Cruel Hand Luke

Red White and Blue September Suarez International AR15 Week NEW CLASSES! Special deal ! From the folks that brought you the groundbreaking Red October study in the Kalashnikov comes Red White and Blue September. Where Red October focused on the Soviet AK pattern rifle Red White and Blue September will be an exhaustive study in the combat application of the "AMERICAN Rifle" the AR15/M4 . You've heard the myths and misconceptions now come learn the truth. Learn to run the AR from a combative perspective not a target shooting perspective. If all you care to do is shoot from a bench then this class will probably scare you off. If you are looking for standing, kneeling and prone slow fire then the Boy Scouts have you covered. We will look at the most efficient and effective ways to operate , manipulate and maintain the AR15 series of rifles both as an individual, and in team tactics. This is NOT police academy LCD level training. This is NOT just rehashed military manual training that is so common in the industry. These classes employ all the facets that make our AK program the best AK program going but restructuring it for the advantages (and idiosyncracies) of the AR. You wouldn't run an AK like an AR and we are not going to run an AR like an AK. Since we are not constrained by institutional dogma and closed society inbreeding we are not limited in what we can do in development and we have developed a comprehensive curriculum to make YOU as effective with your AR as possible. What we did for the AK we will do with the AR. September 15-16, 2011 AR15/M4 RIFLE GUNFIGHTING Price: $400 Chattanooga, Tennessee Instructor: Randy Harris In this class we explore the capabilities/strengths and weaknesses of the AR15/M16/M4 Weapons systems. In Suarez International fashion, sacred cows end up as dinner while we methodically address history, operation and the tricks and tips of professional operators who have used and continue to use this venerable, most American of Assault Rifles. Expect to be surprised to find out just how reliable the AR can be if proper care and operational protocols are followed. This is not your usual re-hashed presentation of the pistol with a rifle that you get in other schools, nor is it SWAT material only suitable for use in a team format. This material is focused for the lone operator regardless of his official status. DURATION: 2 Days TIME: 9:00AM to 5:00PM (Central) PREREQUISITES: NONE AMMUNITION: Appx 500 rounds (Minimum) and 50 rounds of pistol ammunition YOU NEED TO BRING: Spare clothing appropriate to the weather, lunch/snacks and water (minimum of 1 gallon per person) for the entire day, baseball or other style hat, sun screen, bug repellent, allergy medication (if needed), chair (if you have a problem with sitting on the ground, note taking paper/pen/pencil and a boo boo kit (band aids, gauze pads, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment and tape) REQUIREMENTS: AR-15/M-4 type rifle, (3) magazines and any ancillary rifle gear. Pistol, Holster, Pistol Magazines. Eye and Ear Protection. NOTE: Chest Rig/Tactical Vests are not allowed with CCW Holsters. If you wish to use a Chest Rig or a Tactical Vest, use a vest mounted holster or a thigh holster. To sign up....http://www.suarezinternationalstore.com/september15-2011-ar15-m4gunfighting-chattanoogatn.aspx September 16, 2011 AR15/M4 ARMORER Price: $100 Chattanooga, Tennessee Instructor: Randy Harris and Ryan Acuff This class will present a definitive study on the AR-15/M4 rifle. Students will be shown assembly, disassemble and repair, as well as operational characteristics of the weapon. DURATION: 4 hours TIME: 6:00PM to 10:00PM Central PREREQUISITES: NONE AMMUNITION: N/A YOU NEED TO BRING: Note taking supplies, water, snacks, anything to keep you comfortable. REQUIREMENTS: Bring your own rifle - everything else will be provided. To sign up....http://www.suarezinternationalstore.com/october152011-glockarmorer4hour-columbiasc-2.aspx September 17-18, 2011 ADVANCED AR15/M4 GUNFIGHTING Price: $400 Chattanooga, Tennessee Instructor: Randy Harris Advanced AR15/M4 Gunfighting is the most advanced level rifle training available outside of Special Operations schools. This class will consist of all new material and take your rifle fighting skills, both as a firearm and as an alternative force tool, far beyond what you would think possible. While we will be using and teaching with AR-pattern rifles, you are not required to bring an AR. Bring ANY semi auto rifle you have. Not for Beginners. Students must own the basic combat rifle skill-set and be in reasonable physical condition for this class. If in doubt, attend the introductory class scheduled immediately before. This class will leave you gasping for air with a red-hot smoking rifle barrel. DURATION: 2 Days TIME: 9:00AM to 5:00PM (CST) PREREQUISITES: Students must have attended a Suarez International Intermediate rifle class AMMUNITION: RIFLE: Approx. 500 rounds (Min) PISTOL: Approx. 100 rounds (Min) YOU NEED TO BRING: Spare clothing appropriate to the weather, lunch/snacks and water (minimum of 1 gallon per person) for the entire day, baseball or other style hat, sun screen, bug repellent, allergy medication (if needed), chair (if you have a problem with sitting on the ground, note taking paper/pen/pencil and a boo boo kit (band aids, gauze pads, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment and tape) REQUIREMENTS: AR pattern rifle, (3) magazines and any ancillary rifle gear. Pistol, Holster, Pistol Magazines. Eye and Ear Protection. Note: Chest Rig/Tactical Vests are not allowed with CCW Holsters. If you wish to use a Chest Rig or a Tactical Vest, use a vest mounted holster or a thigh holster. To sign up...http://www.suarezinternationalstore.com/september17-2011-advancedar15m4gunfighting-chattanoogatn.aspx ALL 3 Sessions AR Gunfighting, AR Armorer, and Advanced AR Gunfighting special price $750 !!!!

