AAR - 3 Rivers Tactical Training Solutions - 2 day AR May 3rd & 4th 2014

[John A Brown]

3 Rivers Tactical Training Solutions conducted at 2 day AR course this past weekend at the Training Range at the Beaver Valley Rifle and Pistol Club.

I first set foot at BVRPC in June of 2011. There have been constant improvements to the Training Range since then, and it just keeps getting better and better. Many thanks to Jay Cunningham and the folks at BVRPC for their continued dedication to improving the facility.

Where to begin.................

The first thing I want to say is that this was an absolutely fantastic class. We had 18 students, which is a bigger class than normal but posed no issues. What a fantastic group a people. With a class of 18 I was fully expecting to have a least a couple folks that would fall into the category of "THAT GUY", but I was very pleasantly surprised - nobody came close to that designation. Everyone was motivated and came to the class for the only reason anyone should ever come to a firearms class - to learn.

A lot of the classes I teach are work. Sometimes very hard work. This class was anything but. This class was flat out fun to teach, and this is because of the great group of students. Everyone offered some great feedback during our discussion sessions, everyone checked their ego at the door, and we all had a great time. There were a million laughs over the two days, and a lot was learned by all - including me.

I just can't say enough about this class. It was an absolute dream to teach. I really wish this had been a 3 or 5 day class.

I need to take a moment and mention the one female we had in the class, Nancy. Nancy is the wife of PAFOA member Cb100h@hotmail.com (Wayne). Many women would be nervous and intimidated attending a class such as this with 17 strange men. Not Nancy - she walked right out on the range and flat out kicked ass for 2 straight days. And yes, she out shot some of the guys. She was a joy to have in the class and I hope to have her and many other women in future classes. As firearms owners we need to have women on our side. The best way to do that is to teach them to be safe and to show them how to have fun at the range.

Below is Nancy in a text book definition supported kneeling position.



I actually had a total of 21 people signed up for this class (including another female), but 3 folks had issues arise and had to reschedule for a later class.

Of the 18 students, 10 had attended at least one of my classes previously. I was told a while back by a long time instructor that you know you're doing things right when you have students take more than one class from you. I'm very proud of the number of returning students I consistently have, and I work hard to make sure it continues.

Jay Cunningham and Ashton Ray of Protective Shooting Concepts were running their 4 hours carbine clinic on Saturday on the next range over. They had 8 students in their class, so we had a total of 24 students attending carbine training this past weekend at BVRPC. This is just fantastic to see, and not from a personal business perspective. This is great to see because it shows that people are recognizing the need for training, and it shows that ammo is becoming more available. Last year was really tough, but it's getting better every day.

Jay and Ashton stopped over briefly after their class and offered some thoughts and insights with my group, which I always welcome. No one person has the golden keys to the gunfighting world, and Jay and Ashton's input is valued and appreciated at any of my classes.

Weather wasn't too bad. Some one and off rain on Saturday, but we worked through it and nobody melted. Sunday was very nice with no rain and this thing was visible in the sky that provides light and warmth. I think it's called the sun, but I hadn't seen it in a while, so I wasn't sure. No rain on Sunday.

After our safety and emergency medical briefings, we got right into marksmanship fundamentals and weapon manipulations with dummy rounds. This was a change from my previous classes, and one I will be doing from now on in the future. Carbines in general and AR's in particular are very easy weapons to shoot and are very, very accurate. Most people have very little difficulty hitting their target/threat out to 100 yards and beyond. What separates gunfighters from shooters is weapon manipulations - particularly loading, reloading, and malfunction clearing. This was a whole new world for a lot of the students, and I'm glad we spent significant time going over manipulations with dummy rounds before going live. It made a very positive difference.

I handed out 3 dummy rounds to each student to mix into their ammo supply for the entire two days. Eventually these dummy rounds made their way into the chambers of the students and induced malfunctions, which is the whole point. I know of no other way for students to learn how to clear malfunctions other than for the malfunctions to happen randomly. Dummy rounds mix in with live ammo allow this to happen.

Weapons

This was primarily an AR platform class. We had one student, Fred, who ran an M1A (M14) for both days and did great with a weapon that is not the most shooter-friendly rifle out there. Dan ran his AK for the second half of day 2 and did great with it.

