Basic Defensive Carbine (Full 3-day Course) [THIS COURSE IS NOW FULL]

[PeteG]

After a year off, the FIRE Institute is again offering its Basic Tactical Carbine Course in 2013. There is new course content. The first session will be from Friday May 17 through Sunday, May 19, at the Pitcairn-Monroeville Sportsman's Club Northeast of Pittsburgh.

This is a three-day fundamentals course, designed to address the basic skills and concepts involved in using an auto-loading rifle for personal defense. It addresses non-military applications by "Ordinary Earth People," who will be working alone or with one other person. The cost is $425 per person, which includes range fees. Members of the host club (PMSC) can take a $25 discount.

A more complete course description follows

PeteG
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BASIC TACTICAL CARBINE
Introductory Level – 3 Days
May 17 - 19 (Fri. – Sun.) 2013
Pitcairn-Monroeville Sportsmen's Club - 505 Mosside Blvd., North Versailles, Pittsburgh, PA.

This course is designed as a first-level of formal instruction for people who wish to attain a greater level of competence in the use of auto-loading carbines (AR-15, M-1 Carbine, Kalashnikov variants). It affords 23 hours of instruction over three days. Topics which will be covered are:

1) Gun Handling With Your System: Proper manipulation and handling of rifles; correct procedure to clear jams and stoppages; comparison of AR-15/M-16/M-4 carbines (and their clones).

2) Mind set and the psychology of armed conflict.

3) Stance and Basic firing positions: This includes an introduction to tactical employment of shooting positions. Attention is given to stance as it relates to weapon retention, contact-distance engagement and the need to maintain a ready position over long periods of time.

4) Fundamental tactical movement when employing a carbine. “Square Range” exercises and one tactical simulation are used to develop the ability to move around safely and efficiently with a rifle in hand.

5) Problems of trajectory, zeroing and sighting the AR I5, as compared to other types of carbine.

6) Characteristics, tactical advantages and limitations of carbines as personal defense weapons. This is a comaparative analysis, relative to other weapons and weapons systems.

7) Comparative review of different shooting styles and methods We will try to demystify the different styles currently employed.

8) Review of current Pa. law on the use of deadly force, disarms and weapons retention. (By a licensed attorney.)

This course satisfies the continuing education requirement for NRA LE instructor certification.

Cost: $425 ($400 for members of the host club). Includes instruction, range fees, range supplies and written materials. Students to provide their own ammunition, personal gear and meals.

Course format: Lectures (approximately 5 hrs., mostly on the range) and live-fire exercises. There will be one run through a tactical simulator and one objective skills test at the conclusion of the course. Each student will need a minimum of 750 rounds of “ball” ammunition, knee and elbow pads. [IF AMMO PRICES ARE STILL TERRIBLE IN MAY DUE TO 'PANIC BUYING', WE WILL ADJUST THE ROUND COUNT DOWNWARD.]

Instructor: Peter Georgiades: Practicing attorney who has taught firearms and defensive tactics skills for 16 years. Certified to instruct by the NRA (rifle, pistol, shotgun and personal protection) and held Arizona CCW Instructor Certificate No. 8769268 while that program was in existence. Member of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI). Founded the Penna. Firearms Development Corporation training program in 1996, and currently Executive Director of the F.I.R.E. Institute. Instructor training includes the Gunsite Law Enforcement Carbine Instructor Cert. Course, Marksman's Enterprise 3 day instructor courses (carbine and pistol), Contact Defense, LLC "Contact Weapons Defense Instructor" course, and hundreds of hours working directly under other experienced instructors. Mr. Georgiades is Ranked Sandan (3rd Degree Black Belt) in Kodokan Judo, and gives special attention to practical aspects of close-quarter fighting with a rifle such as weapon retention and when to abandon the weapon. Range assistance is provided by experienced range officers and NRA certified instructors

Class size: In order to maintain a close instructor-to-student ratio, enrollment will be limited to 12 students,

Prerequisites: None. It is, however, expected students will have a basic familiarity with rifles. All participants must be 18 years of age. Proof of no criminal history is required.

Certificate: A certificate of completion is awarded to all who complete successfully complete the course.

For Course Details, Directions, Equipment Requirements and Enrollment Materials:
visit www.fireinstitute.org If you have specific questions, you can call (412) 370-9500.


EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS

There is certain equipment which is REQUIRED in this course. One may not proceed without the following:

• Ear protection and Eye protection. Eye protection must be clear if there is a night shoot.
• Cap or hat with baseball-style bill. This is to prevent ejected brass from your or another shooter's rifle from falling between your eyewear and your eye, burning you. It is important gear.
• Firearm, clean and zeroed. We do zero during the course, but getting the zero close before class saves time.
• At least three magazines. 20 or 30 round – either will work.
• Knee and elbow pads. The inexpensive kind worn by skateboarders, or pads worn by carpenters and carpet layers are sufficient.
• Magazine holster or pouch which is worn on the support side (“weak hand” side) of your belt. BDU pockets and M-16 pouches will get you through, but do not work very well.
• 750 Rounds of "Ball" Ammunition is standard for this course. If, however, ammunition is still upwards of 65 cents a round by May, we will adjust the course and can get it done using as little as 300 rounds. We recommend students use one brand of ammunition throughout the course. Different brands and loads of ammunition will significantly affect the “zero” of AR-15’s, and may distract or confuse you in a course such as this. We also suggest students avoid the very cheapest ammunition and reloads. “Match grade” ammunition is unnecessary (and would be a waste of money), your investment of time and money in this course does justify the use of reasonably consistent ammunition. No incendiary or tracer ammunition.
• A carry strap or sling. We run a “hot” range, and rifles must be slung unless they are racked, grounded or in the shooter's hand on line. Any strap or sling which allows the rifle to be carried muzzle up or muzzle down is fine. No slings which hold the muzzle in a horizontal position while being carried (M-60 style) are permitted.
• A ground cloth, shooting mat or other cover (such as an old blanket), to cover the ground, upon which you will be periodically sitting or lying.
• Sight-adjustment tool for iron sights on your particular rifle. (These are available at gun shows or mail order for between $5 and $25, depending upon the type.)

There is other equipment that is not required, but which we believe will enhance your experience of the course. We therefore recommend you bring the following:

• Optic or reflex sight. Iron sights are fine for this course, but a reflex (“red dot”) sight will be better. If you use an optic, it should be of a low-power type (e.g., 4X magnification or less). Higher power scopes will not work well.
• Soft drinks or water to drink while down on the range. There is no water on the range itself, and the Club house is too far to run back and forth. No alcohol of any kind is to be consumed within eight hours of the start of any course session or at any time during the course.
• Back-up rifle or Complete bolt assembly. A second rifle is a good idea, if you own or can borrow one. Firearms do break, and we cannot stop the course to make repairs. Even if we had time, parts may not be available, and many repairs cannot be accomplished in the field. If you do not have a second rifle, a complete bolt assembly will enable you to swap bolts in the AR-style rifles, as a 60 second repair to most rifle malfunctions.
• Binoculars, any size or power.
• Camera. Many people find it helpful to photograph shooting positions, or take pictures for fun.
• Gloves (either shooting gloves or light work gloves).

We do not recommend anyone purchase a lot of expensive equipment for this course. One of the purposes of the course is familiarization, such that one should be in a much better position to decide where to spend money after the course. One should use what he has for now.

More information can be found at www.fireinstitute.org

If you have questions, call Peter: (412) 370-9500.

“Having a gun and thinking you are armed is like buying a piano and thinking you are a musician”
--- Col. Jeff Cooper (U.S.M.C. Ret.)

[DaveM55]

This might be an open weekend for me. I'm going to try and attend.

[PeteG]

This might be an open weekend for me. I'm going to try and attend.

It will be good to see you.

[PeteG]

We have had two people withdraw from this course due to the currently high cost of .556 ammunition.

I remind all that we do pair down the ammunition we use in times of shortage. I expect we will be able to complete this course using only 300 rounds, unless, of course, all the panic buying stops between now and May. (There are no proposals to restrict ammunition purchases, are there?)

In any case, one must practice with thier chosen weapon in order to be effective. Three days' training will not produce proficiency; it is only proper practice that does that. If one does not have the resources to buy the ammunition necessary for instruction, they will not likely find the resources to be able to practice. In that case, I must agree it is time to find a cheaper alternative.

[Johannes_Paulsen]

Peter,

I will (hopefully) have an M1 Garand + a quantity of ammo by May, assuming the CMP ships it in a timely fashion (ordered several weeks ago now). Would this be an appropriate firearm for this course?