Sunday We started out the day with a review of the material we covered yesterday, which evolved into a discussion of the context for civilian use of the AR. Unlike a pistol, we're probably not going to carry a rifle on our person all the time. A rifle lives in the closet or the trunk until a situation where you need it. Those situations are probably limited to home defense and SHTF scenarios. While Katrina is the default example for a SHTF situation these days, the tornados that hit the area where we were training about a month prior (much damage was visible on our drive to the range each day) provided a more immediate real world example. In these sorts of situations you might be glad to have something with a bit more reach than a pistol. Randy had a personal example of this. After the tornadoes, he some trouble getting home from work that day because the police closed off the road due to downed limbs and powerlines ahead. He was on the verge of walking the last half-mile into his subdivision when they opened up the roadblock. Now, he wouldn't have had to fight his way through half a mile of zombie cannibal looters, but I'm sure having a get-home bag, which included a rifle, probably made him feel a little better. We moved out to the range and Randy started the students off with some dry practice in the various shooting positions. The first live drill exercised the different shooting positions from both shoulders. From 50 yards, the students shot five shots standing from their strong side, five shots kneeling, did a mag change, then did five shots prone. Then they switched to the support side shoulder and did five prone, another mag change, five kneeling, and five standing. Positions shooting from the support side shoulder and reloading while prone were clearly new to a lot of folks. I suggested that the students running shoulder bags swing their bag out in front of them when shooting prone. This makes mags a lot more accessible and even offers the possibility of using the bag to shoot off of (it's probably too low to put the forend on, but you can plunk the mag down on it for a bit more height). After giving everyone some experience on the support side, Randy concentrated on strong side position shooting for the next few drills. They worked shooting standing from 50 yards, then kneeling, then prone. The shoulder bag users really liked swinging the bag up for the prone work. One of the things that really differentiates SI is our emphasis on dynamic movement. We had been putting together the building blocks for this on the first day with the caveman EOTech and shoulder transfers. Now it was time to pull it all together and shoot on the move. As with most things, the first step is to do it dry: take three steps to the right, turn and transfer to the left shoulder, then take three steps to the left, turn and transfer to the right shoulder. Once everyone had it down (and everyone was doing it pretty much in unison so we didn’t have shooters bumping into each other) we did it live. Three shots as you take three steps to the right, then three shots as you take three steps to the left. As Randy emphasized, this is just a drill. You’re not going to pace back and forth in front of an adversary while shooting on the move. This is just a way of practicing shooting on the move and transferring the gun from shoulder to shoulder during movement. A more realistic application for these skills is shooting while getting off the X (GOTX). The “X†is where you were standing at the start of the fight, where the attacker expects you to be, and where all of the death and destruction he can muster is bearing down on. Standing there and shooting it out with him is like playing rock-em sock-em robots with guns. It’s not going to end well for you. It might not end well for him either, but which is more important to you: shooting the bad guy, or not getting shot yourself? The way to avoid this is not to be standing on that X. We need to move, and move far enough and fast enough to change what the attacker sees so that he has to reorient himself and reacquire you as a target. In the meantime, we put a bunch of rounds into him so that he never gets that chance. The key here is to use the caveman EOTech skills we introduced on Saturday. These let you move much faster than you can if you’re intent on maintaining a traditional sight picture, yet they’re sufficiently accurate for shooting at the ranges where getting off the X is an appropriate response. This is all pretty easy if you’re going towards your strong side. Unfortunately, that won’t always be an option. If there’s a wall to your right when your fight comes, you better know how to get off the X to your left. This is where the shoulder transition comes in. You can do the partial transfer (moving the stock but not switching your hands) and get the first shot off almost as quickly as you can going to the right. After taking more than one or two steps, this is going to get more and more awkward, so it’s usually best to swap hands after the first shot. We ran this several times getting off the X to the right (our dominant side for all but one student) then did it several more times going to the left. After giving everyone their first taste of getting off the X, we broke for lunch. After lunch, Randy talked about the after action assessment. Plenty of people have gotten killed because they shoot the bad guy they see, then relax before the fight is really over. The guy you just shot may get back up or he may have friends. We need to remain aware, check for additional threats, and keep an eye on the guy(s) we just shot. Randy teaches this using the F.A.S.T. acronym (also known as the Wyatt protocol). This stands for Fight, Assess, Scan, and Take cover, Top off, Treat injuries, Talk to anyone who needs to be talked to. The Fight part of this is what we’d been working on the entire class so far. Assess means check out any attackers you shot at. Ask yourself “Did I hit him? Did it work?†Scan for any additional threats. Look left and right, moving your muzzle and eyes together in the contact ready position. There’s no sense looking with just your eyes and having to drive the gun to the target if you spot an additional attacker. Real life is not a square range where there are only targets in one direction, so you need to check behind you as well. This is where the Sul position comes in. Drop the muzzle down and you can turn around and safely look for threats behind you. The key here is to step forward when you turn, rather than pivoting in place or stepping backward. This will give you a little extra space between you and any potential adversary behind you. The various ‘T’s might not always be applicable to a situation, and the order they are performed in may vary. We want to get to a better position and Take cover if possible. Top off by performing a proactive reload to get your gun ready in case additional threats show up. Check yourself and your friends or loved ones for any injuries and Treat them if necessary (we do not advocate treating the attacker, he can fend for himself). By Talk to anyone who needs to be talked to, we mean calling 911, talking to witnesses, responding police officers, etc. We ran the GOTX some more (just to the strong side this time) following it up with an after action assessment. One of the traps it’s easy to fall into is turning the scan a ‘tactical pirouette’. You swing from side to side then turn around, but you aren’t really looking, just going through the motions. To drive this point home, I made some silly faces or held up my knife during some of the scans, then asked folks what they saw. Next up was transitioning to pistol. Transitioning to a pistol is much faster and simpler than reloading a rifle or clearing a malfunction. Most civilian rifle work is going to occur well within pistol range, and civilians generally can make the choice to carry a pistol in any circumstance when they’ve got a rifle on them, so this makes sense as a default when your gun doesn’t work. SI recommends a simple two-point sling and for most folks we recommend not tying yourself to your rifle. You may have to drop the rifle quickly when responding police officers show up, lest you get shot by the cops, and you may need to employ the rifle for home defense in situations where you don’t have time to climb into your nifty tactical sling. There are circumstances where being tied to your rifle makes sense, particularly if you may get blown up by a roadside bomb. It’s nice to have your rifle close at hand when you regain consciousness and the post-IED ambush starts. For those of us not operating in areas with an IED threat, not being tied to our rifle is generally the better choice. One fellow in the class was running a one point sling that tied him to the gun, so all he had to do to transition is drop the rifle. If you’re not tied to the rifle, you’re going to have to do something with it when you transition. The method we teach is to bring the rifle up over your head and drop it so it hangs diagonally across your back. This gets the rifle out of your way, gives you two hands to access your pistol, and is reliable even at a dead run. For this to work properly, you need a long enough sling. Most folks showed up with their slings adjusted on the short side (especially folks who were used to using the sling as a shooting aid) but we were able to get everyone adjusted out long enough (though some were pretty marginal). We ran through this dry a bunch of times, until everyone was able to do it safely, without muzzle sweeping the next guy in line. Then we went live with it. Now some folks run transition drills with full magazines and have the student put the safety on before transitioning. There are two problems with this. First, if you are doing anything dynamic, there’s a good chance the safety could get knocked off on some piece of gear. Second, you’re building in a training scar. For any malfunction on an AR where you get a click instead of a bang, you won’t be able to engage the safety. You don’t want to be standing there in the middle of a gunfight with your transition disrupted because you can’t