Joe Leland
Member
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2006
- Messages
- 35
I attended Trigger Time Valley’s Shotgun/AK47 (2) open enrollment class on October 21, 2007. The class was taught by Tom Bullins, president of Trigger time Valley. This was an 8 hour class. The weather was sunny and the temperature was 78 degrees. The class started at 9AM.
The Shotgun/AK47 (2) class moves at a much faster pace than the first level Shotgun/AK47 class. All of the drills are conducted in succession since the student has familiarity with them from previous training. The morning portion of the training was with the AK47 in 7.62X39 caliber. Wolf 123gr.fmj was used.
The morning session started with a range safety briefing as well as medical evac routes.
The drills conducted were in the following order:
-Dry fire ready/up drills
-7 yard 2inch dot drills in 1,2,and 3 shot strings
- The same with a system check at the end of the strings
- Mag change drills
- instruction of the proper shooting stance w/power,support when firing multiple rounds. Mag changes are incorporated within the drills as necessary.
-Ready up drills with movement: left turn, right turn, 180degree turn, this drill emphasizes the planting of the pivot foot and stepping to the outside.
During the drills, Tom emphasized the importance of the go-to-magazine, used in your first mag change. The position I found quickly accessible was from the waistline. A chest harness is much slower, at least for me.
The sling position also is important in the mag change process. The type of sling dictates everything concerning mag changes and transition.
Tom places a lot of emphasis on the AK mag change. The AK magazine is banana shaped and requires a rocking motion that is foreign to shooters of AR-15 rifles. It takes practice to quickly change mags in an Ak47. Tom drilled us repeatedly, critiquing our performance and fine tuning every step.
Tom explained that any malfunction in the AK47 system is explained to the user by the trigger.
-if the trigger clicks with no bang it usually means: FTF, double feed, FTE, or the mag is empty(dry)
-if there is no click in the trigger it usually means: the bolt is out of battery
-if the trigger is stiff: the AK is on safe
The procedure we were taught to clear a magazine malfunction was: dump the magazine, rack the bolt 3 times, charge with a new magazine, rack the bolt.
By the first break for the afternoon session, I had fired 240 rounds through the AK47. The 7.62 Wolf ammo gave no malfunctions.
In the afternoon session we switched to the shotgun. I cross-trained, using both the 12 ga. 11/87 and 870 Remington.
The shotgun training consisted of a series of 1, 2, and 3 shell drills at 7 yards shooting steel plates with #4 hi power shells. Topping off the shotgun magazine was done between every drill. Tom constantly had the shooter keeping his shotgun gassed up for every drill. If you train with a shotgun, it is important to keep your shells around your waistline, similar to the go-to magazine, and constantly practice topping off the shotgun’s mag tube. We also fired 3 shell strings on 3 steel targets and transitioned to the sidearm for 2 shots on steel. This was challenging. The transition was with no sling.
We switched to 50 and 100 yard distances firing 3 shell strings with 12ga. slugs at man-sized targets. Tom said wanted all slugs to touch in 2” groups or less in the center of our target. I managed to hold a 3” group at 50 yards. My best group at 100 yards was about 3 ½” but was about an inch lower than my point of aim.
By the end of the day, (around 5:30PM) I had fired exactly 130 shells of assorted buckshot and slugs.
Things I learned from this class:
The level two Shotgun/AK47 was conducted at a more rapid pace. I could really reflect upon the training I had received in the level one class.
The AK47 is a reliable carbine. In two classes with Trigger Time I have had no malfunctions out of the 7.62X39 AK47.
I tested the Lula Loader for the AK47 during this class. I recommend getting one. It saves time and really saves your thumbs.
I tested the AK47 Bulgarian waffle mags during this class. They work great. The Bulgarian mags with the inscribed 7.62X39 rounds on the sides work well also.
For some of the mag changes I was using a steel dual mag clamp from CDNN. If offset slightly, these mag clamps work well. They are probably the quickest mag change you can perform. It adds a lot of weight to the carbine when used.
I used the East German raindrop camo 4 mag pouch instead of the Chi-Com chest pouch in this class. The East German pouch worked well and was much faster. I did find loading it with 4 magazines awfully heavy on the belt. A pouch holding one mag on the belt along with a chest harness is probably better for me.
The Remington 11/87 Police 12 ga. shoots full power buckshot and slugs very well with little recoil. It patterns well and is accurate with slugs, out to 100 yards. Speer tactical and Winchester OO Buck low recoil shells did not cycle in the 11/87 P. The Remington 870 12 ga. digested everything . It shot its tightest patterns with the Speer tactical and Winchester low recoil OO Buck shells. These are the best loads I have ever shot for balance of accuracy and recoil.
