Magpul Dynamics / Dynamic Carbine 2
October 15-17th / Douglas Ridge Rifle Club (Portland, OR)



Now our third class hosting Magpul Dynamics in Portland, this was something a bit unique on a few levels; from added props, food, giveaways, and a couple of very special guests, it’s hard for me to think of what we’ll do for 2011’s classes given how high we've raised the bar. These classes are not achievable on a logistical level without the help of my fellow students and friends, range officers, industry sponsors, and the always fantastic instruction of Chris Costa, Travis Haley, and Steve Fisher.  



Primer



This now marks the third carbine class I’ve been lucky enough to attend as a student. This class became unique through the inclusion of Cameron Hopkins (Editor, Combat Tactics) and Ichiro Nagata (if you don’t know who this is…shame!), as such this was a huge motivation to elevate the quality of classes even further. Both were a tremendously great presence in class, and if you ever get the chance to meet Mr. Nagata trust me, it’s a treat. Cameron is a fantastic shooter himself, and would spend great deals of time just learning about the guns, gear, and backgrounds of each student.





We were also very lucky to have the involvement of industry sponsorship, including Surefire, Bravo Company, Larue, Noveske, TNVC, Smith & Wesson, Magpul, ARES Gear, Peters Custom Holsters, and The Armory Group. I’ll get in to a specific breakdown of the prizes, and who won them further into the AAR. All in all each student came away with hundreds of dollars worth of generous contributions that acted as the icing on an already amazing weekend.



From the outset we wanted to bring the class together as a whole, to foster conversation, and to make the class experience in fact one cohesive experience. To that end the class was catered each day at lunch. Not only that but the food was delicious, the caterers were top notch, and students were stuffed to the gills, and not spending their downtime trying to figure out what to eat. The impact of this one small detail was more time spent learning about each-other. I’ve made some truly great friends since Carbine 1 a year and a half ago, and continue to do so each and every class.

Gear

My intention was to run .308 (KAC SR-25 EMC) the entire class, so my initial rig was built around two RCS LR20 pouches, an RCS double M&P 9mm pouch, and Phantom LC for my M&P Pro (X300). Being that this is my 4th MD class I’ve learned to streamline and run as slick as possible.

Unfortunately due to some ‘issues’ with my SR-25 I switched back to my 11.5” ‘SR-16’ style 5.56 rifle, and ran the rest of the class using my ICE Tactical battle belt with Eagle FB pouches, and PCH Spada holster.

A majority of students had franken-guns, with a healthy spectrum of factory guns such as Noveske, BCM, H&K, Colt, and even a fish…I mean a SCAR thrown in for good measure. The majority of optics in the class were Aimpoint T1s, we had an eotech, a US Optics short dot, and Trijicon ACOGs (one took a dump after taking a drop).

Students

Being a Carbine 2 class the majority of shooters were past students from Carbine 1 or Handgun 2 that we’ve hosted. So after about 5 minutes of “hey man, how you been?,” we were ready to go. The benefit of this, and the instructors knowing us in this cohesive group is that everything moved at an accelerated pace, and the level of trust between students was cemented quickly. Those that hadn’t been students easily caught up within the first few drills. This was a fantastic group of shooters, some of which showed amazing progress from Carbine 1 to Carbine 2.

One of the things we set out early to do was to achieve a level of cohesion and familiarity with other students that we hadn’t achieved in past classes. This is the first class where I got the chance to meet and talk with almost every student on the line. These classes are a pretty brutal place to bring a big ego, and I can say honestly that every single person who made it the whole way is above board and beyond awesome. The quality of these classes are determined by the quality of students, and we had a hell of a class.

Day 1



This class was a bit unique in that we had Surefire Combat Tactics involved documenting the class and Magpul Dynamics. Ichiro Nagata is absolutely the most energetic and enthusiastic person I’ve ever met, and it was a pleasure to spend 3-4 days with him and Cameron Hopkins.