get the safety on like you do in training. Train like you fight. The way we do this is to have each student load a mag with two rounds. They chamber the first one so they’ve got one in the chamber and one in the mag. Randy emphasized that he wanted students to try to fire a burst of at least four shots. This fires the two rounds in the rifle and makes absolutely sure it was empty. It’s important to be absolutely sure you’ve shot the rifle dry and it’s safe to transition. This also simulates a real gunfight, where it will probably take several failed trigger presses before you realize the gun doesn’t work. The first time we did this live, one student found his pistol wouldn’t shoot. I examined it and it turned out the bump pad on a new 1911 mag was preventing the magazine from going all the way in. Luckily he had several mags with a different bump pad on them that worked. A fair number of the people in this class were wearing thigh holsters. Many of them were adjusted way too low, closer to the knee than the hip. These shooters really had to stretch to reach their pistols. Thigh holsters should be run high enough that you can easily grasp the pistol’s grip. Closer to the hip is better. I could also tell which student had put a lot of time in practicing with his thigh rig and which students were new to this carry position. I think this is a pretty good argument for keeping the position of your pistol on your tactical rig as close as possible to your CCW rig. It’s one of the reasons I like running a shoulder bag so I can wear my actual EDC holster. I’m planning to go with a war belt for my more ‘tactical’ use rather than a chest rig for similar reasons. We’d talked about malfunctions on Saturday, now it was time to give students some hands on experience with them. We divided the students up into groups and set out four rifles. While the student faced uprange, the instructors would set up four different malfunctions (an empty chamber, unseated magazine, stovepipe, and a failure to eject). The student had to turn around and fix each rifle in turn. Everyone managed to fix all the malfunctions and get the rifles going, but several people went to removing the magazine and reloading the rifle on malfunctions that could have been fixed with a simple tap-rack. Another problem occurred when a student clearing a double feed locked the bolt back to make it easier to get the mag out. He didn’t send the bolt forward until after he inserted a new mag, so it just rammed the top round from the mag into the back of the round that was still in the chamber. You’ve got to make sure to cycle the bolt and get everything out of the gun on these kinds of malfunctions. The last drill of the day was the combat rundown. We ran this drill one student at a time. They started at 100 yards with 25 rounds in their rifle. First, they dropped prone for their first shot. They moved up to 75 and shot from sitting behind a barrel, then to 50 and shot kneeling from behind a tree, then standing at 25 yards from behind a barricade, then moved out from cover, fired their last five shots on the move, then transitioned to pistol and put five more in the target from about five yards. As Randy pointed out, this is just a drill. Assaulting over open ground like this by yourself would be suicide. It gives you a chance to practice moving with the rifle and getting in and out of different positions. It’s also a big, fun drill to cap things off with. Visually impressive too; I had several students ask me to take pictures while they ran it. Hopefully some of them will be willing to post some of them in this thread. We finished up by presenting the certificates and asking what the students thought of the class. Everyone seemed pretty happy with it. The number one request was for cooler weather. Conclusions The AR often gets knocked for its reliability, but I was favorably impressed with how well most of these rifles ran. There were only two that gave significant problems. One was the AR in 7.62x39mm. This gun had some major magazine issues. When you turn a mag over, you shouldn’t have four or five rounds pour out. The problem was the follower was getting hung up on the transition between the curved portion and the straight portion of the magazine. The AR just wasn’t designed for such a tapered cartridge. The 7.62x39mm wants to feed through nice, curved magazines like the AK uses. When you try to run it through a mag that has a straight section to fit in the AR magwell, it’s going to cause issues. This gun also suffered quite a few stuck cases, some of which had to be beaten out with a range rod. During the transition drills, the student with this rifle finally got so frustrated with it he gave up and switched to his AK. That, I think, is the ideal solution. If you want to shoot 7.62x39mm, use a rifle designed for it. The other troublesome rifle was one shooting Tula ammo. Hearing this, one might immediately jump on the “don’t shoot steel case in your AR†bandwagon, but none of the problems he had were extraction or chambering related issues you would expect if the case material was the problem. Instead, he was getting failures to fire. The firing pin strikes in the primers were nice and deep, so this was probably just a bad batch of primers. This gun also had a hammer pin start to walk out during the second day. Randy hammered it back in. Other than these two guns, almost all the malfunctions we saw were operator induced. Failing to fully seat the magazine was the most common. We even had a discussion of whether not having a magazine in the gun when you started the drill counted as a malfunction (consensus was no). Aside from the fact that some calibers don’t work in ARs, the most obvious learning point from the class was some of the gear issues. This is not intended as a criticisim of any of the students. Part of the reason to come to this class is to test how well your gear works. I’m not trying to knock anyone here, just to draw out some lessons for future students. Suarez International is not gear focused. Yes, SI sells gear though One Source Tactical, but we aren’t going to tell you, “you must have this doohickey on your rifle or you will die!†We won’t look at you askance if your dump pouch isn’t the brand that OST sells. While we don’t care what brand of gear you bring, over the years we’ve found some setups work better than others. Most folks brought rifles that worked pretty well. The biggest problem was having too much stuff bolted to your gun, but that’s easy to fix at the class with a screwdriver or hex wrench. A sling is pretty much mandatory, an optic is a nice addition, and maybe a flashlight if this is a home-defense gun. That’s about it. The most common piece of additional equipment on the rifles in this class was the vertical foregrip. At SI we’re big advocates of the floating support hand. Basically, your support hand moves in and out depending on what you’re doing at the time. A VFG (or the MagPul AFG) tends to inhibit this. While there’s a bit of physical aspect to this, preventing you from sliding your hand easily forward and back, it seems to be as much mental as physical. A VFG tends to glue the support hand in one particular spot, even if that’s not the best spot for that hand at the time. Where this is really evident is during shoulder transfers. Hands stay on the VFG even if it’s a really long stretch, when it would be much easier to just grab the magwell instead. The most troublesome accessory was a magnified optic with a very small field of view mounted on top of a carry handle. For what we’re doing, iron sights or a red dot are really much more useful than a magnified optic, especially one over four power. The top of the carry handle is a pretty lousy place to mount any sort of optic, as its way too high for any sort of reasonable cheek weld. Another issue we ran into on some rifles was the stock length. The A2 stock, in particular, is really too long for the kind of shooting and manipulations we do. The A1 stock is workable, and a collapsible stock not extended all the way is pretty good. I got some interest on the Sully stock on my AR, which (in the configuration I have) is just about the right length. I discussed slings earlier. There’s really no need to go for anything fancy here, as long as it’s long enough. Something like the Saiga sling OST sells, which is basically six feet of webbing and a couple of buckles works fine. A good test to see if your sling is long enough is to loop it behind your neck and hold the rifle horizontally across your chest. If the gun hangs at around belly button level the sling is about right As far as support gear goes, the key is to have mags available to both hands, for doing reloads on the support side shoulder. A shoulder bag works for this because you can swing it around and access mags with your strong hand. Chest rigs place the mags where they’re easily accessible to both hands. On a belt rig, put one mag carrier on the strong side for support shoulder reloads. You also need a way to stow expended mags. Putting them back into mag pouches is far from ideal, both because it’s generally difficult, and because of the danger of grabbing an expended mag when you wanted a new one. If you’re using a shoulder bag, it works pretty well as a dump pouch (again, swing it around for the support side reload. With chest or belt rigs, a dump pouch of some sort is best. One solution to the ambidexterity problem is to put the dump pouch in the 6 o’clock position, accessible to both hands. Another solution with a chest rig is to tuck the expended mag behind the chest panel until you have a chance to move it to the dump pouch. I certainly got a lot out of helping Randy teach the class. It was great to see how someone who really knows the platform taught it. Just as important, I got to see how a fairly big, diverse group of students responded to that instruction. What worked well, what things tripped them up, etc. I hope they learned half as much from me as I did from them. I'd like to thank Randy for letting me sit in on this excellent class. I'd highly recommend AR15/M4 Rifle Gunfighting and anything else Randy teaches.