[scruff]

We have had two people withdraw from this course due to the currently high cost of .556 ammunition.

I remind all that we do pair down the ammunition we use in times of shortage. I expect we will be able to complete this course using only 300 rounds, unless, of course, all the panic buying stops between now and May. (There are no proposals to restrict ammunition purchases, are there?)

In any case, one must practice with thier chosen weapon in order to be effective. Three days' training will not produce proficiency; it is only proper practice that does that. If one does not have the resources to buy the ammunition necessary for instruction, they will not likely find the resources to be able to practice. In that case, I must agree it is time to find a cheaper alternative.

Hi Pete,
Good talking with you at the PGCA show. I'm in. I've got plenty of ammo, and it didn't hurt that my wife is pushing me to take the class.

Just wondering - how effective do you think carbine practice with .22LR is? I have a M&P 15-22 "for the kids" It's set up similar to my AR. I plan on doing much of my AR practice with it, just like I've been doing lately with pistols - around 80% .22LR, 20% larger calibers.

[DaveM55]

Pete, I'm just waiting for my vacation top get approved before I register.

I can probably find 300 rounds of ammunition under my couch cushions. LOL

[PeteG]

Peter,

I will (hopefully) have an M1 Garand + a quantity of ammo by May, assuming the CMP ships it in a timely fashion (ordered several weeks ago now). Would this be an appropriate firearm for this course?

The Garand is not a carbine; it is a battle rifle. It's not the caliber that makes it so different (we have .30 caliber carbines come through from time-to-time). It is the length and weight of the thing, and the fact it does not load from a detachable box magazine.

I am not aware of any course around here designed for full-sized, auto-loading battle rifles. Bolt-action battle rifles work well in "Practical rifle," but I am not aware of any course designed just for gas-operated semi-autos.

Truth be told, most of what is taught in one rifle course carries over to another (marksmanship, stance, position shooting, hold over, etc.). There are compeittion-developed techniques applicable to AR's which would be very difficult to translate to other rifles, but we don't teach those (for reasons we go over in the course). Above all, the mental aspects of the process that is by far the most important1, and those translate. We cover some law, which is also applicable across all weapons platforms.

Auto-loading carbines using intermediate power cartridges have some favorable characteristics in the context of personal defense for civilians, and the manual of arms is obviously going to be different between those and a Garand. But then again, the manual of arms is different between the Stoner designs, Kalisnikov designs, and rifles like the M-1 and Mini-14.

I would have no problem with you joining us using a Garand. It would not detract from the experience of other course participants, and much of what we cover would be applicable to any rifle. The presence of a battle rifle would make for good points of contrast. There are a couple of things you need to keep in mind, however, before you decide:

1) I have played with some Garands, but I have never trained with one can have no expertise with the system. One of the guys we use as a range assistant is, however, an "Garand Guy," and I can make sure he's there.

2) That heavy bastard will kick your behind doing the drills we do with the lighter rifles. We can reduce the number of rounds you fire in given drills, and make similar adjustments.

In other words, you will not get the same course as everyone else. But if you are prepared to accept that fact, you would certanly be welcome.

Peter

P.S. - I love the M-1 carbine. Too bad you didn't opt for one of those.

[PeteG]

Hi Pete,
Good talking with you at the PGCA show. I'm in. I've got plenty of ammo, and it didn't hurt that my wife is pushing me to take the class.

Just wondering - how effective do you think carbine practice with .22LR is? I have a M&P 15-22 "for the kids" It's set up similar to my AR. I plan on doing much of my AR practice with it, just like I've been doing lately with pistols - around 80% .22LR, 20% larger calibers.

For work inside 30 yards, I thnk it works fine (assuming you have one of the .22 lr guns that has the same manual of arms as your .223 gun). At longer ranges, it is just not the same.

In light of the ammunition problem we currently face, I would have no problem with anyone using a .22 version of the rifle for the portions of the course involving marksmanship, position shooting, movment, fast drills and the simulator. I would like to have the full-sized guns available for loading, unloading, reloading, malfunction clearance and the timed qualification course. The qual courses are 40 rounds each (there are 2), and we are likely to get loading, unloading, reloading, malfunction clearance done with another 20 rounds.

Now, how come you are not pushing your wife to take the class?

[Shawn.L]

Peter, I have an M&P 15-22 as well and if you would like to borrow it for the class for a student to use Id be more than happy to offer it up.