Ichiro ran his camera, while Cameron ran his gun as a student. We were extremely lucky in that Douglas Ridge is an absolutely picturesque setting for the purposes of showcasing an event like this. I was beyond relieved when I realized the weather would be the definition of beautiful for the students, guests, and instructors. If you know anything about Portland then you’ll know our weather borders on very unpredictable and sometimes very wet. For us, however, we dodged a huge bullet with sunny weather in the low 60’s, with very foggy mornings. It’s the kind of weather that’s warm enough for a t-shirt, but cold enough to run a micro-fleece.

Training Day 1 began with our initial briefing and introductions. Chris and Travis used this time to give us a breakdown on the ‘who’ and ‘why.’ We also went over the mental mindset behind what we’d be doing over the course of that weekend. The instructors firmly believe contextualizing WHY we do things, not just HOW to do them.

After our morning briefing we went down the road to the range we’d be using. Loaded up, hung guns, and started our morning BZO.  As I mentioned the mornings had fog, and I’m really not kidding about that fact. Between the dew on my glasses, optic, and the 50yds between our guns and targets it was a challenge getting that dot in the center of the paper. However I want to point out that this was the most painless BZO I’ve ever been a part of, which can normally take 5-6 volleys depending on shooters. After 2-3 volleys 90 percent of the class was sighted in, or happy enough with their zero to proceed. Again this goes back to having a class with locked on students who didn’t need hand holding or refreshers to the basics.



After hanging new targets the instructors gave us a brief refresher the fundamentals covered in the BSA drill, demonstrating the specific failure points in the balance of speed and accuracy. In many ways this is the ‘cold shot’ of the day, you’re into it brutally fast, rocking and rolling, and some people shot this amazingly fast but sloppy, and some people shot it super clean but needed to pick up the pace. Regardless everyone understood their baseline to which to improve upon for the days to come.



Throughout this process instructors would be correcting weaknesses in stance and grip. Steve was on me pretty fast about dropping my right leg back, bringing the butt of the gun closer in line with my chest and not my shoulder, and squaring up my shoulders, to better compensate for recoil. This especially paid off for the times when I ran my .308, where that gun would exploit ANY deficiency in your fundamentals. As the class went on I became more self-correcting, especially when Steve would get near me on the line.



As we worked our way through the BSA each step became a stopping point to re-introduce us to dynamic kneeling, and prone, and the efficiencies to be gained by getting in and out of those positions quickly. The downside to running a .308 during this class was the lower capacity of the SR-25 style magazines. For every 2 magazines that 5.56 shooters carried on them I had to take 3. Because of this I was constantly dragging around a sack of Magpul LR20s. It also meant I had to be hyper aware of my ammo loadout, as 2+1 would still only yield 60 rounds.



Around noon we were greeted by the fantastic smells of pulled pork sandwiches, chicken, kabobs, beans, and desert. We were extremely fortunate to find a set of caterers who not only cooked well, but would truck all that food out to the range. This aspect of food was one of those x-factors that took the stress off the students, no one had to figure out food the night before. The entire class became turn-key, which is what I think as students we all want. We looked at what folks like NOLATAC were doing for their classes, and figured out how we could best replicate that experience to pay off for the people in attendance (Students, Instructors, RSOs, etc).



As I mentioned this class had no superfluous material to it, and no misconceptions about what students were expected to do. Because of this we had a quick refresher on the check drill, and worked with each other to the point that this was not something you should occasionally perform, but rather something you were EXPECTED to do. Either through verbal commands, or by situational awareness from the shooters to your left or right, or even further down the line. About this time I was starting to get some feeding issues with my SR-25. I tore the rifle down, swapped carrier groups with Chris, re-lubed, and pressed on.





As the day came to a close we ran a complete BSA to see where we needed improvement on a personal level. Unfortunately at this point my .308 rifle was continuing to have issues, and while I worked as fast as possible to lock, strip, rack, and get the gun back up in the fight it came to the point where Chris came over to me and said, “Okay, you’ve done enough malfunction drills for the entire, bump off the line, go grab my battle rifle.” Not fun.

Our last drill of the day was the supine position, which was familiar to those of us who’ve taken Magpul Dynamics before, but an interesting position for those who were brand new to that body mechanic.