Thorough review of this class posted at Warriortalk News...WARRIOR TALK NEWS 06/06/2011 By Chris Upchurch AR15/M4 Rifle Gunfighting - After Action Report Over Memorial Day weekend I attended Randy Harris' AR15/M4 Rifle Gunfighting class. This will be is a bit different from my usual after action reviews. I was not actually a student in this class. Instead, Randy was nice enough to let me sit in as an 'Assistant Instructor', which essentially meant that I watched Randy teach the class, helped run the firing line, demoed stuff, and offered the occasional comment from the peanut gallery. Why spend a weekend over in Chattanooga doing this? Well, back in February I taught a Fighting Rifle Skills class and one of the students brought an AR. I'm mainly an AK guy, but I'd prepared for this eventuality: I watched the AR-15 Rifle Gunfighting DVD, read up on SI doctrine for running the AR, etc. I think I did a pretty good job telling the student how to run his rifle, but I could have done better, particularly when it came to demonstrating some of the AR specific manipulations. The best way I can describe it is that I knew this stuff in my head, but not in my hands. The first step in improving my ability to do this was to get myself an AR, so I could get some hands on experience. I got the gun put together about a month ago, did dry work with it, and shot it for about half the exercises in Roger Phillips' Long Gun Point Shooting Progressions class the previous weekend. This hands on experience has certainly helped (and I'll continue to get more of it as time goes on). As I was putting the finishing touches on my new rifle, I noticed Randy's class on the SI schedule. He knows a lot more about the AR than I do (he bought an M16 before he bought his first car), and I figured seeing how he taught students to use it would be quite helpful. I brought my new AR, a BCM upper with a lightweight barrel and midlength gas system on a Palmetto State Armory lower with a Sully stock. It's got Magpul handguards, a Daniel Defense fixed rear sight, and an EOTech on a LaRue mount. The latest additions have been a flashlight mount for a Surefire G2 on the front sight post and a set of nice Suarez International logo decals. I am really happy with how this gun turned out. I’m still and AK guy, but this rifle is tempting. The gun was fed with PMAGs. I brought my Sneakybag, but ended up just using one of Dale Fricke's kydex mag carriers and a belt mounted dump pouch (either EMDOM or Maxpedition Rolly Polly). On the pistol end of things, I brought my Glock 17 with a new RMR on it. This is actually the first time I've used the RMRed pistol as a carry gun. It rides (very nicely, I might add) in a Dale Fricke Seraphim holster. This was a fairly big class. There were twelve students, all told. They all brought ARs. One was in 7.62x39mm, but all the others were in 5.56mm. The majority was using iron sights, but there was a strong minority of red dots (Aimpoint and EOTech) and one magnified optic. Some rifles started out with a lot of stuff bolted to them. One began the first day with a flashlight, green laser, bipod, and a vertical fore grip (after the first round of dry drills, these accessories started disappearing). There was quite a bit of variety in support gear. We had sneakybags, chest rigs, tactical vests, a plate carrier (sans plates), belt rigs, and one student who just fed his AR out of the pockets of his jeans. Glock was the most common pistol, with a smattering of XDs and 1911s. Most folks ran with a pistol on the belt, but there were a few with thigh holsters. Several people had some rather unusual pistol carry methods, including a cross draw holster on a vest, and two who carried their pistols inside their shoulder bags. Saturday The class started off with the usual safety briefing. Randy explained the four rules and how we would run the range. He went over the medical plan and what to do in the event someone got shot. With that out of the way, we began with a lecture on the history of the AR platform. This sort of thing could be a little boring, but Randy was able to provide lots of visual (and tactile) aids from his extensive AR collection. There were also a couple of students with some old school rifles that helped illustrate the early years of AR design. One had a three prong flash hider (pre-birdcage) and both lacked the forward assist and had slab sided magwell (without any ridge around the mag release button). From this starting point he used his extensive knowledge of the AR's history and various examples to take us through the development of the gun to the modern day. The AR does have something of a mixed reputation, and we talked about some of these alleged issues. During recent conflicts, the AR has acquired a reputation for poor terminal performance. Randy pointed out that the two primary culprits in this: the adoption of the 62 grain green tip round and the widespread issue of shorter barreled guns took place during a time period (the '80s and '90s) where we weren't shooting a lot of people. As citizens we can choose more effective ammo, we are generally forced to use somewhat longer barrels, and we don't tend to be taking real long shots. The other issue ARs often get knocked on is reliability. A lot of this is operator induced, usually either insufficient (or no) lubrication. An AR will not run bone dry, and it needs to be cleaned occasionally. On a well lubed and reasonably clean rifle, the usual mechanical culprits are a bad extractor spring or bad magazines. The extractor issue can be mitigated with newer, more powerful extractor spring with a D-ring around it. With mags, you can either buy newer mags, or replace the followers on old mags with newer, better ones. Randy demonstrated this by replacing a black follower in an old mag with the anti-tilt green one during the lecture. The other thing you can do with mags is to identify and get rid of your bad magazines. If you keep your gun well lubed and relatively clean, have a good extractor setup and good mags, it will run much more reliably than many people will believe. We talked about the AR's different controls: the sights, trigger, safety, mag release, charging handle, and bolt release (we pretty much ignored the forward assist). Some of these are pretty self-explanatory (sights, trigger) but others require some education. One of the things that makes running an AR different is that there are two different controls for manipulating the bolt: the charging handle and the bolt release. On an AK (or most other military rifles for that matter) you do all the bolt manipulation using the charging handle. On the AR, you need to know when to use the charging handle and when to use the bolt release. Basically the charging handle is for loading and malfunction clearance, while the bolt release is for reloads. Using the charging handle for everything is slower, less reliable, and risks damage to a somewhat fragile part. The other point about the ARs controls is that they aren't ambidextrous (at least not in the stock configuration). SI places great stock in being able to run the rifle on either side, so you need to be able to operate all of these with either hand. Right handed, the mag release is run with your index finger. With the rifle on the left side, you use your thumb of your right hand as you grab the mag out of the rifle. On the right side, the left thumb hits the bolt release. On the left, if your fingers are long enough you can hit the bolt release paddle with your index finger. If they're shorter, you can 'choke the chicken' and reach around the front of the magwell and slap the bolt release with your fingers. Right handed, you can operate the charging handle by hooking it with your left index finger. On the left side, you can reach under and hook it with your right thumb. In either case, just hooking the left side of the charging handle (where the latch is) is faster than taking the stock off your shoulder and grabbing both sides of the t-handle. Randy had the students empty their rifles and divest themselves of any loaded magazines. Thus denuded of any live ammunition, we started with some dry practice. First up was simply mounting the rifle to the shoulder with the sights in line with your eye and pressing the trigger to the rear. We moved on to the reload, and had the students change empty magazines in their rifles. Then, in their first taste of SI doctrine, Randy had the students switch to their support side and do the reload with the gun on that hand. It was immediately obvious that many people's support gear was not really set up for support side reloads. Many also had difficulty with a lack of a good place to put 'expended' magazines in either the primary or support sides. SI is not a fan of dropping expended mags as a default. Moving on to some position