Trace Armory Group/Carolina Shooters Club Gunfighter Class AAR

On Saturday, June 16th, 2012, I participated in the Trace Armory Group/Carolina Shooters Club Gunfighter class. This was a combination of training with some basic drills, as well as a meet and greet for members of the Carolina Shooters Club forum.

John Boyette was the primary instructor for the class, with Scott McClure teaching the other squad. I started on McClure’s squad first thing in the morning, were we worked on handgun skills then switched to Boyette’s squad right before lunch working some rifle drills. After lunch we did two more blocks, one with each instructor again.

Block 1 – Pistol

During the first block, we worked with McClure on some basic pistol skills. We were given a very basic primer on proper grip and draw. Being that this was a class for forum members of all skill levels, the instruction was very basic at this point. McClure went over grip, stance, and we touched on proper draw. McClure taught a modified 4 point draw, which is what I am used to so this part was a breeze for me.

McClure also covered reloads during this block. His technique involves bringing the pistol back to high compressed ready, and reloading the pistol blind from this position. I struggled with this throughout the day, as I practice the workspace reload, and I kept reverting to the workspace reload from muscle memory. McClure explained that he preferred his method because it keeps the pistol on the target throughout the reload process, and once loaded it can be punched out from high compressed ready, just like the draw stroke that he teaches.

Block 2 – Carbine

In the second block, we moved over to the next bay for some instruction from John Boyette on running a carbine. John covered stance, grip, different ways to kneel, etc. We ran some more drills on the line, and John did a great job of assessing those who were doing well, and giving attention to those who needed some extra help. After running Johns drills to work on standing and kneeling, John covered prone shooting, and we moved back to the far corner of the bay, and began to ring some steel that I would guess was around 125 yards away from the prone position. Using Johns technique, we were able to establish our rhythm and get good hits on the steel just about as fast as we could pull the trigger. I spoke with John about this drill, and he explained that it was intended to show students that rounds can be placed onto a man sized target quickly and accurately when the proper focus is given on sight picture, trigger pull, and technique.

We were shown a “C-clamp” technique for steadying the rifle while prone, which helped to keep the muzzle from rising during the fast shots. Being that I have a competition background, I’m used to shooting for the A zone on targets, so I struggled with shooting fast enough to move my shots out of the A zone into what John called combat effective hits. He emphasized that the target we were shooting at was the size of a mans chest, and that a hit is a hit there, especially when we are sending 20 rounds into the target. This made perfect sense to me once it was explained that way.

The group then split into groups of five, and took turns shooting the target one by one in suppressive fire. We were still using the C-clamp on the rifle, and getting our hits, but instead of shooting as fast as we could accurately, we were only shooting after the shooter next to us. So the first person shot one round, then the next, then the next, and so on, until everyone had put an entire 30 round magazine down range. This was fun, and it was amazing to see how much lead 5 shooters could rain down on the target in just a matter of seconds. Instead of just hitting the steel plate on this drill, I really focused on getting my rounds right in the center.

Block 3 – Pistol

In block 3 we started with a large piece of steel placed about 25 yards away, and shooters were to dump rounds into the steel quickly, and accurately. This was not a challenging drill, but many shooters let the distance get the best of them. Being that the steel plate was quite large, the shots were comparable to shooting at the “down zero” section of an IDPA target at 7-10 yards. McClure instructed shooters to hit the plate as fast as possible as long as they were getting their hits, but to slow down and re-set if they began to miss more than a couple of shots in a row. Using the GL-405PRA rear sight I have received from Ameriglo days before I was able to get a good sight picture, and rattle the rounds onto the steel quickly and accurately. The idea behind this drill was to help shooters learn to shoot fast, while giving them the immediate feedback that steel targets give on whether or not they are getting their hits. I would like to see this drill performed with a shot timer, and a set number of rounds (15 per mag or something) to put students on the same playing field. This would allow the instructor give students a number to shoot for as a goal of the drill.