Day 2

At the start of Day 2 we all gathered in the Range’s club house, and Travis took over by covering the ‘Warrior Mindset.’ What this really boils down to is how our brains work, how they can be honed, how they can trip us up, and the dangers of complacency in what we do. Some of you have heard his recounting of a major ‘fuck up’ in his life, and what it taught him, through his time in Africa. I’ve heard this story now 3 times, and yet Travis explained one key detail he hadn’t talked about before that really cemented home how we can’t be complacent, especially for that 1 percent of our lives we absolutely can’t fuck up.



Day 2’s firing schedule started out with the ‘Dollar Drill.’ If you’ve never seen this done the object is simple, put a dollar up on the target, you get 20 seconds to make one shot, closest to Washington’s nose cleans all the dollars. This is a challenging drill because it’s usually done at a slightly odd distance that tends to make students forget about mechanical offset, resulting in shots broken low.

We were very fortunate to have a pair of Surefire M600C scout lights as prizes, one of which was given out to the winner of the dollar drill. Special mention has to be given to the winner, as on dropping prone he blew out the crotch of his pants…while wearing tighty whiteys. This guy was a champ, as it was hilarious and embarrassing. No opportunity was spared to crack a joke or get a photo of the winner. During the class he earned the nickname of ‘Balls’, and to his credit he just cracked a smile and pushed on. What a champ!



From there we jumped into the BSA drill for the morning, using this as a comparison to how we were shooting the day before. Steve then covered the fundamentals of shifting weapons to your reaction shoulder. By now I had switched to my MS2 sling in conjunction with Chris’ SR-25 battle rifle (using the new slick rail). This was a godsend as my rifle just decided to tap out, but I had made the commitment to run .308 as long as possible. In our past classes we touched upon reaction side shooting, but never to this degree, especially with changing body positions, such as kneeling.



It’s at this point I realized that while I love .308, running the caliber wasn’t being conducive to learning the skill-sets presented. Reaction side shooting, especially with a caliber such as .308, becomes a tremendous physical challenge. It can be done, but when running your right arm forward, right leg back, the rifle digs away at any weakness in your skeleton and pushes to the right. This requires a tremendous amount of control to muscle the rifle back on target. The angle of the shell deflector is also position in such a way to throw brass right back in your forehead. The SR-25 is nothing if not predictable in that manner.







We wrapped up our morning with a modified El Presidente, requiring us to have smooth reloads on our rifles, then transitioning to our handgun. This ran as a timed drill, taking into account missed shots, with the top shooter winning a gift certificate for a free holster from Greg Peters (Peters Custom Holsters).





After lunch we jumped into the urban prone, the multiple techniques in getting into that position, and ultimately reaction side shooting from that body position (transitioning shoulders). At this point I switched over to my 11.5” SR-16-style gun, which served me well for ‘most’ of the weekend.





One thing all students should bring to a Magpul Dynamics class is a strong sense of humor and a thick skin. All of the instructors believe in the carrot, but also believe in figuring out what can fluster you, get inside your head, and add to that little bit of extra self induced stress that makes you have to better your skill. More to the point, they’re all just funny guys who believe in keeping the learning environment relaxed when needed. Example, one of the WA state police officers had a general purpose pouch mounted on his back. I look over and Chris and Travis are tearing through it while he’s on his side shooting, “What is all this shit?! Rubber gloves! I don’t think we’re ready for that point in our relationship yet!” As we’re all trying to keep a straight face. No more than a minute later do I feel a yank on my pants as Steve and Travis want to see the custom made ARES Gear belt I had on, which was made with a 1” Grateful Dead webbing, “dude, that’s awesome!” I hear as I’m trying to shoot. These are the little things that keep the class funny, but also keep students aware of external distractions, and the dynamic nature of the task at hand.









Following this we began the fundamentals of moving and shooting, specifically turning. Left, Right, and 180 degree, dropping into the dynamic kneeling, especially using our judgment with de-conflicting with the people to the left and right of us on the line. We ramped this drill up by having someone on the left or right of the line initiate fire after turning, this created a cascading non-verbal ‘threat’ command that we all executed in progression.