work, Randy had me demonstrate kneeling and prone, and had the host of this class, who has taken lots of Randy's rifle classes, show SBU, urban, and modified (Spetsnaz) prone. Then Randy had the students practice tracking him while prone and seeing how they had to shift positions to address potential threats in different directions. Randy continued the dry work by doing mag changes on the move. Everyone lined up abreast and moved down the road, doing three mag changes. They did this at a walk a few times, then stepped it up to a jog. The first few times there were a lot of dropped mags, but these diminished as students got more experience. Then, of course, we switched shoulders and did the same from the support side. Next up was the slalom drill. The students lined up about three yards apart, and one at a time they slalomed down the line, treating each student as either a right or left handed corner, switching shoulders each time. While this dry work was just the first part of the first day, it really encapsulated the SI philosophy: everything we do we want to be able to do ambidextrously and on the move. After lunch, we moved out to the range and worked on zeroing everyone's rifles. We shot prone from 50 yards. Most folks were either right on or pretty close, but there were some exceptions. One student had a brand new EOTech that he'd never sighted in, and it was shooting way low. We had to dial it up around 65 clicks to get it on target. Another students iron sights were so far off he was off the paper entirely. Randy took his rifle while I ran the line and spotted and we got it dialed in after some major adjustments. While he was doing this, he doubled a couple of times. He eventually concluded that if you didn't fly your finger off the trigger with each shot and instead tried to properly reset it, the rifle would double more often than not. Once all the rifles were pretty well zeroed, we moved on to some snap shooting. Shoulder the rifle, make any small sight adjustments you need to get the sights lined up and on target, and press the trigger. The better your mount is, the fewer adjustments you need and the quicker you can press the shot, so a solid mount is an important skill. At reasonable ranges with the right skills, you can press the trigger as soon as the rifle hits the shoulder. After doing this from low ready, Randy had me demonstrate the SI ready positions (contact ready, close contact ready, Sul, patrol ready, port arms, and high noon ready) then proceeded to practice mounting the gun and making snap shots from all of them. Next up Randy introduced the "caveman EOTech". This is a method of point shooting the rifle, similar to the metal on meat method for pistols. You basically look over the rear sight, put the front sight tower of the rifle on the target, and press the trigger. If the target appears larger than the sight tower, you're probably going to hit. For the portion of the class with optics, we talked about looking over the optic and using the top of the sight housing for your caveman EOTech. We did a fair bit of shooting like this to get people used to the concept. Randy also talked about mechanical sight offset. The AR's sights are 2.5 inches above the bore, so at close range the bullet will hit low. If you're trying to shoot a guy in the chest, it’s not really an issue. If you're trying to shoot him in the eye, and your daughter’s head is right under that eye, you need to take this into consideration. Randy had the students shoot at a small dot on the target's head and see how low their bullets hit, then had them compensate for this and try to put the rounds right through the dot. There are two methods. One is simply to aim about two inches high. The other is to get an alternate sight picture with your irons, with the front post up above the rear aperture. With a little practice, everyone was able to get very precise hits on the dot. Continuing our emphasis on ambidextrous shooting, we did some more shoulder transfer drills, this time shooting it live. Fire two shots from the strong side, do a partial transfer (move the butt of the rifle to the other shoulder but keep the primary hand on the firing grip and the support hand on the magwell) and fire two shots, switch the hands and fire two shots, do a partial transfer back to the primary shoulder and fire two shots, then switch the hands and fire two more. Our last major drill of the day was to practice against multiple adversaries. We split the class in two and I ran one line while Randy ran the other. Each line had three targets and one student at a time would engage them. We started with firing at each target three times each, then switched to shooting them once each, then twice each. This got students used to transitioning from target to target and taught them that shooting them once each is going to be faster than hosing each target down with a burst. To wrap things up, Randy talked about malfunctions. Because of its design, the AR is subject to some rather . . . interesting . . . malfunctions. Cartridges or empty cases can end up in odd places (like between the bolt and the charging handle) where they are rather hard to get out. Given the variety of problems that can crop up, many people like to do diagnostic malfunction clearance: figure out what's wrong and perform some remedial action specifically designed to remedy that problem. We're not really a fan of that at SI, regardless of the platform. It's quicker and easier to deep the diagnosis to a minimum and apply a general solution that will fix a broad range of problems. We can't quite get to completely non-diagnostic malfunction clearance the way we do on an AK (if it stops working, reload it). However, we can keep diagnosis to a minimum. We divide malfunctions, and our actions to clear them into two categories: dead trigger and mush trigger. The dead trigger goes click, and you get nothing. The mush trigger doesn't even go click. The difference between the two is if the gun goes click (the hammer falling) you know that must be in battery. If the hammer won't even fall, the bolt is probably not all the way forward. If you get a click, it means that you either have a dud round, or there's nothing in the chamber. The most common reason there's nothing in the chamber is a failure to seat the mag completely. If the magazine is not all the way in the magwell, the bolt won't be able to strip the top round and drive it into the chamber. To fix either of these problems, we do the same as we do on a pistol: tap the bottom of the magazine and cycle the action. This insures the magazine is seated, gets a dud round in the chamber out (if there is one) and chambers a new round. Gun should be ready to go. If you don't get a click and the trigger is just mushy, it means you have a failure to extract (the previous round is still in the chamber and the rifle is trying to drive another round in behind it), a failure to eject (commonly referred to as a stovepipe), a true double feed (two rounds trying to get in the chamber at the same time) or one of the AR's more complex malfunctions (most of which can be described as rounds somewhere in the mechanism where they shouldn't be). For all of these problems, step one is to get the mag out of the magwell. Depending on how stuck it is, you may be able to just rip it out, or you may have to lock the bolt back first to relive some pressure. Once the mag is out, the rounds causing the problem may fall out on their own, or you may have to coax them out by cycling the bolt or by hand. Once the gun is completely empty, insert a new magazine and cycle the bolt. If this is one of the more complex malfunctions, you may have to do some diagnosis at this point (and perhaps use your multitool to help get cases or cartridges out). Randy had demonstrated one other malfunction clearance technique earlier in the day (when we had an actual need for it). During the procedures above, you may run into a situation where a shell is stuck in the chamber so tight you can't even move the charging handle. This can often be solved by 'mortaring' the gun, though sometimes it will require a range rod to clear. If you have a collapsible stock, collapse it (otherwise you may break the pin that holds it in position). Then, while pulling the charging handle to the rear, drive the gun butt first into the ground (angled downrange, please). The sudden stop when it hits the ground should allow the inertia of the bolt to yank the stuck case out of the chamber and clear the malfunction. If it doesn't, you may need to bang it out with a range rod. As it was getting a bit late, we held off on practical application of these procedures until tomorrow. Randy, several students, and I adjourned to a steakhouse for dinner and some excellent fellowship before turning in for the evening.

