ChrisJericho

So now that I have this new AR-15 "weapons system" I was really thinking about under what context I would likely use it, and therefore how I should train with it.

So, to steal a term from the infamous Nutnfancy, I was thinking about the philosophy of use for my carbine. At this point given my training, if I were to hear something go bump in the night I would grab my glock 19 since that's what I have the most training with and additionally it would be easier to maneuver around the tight hallways I have than if I used my carbine. Also, I am somewhat concerned about the amount of noise created by a rifle round inside of a house and how this could disorient me.

Really, I think what I would use the carbine for is if a major earthquake/tsunami hit my area (we are due for one in the Seattle) and local authorities were temporarily unable to provide security. I would probably get together with my neighbors and put up some crappy roadblocks and try to look tough for a few days. (Of course in all likelihood my first aid kit stocked with quikclot packets and my emergency supplies of food and water would be more useful to the neighborhood than ammunition, but I digress.)

So this is where what type of training I might do comes into the picture. I often hear that you should be able to accurately shoot with your rifle at least 100 yards (preferably 200 or 300). However in my neighborhood due to all the trees, hills, and curvy roads honestly the longest sight distance you have is maybe 50-75 yards. Even if you climbed on top of a house it wouldn't help that much.

So essentially, in order to train with my rifle I can go to two places:

A) a range with tons of rules where I can shoot long distances but not practice anything "tactical" such as reloads, transitioning to pistol, firing from cover etc

or

B) the national forests where I can practice "tactical" stuff but where the shooting distances are typically closer than 40 yards.

I was watching the magpul carbine series and most of the drills appear to have been done at very close ranges within 25 yards or so. Is this useful training?

I definitely am planning on taking some carbine classes and I want to become proficient at both the "marksman" stuff and the "tactical" stuff but I am wondering at this point if my time would be better spent practicing reloads and malfunction clearing than sitting on a bench squeezing a trigger.

So how do you train with your carbine and how do you envision employing it?

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"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows us that faith proves nothing." - Friedrich Nietzsche

KirStang

This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for fighting and this is for fun.


Dry fire. Dry fire lots. Do a lot of reload drills. Then dry fire some more. Practice tap racking--or SPORTS (I prefer tap-rack). Practice stripping off a fucked up round off the corner of your magwell. Practice Double feeds. Practice transitions. Practice slicing the pie. Practice....Being a Mall Ninja.

W/ respect to use--unless you live in a hilly area as seen in Afghanistan, most rifle combat takes place within 100 yards, so keep that in mind.

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Walt

To answer your questions: "Just have fun with it" and "In the nude".

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Calmer than you are...

remy1492

The magpul dvd is a great way to start. Id find a tactical shooting club/3-gun match group by you. They are everywhere. My buds down here are in it and taught me a ton of cool stuff that I would never learn from a DVD or the military.

Like stang said, practise, a LOT. And then do your drills a few times a year to keep fresh.

For the long range, focus on slow shots from the bench, so you know how well your rifle does with that ammo and sights. Once you've settled in and know how good you can do. Then stand, prone, sit etc.... and shoot to see how well you can do.
If SHTF you will have to shoot a small animal for food that may be 100yds away so its a good idea to practice calm and slow fire.

Then use that short range for the magpul style stuff, because more than likely any encounter (after youve tried to avoid it) will be up close and dramatic. Muscle memory and speed will probably save you, as it does for cops, aiming is secondary.

ChrisJericho

Kirstang - I will definitely do dry firing with the rifle. I started doing this with my pistols in order to build wrist/finger strength. Even though I do quite a bit of weight training/p90x, it really doesn't do much for my wrists. And after shooting pistols for a while I can tell my hands start fatiguing. So what I did is I bought a used tlr-2 (as can be seen in the gun porn thread) and put it on my usp-c. I put a snap cap in the usp and start pulling the trigger over and over for about 10 minutes, and the laser helps me see how much I start bouncing around and reminds me to keep a good grip with my support hand and to have a smooth trigger squeeze directly to the rear.

I certainly need to overall just become more familiar with the battery of arms on the rifle, multiple times when I would pull go to squeeze the trigger on the first round I would hear a click because I had forgot to actually chamber the first round, which never happens when I am using my glock. My muscle memory automatically racks the slide when I insert a new mag into the glock.

Also, the basic carbine course I plan on taking in the fall says to come with your rifle zero'ed for 50 yards, so I guess this will be the range we will be working in.

Remy - I have heard some people say in those competitions you do a lot of standing around and not very much shooting, but it would probably be useful once I get a certain level of competency wit the rifle. I also don't have a shotgun

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"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows us that faith proves nothing." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Walt

There is definitely a lot of standing around but this affords a good chance to watch and see how other people "solve the problem" and complete the course of fire. Every now and again you will see a shooter do something in a way that is more practical/efficient than you would go about it. That's one more tool in the toolbox.

These kind of matches are also good in that they put you under varying degrees of stress (trying to beat the clock and not look like a dick when 30 guys are watching you). A little bit of stress or the odd scenarios you find in a match can go a long way in exposing weak spots in your abilities/methods. Everyone knows what they're good at. Discovering your weaknesses gives you something to focus on in your next training session.

And every now and again, your $8 entry fee will buy you the chance to watch someone do something magnificent like shoot themselves in the foot.

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Calmer than you are...