SLR15 Rifles AR-15 / M-16 / M-4 ARMORER & INSTRUCTOR COURSE
When: February 10-14, 2014
Where: Abilene, Texas Police Department
We conducted a 5-day (40-hour) AR-15 / M-16 / M-4 Armorer & Instructor Combined Course at the Abilene Police Departments Academy in Abilene TX. This was our third course here, and look forward to more. We have been running the combined Armorer & Instructor course for over 15 years. It is our thinking that anyone who is a firearms instructor, should also be an armorer on any weapon system that they are teaching on, as this way they have an understanding on what is going on under the hood of the weapon. For the first 2-days of the course we are in the classroom going through a complete Armorer Course. We were privileged to use the new training room, which offered plenty of table space, decent lighting, and a large screen that we were able to project animated graphics of the weapons system, powerpoint detailed pics of gun parts, and especially when looking at finer detail things like machining, stress cracks & wear. Days 3-5 are spent on the gun range. The range facilities are excellent, as their multiple ranges provided us distances out to 375yds, with paper and steel target systems.
The student base was Law Enforcement and Military. Rifles represented in this course were many, to include SLR15, Windham Weaponry, Colt, Bushmaster, DPMS, Daniel Defense, Primary Weapons Systems, Smith & Wesson, POF, and a few custom builds.
Day-1 Armorer Course: On day 1 we start with going through the course manual that all students are given. Students were supplied with their own set of basic tools that are necessary to do 95% of the work on their rifles (short of restocking and rebarreling, of which wrenches and sometimes fixtures are necessary), Slip2000 "EWL" Extreme Weapons Lubricant and #725 Cleaner Degreaser, etc. A short session of nomenclature was covered, at which time covered every feature and exterior piece of the rifle to include all the hidden design features that most people are not aware of, and everyone prepped the rifles for disassembly work. Everyone was taught the procedure series of checks that we recommend.
Next we covered the proper way to field strip a rifle from the user level, and how not to cause damage or premature wear on the rifle. Once field stripped, proper maintenance was shown of where and what to clean, how to clean it, and why some areas need specific cleaning. During the maintenance with lots of myths dispelled (to include what firing pins designed for, and what they are not to be used for). Once user level maintenance was covered, we moved into armorer level for maintenance, inspections, and repairs. We went through the complete bolt disassembly, upgrades for reliability, stress on parts, life expectancy of parts, breakage, etc. Several rifles had metal injection molded extractors "MIM", of which we showed several hands on examples of these failing. This class had a several Bushmasters that needed better staking, which allowed us to introduce the MOACKS staking tools. The MOACKS staking tools that we supply were put to good use, and on a side note we have added the MOACKS tools to our armorer tool kits.
Everyone was introduced to three different types of gas rings, and we had all three of them present in guns at class, of which everyone learned of their proper installation order. The rest of the day was spent on understanding timing, and going through the entire lower receiver assembly, specialty tools and fixtures. All the rifles present had collapsible stocks, several didn't have their spanner & castle nuts staked and were built dry. We spent time on going through the cycles of fire, and the timing cycles of this weapons system, and what effects that timing cycle. Everyone disassembled their lower receivers, looked at sere engagements, springs, and how things worked.
There were one rifle that was equipped with suppressor mount. Barrels represented were a mix of 16", 14.5”, and 11.5”, which allowed everyone to get a hands on look at timing and pressure issues. Nobody in this class had a mid-length gas system, so we supplied several variations of different them, which allowed us to go through the different personalities of different gas system concepts, and how each of these systems run or don't run, and what the advantages or disadvantages are. Everyone was shown hands on explanations of how each of these relate to timing/dwell-timing and diagnosis of issues.
Day-2: We started with a review of everything we covered in day-1, this included going back through explanations and demonstrations of timing, timing issues, dwell time, and how this pertains to how the weapons system runs smoothly, and when it isn't running then what it might be and how to fix it. A compete detail strip of lower receiver was gone through again, at which time we cover in great detail machining issues of what is good and what is not so good. We showed the quality differences between the Geisselle and other 2-stage triggers. Lots of troubleshooting issues are covered during this section. Once done with machining, we go through all variations of full-auto and burst rifles. A couple of the rifles present we full-auto, but there were no burst trigger groups. We covered the burst trigger groups in detail, as several of the Military students may be dealing with these at some point. Everyone was shown the personality traits and troubleshooting for the full and burst systems. Once the lower receiver assemblies were completely put back together and things were working correctly, everyone was shown how to gauge the collapsible stocks, then properly stake the spanner & castle nuts, then all made sure theirs were put together correctly and staked. We covered full-auto, burst, and illegal street conversions.