A review posted on another forum in this class from a student from Ga "JohnnyReddawn" who is not on TGO...since he's not a "Tennessee" gun owner....originally posted here...http://www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?86376-FOF-Chattanooga-June-4-5-2011&p=1189147#post1189147 FOF Chattanooga June 4-5 2011 FOF Chattanooga June 4-5 2011 I attended the force on force class in Chattanooga Tennessee on June 4th and 5th and there aren’t enough words to describe how much I enjoyed it or how much valuable information it contained. The instructor, Randy Harris, presented the curriculum in a very clear manner, describing in detail the reasons for this course as well as the terms and acronyms associated with it. After explaining a certain part of the course with the class, Randy would take time to insure we understood its importance in the real world as well as taking time to answer any questions we had about the subject. The drills and scenarios were well thought out and as realistic as possible. I feel that I learned more in this two day course than most other training companies could teach in a week. This course not only improved my skills but my confidence as well. As this was my first course with Suarez International and with the quality, knowledge, and professionalism I saw in one of their instructors, I plan on attending many more courses with SI in the near future, and I would also highly recommend their courses to anyone interested. Well done Gabe, on selecting instructors of such high quality!

You'll probably see it come around again about the time you have a 9 month old kid....

Still time to get signed up for this class! This is the class where you get to test your skills against live opponents not just paper and cardboard. You'll see how "traditional square range" skills work when the opponents don't cooperate.

I'm looking at end of September....

Of course. You've already taken the Basic one. The basivc offering on Thurs and Fri would be for folks who have not had it yet who want to get both together at one time at one place.

How would you guys feel about a 4 day version with the basic class and advanced running consecutively from a Thursday thru a Sunday?

Due to damage to the venue in the recent tornados we are having to move this class to a different venue . The new location will be in Chattanooga about 2 miles from Hamilton Place Mall. There are about a million hotels and places to eat in that area. I have already emailed the new address to all those already signed up. Address and directions will be available upon sign up if you are not already signed up. Looking forward to seeing you there!

I'll do it!