We ended the day with the 1-5 drill, performed in front of instructors, RSOs, and fellow students. I saw almost every student come away from that drill with their hands shaking in response from the adrenaline dump. This is an extremely challenging drill in regards to not only the skill required to do it fast, but the mental math of just shooting 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. On the third target I shot 4 times rather than 3, then 4 times on the 4th, then 5 on the 5th. These drills work to reinforce that shooting is as much a thinking man’s game than anything else.

Also, Steve and I share something in common, we both can't count!





Day 3

We began Day 3 with another ‘Dollar Drill.’ By now many of us knew some of the tricks to winning, yet it still came down to two shots that were so close to each other that it required a shoot off to decide. The winner of this received a Surefire M600C scout light as well!





Just like Day 2 we jumped into what would be our last BSA of the class. Many of us were starting to see our groups tighten up, or our speed increase. Once we were warmed up we began the offline of attack, which had us running forward, left, right, or rear, on command. This worked our situational awareness to have understanding of our physical relation to the shooters left or right of ourselves.







Expanding upon this drill we incorporated a partner. We’d start right behind them, a command of left, right, or forward would be called, necessitating us to move around our partner, shoot from besides or in front of them. The last competitive drill of the day was the Pat Rogers 5/5/5 drill, which is 5 standing, 5 kneeling, 5 prone. Timed. You get 1+ second for every shot not in the circle. 20-30 seconds clean is considered the baseline (Chris has done it in 15 seconds clean). For this drill we had 3 top shooters, the first place winning a 100 dollar gift certificate to ARES, the second place winning another Peters Custom Holster’s holster, and third place winning a 50 dollar gift certificate to ARES. I should have realized I had a serious problem with my rifle when I ran this drill with my 11.5 and none of my shots were in the circle…at all. I’m not a great shot, but I’m not that awful. More on that in a bit.



Our drill before lunch would be the one that would remind some of us how much cardio was important. We began on the 100yd line, then as a group would run 50yds up to a pre-marked firing line, shoot standing, kneeling, prone, then fight our way back up. Then once indicated as safe we’d run as a group down to the 7yd line, and repeat the drill, once all safetied, we’d run back to the 50yd line, and repeat. A few times in, and by the time you’re pushing yourself off prone gravity really starts feeling like a bitch.



At lunch I took my 11.5” SBR out, and checked zero, noticing that my group was tight, but nearly 7-8” low at 50yds. The day after class I would realize the cause of this was that my barrel nut had come so loose to the point that you could shake the upper around like a maraca, and the only thing holding the upper receiver aligned to the rail was the Larue mount. Yeah…

After lunch we worked into shooting on the move, either firing on multiple threat commands, or being given a threat command and presenting a constant and deliberate cadence of fire all the way down to near point blank.



The final drills of the class came from multiple firing stations set up directly behind the 100yd range. I won’t lie, stage 1 was easily the favorite for everyone involved. The breakdown of each stage:

Stage 1: Vehicles! The shooter begins with their rifle unloaded, bolt forward on an empty chamber, magazine loaded. Starting in the car the shooter puts a controlled pair on the target on the right front of the car, then 2 on a Salute plate about 25yds in front of the car, then shoots out the door at another target. Pistol tucked in the SUL position they run to the back of the car, engage the right target through the car, then the steel again, grab their rifle, load, and shoot at a Larue auto-resetting steel at 10 o’clock at about 35yds away. From there the shooter runs to the truck to the left of the car. Shoots above the truck bed at 2 steel gongs, two shots on each, moves left and shoots through the cab at the same steel, drops prone underneath the car with two more pairs, then finally comes back up over the hood with one final shot on the Larue steel they engaged prior. Again easily everyone's favorite.













Stage 2: This was a series of gongs and a large barricade that had us work the right side with 2 shots on 4 steel gongs, standing, and kneeling, then moving to the left side and working reaction side.



Stage 3: This was a series of 4 target stands, moving left to right, progressively to the rear. Shooters would shoot each one 3 times, left to right, stop, search and asses, then in reverse shoot the rear to the front.



Stage 4: This brought back prone/urban prone (dependent on the shooter’s choice). Shooters would shoot a series of 4 standing targets, left to right, right to left, then dropping under a barricade to engage a Larue auto-resetting target.



