Primary carbine: Colt 602 lower, BM 14.5” 1/7 with “FN contractor” upper, RAS II, Knight’s vertical grip, Surefire 962 light with YHM offset, Eotech 552 mounted over the bbl, CQB 3-point sling.  Gemtech M4-96D used for the shoot house.

Secondary carbine: Colt M4/16” with M4 double shield fore-end, Aimpoint M2 on a ARMS 22M68/cantilever, CQB 3-point sling.

16 USGI 30-rd magazines, 10 with Magpul ranger plates., 2 Brit 30-rd steel magazines.

Pistol: Colt Commander .45acp, Meggar 8-rd mags.

Ammunition: 1550 rounds of .223 55 gr FMJ reloads (WC 846 in LC cases), 150 rds .45acp 230 gr FMJ.

Blackhawk STRIKE Commando chest rig, with 4-45 magazine pouches and 4 double 30-rd. pouches (I usually carried 6-8 magazines).

Safariland 6004 thigh rig for pistol.

Camelbak 2-liter with drinking tube insulated cover.

Alta Superflex knee and elbow pads.

Long-sleeved BDU’s, moisture-wicking t-shirt, and Southwest Motorsports Hi-Impact gloves.



The Course:

Rangemaster Pat Rogers (needs no introduction), coaches Bill Dreeland (ICE) and Willie Sampson (retired AZ sheriff’s deputy).  They all related experiences that emphasized why we were to do things their way.  Publishing of Pat’s stories and examples alone would be a gunnies best-seller.

We covered among other things: safety, sling mount and dismount, low ready and assess, sitting, kneeling, and prone, pairs and hammers, safety, ballistics, POI vs POA, pivots and turns, asymmetric prone (supine, urban and SBU), off-hand snaps, safety, transition to pistol, barricades, failure drills (two to body and one to head), non-standard response drills (6-10 to body), safety, and eyes off manipulation of the carbine.  

Malfunction clearance was stressed.  Type 4 malfunctions in particular (2 rounds trying to chamber the same time) caused problems for some folks because we did it at least 15 times.  Practice does make perfect.  This drill did introduce crud into the receiver of my carbine though as the result of seating magazines that you previously had thrown on the ground.  Did have some Type one malfunctions as a result that were easily cleared.

Off the square range were drills to test your comprehension of what you were taught.  The Scrambler was a timed test of the use of different positions to hit steel targets from 50 to 200 yards including getting into a doghouse to hit one target.  The Vlei is a longer field problem where you engage steel targets in a broad valley from 80 to more than 250 yards.  The Pit was a house-clearing drill using slicing the pie and delivering two to the body and one to the head (remember sight off-set!).


My major mental malfunction was keeping the strong-side elbow tucked in.  This allows a strong shooting position, keeps from hitting the Ulnar nerve on objects, and minimizes the exposure of tender body parts to enemy fire while doing barricade work.  I got better at it but practice it with an air-carbine daily to get it ingrained in muscle memory.

Yea, elbows were a big thing. I got dinged a few times on that, and need to practice more, to deprogram myself.

You got it sailor, 30+ years of chicken-winging ain't going away in a few days.