I'm one of those guys
that typically carries one spare mag in my support side rear pocket. I
knew that wouldn't cut it for this class so I started this
thread to try to figure out what I should take. I settled on the equipment listed at the bottom of this page, and wound up going with the Andrews OWB holster simply because
the straps on the back of the chest rig interfered with my usual carry
holster; a Versa Max II IWB. I also replaced the bottom right rear
buckle on the Eagle chest rig with a small clip to further streamline
it. I had no issues with the chest rig interfering with my draw stroke
once set up like this.
I also intended
to wear flight gloves, but after running them at two of our matches I
just couldn't get used to them. For the life of me I couldn't get a
good firing grip on my 1911s and couldn't get the grip safety depressed
reliably with the gloves on. It's probably just as well because the
liklihood of me ever wearing gloves when shooting or fighting with my
AR are pretty slim.
Class
My general impression of the
training was very good. This was my first rifle training class so I do
not have a frame of reference to compare it to. I do believe that the
vast majority of shooters need to have some sort of other training
before showing up to an EAG class, as Pat Pretty much assumes that you
know the trigger from the mag release, that you have a grasp on trigger
control, and that you know which end the bullets go in and which end
they come out. While I have not yet taken it, I believe that something
like Randy Cain's carbine class would be a better starter class for
most people.
The class began with a
discussion of basic prone, and with everyone zeroing their rifles (or
confirming same) from the prone position. I ultimately discovered that
I prefer the alternate prone position that Pat showed us wherein you
roll slightly to your support side and bend your strong-side knee.
This proved especially useful when wearing a chest rig of any kind.
The remaining days were a bit of a blur, so rather than try to remember what happened on what day, I'll hit the highlights.
We
learned several alternate or "asymetrical" prone positions, which
involve shooting perpendicular to your body while in prone. These
included supine (laying on back shooting across chest), urban (laying
face down with strong-side elbow tucked under you, and SBU or Small
Boat Unit (similar to urban but with elbow away from the body).
Pictures of all three can be found with a google search or by surfing
the 10-8forums.com.
We also covered
malfunction clearance; Type 1, 2, and 3. 3, which is essentially a
double feed, required the most manipulations and proved to be the most
difficult for most people to get the steps right. I would have liked
to have spent a bit more time on the malfunction clearances as it's
something I don't get to experience alot shooting a Colt (;) that's a
joke, if you didn't notice).
We also
covered transitions, speed reloads, and tactical reloads, and when it
is appropriate to use all three. That is something that I will be
incorporating into the rifle matches that I run in order to promote
good training for myself and the other shooters that participate in the
matches.
We covered firing while
advancing, as well as assessing and engaging threats to either side of,
and behind, the shooter. I would have liked to have spent some time in
firing while moving laterally and retreating, but I think that those
things are more a matter of practice than instruction. If you've done
it with a pistol you can pretty much apply the footwork to doing it
with the rifle/carbine.
Pat discussed
equipment to a limited degree, although many students were eager to
quiz him on his take on some of the gear currently available. I
enjoyed hearing Pat's take on things, and his willingness to loan out
gear to those students that wished to try something Pat had available.
I personally do not believe that there is any substitute for shooting a
gun equipped with the gear you're interested in and it was great that
Pat gave people that opportunity.
Pat's
Assistant Instructor was Michael Hueser who was a great AI and was very
patient and helpful. He got alot of guns running that students managed
to make stop running.:D
I also
encountered one opportunity to utilize my MOACKS on a bolt carrier from
an LMT MRP which had a loose key that appeared to be causing some
issues. As far as I know the shooter did not have any issues after the
key was properly tightened and staked.
Guns
My
rifle was a Colt 6520 with a flattop M4 receiver, DD 9.0, Tango Down
front and rear grips, Troy flipup front and rear sights, Trijicon
Compact ACOG 1.5x in Larue mount. My ammo was XM193 (unsure of lot #)
fed from GI-spec mags with Magpul Ranger Plates and followers.
My
pistol was a Springfield Armory GI that Ted Yost performed his 1* work
on. Fired 230 grain UMC FMJ carried in a mixture of Wilson and
McCormick 8 round magazines.
My rifle functioned flawlessly. I had brought along my 6933 as a
backup, and was carrying a spare bolt in the TD foregrip of my 6520 but
never needed either one. I had one bad round in over 1k fired, and I
had one issue where I failed to seat the magazine fully. While I know
there were guns other than Colts that made it through the class, the
only Colt that I know of that had problems was sporting a faulty
other-brand barrel. Needless to say I am sold on my choice to
transition all my ARs to Colts. I did not clean, lube, or even open
the upper on my 6520 the whole time I was at the class. I started off
with a somewhat dirty gun (maybe 200 rounds through it) and lubed it
the night before training day 1. I'm sure it's quite filthy now.
My
handgun also had zero issues, although it was fired very little. The
better you are at doing tac-loads with your rifle between strings the
less you have to shoot your handgun. It's entirely possible that
someone could have gotten through the class only firing a couple of
handgun magazines during the transition instruction period if they kept
up with their rifle tac-loads the rest of the time. In all I think I
fired about 4 mags of .45 during the whole three days. I'm still
trying to decide if I like this pistol or not, but this wasn't really a
good chance to test it's reliability.
My
Eagle chest rig worked great. I kept 3 mags in the kydex-reinforced
pouches, and kept my starter mag in the velcro document pocket until we
were instructed to load. I only ran out of ammo one time and that was
near the very end (and was responsible for one of my two transitions)
during a drill that required alot of ammo.
The
Eagle "evidence pouch" worked pretty well as a dump pouch. It would
hold all 4 of the magazines I had on me at any one time, which worked
out perfectly. My only complaint was that the opening tended to
collapse. I am looking into getting an 18" or so tension spring that's
about 1/8" in diameter to replace the shock cord in the top. I think
it will keep the mouth open well but also still allow the pouch to fold
up into the velcro. We shall see.
I
really like the way the 2-point Blue Force Gear sling worked out for
me. I did have an issue with the length adjustment buckle interfering
with my chest rig though. I think this was due in part to the fact
that I adjusted the sling too short at the buttstock end and cut off
all the adjustment. Even so, I'm going to give the padded Larue Sling
a shot as I think it might work out just a tad better.
I
wore jeans and t-shirts the whole weekend, and lucked out in that no
brass found it's way down my shirt or onto my neck. I didn't want to
show up with any kind of scarf or what have you for fear of looking
like a wannabe, but next time I will definately bring one after seeing
the burns on the other guys' necks. Ouch. The shoulder straps of my
chest rig and the sling both kind of dug into my neck. I think next
time I'll wear some kind of collared shirt, as the weather dictates, to
cut down on that a bit.
My Alta kneepads
worked out great, but did seem to lose a bit of adjustment over time
and I had to re-tighten them sometime on day 3. I kindof thought the
teeth inside the buckles would have kept them from doing that, and it's
obviously what the teeth are designed to do, but they didn't work out
that way 100%. Still, I was happy with them, and they stayed tight for
over 2 days which isn't bad at all.
