Magpul Dynamics Instructors (left to right) Steve Fisher and Chris Costa
THE CLASS
Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life. ~Henry L. Doherty
I find that like many subjects, the more that you think that you know about a subject the more you realize you still have a lot to learn. So for me, its a constant challenge to seek out instruction that furthers my education and understanding of self defense and specifically the use of a a firearm in a self defense role. When I learned that Magpul Dynamics was holding a class in Pueblo, Colorado I was very excited at the chance to attend. Unfortunately, the class filled up before I was able to reserve a spot. However, because of the high demand, Magpul Dynamics added a another class that would run consecutively after the first class. I was able to secure a seat in the second class at the last minute with the assistance of Travis Haley, the President of Magpul Dynamics and Jill Reynolds, their administrative coordinator.
The class was held at the Pueblo West Sportsmans Association (PWSA), a large range facility just northwest of the City of Pueblo. I knew this would be a challenging environment, since the PWSA range is a good example of high altitude desert. Its a fine facility, which in many ways captures the very essence of a dry, hot, dusty battle field. The heat and talcum fine dust, coupled with unpredictable weather can take their toll on personnel as well as their weapons and gear. We would be shooting the entire three days on the PWSA 100yd range.
The Magpul Dynamics website says that the Dynamic Carbine course will cover:
Proper choice and placement of gear
Different optics and accessories
Effective shooting stance
Proper weapon grip
Recoil control
Sight alignment
Sight picture using iron sights and electronic optics
Trigger control
Speed reloads
Tactical reloads
Possible malfunctions of the rifle
Strong and weak hand shooting while both stationary and on the move
Different shooting positions
Choosing the proper position for the task
This is an understatement, heck, possibly one of the biggest of the decade. You'll learn all of that and a heck of a lot more (to say the least) in the three days that you'll be on the range.
DAY: 1
We all arrived at PWSA range right before 8am on Tuesday, September 7 and drove up to the 100yd range with the class host, Jeff Carpenter. The Weather was actually pretty decent, temps were in the low eighties with a clear sky. Once everyone was situated, we were introduced to our instructors, Chris Costa and Steve Fisher and they gave us a bit of their backgrounds and briefly covered what they hoped to teach us over the next three days. After that, they went into safety and range rules and what they expected from us.
A couple of small things that we didn't cover in that initial briefing kind of surprised me. First, was we didn't do a group introduction. Now I'm not saying that we should have a big group hug, but I personally feel more comfortable when I know at least the name and maybe a bit of background on the guy shooting next to me. I think that this small ritual helps build trust among shooters. Second, we didn't have an emergency planning session (who does what in the event of an injury or accident). Not every company does this, but I've always felt this was something that helps instill confidence in a group of people that will be shooting together over a period of time.
After the initial meeting, we went downrange and set up targets. Once we'd finished that, we kitted up and came back up to the firing line. Steve and Chris started us out with demonstrations of grip, stance and recoil management. They were very consistent in their verbiage and their live fire demonstrations showed both the application of and effectiveness of the techniques. I'm not going to go into minute detail of what they said or expected, there are simply some things that are best learned directly from the knowledge source.
Magpul Dynamics Instructor Steve Fisher demonstrating stance and grip with a live fire drill
After learning how they wanted us to handle and 'drive' the weapon, we moved into the "Balance of Speed and Accuracy" (BSA) Drill. What this drill does is give you an (increasing) round count at a given distance with a given level of accuracy. Example, you might be required initially to shoot two rounds accurately in two second at five yards. Then three rounds in the same distance/time constraints, then four and so forth. Then You would perform the drill at ten yards, then twenty five and further and further out. What Magpul Dynamics wants to do is to push you past your comfort zone to a point of failure. This causes you to concentrate and improve on your foundation skills. These are things like your stance, your grip, your trigger control. When you're at eighty five yards and you have to put three rounds in a eight inch circle in under four seconds while moving from standing to kneeling (or prone), your fundamentals have to be honed to a very, very sharp point.
Your author shooting the BSA at fifty yards from the dynamic kneeling position (photo credit: Steve Fisher)
After spending the morning working on the various facets of what we'd learned, we broke for lunch and then after lunch came back and began to work on keeping the carbine up in running in a fight. Just like any living, breathing creature, a weapon needs to be fed (ammo) to keep running. So Steve and Chris took us through drills covering tactical reloads and then later emergency reloads. A couple of things happened during this particular part of the day. First I found out a loose strap from my suspenders was severely hindering my speed (emergency) reloads. Although I planned out my load bearing equipment very carefully to maximize my learning experience, all it took was one small detail to bring everything to a griding halt. I want to spend the time in class learning to fight, not fighting my gear.
