This past weekend T.J. and Bruce hosted Level II carbine at Tiger Valley just outside of Waco.
My review:



There were 3 students including me which in my opinion is indicative of the mindset of a lot of "armed citizens" in that there are a few million people within an hour or so of Tiger Valley that could use some good training but I digress.

All of the students were Arfcommers, with Dwayne from Nebraska, Jaoslander a local, and me.

We began class promptly at 0800 with a brief but thorough safety class and then went to the north 1 range to confirm zero. After that we did transition drills with TJ induced failures, practiced the basics of close range shooting and moving from one target to another.

Next we went to the 200 yard line and shot head shots on targets and 100 yards and then 200 yards on steel.


We shot moving targets from 200 yards and that was big fun. It climaxed with each shooter getting 25 minutes of shooting at moving targets that were completely random. It was a good simulation of an enemy force moving around behind a hill or running across your field of fire.

We then moved to another range and ran drills from barricades shooting very small steel targets situated in small windows to simulate longer distance. This was a fun and challenging drill.




We broke for lunch and then resumed training after an hour. T.J. and Bruce assisted as needed or when requested. I can't say enough good things about Bruce and his patient and professional style when helping people with tricks of the trade to reduce times or increase accuracy

Bruce imparting wisdom at the tower:


We then ran a drill I have named the "Helo Drill". Here is a video of me running the Helo Drill.



The Helo fuselage is mounted on coils springs so it is an unstable platform. After doing all that running and getting up and down your heart rate is up and the platform is moving making the drill a challenge. it was my favorite drill of the class.

The students shooting from the 200 yard line:


Next we ran some qualification drills on the 140 yard range. These drills included Modified Navy, MARSOC and Magpul qual courses.

JaOslander on a qual course:








Video of Dwayne on a qualification course:


Day two brought more of the same with an emphasis on speed and accuracy. T.J. fed us a lunch of pulled pork, slaw, beans and potato chips.

Working the butts:




Trying to get that 25 second par time. Missed by that much


We went up the tower and engaged targets from 50 to 500 meters.


View of targets and simulated vehicles from the tower.









Here we practiced shooting from odd positions and through loop holes.



During this class I learned a lot. I had previous lessons reinforced and left the class having met some great guys.
I highly recommend taking Tiger Valley's carbine series of classes.





ETA: Embed fail and you can find more info on Tiger Valley at http://www.tigervalley.com/
Jim

Nice AAR Jim.

Very cool!

The tower is a site to behold when you are cruising down 84

Thanks buddy. I wondered if you were still alive

Nice update Jim.  Looks like a good time. I'll get out that way again soon.

Good stuff!

I`ve taken an AK and a shotgun class out at Waco.
And a shit ton of Tuesday evening classes out at Elm Fork.

If you live in this area of Texas and you`re not taking any TV classes, you`re missing out on a lot.

Almost makes me want to shave my head, and move to Texas.

Thanks for the post.........

Had a great time (I was the dude in the blue jeans).  This is the third class I've taken at Tiger Valley.  Great instruction.  Very reasonable prices.  Shoot a ton (about 1200 rounds in 2 days of this carbine course).  Thanks for posting Jim!

Looks like fun!

Why did the "helo drill" require you to clear your rifle before moving to the next stage?

For safety reasons, not breaking the 180 when moving.  Some of these drills were done late on a hot day, when fatigue and stress can cause mental lapses.  We try and keep things as realistic as possible within limits.

 












































 

At that level of drill/training I would think with a instructor behind shooter, safety on, and muzzle control would be the way to go. I would hate to find myself in a stressful situation clearing my weapon for no reason! Maybe put each shooting station 5 yards in front of the last one so the shooter runs forward instead of laterally? Still looked fun. Thanks for sharing.

This is one drill among many.  The reason you clear the weapon is that the shooter is running towards the west property line where a house exists with children playing in the back yard, which you can't see from this camera angle.  Running with a loaded magazine with the bolt back is not much safer since if you bump the weapon the bolt can go home.  Limiting the number of shot per magazine would leave some targets not engaged since the targets are small and at 200 yards.  We base everything we do on safety for the shooters as well as safe range management.

I've been looking for this type of AAR from Tiger Valley...thanks.

It was fun. Hope to see you out there again.

I have a few thoughts on this. A person doesn't  know how many rounds they need in a gun fight. It wasn't a "match". I don't care about 3 live rounds out of 1200. Racking an AR is easy with a BCM gunfighter charging handle.  lastly, it was called for in the drill, everyone did it the same way. It could be seen as clearing a bad round.  

Jim