July 30-31, 2011 DEFENSIVE PISTOL SKILLS Price $350 Chattanooga, Tennessee Instructor: Randy Harris All training must begin with fundamentals. This comprehensive fundamentals class is designed to prep you for the more advanced courses such as Close Range Gunfighting. Through a carefully designed and detailed curriculum we are able to bring you up to a level of skill in a short two day class that previously would take over 4 or 5 days to achieve at other schools. You will learn a complete presentation of the modern combative technique of the pistol which will put you in good standing for any defensive situations you may encounter in the real world. No experience or prior training is needed to attend this class and it is specially suitable for beginners, or as a tune-up for accomplished shooters. DURATION: 2 days TIME: 9:00AM to 5:00PM CENTRAL PREREQUISITES: NONE AMMUNITION: Approximately 300 rounds (Minimum) YOU NEED TO BRING: Spare clothing appropriate to the weather, lunch/snacks and water (minimum of 1 gallon per person) for the entire day, baseball or other style hat, sun screen, bug repellent, allergy medication (if needed), chair (if you have a problem with sitting on the ground, note taking paper/pen/pencil and a boo boo kit (band aids, gauze pads, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment and tape) REQUIREMENTS: Modern Defensive Pistol, Holster specifically made for that pistol and designed to be worn on the belt at the "strong side", 3 Magazines and One Magazine Pouch, A Belt of the same width as the belt loops for the holster and magazine pouches, Range Safety Gear (Eye protection and ear protection) NOTES: This range is a private location located about 35 minutes from downtown Chattanooga. The range is geographically located where TN, GA and AL all border each other. For more info or to register ..........http://www.suarezinternationalstore.com/july30-312011-defensivepistolskills-chattanoogatn.aspx To see a review from a fellow TGO member...http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/tactics-training/51739-did-little-training-suarez-international-weekend.html

If lack of gear is the problem I have extra gear I bring to class to show and let people use. Come out and use MY stuff. On the next time we offer this one? Probably later in the year.

I understand the need to preserve domestic tranquility.....maybe next time.

Just a couple of days to go. We've gotten good respnse but we do still have a couple of spots available. Love to see some more TGO folks in class!

Best place to start is here.....Class Schedule That has the complete schedule and list of classes and class descriptions. A list of just my classes as it currently stands ........ May 28/29 AR/M4 Gunfighting, Chattanooga TN June 4-5 Force On Force Chickamauga, Ga June 18/19 PRIVATE class in Ohio June 25/26 Fighting Rifle Skills, Jacksonville FL July 23/24 Zero to 5 Foot Pistol Gunfighting, Pierpont OH JULY 30/31 Defensive Pistol Skills, Chattanooga TN Aug 13,14 Kalashnikov Rifle Gunfighting Louisville KY Aug 27/28 Rifle Gunfighting, Crestview FL Sep 10/11 Close Range Gunfighting , Jacksonville FL Sept,15,16 Low light gunfighting Chattanooga,Tn (NEW CLASS To BE Announced) Sept 17,18 Vehicle gunfighting Chattanooga , Tn (NEW CLASS To BE Announced) Oct 1,2 Zero to 5 Foot Pistol Gunfighting Atlanta, Ga (To Be Announced) Oct 15,16 Force on Force Columbia, SC Nov and DEC (To be determined)

Thanks for the review Mav. You did look a lot more comfortable shooting without taking the time to look for a "picture perfect sight picture" this time. There is a balance between hitting and not being hit. When your opponent is 3 to 4 yards away we need to lean more towards the "not getting hit" and less towards bullseye style marksmanship. We are not saying accuracy is not important . On the contrary it is VERY important. The only way to MAKE him stop trying to hurt you is to damage him to the point he cannot continue and that requires hitting him QUICKLY in IMPORTANT places. But if your drawstroke drives the muzzle to where you need it to be do you really NEED to take the extra time to LOOK for the sights inside 5 yards? Is a fist sized 3 or 4 round burst in the center of the chest accurate enough to win a fight? I'd say yes. Especially if it is delivered while you are getting out from in front of him and moving to better position. As a word of clarification....I don't know that I ever actually used the word "titties"....but we do use the pectoral muscle as an index point both in the drawstroke and in retention shooting. And as a matter of fact, some of the malfunctions MAV mentions were where folks did not use their index points properly and let the slide hit them as it cycled causing failures to eject. Great group of students and I hope to see more TGOers in the future!

The Sling - More Than A Carry Method Since the first musketeer decided to cut a length of leather to carry his “smoke stickâ€, fighting men have added slings to their rifles in one form or another. Some slings are so silly-complicated that they need to ship out with a special DVD. Other slings so simple that they consist of an old bootlace tied by an African bushman to his worn G3. Whether complex or caveman simple, the sling has many uses. The sling exists primarily to carry the weapon in non-contact situations. Look through any news stand gun magazine and you'll invariably see, either in an article or an ad, a photo of some guy “wearing†a long gun. I say "wearing" because he will probably be using some sort of multi-strap like device harnessing the rifle to his body. If the issue is simply to do away with the Fudd rifle rack while standing around looking cool at the range, any sling will do. But if the matter involves moving through rough country, running, or really needing a hand-free situation, it will get considerably more complex…or actually, it will get simpler. If you are in a conflict area, the rifle will be in your hands. Some units have gone as far as to eschew slings altogether to compel their men to keep the weapon in hand at all times. While this is not the best policy, it does kill the lazy sling carry habit. If you need to run without the rifle in your hands, to climb, to secure a prisoner, or anything requiring the use of both hands, you will want the rifle on your back and not hanging in front of you like an additional appendage, banging into everything in sight. Thus your sling, whatever it is, should allow you to sling to the back. The sling must also be simple and stay out of the way. The rifle must be deployable without the need to “strap inâ€, and without a long length of nylon loop floating around to catch on everything. It must allow for a quick and dynamic transition to pistol. With this last requirement, I suggest taking a look at our DVD programs depicting the over the back transition method. There have been far more clever methods devised and in sue for quite a while, but I would submit that a non-clever, but stress-proof method, not requiring perfect timing or extremes in dexterity, that provides for a high probability of success is a far better choice than an alternative that looks cooler. But that discussion is for another time. One other thing the sling can do, in some cases, is as an aid to marksmanship. Sling use goes back to the early part of the 20th century. While my research was not clear on who produced the first shooting sling, many sources point to the Boyt Harness Company and the Rock Island Arsenal. Theirs was the famous 1907 pattern shooting sling often seen on 1903 Springfields and M1 Garands. What these slings did, and still do on the right rifles, is to lock the weapon tightly to the shooter’s upper body, and allow him to relax in position enhancing bone support while reducing muscle tension. The sling is made up in two parts, the longer part in essence creating a loop through which the shooter put his up[per arm, sand cinching down, locked him into the rifle. The rear length of sling was there for carry and irrelevant for any actual shooting. That sling works great, but takes time to loop up. Hardly practical in situations where time is of the essence. Eventually, the leather sling was usurped by the cotton webbing sling, and later nylon sling, probably to reduce weight and cost. These later slings were of one piece and did not have the capability for a front loop. Crafty shooters devised ways to do what they had seen others do with the older 1907 designs and worked up the “hasty sling†in which the shooter simply loops his arm through the sling tightly. Unlike the 1907 system, this later method puts opposing pressures on the handguard, barrel, and action, which unless the rifle has been free floated, will invariably cause the point of impact to shift. The 1907 slings, and its various system copies such as the CW sling, and Ching Sling, do not do this, as they create pressure between your arm and the fore end only (at least if used correctly). So unless your rifle is free floated, stay away from the “hasty sling†method, and opt for the 1907 style slings. The nice part is that the 1907 system can be used on your light assault rifles with a gain in accuracy, without the annoying impact drift caused by improper sling use. Any sling can suffice here as long as it has a forward loop, adjustable for the individual, that can secure the upper arm to the handguard. One argument against sling use is that there is often not enough time in field shooting to “sling upâ€. With the traditional 1907 system that is true, but the newer derivatives are much faster. Nonetheless, if one has a rest to use, such as a vertical surface, it will be much quicker than slinging up, but with a little ingenuity, you can still use the sling in these situations. So grab your assault rifle, and see what you can do with your sling. Make sure the pressure is ONLY between your arm and the handguard, and then get out into the field and see how this simple device can improve your shooting. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. The Suarez Group Is Giving Away $25,000 As a special "thank you" to our customers and students, and as a way to give something back to those who have helped us get where we are, beginning this week, and extending until the July 4th weekend, we are adding a special "thank you gift" to randomly selected outgoing orders at One Source Tactical. That gift will be a 3x5 postcard voucher for either A FREE TWO DAY CLASS OF YOUR CHOICE, or various discounts to training courses ranging from 10% off to 50% off. Overall, over 150 of these gift vouchers will go out totalling over $25K worth of training. Thank You For Your Business