The afternoon of this day we go through the entire upper receiver assembly. There was one piston gun present, so we covered the personality and features of this type of system, to include stress and troubleshooting. This particular piston rifle had an estimated 19K through it, which it showed lots of carrier tip, erosion, and stress, but was still functional. This piston gun had lots of carbon build up, which allowed everyone to see that the piston guns do need to be cleaned and maintained as well. Everyone is allowed to rebarrel a rifle with they wish. When gauging, we found several barrels in class were not mounted correctly, which results in premature wear and stress, of which everyone was able to correct them. On all of the barrels pulled, none of them had been put together to the Milspec from the manufacturer. Every barrel that was pulled, was remounted to Milspec, torqued, and properly indexed. The end of the day is finished up with everyone inspecting and gauging things like headspace, firing pins, chambers, 4 gas seals, etc.
Here is an overview of what was covered on the first 2-days in the Armorer Course:
History of the Weapon
Cycles of Function
General Disassembly & Assembly
Identification of Common Problems and Parts
Nomenclature
Identification of Group Components
Semi, Burst, and Full Auto Parts and Conversions
Complete Armoring Disassembly / Assembly
Barrel Replacement
Cleaning and Maintenance
Sight and Distance Considerations
Ballistic Issues
Barrel: Twist, Length, and Profiles
Gas System
Parts Interchangeability, including Brands
Headspace
Firing Pin Protrusion
Trigger Jobs
Chamber Inspection and Issues
Troubleshooting, diagnosis & repair
Gauging, Inspections, Stress & Interval Issues
Accessories and Customizing
Tool Options and Selection
Iron Sights
Optics
SOP/MOD Accessories and Addition
Day-3 we started on the 50yd range. We went through the group and discussed cold & hot range concepts, when these are used, and everyone agreed to run a hot range for the class. We went through a series of range rules, and commands, so everyone knows what they are and what is expected o f them. We then went through a session on response to medical trauma issues, showed the trauma kit that we have on the range and how to use each piece of it, and came up with a protocol of how to deal with any medical issues that may occur on a gun range. I believe that anyone who is on a range doing any type of shooting should have medical gear present to deal with any type of injury, know how to use the gear, and should have a procedure in place of what happens if there is a medical situation. This also led us into going through the need for having proper safety gear like good eyewear, hearing protection, proper clothing, body armor, hydration issues, and gear/firearm issues.
We then discussed and showed examples of fundamentals of marksmanship, things like sights, sight picture, sight alignment, trigger finger placement, trigger press and follow through, dominant eye, one eye vs two eye shooting, cheek weld, breathing, etc. We then went through our protocol of loading, changing magazines, tac loads, etc. When loading magazines into a firearm, it is our protocol that once you insert the magazine firmly into the firearm, that you follow through with a tug/pull downward on the magazine to make sure it is firmly seated, this is something that was instilled in me several decades ago at HK school (I am a Phil Singleton Disciple).
We checked the zero on each rifle. We provided multiple types of zeroing targets, and discussed zeroing distances and external ballistics. Everyone opted for the 50yd, which most of everyone had been using already. Everyone shot a relay of zeroing, and we showed how the read the zeroing targets, and how the targets will help on how to adjust your sights and optics. We let everyone go through several relays of checking and adjusting zeros, until they were reasonably close.
The rest of the morning of day-3 was spent on going through standing positions. We ran everyone through a series of standing position drills, which showed strengths & weaknesses, what is natural vs unnatural, what recoil actually does during the cycling phase and how the body works with recoil. These standing positions drills are always a real eye opener, and I have been referred to as a heretic for these, as my theory is that you learn by doing, so we do as there is nothing like going hands on. We also spent time on showing people how to work with problem shooters, and fine tune in their standing foundation and why for best weapon control and recoil management. We had students perform a series of hammer fire, and controlled fire drills, of which drove a point home that everyone seemed to like controlled fire better. Lastly we used these standing foundation drills to show which foundations principles allow control of full-auto, and what doesn’t, and dispelled the myth that full-auto climbs and sprays, by the time we were done everyone was running wide open full-auto and keeping groups tight with no climbing or spraying.
Next we went into several different types of slings, which included single point, 2-point traditional, tactical 2-point variations, and 3-point (my personal favorite). We showed the differences of use and advantages of mounting them in different ways and at different anchor points on the weapon, and how this will affect their usage. Once everyone was squared away with sling usage, we moved into transitions, and ran our transition drills, which allowed everyone to see how important that a good transition drill is to add to training on base fundamentals.
We started the afternoon with learning to work in a 360 degree world, and tactical reloads. It is our theory that if you have extra ammunition present then you should do a reload when you have a lull in the action, before leaving cover, and before approaching a downed bad guy. The rest of the day was spent on going through what we call foundational shooting positions. We present over 20 different shooting positions. These positions are used for stability, use of terrain, cover, concealment, and to provide the shooter an advantage. These positions are based prone, sitting, kneeling, squatting, etc. We show how to get into these positions, how to teach these positions and getting into them, how to demonstrate a show what these positions are used for, and instructor & range issues. We ran through several relays of all these shooting positions, and carried into them the follow up of working in a 360 degree world, as if you fought your way into shooting position on the ground, then you should fight your way back up. We went through malfunctions on the rifle, how to deal with them, showing why we don’t like the S.P.O.R.T.S. method, we showed traditional methods, and then showed our preferred methods and why. We also showed armorer level malfunction issues that instructors may have to deal with. The end of day-3 was spent with a review and debrief.