Anyhow, this one loose strap was in the way when I reached down to grab a fresh magazine and it was in the way when I went to stow a partial magazine. Needless to say, it was quickly duct taped out of the way. The second thing that really began to shine was my tactical reloads. I'm a big believer in topping off a weapon when you have a chance but my manipulations have always been rough. Using the Magpul Dynamics method I was able to really smooth out that particular manipulation to a high polish.
Your author caught in the moment, diagnosing an empty weapon (photo credit: Steve Fisher)
About this time we had our first weapon failure, a Stag left handed rifle went down with a trigger that began to double on trigger reset. After looking the weapon over it came to light that the rifle had a fire control group that had a 'trigger job' preformed. Once I got the actual trigger out, it was readily apparent what had happened. In the end, I quickly installed a spare (unmolested) two stage trigger that the shooter had and the weapon was back up and running(footnote 1). By the end of the first day we'd covered a lot of ground, including stance, grip, workspace (how/where to consistently address and manipulate the weapon), the BSA drill, tactical reloads, emergency reloads, and positions (dynamic kneeling and prone).
DAY: 2
We started off day two by repeating the safety brief and then began a short competition called the 'dollar shoot'. A hard shooting Lakewood, Colorado cop took that one with ease (BOTH DAYS!!! &@^#$). I had the distinct pleasure of shooting next to this gent for all three days. If something goes down on the west side of Denver, I hope this cop gets the callout. He exemplified a warrior that "gets it". Hell, I'm not even sore over losing my money to him.. Much.. Twice.. Weather was much less predictable this time. Clouds rolled in and the sky started spitting but it never really turned bad, mostly just humid and cloudy.
Said officer shooting on the move
After the dollar shoot, we shot the BSA Drill back to eighty five yards and then regrouped on the ten yard line to learn about malfunctions and how to clear them. One of the best things I took away from this particular block of instruction was using the weapons trigger to diagnose what the issue with the weapon was. In a moment of 'duh' on my part it became clear that if you know your weapon well enough you can use a 'click' (failure to fire) or a 'mush/dead trigger' to immediately determine which diagnosis routine to start. Again, I strongly encourage you to seek out Magpul Dynamics to learn these effective mental tools. They might just save your life.
Chris explaining how a brass can get wedged into the bolt carrier group
Even great gear can fail IF YOU DON'T READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!
We also spent some time this morning working on advanced positions such as 'urban prone' and 'supine' to make sure that people understood how to keep the weapon up and running in the even of falling, or when needing to make the most out of unusual cover (vehicles, etc) or micro terrain. Chris and Steve used extensive movement drills to get us from various prone, to kneeling to standing, all with differing round counts to keep us thinking while we moved.
Steve Fisher getting into urban prone
At this point it came to light that two Air Force Security Forces ERT (SWAT) Airmen were having significant problems with frangible ammo that was double feeding in their issue M4s. A switch to PMAGs from USGI mags helped some, but a quick tear down at lunch resulted my replacing both their extractors and extractor spring assemblies (all from Bravo Company) and a lube job for both rifles. After that they reportedly ran fine. Never assume that just because guys are cops, or Air Force, that they're not shooters. It was a tremendous honor to shoot with these Airmen. They were both hard shooters and kept their minds in the fight even when things weren't going go their way. One of the points that Chris made several times is that it isn't how you act when your weapon is running, its how you act when your weapon isn't running that matters.
Your author with the US Air Force - Security Forces - ERT members
At this point we took a well deserved lunch and afterwards came back to an afternoon that was basically a condensed version of Magpul Dynamics Pistol. Much like the rifle, Chris and Steve covered stance, grip, recoil management, reloading and other manipulation issues. Having this solid base of instruction made integrating the pistol as a secondary weapon to your rifle a snap. We also had another 'custom trigger' fail, this one going full auto during the transition drills *groan*.
Steve Fisher demonstrating pistol recoil management
Steve Fisher demonstrating with a class member
We closed out the day shooting a competition that uses an extensively modified 'El Presidenté' that made use of rifle, and then transitioning to pistol. I shot reasonably well, but I TOTALLY flubbed my round count. Again, even when you're tired and sore, your mind has to be in the gunfighting game. A subtle lesson indeed.
One of the Air Force ERT Airmen shooting the competition
