*Post 1 of 4* - Can't post more than 2000 characters since I'm new to ARFCOM

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of joining Green Ops for their Carbine I class at the 4H range in Culpeper, about 2 hours north of my home. The range facility was well suited to the class and included a covered staging area complete with tables and chairs and two port-a-johns on site. There was a 100yd shooting lane plenty wide enough for the 14 shooters (including one badass young lady!). The weather was screaming hot for April with temperatures north of 90 degrees and high humidity. The instructors were very aware and encouraged hydration and sunscreen throughout the day. The local 4H cooked some hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. It is worth noting that some of every tuition went to support the club and Youth Shooting sports so at the very least we were able to support a good cause.

The class itself started with a lecture just short of an hour covering safety, emergency medical procedures, and some legal considerations when using a firearm in a defensive situation. As much as everyone wants to get on the trigger as soon as possible, these are the lessons that are most important to being responsible armed citizens and good ambassadors for the pro-gun crowd. It wasn't long before we headed down to the range for a 50yd prone zero-check.

I'll stop here to say that this was definitely a Carbine I class and not an "Introduction to the Carbine" class. To really get the most out of the class it would serve you best to have a strong understanding of your weapon system and at least a basic understanding of the fundamentals of shooting. We didn't spend time covering features like the bolt catch, mag release, charging handle, etc. - which I was grateful for. If you just bought an AR or other carbine and have never shot it this particular class may be one step too far for you at this point.

I shot a good group on the zero target well inside of a 50c piece with my 10.5" and Aimpoint ML3. Looking to my sides, most of the students showed up with a weapon ready to run. For those that wanted to make some adjustments there was another shooting sequence to dial them completely in. The instructors split up to help anyone who wanted to make adjustments and get us going quickly.

The first few drills were ran on 3x5 index card boxes superimposed on a custom Green Ops IPSC target (I want some of these!) at 15yds. We ran through some up drills, reloads, and multiple target transitions. We hadn't been shooting 15 minutes when Mike (founder) tweaked my stance and brought some stringing left shots back into the center of the card. I found out some shortcomings of my own gear during these drills which was another of my goals for the course. Primarily, my chest rig secured the magazines so deep that it was impossible to get a good purchase on the magazine during speed reloads. I fumbled off of the mag well more than once under pressure- count it as my second lesson learned for the day.

All three instructors (shout out to Mike, Brett, and Andy!) were very helpful throughout the duration of the course. They weren't down shooters throats trying to force them to do every action exactly how they did it. It was very clear from the start that they were going to present a way to do different things that they knew to work for them. It was up to the shooter to decide if that methodology worked best for them or if one of the other ways (which were discussed) would be a better option. Mike said early on that taking his course wouldn't make you a better shooter by default. He told us that he would expose our weak points and give us the tools necessary to refine our own skill sets even after we leave the class.

One of the things that impressed me the most about the class were the other shooters. I didn't feel like I had to be hyper-vigilant about my surroundings to make sure somebody wasn't flagging me or others with their muzzle. I took more than one peek at the selectors on other rifles and they always pointed safe when the shooter was not actively engaging a target. For that I thank all of my classmates and believe they had as much to do with the success of the class as the excellent instruction.

After lunch we shot some simulated barricade drills. I had trouble getting the "feel" of a barricade with the PVC simulation in front of me, but it served its purpose. I got caught reloading in the middle of the wide open and more than once I led with the wrong leg when transitioning to a kneeling position from behind the barricade. Again, my weaknesses were highlighted and I left knowing exactly what I need to work on my home range. The instructors not only told us what to do, but illustrated why they advocated a certain way.

We played around with some offhand, kneeling, and prone shooting out closer to 100 yards all the while racing the shot timer. Nothing like a beep in your ear to add a little bit of stress to the situation. I'll definitely need to invest in one of these or use one of the free apps Mike told us about. Near the end of the day we shot a NoVA carbine qualification course on a IPSC target. It was a good way to wrap up all the skills we had honed during the day. The last drill of the day was back at approximately 80yds on steel targets downrange. I can't say for sure but I'd say we were shooting 1/2 size silhouettes with 2 shots standing/kneeling/prone. We ran the drill twice, once with no support and the second resting against a vertical telephone pole. This might have been my best performance of the day with 12 hits in 13 shots in just about 15 seconds per run.

Overall I would really encourage anybody that has a good understanding of their carbine in a static environment to head out to Green Ops and take those skills to the next level. I want to thank Mike Green and his instructors Brett and Andy for an awesome, safe day on the range. I left with a good understanding of what I needed to work on and proud of the skills I've already gained shooting on my own.

Lord willing and the creek don't rise- I'll see ya'll on the 20th for a little pistol action!

WOW!  Thank you for the detailed AAR!  Hope to see you again in future classes!