I just had the opportunity to take Tactical Response’s Fighting Rifle class and thought I’d post a review.

If you are an AK purist and/or a Tactical Response/James Yeager hater, you’re gonna love this review. ;)

Most of you know nothing about me so let me preface this by saying this: I’ve been in law enforcement 13 years and unlike most cops, I do A LOT of training on my own.  I’ve trained with Storm Mountain, Blackwater, Tactical Defense Institute, Gabe Suarez and been to a bunch of other law enforcement instructor classes. I think I know a good class from a bad class. This one ranks near the top.

The class was an eclectic group. There were 2 or 3 cops, an army officer/chopper pilot getting ready to be shipped out to the sandbox, a doctor, a social worker (IIRC) and a bunch of IT guys. Some of these guys had been in the Fighting Pistol class this past weekend, but I was not able to attend that class.
Day one started with a fairly short classroom session that covered safety rules, a medical briefing and introductions of everyone in the class. Then it was off to the range. Class started at 9 and I think we were shooting by 1030 or 1045, IIRC. We started with some basic handgun drills/transition drills (DEA dots) and quickly moved into shooting the rifle. We started with some more dot drills and multiple round drills. The drills that James/Aaron ran us through were all designed to logically progress from one drill to the next. Before I knew it, it was lunchtime. On day one we also covered shooting on the move in all different directions. Scanning, reloading and finishing the fight were emphasized all day long.

After we were done for the day, most of the class joined James and Aaron at the Texas Roadhouse for dinner. A good time was had by all (at least it seemed that way to me). I have always found that the best instructors are willing to or encourage “hanging out” with their students. James and Aaron reinforced that belief.
Day two started with where we left off yesterday. A couple of simple drills to get everybody warmed up and then we were off and running. Most of day two was spent doing some form of a team drill. This is the part of the class that I enjoyed the most. I’ve been to several other rifle courses and we did more team stuff in this “basic” class than in any other school I’ve been to. The bounding forward and backward drills were great. I was surprised by how easy it is for shit to go sideways when you have 4 guys trying to coordinate a movement with constant cover fire going down range.

During the class, safety was emphasized time and again. James and Aaron were not bashful about pointing out when someone was unsafe. I got careless once and didn’t control my slung rifle and James was quick to point out my breach of safety, as well he should have. I know some instructors that would let a “minor” safety infraction pass w/out saying anything, but as a student it was good to see that safety was paramount. But they also pointed out that some drills that an outsider may think are unsafe, really AREN’T.

All told, I went through almost 2k rounds of ammo during this class. I was kinda sad to see the class end. The official round count for the class is 1500 rounds, but I ran a couple extra drills which added to my total. (Yeager says I’m trigger happy)

Some of the things I took away from this class (not in order of importance):
- know your gear - I was running an AK for the class so it was a slight change from my usual AR set up and it took me a little bit to get comfortable with it.
- a TR class is a great place to try something that is new.  If it makes it through one of their classes, it's probably good to go.
- FINISH THE FIGHT – I see guys at work stand around with their thumbs up their asses when they have a malfunction, etc. and that is not tolerated (nor should it be) in FR.
- communication is key during team drills – I have been to Blackwater, TDI and some other schools and NO ONE else emphasized the team drills like they are in this class.- MINDSET, MINDSET, MINDSET

I had never been to a TR class before this one. It was money well spent and I encourage every one that is thinking about or does carry a rifle for defense/offense to take this class, for the team drills if nothing else.

All right, now for the gear review the gear junkies want to read about:
My gear:

My rifle was born an Ohio Rapid Fire plain old AK74 type rifle.  I know a lot of guys think the AK was perfect from the beginning and that Mikhail had it right the first time.  Just like people think that John Browning or Gaston Glock’s designs are perfect as they come from the factory.  I readily disagree.  If a product makes one of my weapons a better FIGHTING weapon, I am all about changing things.  With that in mind, I made the following modifications:  I added a VLTOR stock adapter and a Magpul CTR stock.  Why?  I like to run a short stock on my rifles when I’m using body armor, even a little shorter than a Warsaw length stock and an AR type adjustable stock allows me to adjust the LOP based on whether or not I’m wearing armor.  I use a CTR on my work rifle and 3 gun rifle (ARs), so I figured I’d use the same stock for my AK.  I also took off the UGLY wood hand guards and added a UTG forearm.  UTG? You ask?  Why not an Ultimak?  Simple – money.  I do not plan on placing an electronic sight on this rifle, so I did not need something as nice as an Ultimak.  The only thing I wanted to put on this forearm was a flashlight and pistol grip.  The $70 UTG forearm did this and did it to my satisfaction (although I did take a hack saw to it to cut off part of the top rail).  The pistol grip/flashlight combo is a Krebs off set pistol grip mount, a Surefire flashlight mount/6P and a Tangodown Stubby grip.  I have never liked a standard pistol grip because I have always felt the straight up and down angle of the forward grip was uncomfortable.  When I saw the Krebs adapter, it looked interesting and I figured I’d give it a try.  It worked better than I imagined and it’ll be standard kit on all my rifles eventually.  The fact that the flashlight fits in nicely and allows for easy manipulation of the button on the back of the flashlight is an added bonus.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/xpd54/overall-1.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/xpd54/closeup.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/xpd54/grip.jpg
I also ordered an AK Lightning Bolt from Tactical Response Gear and replaced the factory bolt carrier/dust cover.  How did it work?  GREAT.  I only had ONE issue and I still haven’t figured out what the heck was going on.  It was when I went to load the rifle before a drill and the bolt didn’t want to go back all the way.  I left the line and took the dust cover off and somehow fixed the issue.  In my humble opinion, the Lightning Bolt RULES.  It was so much easier to get my rifle back in service after a reload with the Lightning Bolt than with a regular bolt.  The only thing I’ll probably add is a SWIFT type safety at some point.  For those of you that think the Lightning Bolt is a waste of money, I challenge you to actually TRY one before you pass judgement.  I have used/owned AKs w/o the Lightning Bolt and the difference it makes is amazing.   I haven’t put myself on a timer, but I would guess it takes at least a second off my reloads, if not more.  If you use an AK as a FIGHTING RIFLE, I would encourage you to try it.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/xpd54/AKLBemblem.jpg

Ammo was carried in a HSGI Woosatch with Blackhawk, TT and HSGI pouches.  My rifle pouches were Blackhawk double M4 pouches that each held one AK mag.  My double pistol pouch was TT and my BOK pouch was a HSGI EOD pouch.    Probably not much I’d change with my plate carrier set up except to add some padded shoulder pads.  After 2 days, my shoulders were definitely a little sore.  My sling was an EMDOM Universal Rig Strap Sling.  If you aren’t familiar with it, it’s a single point sling that secures to one shoulder strap of a plate carrier, back pack, etc.  It works great and for $15 is tough to beat.   I also used a SOTech BRBCM (Blocs Rifle Butt Catch Module).  It helped keep the rifle from slipping off the shoulder strap and was definitely something I’d recommend to others.

I also tried some new headphones.  I bought a set of the $60 Howard Leight electronic ear muffs.  As far as ear muffs go, they are great for the money.  For me, however, they didn’t work too well in a rifle class.  The way the muffs fit caused the muff and stock of my rifle to pinch my face down at the corner of my jaw to the point that I had a bruise after the first day of the class.  For handgun matches and when I teach, I will use them, but not for serious rifle shooting.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/xpd54/sling.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/xpd54/shoulderpad.jpg

Nice write up.  Glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks!

good review. what kind of handgun were you running?

Thanks for posting. Fighting Rifle is definitely on my list.

My duty gun - Sig P226R w/x200 in a modified 6004.

thought it was a sig from your mags on your plate carrier. i love my P226R, just ordered a 6004 for it. that was the one piece of gear i decided to upgrade as a result of the Tier 1 class i attended last month.

The 226 is not my weapon of choice, but that's what I'm issued (I'm a Glock guy).  I moded my 6004 by doing away with the top strap and trimming the shroud down so it rides higher.

like glocks, love sigs. also picking up a 6004 for my glock 19

Nice AAR.

Very worthwhile class looking forward to taking again.