Stage 5: The last stage had us working a 3 steel Salute plates, in various orders. Essentially an El Presidente without the forced reload.

We were very lucky that Steve Fisher FINALLY got Ichiro Nagata to finally pick up a gun. This was a rare treat for us as besides being just about the greatest gun photographer in the world, he’s also an amazing shooter.



Conclusions

Simply put it’s hard to think how we’ll raise the bar for the next class. We had what must be the nicest weather on record for 4-5 consecutive days. We had 3 world class instructors, 2 amazing guests from Surefire, multiple other guests (Kristine from The Armory Group, thanks for lugging my camera around all weekend), and an absolutely amazing range.

From a personal standpoint I realized I dropped a few rungs on the ladder of excellence, but I know why, and I still realize that while my movements on reloads are spot on, they’re still jerky and so violently fast, that I have tremendous excess waste movement that slows me down. I also had a series of equipment failures in 3 rifles, that in retrospect were all contributing to a level of mental-mindfuck that wasn’t contributing well to skill building.

Everyone involved in those rifles have been extremely helpful, and while it’s unfortunate that guns go down in a class, I’d rather use that as a learning experience, then having them fail at an actual key point in my life.

Special Thanks

Earlier I listed all the awesome stuff each student came away from the class with, and that wouldn’t have happened without the generous contributions of the following:

Scott Wilson / Cameron Hopkins / Ichiro Nagata (Surefire)
Paul  B (Bravo Company)
Mark Larue / Alfred Lindsey (Larue Tactical)
Todd / Sherri (Noveske)
Victor Di Cosolo (Tactical Night Vision Company)
Jake Sebens (ARES Gear)
Greg Peters (Peters Custom Holsters)
Kristine Sun / Jason Wages (The Armory Group)

If I forgot anyone, sorry, there's just so many of you guys to thank!

As Chris joked, we're all looking forward to seeing ourselves in Combat Tactics, and getting the opportunity to say "THERE! RIGHT THERE! That's the back of MY head! Boom!"

Photos:

Day 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/isaac_marchionna/sets/72157625069666261/detail/

Day 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/isaac_marchionna/sets/72157625072876369/detail/

Day 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/isaac_marchionna/sets/72157625077852759/detail/

This calss was so F***ing awesome!!  (more later!)

Great Pics and outstanding AAR.  Thanks!

I had a great time running and gunning. The swag was a unexpected bonus, as well as winning a prize.  Great job on the AAR and setting up of the event.

Great job Isaac.

Nice work dood, I'm digging all the pictures.

outstanding cliff notes version and pics!! well done!!

Thank you, these classes are nothing without the students. Thank you all who made this a safe and awesome class.

Still haven't been to one but would go in a heartbeat if one was close.



Also, where could I get my hands on a "lights out motherfuckers" patch?

Those are only given out by Vic, we were lucky to get them.

Very Nice AAR. The Range you were at looks amazingly beautiful, almost like a golf course. I plan on a Carbine I and a Carbine II course in the near future. I really want to do a Shotgun class with MagPul Dynamics.

Thank You for the pics and write ups, gives us not so lucky guys something to shoot for.

BZ

We'll have them back in 2011 for sure, for a Carbine class. Keep your eyes peeled.

I cant wait to see the 2011 schedule. I live real close to Portland, and have been wanting to attend one of the magpul classes for a while. This class looks like it was a blast, cant wait to do it myself!

Can't forget to thank the photographers.  They were able to get these amazing shots for us while we were training.

Oh an another special thing that no one else would have besides the LOMF (which I believe is only given out to military) patch is the LaRue Dillo.



Also in the swag photo from above.. I think I forgot a couple of small items to add to the shot, like a S&W hat, and the Noveske K9 I got.

Titleist, this has to be the best AAR I've read...from the breakdown, to giving the perspective on what was taking place, to the great photos.  Man, I think you packed in everything except fast roping and full auto.  Clearly you put quite a bit of time into the details of preparing for the class, obtaining key sponsors and then sharing with us what happened...even if some of it was at your own expense.  It looks like everyone had an awesome time.  Great job!  

So, what's up with your KAC's?

