Greetings gang. This is my first AR-related AAR so be gentle.

Yesterday (2/1/14) I had the opportunity to take my first rifle course. I considered myself familiar with the AR platform but realize there's always something you can learn. I stumbled upon a posting here from Robert Capps and his Signal-0 training. The price was perfect at $50 for the course.

Course Description
An introductory class suitable for the experienced AR15 rifle owner or the first-time AR15 rifle owner. This class covers the basics of the AR15 rifle from history and development to parts identification and function. Assembly, disassembly, and common causes of malfunctions are covered. Also covered are modifications and alterations to the rifle platform (rails, lights, sights, stocks, etc.).

Rifle zero procedures with iron sights and optics are included as well as a brief lecture on terminal ballistics so the rifle owner can make informed decisions on rifle zero profile and self-defense ammunition.

Live fire exercises include rifle zero, Basic Principles of Marksmanship, tactical and administrative reloading, and various other dynamic drills designed to allow the student to become more familiar with their rifle. A long-range “fun shoot” rounds out the course.

Beginning
I was worried as I headed out of town. I had a little over a 2-hour drive ahead of me and the weather wasn't looking that great. Fortunately it appeared to be heading east and I was driving west. I arrived under very overcast skies and walked into a nice room with the wood stove going. We had a class size of 8 students of various levels of experience.

Basics of the AR-15 Rifle
Bob kicked the class off with a great history lesson of the platform. What made it more cool was that one of the students had a retro AF rifle so we were able to see what they looked like without the forward assist, etc. It was nice to have visual samples instead of just words or pictures. We discussed the breakdown of the rifle and had a friendly competition breaking it down all the way to stripping the bolt, reassembling, and conducting a function check. Next we covered the various optics, stock, and other accessory options.
Status: Accomplished

Rifle Zero Procedures
Once we'd cover the weapons familiarization Bob went into a discussion of terminal ballistics, ammo selection, and zeroing concepts. We discussed the consideration of sight over bore which was demonstrated later during the live fire exercises. Bob had some nice handouts to further reinforce the material we were learning. Following the classroom discussion we headed to the range where we zeroed or confirmed our zero as needed.
Status: Accomplished

Live Fire Exercises
Bob ran us through a variety of drills to get us thinking about the basics. We did a combination of timed and untimed drills to demonstrate how even a little stress can mess with your mind and how most of your problems can be solved if you remember to go back to the basics.

Malfunction Drills


Mag Drills


After doing a variety of close drills we worked on the various marksmanship positions at 50 yards.









Once we were completed with these drills we backed up to 100 yards for some more prone shooting.



After the core training was done we had a little distance competition. We started at 100 and moved to steel targets. Unfortunately I got eliminated at the 200 yard line. A handful made it back to 400 yards. The last man standing had an edge since he'd been through Bob's Precision Rifle course so I guess it was fitting for him to win.

Status: Accomplished

So as you can see we met every goal set out by the course description. We had a good group of guys and Bob's a great instructor. In hindsight I wish I would've signed up for the Advanced course today. I see it would be more fun to continue shooting with the guys I'd already met. Instead I decided to split the class and I'll be doing Advanced in March. Oh well. I'm sure that'll be a great group of guys also.

Closing
I don't see how you could beat this training. Signal-0 is new and the range is still being developed but the course was well worth it. Bob has some cool plans and I think it's only going to get better. If you're anywhere in North Florida from the East Coast to the Panhandle or even South Georgia you owe it to yourself to check out Signal-0.

I will give a bit of an overview of day 2.

On the second day, or Advanced Carbine Course after the safety briefing we went straight to the range at 8 A.M. and went to work.

We covered snap shooting, pivot shooting, moving on cover, shooting from cover and various other dynamic sequences all with reloads under stress worked in.  Bob was very attentive and did a very good job catering to both the novice and more advanced shooters in the class.  To put this into context, I took a friend of mine that had never even taken the BCG in his rifle apart until the beginners class.  At the end of day two he was running the drills we were assigned as well as anyone else.

Over all I feel like Bob is a solid instructor.  I left the class feeling as though I was a more well rounded shooter and more confident in my abilities with an AR.  I would definitely recommend Signal-0 to anyone and I will be back myself.

Thanks again Bob!

Awesome. Really looking forward to it.