We then moved into a “figure 8” drill that seemed to be a favorite of the class. This drill forced shooters to engage unknown, and multiple targets on moments notice, while steering clear of no-shoot targets as well. Shooters had to focus on walking through a set of cones without hitting them (requiring focus on the cones, not the targets) and at random a number or letter would be called out, and the student was to draw, and engage the target or targets, while moving off of the X, and being aware of their surroundings. This drill was valuable to shooters in that it required us to think on our feet, and was a good representation of the stress that could be put on us in a defensive situation.

Figure 8 Drill:

Lastly we did another rhythm drill, shooting quickly into a small box drawn on a target. Given the size of the box, I would say this drill was comparable to the steel plate drill run at the beginning of this block, yet shooters did not have trouble keeping rounds in the smaller, closer box, whereas many let the distance get the best of them during the first drill. By riding the reset on the pistol, and using a proper grip, shooters were able to dump 30+ rounds into a small box in just a few seconds. I struggled with the magazine change again but I was able to complete the drill keeping rounds inside the box, riding the reset, shooting as fast as I could go.

Block 4 – Carbine

In block 4 we had fun. We received a brief primer on weapons transitions, then it was on to run and gun for a couple hours. We started running a short course of fire consisting of fairly close range IPSC targets. The goal was A-zones obviously, as well as speed. As a competition shooter, this was very familiar to me. We then moved on to some 2 man drills, running 15 yards to concealment, and engaging targets with dummy rounds randomly placed in rifle and pistol magazines. The goal was to properly transition to your other weapon, or clear the malfunction in the weapon in your hands while covering your buddy. This was a lot of fun, and it was interesting to see the communication between the different groups of people while under stress. I would have liked to see some more instruction on the steps for clearing different malfunctions, but due to time constraints, this was moved out of the curriculum. Lastly in block 4 we ran a couple 4 man drills, moving into the bay, engaging multiple targets while moving as a group and communicating together.

2 man drill (Photo courtesy of Dorton Photo)

Overall thoughts on the class:

Being that this class was put together to entice a wide range of shooters, from beginners to those with lots of Law Enforcement, and Military experience, I thought Trace Armory Group did a good job putting together a curriculum that at the very least made sure everyone had a good time. I’m neither former or current LE or MIL, but I’ve been shooting competitively for a few years now, so I definitely looked at some of the drills with a different perspective than those with different backgrounds.

If I were to take the class again, I would like to see a couple things:

1. More focus on the 4 step draw. We were given a basic primer on the draw technique, but I’m not sure that all the shooters picked up on it in the time allotted.

2. Proper sling usage. I’d like to see some instruction on using the sling to steady the rifle when shooting, in addition to using it for carrying the rifle. John and I have talked about this since the class, and because this was not a beginner level class he did not go around and make sure that everyone was properly using their slings, it was assumed, based on the level of the class that everyone was at a level where we did not need help setting up our gear.

3. Malfunction drills. Learning the proper steps for clearing common malfunctions is paramount to effectively running a defensive rifle. John had this in the curriculum originally for this class, but because of time restraints, he had to chop it. We did get some practice with the tap-rack-bang while using dummy rounds, but I would like to see more drills on this subject. Specifically on the common malfunctions of the AR pattern rifle, double feed, charging handle impingement, and bolt override.

4. Proper transitions from rifle to pistol. There are different schools of thought on things like safety usage when transitioning, does the weak hand guide the rifle down, or is it dropped, etc. I would have liked to have heard more about that.

Overall this was a pretty good class, geared toward the beginner/intermediate shooter. For those looking to get some basic training on running a pistol and carbine I would recommend getting in on one of these classes.

John Boyette’s philosophy is to give students a basic understanding of several different drills, allowing the student to go home after the class, and have a good amount of things to practice, instead of pushing just a couple drills over and over again all day long.

It is my understanding that this was the last class of this type being offered under the Trace Armory Group name, and in the future these classes will be taught under the DPRC-EDU name, as Trace Armory Group will be moving on to do some force on force training. You can hear more about this transition in Episode 2 of the Triangle Tactical Podcast where I interviewed John Boyette.

More pictures from the class can be found on the Carolina Shooters Club Facebook Page. If you are not already active on the Carolina Shooters Club forums, make sure you head over the Carolina Shooters Club Forum and join up.