Day-4 started with a review of range rules, commands, medical gear & procedures of dealing with trauma issues, etc. We then allowed everyone to check zeros. Once zeros were tuned in at 25yds, we then confirmed them at 50yds, and introduced our 50yd target to make things easier for the shooter. Once 50yds was confirmed, we went back through all the shooting positions that we did on day-1. We reviewed each position, and had everyone shoot from them. We then went through variations of using these positions, showing how to adapt these to cover & concealment, terrain, gear issues, and body issues of shape/size/abilities. Once comfortable with the positions, we move back to the 150yd range and let people use as many of these positions on steel targets, which gave them confidence of what works. We then move back to 375yds and everyone was again using multiple positions to get consistent hits on steel. Steel targets help give shooters confidence when they see and hear the impact.
The afternoon started with a review of everything we had gone through up to this point. We went back through the standing foundations, and allowed everyone to go back through our drills of showing how to tune and manage recoil. We spent time going back through full-auto, and how it is controlled, and dispelled myths of recoil management. One of the drills we show is that full-auto can be run one handed, and by the time we were done we had this group of instructors running entire magazines one handed in non-stop full-auto with great control. From there we moved into dealing with multiple bad guys, showing traditional and our own spin on it, which showed differences in performance. We discussed why each technique present has merits. This led is into a discussion on Boyd’s OODA loop, and Hick’s law. This led us into fail to stop drills of the traditional Mozambique drill, and we showed our methods, of which we used a shot timer for both responses to show peoples averages and the differences on these concepts. We reviewed malfunctions, how to deal with them, how to teach them, and armorer issues. We then went through reload techniques of what to do when the rifle runs dry, and how to reload it. This led us into our El Diablo drill that we have been doing for over 2 decades, which is 18yds, 18rds, in 18 seconds, from standing/kneeling/prone. We only had one instructor that that made the time right on the beep. We then showed everyone how to perform this drill, and repeated it with several people making the 10-11 second mark. The end of day-4 was spent with a review and debrief.
Day-5 started with a chance for everyone to check zeros, everyone decided to check zeros, which in some groups we only get a few that decide to the last day. After checking zeros, we shot several qualification courses. The qualification courses are always an eye opener, as many people go into vapor lock when you mention the qualification word. We discussed department policies, qualification standards, and possible legal issues. From here we had everyone teach in front of everyone else in the class, as this way each instructor gets to be critiqued by the others in the class, and this helps to instill confidence in what they are teaching, to include how and why, plus the critique of their fellow instructors is always a learning experience.
From there we covered moving drills, starting with pivots and turns of working in a 360 degree world. We showed how instructors should teach doing this with weapons control, and how these pivots/turns relate to the real world in things like applying them to structures. This led us into several different types of forward movement, showing that the strengths and weaknesses of the traditional Groucho method is, which led us into showing a different method that allows more accurate shooting and allows people to cover more ground quickly. We went through rearward movement, how and why. We went through lateral movement of four types. Lateral types of movement are used when moving around objects, clearing structures, moving around vehicles, and something that we taught to me about 3 decades ago of where you find yourself in the path of the train then get off the tracks (some people have renamed this into a variant of getting off the X). We showed our variations of lateral movement as well. We then spent time on rapid deployment movement where you are moving then shooting, which allowed people to run/sprint with a rifle, then when needed to slow or stop and stabilize to engage their intended target, we also showed how to use this concept and adapt it. Lastly we covered team concepts of working in unison, shooting positions, and movement, and how to teach these and why. The end of day-5 started with the traditional cleaning up the ranges, a review & debrief, and everyone receiving their certificates. On a side note, we had no rifles fail or have issues during this course, I attribute this to that all the weapons had been armored, were fed quality ammunition from good magazines, and all were lubricated with Slip2000 "EWL" Extreme Weapons Lubricant.
Here is a brief overview on what is covered on the range days:
Patrol and Tactical Employment Considerations
Sling usage
Shooting Positions
Sight and Distance Considerations
Position Shooting
Moving and Multiple Targets
Transition Drills
Malfunctions
Reloads
Firearms Safety
Qualification Training Course and Test
Instructional Guidelines
Rapid Deployment
Employment From & Around Vehicles
Team Concepts
Teaching Fundamentals
Working with Problem Shooters
Policy & Procedural Issues
Ballistic Issues
Maintenance
Setting Up Rifle Programs
CY6
Greg Sullivan "Sully"
SLR15 Rifles
TheDefensiveEdge.com
(763) 712-0123