I really needed to improve my Carbine/rifle skills no question. I had only taken my Colt AR-15 to the range a couple of times and had plinked at my family farm a couple of times too. I did remove the A3 carry handle and bought an ARMS/Swan sleeve (14") mounted on my rifle. I had never taken the rifle to the range to sight it in. No problem there. Read on to find out why.
Class began at 0800 Saturday with a quick round of introductions by the staff and students. After a few minutes of intros and general chatting class began with a lecture on carbines, the .223 round and the effectiveness of the AR-type rifles in defensive roles. The range we used was the 25 yard range for the first day. We again went over all of the safety rules of gun handling and range rules. We spent some time sighting in our rifles and checking our grouping. Glad I had my new Hatch knee pads and elbow pads! We spent a good deal of time in the prone position. After a short time, we did different drills using our carbines from different carry positions. My favorite 'ready' position was the Sewell (spelling??) carry. Very comfortable for me. We did many drills from the African Carry, low ready and Sewell positions. We also did 'snap' drills which were great. At the end of day 1 we did a short timed test on out speed and accuracy. I will say that Steve was very patient as it took me a few times to get through it in the rain and drizzle. I was off each time by 1 shot.... Go figure.
CarbineStock. North Texans were treated to a long and heavy downpour. We went to the 100 yd range for day 2 after a classroom lecture on tactics. The range was wet and getting muddy. The more we tromped downrange to look at and tape up our targets the muddier it got. Muddy muddy muddy. Thank goodness for our panchos and ground cloths.
We spent some time sighting in from 50, 75 and 100 yards from prone or kneeling positions. After sighting in, we began doing multiple shot drills, snap drills, long range multiple shots, etc. Great fun in the 85° 98% humidity day! We did many shots from the ground on our strong/weak sides, from behind cover, through a barricade and all of this at metallic poppers on fiberglass rods (lollipops). I will say that the "force" was with me for this portion of the class. We also did transition drills transitioning from out carbines to our handguns. Again safety was extremely important and very well monitored.
Towards the end of the class we set up 'rooms' and did some room clearing drills on multiple "Tangos". That was a little stressful even though you're shooting at paper targets. Then we did a few scenarios with team firing and team cover.
Again another great class from SDSI. If you are interested in carbines I would strongly recommend this class as you'll learn about the capabilities, versatility and overall effectiveness of the carbine in a tactical scenario.
This class was held at a relatively fast pace (although not nearly as break-neck as the Tactical Carbine Class I attended) and breaks were again well deserved. The knowledge gained vs. money spent is heavily weighted towards the student. Great overall value. Just remember to bring lot's of water, sunscreen (I had sunscreen this time - that figures as it was raining most of the time) and knee pads and elbow pads are a must! A drop cloth or ground cover is nice to have as well.
I used my Colt AR-15 HBAR for the class with a plain-Jane sling (the one that came with it). I used just under 600 rds of .223 Sellier & Bellot ammo with no misfeeds (except for the forced/staged ones) or jams. Thank goodness for my waterproof Danner boots too!!