Its not the heat, its the humidity (the giant mosquitos didnt help either!!!)

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Small flash signature from the mini silencer

Its not a Magpul Dynamics class without a little rain

Day 2 started with some rain and a timed evolution that incorporated switching between weapon side and reaction side from different positions

We’re starting to push people for speed, but demanding better accuracy.

Little more coaching now and again

Using a better stance and grip people were popping out hammer drills with combat accuracy from further than they could have previously

Throwing in some barricades gives a better idea of when some of the other positions we were using become practical.

Next drill starts to really put a lot together. Shooting, moving, communicating, transitions and reloading.

Ian checks out the LWRC M6A2

Then transitions

Calls for “CHECK” and reloads when he hears “OK”

Then back in the fight

After that drill is done, mostpeople have questions!

Another groups gives it a go

Working side by side

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Favorite drill. You have to shoot (of course), communicate which direction to move, transition, communicate when you need to load, communicate when you can provide cover, communicate when you are loaded and still make your hits.

OK, we’re done

Its also not a Magpul Dynamics class without getting busted up!




Final Debrief

And presenting certificates!

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Looks like another great class! :smiley:

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My favorite pick: The close up of Travis’s squared away hair cut!

You guys comming back up north anytime soon (IE “The North West Fl gun camp”)?

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lol.

that’s meant for the “magpuldynamics” website link :smiley:

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Oh, you were just taking a pic of the logo back of his hat? Got it.:wink:

Those guy put on a real good class! I have no doubt that that one was also a blast.

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I think we should be up there in Dec. for a Precision rifle class… Get on Brians ass for that KD range!

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Great pictures! I just noticed the FS2000 now.

I wasn’t there, so I can’t comment on the double feeds that the FS2000 was having–whether they occurred in the midst of firing a magazine or when putting a new mag in the gun.

I have an FS2000 and was initially experiencing some doublefeeds before I determined what caused them. I found that sometimes if you put a magazine in when the bolt is locked back the vibration will sometimes jar the bolt into releasing. This is especially the case if you are in an awkward shooting position and bang the gun on something. However it will not get a good release and the bolt will only close part of the way. But when you try to retract the bolt you will give yourself a doublefeed. This is when my gun experienced doublefeeds before I figured it out.

The solution of this is to try not to put a loaded mag in when the bolt is locked back. Apparantly the notch that holds the charging handle when the bolt is locked back is not as deep as it should be.

I haven’t experienced trouble when shooting the gun and putting a new magazine in with the bolt forward. Since the gun has no last shot bolt holdopen, if you are shooting it and it goes click instead of bang, indicating that it is out of ammo, simply remove the old mag and put a new mag in and THEN work the charging handle to feed the first round of the magazine, rather than locking the bolt back before you you put the new mag in.

But if you are at a shooting range or a class you may be required to lock the bolt back during ceasefires. Here is where you might encounter problems since now when you put a magazine in sometimes the charging handle will slide out of its groove and let the bolt slide forward. But it will not go all the way forward and when you pull it back to feed a round you may get a doublefeed. This is where the problems occur.

The correct thing to do if the bolt does not go all the way forward is to drop the mag and work the charging handle so that the round that has not chambered will fall out of the magwell. Then let the bolt go forward before putting a mag in and THEN use the charging handle to chamber a round.

I have around 5000 rounds through my FS2000, including a Pat Rogers class where I experienced 2 malfunctions in the three day class–not all that bad considering.

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What model of pistol holsters are Travis and Chris using in this?

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Blade Tech.

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Of current they have been running raven rigs

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Cool Thanks.

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You got a better picture of that truck?

…

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Hello,

Does anyone know how to create that camo pattern Chris Costa has on his holster? Thank you.

LET’S NOT DERAIL A TRAINING THREAD WITH QUESTIONS THAT HAVE NO TRAINING RELEVANCE. THANKS. - YRAC