Gravy Sandwich
10-21-2011, 13:02
BluCore Shooting Center in Lakewood (www.blucoreshootingcenter.com (http://www.blucoreshootingcenter.com)) held its first AR Fundamentals course this week. Six students were in attendance, and most of us had 3-5 years of firearms experience. The instructor is one of BluCore’s owners, a recently retired Navy SEAL sniper/instructor. As one might expect, his rifle skills and knowledge are impressive.
The three-hour course began with an hour of classroom discussion followed by two hours of range time. The course format is very similar to the Pistol Fundamentals course offered at BC, and similarities between pistol and rifle shooting are touched upon throughout the course. Each shooter fired approximately 100-120 rounds. The classroom session covered the basics of stance, grip, sight alignment and rifle manipulations. The instructor demonstrated various prone, sitting and kneeling shooting positions that will be learned in future classes, but AR Fundamentals focuses on shooting from the high ready and low ready positions. Open dialogue was encouraged in the classroom, and the instructor did a great job fielding questions and explaining the techniques being learned.
The course description notes that a rifle sling and mag carrier are required for the course, but the rifles were tabled between drills and most of us removed our slings from our rifles. The range is “cold” for this course, so only one or two shooters are on the firing line with loaded rifles at any one time. This enhances safety for all involved. Each student got lots of one-on-one instruction, and we were encouraged to self-critique and help each other out. Overall, it was a low-stress and very cooperative learning experience.
Student rifles included a Colt, a Sig AR (BluCore rental), a DPMS, a Sig 556 and a couple of M&Ps. All were flawless. Most shooters used a red dot scope, with the Eotech being most popular. One student ran iron sights. A variety of mag carriers were used including chest and belt rigs. One student had no mag carrier and used his jeans pockets successfully. The course focused on shooting skills, and we didn’t go too deep into equipment set-up or maintenance. We did cover how to align the sights at varying target distances based on what distance the AR sights are zeroed.
All of the shooting was done at 7 yards with students trying to hit target dots that were approximately 4” to 5” in diameter. Students began shooting a single shot on target from the high ready and low ready positions. The emphasis was on speed, not sniper-level accuracy. We were encouraged to push ourselves to find our personal balance between speed and combat accuracy, so close misses were not frowned upon. Drills progressed to transitioning double taps on two separate targets. The course culminated with a timed run through a modified El Presidente Drill (three targets, two shots on each, a mag change, then two more shots on each target). El Pres was a blast to run, and student times ranged from approximately 15 to 30 seconds.
Overall, I thought AR Fundamentals was the perfect introductory course to the AR platform. I’m an advanced pistol shooter, but my experience is somewhat limited with the rifle. Like many, I’m mostly self-taught by internet forums and YouTube videos. This is fine for learning crude basic skills, but there is a lot of nuance in the skill set that is difficult to learn without direct feedback from a knowledgeable instructor. AR Fundamentals helped me tremendously in setting a solid foundation for my training, and I'm confident it will eliminate bad habits I surely would have picked up trying to learn it all on my own. Overall, BluCore is a valuable resource for the Colorado shooter, and I highly recommend their rifle and pistol courses to shooters of all levels.
The three-hour course began with an hour of classroom discussion followed by two hours of range time. The course format is very similar to the Pistol Fundamentals course offered at BC, and similarities between pistol and rifle shooting are touched upon throughout the course. Each shooter fired approximately 100-120 rounds. The classroom session covered the basics of stance, grip, sight alignment and rifle manipulations. The instructor demonstrated various prone, sitting and kneeling shooting positions that will be learned in future classes, but AR Fundamentals focuses on shooting from the high ready and low ready positions. Open dialogue was encouraged in the classroom, and the instructor did a great job fielding questions and explaining the techniques being learned.
The course description notes that a rifle sling and mag carrier are required for the course, but the rifles were tabled between drills and most of us removed our slings from our rifles. The range is “cold” for this course, so only one or two shooters are on the firing line with loaded rifles at any one time. This enhances safety for all involved. Each student got lots of one-on-one instruction, and we were encouraged to self-critique and help each other out. Overall, it was a low-stress and very cooperative learning experience.
Student rifles included a Colt, a Sig AR (BluCore rental), a DPMS, a Sig 556 and a couple of M&Ps. All were flawless. Most shooters used a red dot scope, with the Eotech being most popular. One student ran iron sights. A variety of mag carriers were used including chest and belt rigs. One student had no mag carrier and used his jeans pockets successfully. The course focused on shooting skills, and we didn’t go too deep into equipment set-up or maintenance. We did cover how to align the sights at varying target distances based on what distance the AR sights are zeroed.
All of the shooting was done at 7 yards with students trying to hit target dots that were approximately 4” to 5” in diameter. Students began shooting a single shot on target from the high ready and low ready positions. The emphasis was on speed, not sniper-level accuracy. We were encouraged to push ourselves to find our personal balance between speed and combat accuracy, so close misses were not frowned upon. Drills progressed to transitioning double taps on two separate targets. The course culminated with a timed run through a modified El Presidente Drill (three targets, two shots on each, a mag change, then two more shots on each target). El Pres was a blast to run, and student times ranged from approximately 15 to 30 seconds.
Overall, I thought AR Fundamentals was the perfect introductory course to the AR platform. I’m an advanced pistol shooter, but my experience is somewhat limited with the rifle. Like many, I’m mostly self-taught by internet forums and YouTube videos. This is fine for learning crude basic skills, but there is a lot of nuance in the skill set that is difficult to learn without direct feedback from a knowledgeable instructor. AR Fundamentals helped me tremendously in setting a solid foundation for my training, and I'm confident it will eliminate bad habits I surely would have picked up trying to learn it all on my own. Overall, BluCore is a valuable resource for the Colorado shooter, and I highly recommend their rifle and pistol courses to shooters of all levels.