I highly recommend Trigger time Valley for training. I had a great time and will train there again in the near future.
www.trigger-time.com
The Shotgun/AK47 (2) class moves at a much faster pace than the first level Shotgun/AK47 class. All of the drills are conducted in succession since the student has familiarity with them from previous training. The morning portion of the training was with the AK47 in 7.62X39 caliber. Wolf 123gr.fmj was used.
The morning session started with a range safety briefing as well as medical evac routes.
The drills conducted were in the following order:
-Dry fire ready/up drills
-7 yard 2inch dot drills in 1,2,and 3 shot strings
- The same with a system check at the end of the strings
- Mag change drills
- instruction of the proper shooting stance w/power,support when firing multiple rounds. Mag changes are incorporated within the drills as necessary.
-Ready up drills with movement: left turn, right turn, 180degree turn, this drill emphasizes the planting of the pivot foot and stepping to the outside.
During the drills, Tom emphasized the importance of the go-to-magazine, used in your first mag change. The position I found quickly accessible was from the waistline. A chest harness is much slower, at least for me.
The sling position also is important in the mag change process. The type of sling dictates everything concerning mag changes and transition.
Tom places a lot of emphasis on the AK mag change. The AK magazine is banana shaped and requires a rocking motion that is foreign to shooters of AR-15 rifles. It takes practice to quickly change mags in an Ak47. Tom drilled us repeatedly, critiquing our performance and fine tuning every step.
Tom explained that any malfunction in the AK47 system is explained to the user by the trigger.
-if the trigger clicks with no bang it usually means: FTF, double feed, FTE, or the mag is empty(dry)
-if there is no click in the trigger it usually means: the bolt is out of battery
-if the trigger is stiff: the AK is on safe
The procedure we were taught to clear a magazine malfunction was: dump the magazine, rack the bolt 3 times, charge with a new magazine, rack the bolt.
By the first break for the afternoon session, I had fired 240 rounds through the AK47. The 7.62 Wolf ammo gave no malfunctions.
In the afternoon session we switched to the shotgun. I cross-trained, using both the 12 ga. 11/87 and 870 Remington.
The shotgun training consisted of a series of 1, 2, and 3 shell drills at 7 yards shooting steel plates with #4 hi power shells. Topping off the shotgun magazine was done between every drill. Tom constantly had the shooter keeping his shotgun gassed up for every drill. If you train with a shotgun, it is important to keep your shells around your waistline, similar to the go-to magazine, and constantly practice topping off the shotgun’s mag tube. We also fired 3 shell strings on 3 steel targets and transitioned to the sidearm for 2 shots on steel. This was challenging. The transition was with no sling.
We switched to 50 and 100 yard distances firing 3 shell strings with 12ga. slugs at man-sized targets. Tom said wanted all slugs to touch in 2” groups or less in the center of our target. I managed to hold a 3” group at 50 yards. My best group at 100 yards was about 3 ½” but was about an inch lower than my point of aim.
By the end of the day, (around 5:30PM) I had fired exactly 130 shells of assorted buckshot and slugs.
Things I learned from this class:
The level two Shotgun/AK47 was conducted at a more rapid pace. I could really reflect upon the training I had received in the level one class.
The AK47 is a reliable carbine. In two classes with Trigger Time I have had no malfunctions out of the 7.62X39 AK47.
I tested the Lula Loader for the AK47 during this class. I recommend getting one. It saves time and really saves your thumbs.
I tested the AK47 Bulgarian waffle mags during this class. They work great. The Bulgarian mags with the inscribed 7.62X39 rounds on the sides work well also.
For some of the mag changes I was using a steel dual mag clamp from CDNN. If offset slightly, these mag clamps work well. They are probably the quickest mag change you can perform. It adds a lot of weight to the carbine when used.
I used the East German raindrop camo 4 mag pouch instead of the Chi-Com chest pouch in this class. The East German pouch worked well and was much faster. I did find loading it with 4 magazines awfully heavy on the belt. A pouch holding one mag on the belt along with a chest harness is probably better for me.
The Remington 11/87 Police 12 ga. shoots full power buckshot and slugs very well with little recoil. It patterns well and is accurate with slugs, out to 100 yards. Speer tactical and Winchester OO Buck low recoil shells did not cycle in the 11/87 P. The Remington 870 12 ga. digested everything . It shot its tightest patterns with the Speer tactical and Winchester low recoil OO Buck shells. These are the best loads I have ever shot for balance of accuracy and recoil.
I highly recommend Trigger time Valley for training. I had a great time and will train there again in the near future.
www.trigger-time.com