Looking forward to attending in 2011.

With lodging, ammo, and food costs, this class cost about as much as a cheap weekend in vegas (no blow, only a few hookers) but was waaaay funner.

that picture is way awesome.

Looks like it was a blast!

Great AAR Isaac, wish I could have made this one.

A lot of time, and a lot of money goes into these classes. It's all for the students. As stoked as they were for this class I'm friggin mega stoked for Handgun 2 / Shotgun in New Orleans, because I'm JUST a student for that class.

As for the KACs, I believe that companies in question should get the chance to resolve the issues FIRST before posting speculation or opinions. Otherwise that always just spirals out of control. I'll go back and update this when I hear back from Knights, till then there's not much more to say. Thanks though.

To anyone who's interested in next year's classes, just watch this forum, word is the 2011 schedule will go up in a few weeks. We look forward to seeing you out there.

awesome aar titleist!

and that is a sweet grateful dead belt

One of the best AAR that I have seen and great pics also.

It's a fun one. I'm dropping urban prone and Travis walks over, "what the hell is that? That's awesome." As I feel someone tugging at my war belt. I get up and Steve is now grabbing at my pants to take a look.

Jake @ Ares Gear made it as a fun one off.

Dude...that is epic success.

Ditto... and the food looked good too. What a way to host an event!

We actually had so much food that about a third of it was donated to the Boy Scouts of America. The caterers were awesome, and said we were the best, most polite, and appreciative group they've ever catered. Given that they said they'd be out at any classes we wanted them to bring food. So that's pretty much official that from now on, all classes get good food provided.

It's a little thing, but being able to hang guns, hydrate, and just grab food is just such a load off as a student. It was a small detail that really paid off for the students, and more time spent talking with each-other.

If you you build it...they will come.

Great AAR

Great writeup, sounds like an awesome class.

That belt is awesome.

All those pictures are awesome.

That lunch looked awesome.

Everything is awesome.

You're awesome for that very thorough AAR.

That pint glass is awesome. What awesome thing is on it?

Smith and Wesson's logo. We gave first dibs on some of the S&W stuff to those running M&Ps in class.

Sweet!

OR ain't that far away, if it isn't booked maybe I could attend next time! I've been wanting to get to a Carbine 1&2 for a while now. After reading your AAR, now I want to even more!

Thanks for the writeup and all the pictures.

Keep your summer clear, there just might be a Carbine 1 in your future.

You have to make it through Handgun II and Shotgun first.

Great writeup.

Looks like yet another quality period of instruction by Magpul Dynamics.  

I was looking all over the place in the Training section for this, but since it's right next door to GD I can understand wanting to post it here to keep away the ass clown carnival.

Looking forward to getting back out on the range with the boys of Magpul next year if at all possible, but it looks like things might get a little busy in my world.  To all who have not yet taken a class from them, GET OUT THERE AND DO IT!!!

Titleist1: Nice post, great pics. Steve Fisher is definitely a laugh riot (especially when in the midst of Travis).

I'm sorry to hear that your SR-25 carbine stopped working appropriately. Did you ever figure out what the problem was?

Only cause its easy to pick on travis

Very well written Isaac.  Your kind words about my pants 'malfunction' were a nice touch too...  Other than that, a bloody lip, and two perfectly round .223 diameter chunks from the palm of my hand (breaking my fall into prone) it was an outstanding course.  I can't wait to see what Surefire has to say about it.  Cameron says it'll be the Spring edition, which would likely be May/June 2011.  Perhaps my Balls will make it in the photo spread .

Muah!

For all those involved, I hope your balls DON'T make it into the magazine. haha.

Once is enough right? lol

And I can't wait til I can take part in one of these when they swing back out to California.

Or swing on up north to Oregon: California's awesome neighbor.

I'm trying to take it one step at a time Titleist. Don't rush me lol

I shot a 10-8 class with Ichi. Great guy and he was one of the fastest on one of the rifle drills.

schnell! schnell!

Looks like a fun day and amazing photos!  

+1!

Look forward to the article, too.

Very nice AAR!

Definitely want to purchase that magazine when it comes out.

Kickass AAR man!