Just a quick reminder about this class. It is coming up the last weekend of this month-May 28-29 . Looking forward to seeing some TGO members there.

Thanks. I pray that they are doing well and have all they need.

The gallon jugs of water is excellent too. Another thing is an AC power inverter and I'm actually going to get one now. Use it to run other stuff from the car...a "portable generator". My list was not really intended to be an "all inclusive" list it was more a "off the top of my head " list of stuff I think is important. Obvious additions are... First Aid Kit (not just bandaids), but capable of handling more serious stuff...chainsaws and other power tools can be dangerous. So can nails in boards. A tarp. Might need it to keep weather out or to cover up stuff, or to make a tent. Tarps are good multi-purpose things to have. Garbage bags. They can be used like little tarps to help cover broken windows. A pot big enough to boil water in. We didn't need to, but some folks did. A camp stove and propane to run it. If your stove is electric then cooking and boiling is more difficult if there is no electricity. If you have a propane operated stove or grill then you are functional to cook and boil. Get an extra tank. They are like $25 and that way you can always have a full one in reserve.

Cool. I'll see you there.

I finally have access to the web after the tornado apocalypse here. I had some damage to the house but nothing major. My neighbor has a 4 foot section of fence harpooned into the side of her house. It looks like it was shot out of a cannon and is just stuck in the side of the house like an arrow stuck in a tree trunk. Trees and power lines are down EVERYWHERE. Travel is slow going but getting better. In fact the CRG class scheduled for this weekend is having to be rescheduled for May21-22 due to trees and powerlines down at the range.That area was hit hard. But we will simply reschedule and the class WILL go on. Eight people were killed just a couple of miles from my neighborhood.An elderly man was found in his chair 50 feet out in his yard where the storm had propelled him from his house....... I am BLESSED to just have the minor property damage that we have. My wife road out the storm in a closet as 100 mph winds hit our neighborhood. I was still at work on Wednesday when the storm hit our neighborhood. It took me an hour and a half to get home...It normally takes 15 minutes. But with EVERY road leading to my place blocked by downed trees and power lines it was slow going. I finally got to within 500 yards of my neighborhood and made the decision to "bug back" to the house on foot. I grabbed my sneaky bag and rifle bag , threw them over my shoulder and started walking past the roadblock when they got the word that they could open the road....so I went back and got in the car and drove the rest of the way home. Yesterday was "clean up day" in the neighborhood. People were clearing out downed trees and shingles and pieces of fences from their yards. There was no power so generators were good things to have to run power tools and to keep freezers from thatwing out. Ice was a commodity impossible to find in stores. If you have a freezer I strongly suggest you have either a generator or a few bags of ice in the freezer to keep things cold longer. We talk about this all the time, but this just reinforces it.... Things you NEED to have on hand. 1. Water. We never lost water, but Ringgold Ga city water has been turned off. You can go without food for a few days. Water is crucial. 2. CASH. If electricity is out stores can't run cards...No cash..no gas. 3. BAtteries. No electricity...no radio,tv,lights,etc. Make sure you have batteries to run your flashlights and radios and lanterns. 4. Gasoline. Never a bad thing to have some extra gas on hand. I think everyone in a 10 mile radius with a chainsaw was running it yesterday. Gas powered generators need gas too. 5. non perishable food. There are still A LOT of folks with no power here and that means stuff in the fridge will be bad. But a simple Coleman stove and some cans of soup will get oyu by for a while. 6. Toilet paper. Make sure you have toilet paper. 7. A car charger for your cell phone!!!!!!! My wife's phone was dead and could not be charged because no electricity . But I have a car charger for mine and that made a big difference being able to still communicate by charging it in the car. 8. A good attitude. We all just got out and did what needed to be done. No sniveling no whining. Yes it sucks that stuff is torn up, but it is not going to move itself off yuor lawn and out of the street. If you are doing something you don't have tome to say "Woe is me". This is not "end of the world" stuff. It is simply a natural disaster just like people have lived through for thousands of years. Things will be back to normal in a few days. But everyone who thought ahead at some point and stashed a few rudimentary supplies will have it easier than those who said "that will never happen here".

FOR THOSE JUST SEEING THIS THREAD, THE CLOSE RANGE GUNFIGHTING CLASS ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR APRIL30-MAY1 IS BEING RESCHEDULED FOR MAY 21-22! SO IF YOU WERE WANTING TO HIT THIS CLASS BUT THE 4/30-5/1 WEEKEND WAS NOT GOOD FOR YOU, THEN WE WILL BE OFFERING THIS CLASS MAY 21-22!!!!!!!!

We will. Just keep an eye on the schedule. Check your PM.