All shooters ran some kind of optic except for 3. No optic issues were brought to my attention.

Gear Issues

We had a lot of students realize throughout the class that their gear was, to be kind, sub-optimal. Various chest rigs might look great on a mannequin in the gun shop, and might seem awesome when you try it on at home, but you are not going to know how it truly works until you put it on and try it at a range.

The biggest gear related issue we had - BY FAR - was slings. To be blunt and to the point, we had some awful slings in this class, and some students struggled and fought with their slings for the entire two days. Some slings were not fitted properly (too tight), some slings were attached to the shooters weapon at either sub-optimal or flat out wrong attachment points, and some slings were just flat out junk. I very, very strongly recommend two point adjustable slings. The VCAS sling by Blue Force Gear is the best sling on the market right now in my opinion and I don't see that changing any time soon. The VTAC sling by Viking Tactics is also a very, very good sling.

I'm not a fan of 1 point slings, and 3 point slings are to be avoided like the plague.

If you don't know how to properly attach your sling to your carbine, ask someone who does. It's not rocket surgery but there is a bit more to it than meets the eye. Think about it this way - having an improperly fitting or improperly attached sling is like walking around all day in shoes that are 3 sizes too small. It's uncomfortable if not painful and gets old really fast.

Zeroing

Every student came to the class with a zeroed weapon, and as an instructor this is like a gift from heaven. We made a few minor adjustments to a few weapons, but that was it. We confirmed zeros rather than actually zeroing the students weapons. Very, very big difference. Total time spent confirming zeroes was maybe 20 minutes and we were off and running.

Most of the pictures, with the exception of the night shoot, are from day 2. I spent most of my time on day 1 giving each student as much individual attention as I possibly could, and thus was not able to take as many pictures.

Below, Fred running is M14. He kicked ass with this rifle for the who two days.



Below is Jon during the night shoot. He drove up from Maryland for the class. I believe this was his first professional firearms class.



Below is Shane properly utilizing cover. Crowding cover (being right up on it) is wrong. Backing off your cover 7 - 10 feet as Shane is doing here is actually safer than being right up next to the cover.



Near to far as John, Joe, Jon, and Jon shooting from the two knees down position. We had a lot of John's in this class.



Toney (near) and Fred (far) in the prone position. This was Toney's second time attending this class, and the improvement in his skill level, particularly his carbine reloads, is off the charts.



Below, Nancy shooting under a barricade. This is to simulate shooting under a vehicle. Why expose yourself and shoot over a vehicle when you can shoot under it?

I can't say enough about Nancy. She flat out rocked for the entire class.



One of the many "John's" or "Jon's" in this class. Jon is also going through our drill to simulate shooting under a vehicle. Shooting under a barricade is very odd when you do it for the first time. It takes a bit of getting used to. Not the buttstock on his left shoulder. I didn't tell him to do this - he figured it out on his own.

Very, very well done.



This is Dunny's weapon light below - the EAG model SureFire P3X Fury in a LaRue Tactical LT-606 mount. Pat Rogers and SureFire teamed up to get this gem on the market. Sweet Jesus - this light is incredible. 1,000 lumens. It was unquestionably the best light in the class.

We did a demonstration before the night shoot with several different lights. We put to rest the absurd urban legend that you can have "too much light". Complete and total nonsense. There is no such thing as "too much light", but you can certainly have too little.



Below, another Jon shooting under a simulated vehicle. Jon is an author and prepping expert. If you've awoken to the need to be prepared, he's a guy you need to talk to. Check out his website - www.griddownsurvival.com



Below, Dan running his AK during support side shoulder drills.



I'm going to be posting more comments and pictures throughout this thread.

I just can't say enough about this class. A great group of people and a whole lot of learning occurred. I think everyone made some new friends and I know everyone had a really good time.

Our next 2 day carbine class is coming up the weekend of September 27th & 28th. It's already about 50% full. You can sign up here - http://www.3riverstraining.com/news/...rbine-operator

I welcome everyone's comments and input.

John
www.3riverstraining.com

[762NATO]

Hey john its fred, or pete, whichever fits haha. i plan on taking the course again, but this time with a BCM recee-16. Hoping to sign up for the august CC class and active shooter classes if the stars align and theres still slots open at that time.

Honestly i couldnt have asked much more from the class, i feel you got in everything you possibly could. I would put in a suggestion along with whoever else brought it up- i know your reasoning for not but would still suggest a level 2 for this class. I feel the class drove home alot of basics about gunfighting and changed my views on many things (ive recently taped my SERPA to a container of tannerite) but i would love to continue on and learn more advanced skills. Ever consider a 4-day class, maybe 2 consecutive weekends?

[Cb1000h@hotmail.com]

I love this class
This was my second carbine class with John and to be frank he is one hell of an instructor
If your even remotely thinking of taking any type of fire arms class, pistol shotgun or AR please see John. Instruction is outstanding and cost is reasonable and on par with other companies
We drove out from Delaware county and it was well worth the drive
I was so impressed the first time I took this class last year I brought my wife this year
At no time did my wife or myself feel uncomfortable or unsafe
My wife was treated with the upmost respect by everyone in the class and that was appreciated (she can roll with the guys believe me)
We both learned a lot even though I had taken this class last year
Some was a brush up on skills for me but there were also many new things to learn as well to quote the instructor " no two classes are the same"
I know my wife will post her own response but I can tell you this, she has not stopped talking about it since we got home
I did not get a chance to talk to everyone in the class but everyone there was nothing short of professional and considerate
Looking forward to taking the shotgun class in the near future
Everyone really shot well but I have to say Fred really whipped that M1A around and was impressively accurate with it. kudos Fred
Thank you to everyone who attended it was a lot of fun and nice to meet everyone
Wayne
Cb1000h@hotmail.com

[NatesGT]

Another great class!! More people need to attend a class like this and learn how to really operate your weapon. I'm not saying I am ready for spec. ops. or anything close to it however I am 100% better and more comfortable with my abilities then I was before the class. Also, there was not 1 attitude challenged person there. That means a lot and makes thing go much smoother and enjoyable. I have some video to edit down and get John's seal of approval to post them.

-Nate

[TC450]

Great class again! Thanks John again for keeping the class the fun and safe while we learn. I am glad you noticed the reloads are a lot better, them dummy rounds help a ton!

Also big thanks to Rich for letting me crash in his hotel room. That saved me a few hours in the car.


Fred great choice with the BCM.

[John A Brown]

Thanks for the comments and all the kind words fellas.

Fred,

I hear you on an "advanced" class. I'll consider it. It's tough to get people to commit to a 2 day class. Anything more than that is very difficult. Check out Pete's thread on 3 vs 2 day classes. I agree with much of what he said, but it's a tough commitment for a lot of folks.

Wayne,

Thanks for not only attending but traveling from the Philly area. I am eagerly awaiting Nancy's comments. I just can't say enough how well she did all weekend.

Nate,

The people made this class. Very well put - not 1 attitude challenged person in the class, which is pretty amazing with a class of 18.

Toney,

You looked like a completely different person from when you first took this class. It's very obvious you've been working on your skills.

John
www.3riverstraining.com

[John A Brown]

Below is a class photo.

I just can't say enough about what a great group of people this class was.



John
www.3riverstraining.com

[Orsogato]

Great class John!

Anybody who has not taken any sort of professional training and is on the fence about doing so, do it! Signing up for this class was the best money I ever spent at a gun show. Hands down. I learned a ton of stuff and I definitely suck less now than I did when we ran our first weapon manipulation drills.

I also learned how crappy much of my gear was and fought with my garbage sling for two days (VCAS sling on order). Some of the best parts of the course occurred not actually on the range, but during the "after drill briefings, chat sessions, and lecturing."

I met a bunch of great Americans in the class as well.

Thanks John!

from

The Counselor

[John A Brown]

John,

You and your father in law both did great. I'm glad your first professional firearms training class was one of mine.

Looking forward to seeing you guys again this weekend for Concealed Carry Handgun.

John
www.3riverstraining.com

[RaggedEdge]

I had a great time and learned so much. Safety was not an issue even with such a large class, which means it was forefront in our instructions and minds. No matter the experience level, I believe we all got solid fundamentals that we can build on.
I look forward to the next class.
If there is one downside, it's that the next class will be hard pressed to beat this one in terms of a great group of people to learn with.
Hope to see some of you all next time.