I've taken quite a few professional Carbine courses outside the military and many of them were better than the in-military training..
And I strongly encourage everybody to go to
as a bare minimum one professional handgun course and one professional "Carbine" course to form a foundation..and to do it soon while we still have these freedoms.
However its unaffordable to go every month right?
So the current Carbine/Rifle course a buddy and I have designed for our group of Freedomistas looks about like this:
A square 120 yard long (to practice peeling from flanking fire, using the "classic" barrel method of fire and movement
) and about 100 yards deep.
100 yards is about the upper limit one should train reflexive fire with the Carbine.
There are 6 pairs of steel targets which we number 1-6
One of the core exercises for us is to stand in the middle and then its approx a 120 degree range.
You enter the range will full mag in the gun and wearing full battle rattle (as a minimum a combat load of ammo, whichever how many mags u decide that ought to be, plus your med kit plus your water, I will sometimes wear a ballistic FAST helmet or sometimes just a bump helmet)
The Safety calls out your Targets.
You shoot single targets (warm up) or in pairs or in triplets (capstone) depending what he decides to call but usually its a progression.
All targets must be hit twice to "count". Ring! Ring!
Some targets at max range.. we sometime designate them a "prone" target ( I know some keyboard warrior will write "oh but 100 yards is too short!".. not for reflexive fire it isnt) some are a foot off the ground behind a mound and sometimes we designate them a kneeling target.
This way we are forcing the trainee (which is what he is) to not just break aim left to right and up and down.. but to break position and then reaquire and reaim.
So for Example during the Capstone heats, you may have the safety yell "2,6,3!"
So your first target, "2" you are generally allowed to respond to from standing/walking from the Patrol ready position. This is realistic right? You get surprised patrolling your area or leading your family out of dogde.. you will execute a RTR drill (
return fire,
take cover,
return accurate fire) were the immediate counterfire is designed to throw off the attacker and force his head down.
Then the next target "6" may be our designated prone target, which also fits with the RTR drill because after your initial reflex fire..you will have taken cover (even if its just microcover .. such as a curb or good cover like a nice big rock) and shoot from prone..
The "3" target may be designated a "kneeling" target.. again very realistic.. when you are shooting in the real world its not always perfectly flat like on a SWAT range (snicker) so some enemy you can only continue to force the engagment when you raise your aiming position to shoot over whatever he is behind that covers or conceals him.
Dont underestimate how physically demanding it can be to shoot.. then sprint a few feet... drop to prone.. hit the steel twice... explode from the prone into the kneeling (exercise your core!!) and then hit the steel twice.
Soon we will add a drill shooting at targets from moving vehicle (for practicality it will be an ATV but that serves its training purpose).
Sometimes (not often because its bit of hassle moving uprooted bushes around) we also practice Rhodesian cover shooting (shooting into concealment to hit whats hiding behind)
Why all this effort when a pistol engagement w/ petty criminals is much more likely?
Because fighting enemies foreign or domestic will be
hard.. fighting petty criminals is easy in comparison.
People, short of attending Max Velocity Tactical in WV,or similar outfits (Mason Dixon Tactical in PA, Defensive Training group, Green Ops in VA)
this is what right looks like for tactical training/practice for Carbine/Rifle for a citizen...
That's why I put it out here, ...source: former Battalion Training Officer in Combat Arms, multiple post military courses taught by the best.
Also food for your thoughts: