Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:


Yes Sir. Over four days. I agree; it's a miracle I'm still here. No two ways about it. I'm trying to do right by it.

Thanks!

Originally Posted By Nobody69s:
Wow man!
That must have been a complete wake up call for you.
Glad you're still on Earth with the rest of us.

Originally Posted By Nobody69s:
Wait now...let me get this right, you've had 22 fucking heart attacks?!
If that is correct and I read that right, you are a damn survivor man!!!

Originally Posted By Lowdown3:



Yeah I had to read that twice also... and then I thought maybe he had accidentally put two 2's.

Holy crap! You are a survivor! Congrats

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:
Not much training going on the past few days. I've been clearing out a storage unit and my basement as part of our on-going retirement down-sizing. After 10-12 hours of lifting, moving, hauling, and etc., I don't have much energy left for working out.

This weekend, however, I plan to do a lot of shooting. Drills, drills, and more drills. Drills with cover, movement, multiple targets, multiple angles, multiple distances.

Originally Posted By Nobody69s:
The second part sounds fun.

Originally Posted By R_S:
Sounds like an outstanding training day!

Putting your equipment through it's paces and having it run well is always a confidence builder.

Nice to get feedback from other shooters behind the line.  Video can be a nice option as well.

Perfect practice makes perfect, so I like to run things without the clock until I get them right (dry runs are free).  Once I can shoot live fire correctly, I add time pressure.

If you want more practice going standing to kneeling to prone with reloads, this is Jeff's version: Modified Navy Qualification Drill.  Others from the Unit call it the D-Drill.  NRA MQP calls it America's Rifle Challenge.  I enjoyed working the different variations.  Ran Jeff's version as Sharpshooter, and NRA's as Distinguished Expert.  

Originally Posted By Lowdown3:
Another way to kinda force more mag change work is random loading of mags. I.e, not 29 but maybe 5 in one, 12 in another 20 in a third. Just stuff a bunch without counting and go on.

You can easily "feel" when an AR goes empty. Hell I walked away from this platform for almost 20 years due to some insane problems with several of them in the 90's and when I got back to shooting them regularly the very first mag emptied I remembered the "feel" of the gun going dry and immediately dropped the mag. Developing that sensitivity helps.

My wife shoots a lot less AR and she feels it also when we shoot ARs.

The other thing the dummy rounds are helpful for is malfunction drills. Hand your partner 5 or 6 dummy rounds and a box of 20 and have them load your mag, randomly putting dummy rounds in. Also can be used to show you if your jerking the trigger, no follow through, etc.

You doing any left handed stuff? I know that subject is almost taboo to a lot of AR guys but the rifle can be run left handed without a bunch of unnecessary modifications and without a lot of gymnastics.

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:


Good stuff, thanks. I am getting to where I can tell when the bolt doesn't close fairly accurately. It's actually changing the mags that I haven't practiced much.

Dummy rounds, randomly inserted into mag. Check. Thanks!

I haven't been doing any left-handed stuff but there's a good reason. I shot left-handed for 50+ years. Some time in the past ten years or so, my dominant eye switched from the left to the right. In fact, when I was building my guns, I put ambi hardware on all of them, expecting to shoot them left-handed. I've been learning how to shoot right-handed for the past 15 months or so. I've got the shooting part down pretty much now. Where my body still thinks I'm a lefty is when I pick up an AR. I invariably grab the pistol grip with my left hand and am holding it left-handed before I realize it. I'm getting pretty close to the point where I'm shooting well enough as a righty to put some rounds down-range as a lefty again. It is something I want to be able to do. Especially now that I'm practicing shooting from cover. Shooting right-handed to the left of cover just doesn't seem like a good idea at all.

Thanks for the tips, pointers, and advice!

Originally Posted By Nobody69s:
Left handed pistol shooter, right handed rifle.
Right eye dominant.
I'm all sorts of fucked up but I make it work.
My gun belt is a bit odd compared to most set ups haha.

Originally Posted By Nobody69s:
Left handed pistol shooter, right handed rifle.
Right eye dominant.
I'm all sorts of fucked up but I make it work.
My gun belt is a bit odd compared to most set ups haha.

Originally Posted By pestilence12:


sorry to pop in randomly on this thread but I've been lurking it for a while. I'm the same way. Left handed pistol, right handed rifle, right eye dominant. Rifle and pistol mags on the right side, I have to cross reach to reload rifle off the belt. Took some getting used to but it works. I couldn't get any other way to clear my pistol holster on my left with a rifle mag.

Great thread OP, glad you're still on the grassy side. I took inspiration from your target stands and built my own as well.

Need to get back into training. I took a two year hiatus, mostly cuz kids were born.

Originally Posted By pestilence12:


sorry to pop in randomly on this thread but I've been lurking it for a while. I'm the same way. Left handed pistol, right handed rifle, right eye dominant. Rifle and pistol mags on the right side, I have to cross reach to reload rifle off the belt. Took some getting used to but it works. I couldn't get any other way to clear my pistol holster on my left with a rifle mag.

Great thread OP, glad you're still on the grassy side. I took inspiration from your target stands and built my own as well.

Need to get back into training. I took a two year hiatus, mostly cuz kids were born.

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:


Thanks, brother. No need to apologize. It's all good.

Life can get busy. If I wasn't retired, I wouldn't have the time to do half of what I do. Good for you for getting back into it.

Sometimes, we just have to find our own way to do something and it sounds like you did exactly that.

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:


By the way, if that's Jim Bridger in your avatar, he's been a personal hero of mine for a long, long time.

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:
It was epic. Given the weather, we decided to focus on our 5.56 carbines and used them throughout the entire day. Before each drill, we went over the mechanics of the drill, it's purpose, scoring, and so on. We then discussed what we thought was important to keep in good mental focus during the drill. Then one of us would run the drill while the other monitored from a safe position. The monitor would then give the shooter their observations. Then we would swap roles and run it again. After the sharing of observations by the second monitor, we would analyze the drill and our performance; what went right, what went wrong, what we learned, what we need to do to improve, and so on. And that's what we did for eight hours, with minimal breaks for nutrition, hydration, and so on.

It was awesome. It was eye-opening. It made me aware of so many new things to think about in shooting. Things like transitioning from movement to shooting stance with good body control, how the geometry of the stance changes stability when moving the upper body to engage multiple targets, and the importance of acquiring a target independent of the optic and then moving the optic on target versus acquiring the target through-the-glass.

Some other notes. I "wore" my rifle in its Vickers 2-point sling for about 7.5 of the 8 hours and shot all of the drills using it. My comfort level with it went way up as a result. I plan to do more of that. Maybe even wear it around the house from time to time.

My carbine worked perfectly. Between it performing so well for so much range time over the past year and the confidence I'm starting to have handling and shooting it, I'm starting to think about putting it into duty status for home defense.

I spent more time working on reloading than I have in any one day in my life. I now have it broken down into a five-step manual-of-arms I can practice and drill at home using dummy rounds. A few hundred mag changes a week for the next month should get me down the road a ways.

The intense focus we had on the drills was, for me, a huge help in blocking out all the weather distractions; wind, rapidly changing light conditions, off-and-on rain, rapid temperatures changes, and so on. Having to think about which target to acquire, where to move, when to move, how many shots to put on each target, counting shots, and so on, occupied so much brain space, I didn't have much time to think about the weather other than how it might affect my execution of the drill in the moment. I suspect that is a major intent of doing such drills. And while a part of me would have preferred a nice, sunny day, the confidence boost I got from doing it in somewhat bad weather is hard to beat.

I was quite pleased with my accuracy. I put almost all of my shots where they needed to go. And when I didn't, I usually knew about it when the trigger released. I had some examples of pretty good grouping. We didn't track my times because my one and only concern was being able to execute the drill safely and correctly. Speed will come over time with practice and refinement and consistency. My goal is to continue to focus on accuracy and form and let the times come down of their own accord. It felt pretty doggone good to have so many scoring/qualified shots over so many drills. I couldn't be happier with the performance of my Giessele SSA-E two-stage trigger. The time I spent with it on the dry-fire range seems to be paying off. I wasn't really having to think about the wall or trigger reset while I was shooting; it was happening from muscle memory.

I need a lot of work especially on reloads and transitioning from standing to kneeling and kneeling to prone. With my carbine strapped to me in its 2-point sling in both cases.

I still have a long, long way to go to get to where I want to be. What's going to get me there is what got me here so far. Putting a lot of rounds down-range, putting in the time on the dry-fire range, taking it seriously, listening to good advice, and building layers of learning on top of other layers of learning. All while being as real as humanly possible.

I would be remiss if I did not say thanks to my mentor and guide. He knows who he is but I'll leave it to him to identify himself if he wants. This guy is helping me in a huge way. He's given me focus, motivation, and taught me so many new things I'd be hard-pressed to list them all. I am blessed that our paths crossed. Thanks, my friend!

Originally Posted By JoeDevola:




Was a truly great time!  I don't know that much, so doesn't take to long to show everything I know!

It's pretty cool watching someone advance because they're actually putting in the work.    And training with people who have an intelligent, scientific approach to the work always yields dividends.

We're doing it again soon, climbing the ladder of excellence.  If folks we invite don't show up, it's their loss!  I just love training & actual practical shooting.

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:


Did I mention how humble my mentor is?

I'm looking forward to our next session. I couldn't be happier with the progress that comes from our time training together.

Originally Posted By Nobody69s:
I really wish I had a training mentor or even a friend that had the time to train with me.
Two people can really push each other to greatness and give advice on what should change and what not.
Really cool stuff you're doing here man!

Originally Posted By R_S:
OCR's are a great training milestone.  I've done Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, and others.  They motivate you to train for them.  Even just a local 5K run can be a good motivator.

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:
Yesterday's training was sitting around and being sore from doing too much physical work this week with an on-going unknown problem in my leg. I'm kind of stupid like that.

Though I did spend the day learning about belts, suspenders, dump pouches, mag pouches, and chest rigs. Now that I know how to operate my ARs and can hit what I'm shooting at more often than not, and am moving into things like movement, multiple targets, cover and concealment, combat reloads, tactical reloads, and so on, I needed to start figuring out the gear I need to support it all. And then I need to get it, and then I need to wear it during training and learn what it's like to walk, trot, run, kneel, go prone, and shoot while wearing it. And I need to do it for as many hours at a time as possible. Experiential learning is what puts it all together and enables the transition from knowledge to skill.

One level of skill and ability builds on all of the levels beneath it. The stronger each level is, the stronger the overall is. Weaknesses at any level make it impossible for layers directly above it to be strong.  

My training plan for today was to work out at the gym for three hours and then do some dry-fire as soon as I got home, even before I shower. It shows me exactly how my my trigger pull and reset are affected by gassed muscles. So I can focus on that aspect of it the next time I do it gassed. But my wife took the day off and changed everything. So I'll be replacing three hours in the gym with 8 hours of moving furniture and boxes from a storage unit to a donation center. Then the dry-fire range.

Originally Posted By pestilence12:



I hope you know how inspirational this post is.

Originally Posted By pestilence12:
As promised, rucked today.

4 miles, 9000ft elevation. It hurt. Pretty much sharp uphill the entire way.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/495533/1000005099_jpg-3252779.JPG

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/495533/1000005100_jpg-3252780.JPG

Lessons learned:

60lbs is heavy. Sand bags are good but they sag to the very bottom and aren't balanced at all. Next time I'll support them with pillows or something so they're not sagging below my hips.

Altra boots are awesome. Very comfy and zero foot fatigue.

3L of water is a good amount.

My pack is awesome, RUSH 60L. Very comfortable despite the unbalanced load.

Gonna do this biweekly till I can hit 8mi, 4 out and 4 back.

Originally Posted By pestilence12:



I hope you know how inspirational this post is.

Originally Posted By pestilence12:


Even though I'm gassed from the hike, I put on my armor and rifle, and did 20 push-ups, up, dry fire, reload off the carrier, 20 push-ups, repeat.

I'm smoked

Originally Posted By pestilence12:
Got another ruck in today.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/495533/1000005156_jpg-3257993.JPG

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/495533/1000005157_jpg-3257994.JPG

Downhill is easier, imagine that.

Shaved a whole minute off my previous pace. Same weight, 60lbs.

What went better: put my sleeping bag under the sandbags. That put the weight more on my hips - yuge improvement.

I tried out my new water system. It's a hydration hose that adapts to nalgene bottles, made by the Israelis. It's absolutely awesome. Goodbye leaky bladders.

Got some lighter weight pants. Much better for rucking.

What's still a challenge:
Uphill absolutely destroys my pace. Might start doing off-day squats to build my thighs up for a better uphill place.

The big 60 lb sandbag was, while positioned better, still awkward and off balance. I think I need to get several smaller bags to balance the weight out better, like 6 10lb bags.

Overall, it went much better. Now for weighed push-ups and pull ups

Originally Posted By pestilence12:
Got another ruck in today.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/495533/1000005156_jpg-3257993.JPG

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/495533/1000005157_jpg-3257994.JPG

Downhill is easier, imagine that.

Shaved a whole minute off my previous pace. Same weight, 60lbs.

What went better: put my sleeping bag under the sandbags. That put the weight more on my hips - yuge improvement.

I tried out my new water system. It's a hydration hose that adapts to nalgene bottles, made by the Israelis. It's absolutely awesome. Goodbye leaky bladders.

Got some lighter weight pants. Much better for rucking.

What's still a challenge:
Uphill absolutely destroys my pace. Might start doing off-day squats to build my thighs up for a better uphill place.

The big 60 lb sandbag was, while positioned better, still awkward and off balance. I think I need to get several smaller bags to balance the weight out better, like 6 10lb bags.

Overall, it went much better. Now for weighed push-ups and pull ups

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:


Well done, Sir. I haven't done any training in about five days; mostly because I've been working my butt off moving furniture, equipment, and boxes all day, every day. It's been a pretty good workout in it's own right.

60 pounds is a manly load. Well-done. I agree; better distribution would probably help.

Keep up the good work!

Originally Posted By Nobody69s:
@pestilence12
Can you post a link to the nalgene adapter.
I want to get one.

Originally Posted By pestilence12:


Thank you sir! If you feel that I'm hijacking your thread, please feel free to tell me pound sand (pun intended )

Originally Posted By pestilence12:


Thank you sir! If you feel that I'm hijacking your thread, please feel free to tell me pound sand (pun intended )



Yep it's made by Source Tactical. If you order from the source it's almost 50 bucks, but on Amazon it's cheaper.
Source Tactical SNEP Convertube Water Bottle Adapter Kit, Plastic, Coyote

Originally Posted By Nobody69s:
Thank you sir.

Op.
My training today was my usual routine for lifting my weights and a mag dump for freedom.
Goblet Squat: 3 sets x 10-12 reps                                                              
Reverse weighted lunge: 3 sets x 10-12 reps each leg
Push ups: 3 sets x 8-10 reps
Lateral raise: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Hammer Curl: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Row: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Flye: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Reverse tricep ext: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Shoulder press: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Chest press: 3 sets x 10-12 reps

Anything I should be changing up with this routine?
I'm still really new to lifting.

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:


Looks pretty well-rounded to me. I might suggest some more core work; leg lifts or something like that. Then again, I'm a bit obsessed with core work, I must admit.

Originally Posted By Nobody69s:
Thanks.
Maybe I could do that on the weekend sometime so I don't wear myself out during the week.
I have to have a good balance because I'm in construction and don't want my workouts to affect my day job.
It's actually helped with my regular work.
It seems like I have more endurance and don't get physically tired as quick as I used to.

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:
After my ultrasounds yesterday, the doctors grounded me. So, no physical training until I go in to see my vascular guy early next week. Surgery may be in my near-term future. So, it didn't exactly go the way I had hoped but, at least we now know what the problem is.

So, today's training. For starters, I've been wearing my new elbow and knee pads around the house for about three hours so far, and plan to wear them as much as I can. I spent some time doing functional checks with an empty carbine to get a feel for how they affect me. I'm going to wear them for some dry-firing today too. And at the indoor range next week.

If the belt and mag pouches I ordered (surplus USMC gear) arrive today, I'll start working on reloading from it.

Originally Posted By pestilence12:


You got this man You may be grounded from cardio, but that doesn't mean you can't do rifle holds!

Little workout I have done in the past. Shoulder your cleared, empty rifle. Now hold it. Just keep it on your shoulder ("ready to fire" position) and just hold it till your arms shake.

Then switch shoulders. Then I hold my rifle straight out with both hands/arms. Till they shake.

Then I hold my rifle over my head. Till my arms shake.

My idea is that it A. Builds muscle memory holding the rifle B. Builds muscles specific to riflery C. Is a killer endurance workout for your biceps, triceps, and radialis.

Big Army agrees, rifle workouts are expedient and effective

Stick with it OP, I believe in you!

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:
Friday and Saturday's training was shooting, shooting, and more shooting. I got some help getting my MOLLLE mag pouches attached to my surplus belt so I could start getting serious with reloading drills. I've decided the Modified Navy Qual Drill is one I want to master. 8" circle at 50 yards, 5-shots standing, reload, five shots kneeling, reload, five shots prone. My first time was horrible and my second was just really bad, even tough is was a third faster. Accuracy wasn't terrible. I got 10 of 15 and 11 of 15 in the white circle. That's the way I want it. Accuracy first, then speed. Speed means nothing without accuracy. I like that it requires reloads and that it requires rapid transitions to change shooting positions. All are good muscle memory to develop.

I worked with the narrow openings on the V-TAC barricade to come up with a way to shoot through them without moving my flashlight, without putting holes in the barricade, and without resting the barrel on the barricade and disrupting it's harmonics. What i discovered was this: I can anchor the muzzle-end of the rifle on the barricade using the "teeth" on the front of the flashlight and give myself a straight shot through the slit with the rifle angle matching the angles of the slit. It takes a little mental work to adjust for drop with the rifle canted 45 to 90 degrees but it wasn't so hard I couldn't hit a torso gong at 100 yards doing it. My fellow arfcommer is using a different technique. He's putting his off hand on the barricade, the barrel through the barricade, n then bracing the fore-guard with the off hand gripping the barricade. His rifle has a shorter fore-guard than mine and several inches of barrel extend past the the end of his fore-guard. Mine is full-length.

Next time out, I want to run the 9-hole drill 4-6 times. There are nine holes in the barricade. Timed drill, complete with one hit on a gong at 100 yards through each of the nine holes. It's an incredibly challenging drill. Kyle Lamb knew what he was doing when he designed these things.

I shot from prone at 50 and 100 yards quite a bit while sighting and was pleased with my best 3 of 5 groups. When I missed, I was able to call my shots, until I started getting fatigued. Thanks to the other shooters, I had the opportunity to shoot some amazing firearms.

I learned more about my physical limitations, this time with the heat. Despite pouring water into myself all day long, the heat got to me starting in the early afternoon. So I need to make some adjustments just like I did after my first cold-weather session. Age and my past unhealthy choices have had a big impact on my ability to tolerate temperature extremes and I have to be smart about being prepared for it and to take care of myself when I'm out in it. Thanks to my friends for helping me with reminders to take breaks and get hydrated too.

Every time I go out, I learn new things and get better at the things I know. I couldn't ask for more.

Yesterday's training was recovering from Friday and Saturday. Today's training will be some time on the dry-fire range with my wife's AR so I can stay in touch with her mil-spec trigger. When I fired it over the weekend, the difference between it and my Geissele triggers was brought home to me. So I need more time with it. I'm also going to do some upper-body rifle drills.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to do a three-hour sunrise resistance workout at the gym followed by some time at the range with ten rounds per mag for reloading drills and with rubber dummy bullets randomly inserted into them for malfunction drills ... while doing ready-up drills.

This is a panoramic shot, so it's distorted. The curved striations you see in the ground are actually straight lines and all the targets are, in fact, squared up to the firing line.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/582146/July_Range_Day_3-3267501.jpg

The firing line.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/582146/July_Range_Day_2-3267502.jpg

I think there are 9 or 10 target stands out there.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/582146/July_Range_Day_1-3267500.jpg

Originally Posted By Cascade-Dude:
Friday and Saturday's training was shooting, shooting, and more shooting. I got some help getting my MOLLLE mag pouches attached to my surplus belt so I could start getting serious with reloading drills. I've decided the Modified Navy Qual Drill is one I want to master. 8" circle at 50 yards, 5-shots standing, reload, five shots kneeling, reload, five shots prone. My first time was horrible and my second was just really bad, even tough is was a third faster. Accuracy wasn't terrible. I got 10 of 15 and 11 of 15 in the white circle. That's the way I want it. Accuracy first, then speed. Speed means nothing without accuracy. I like that it requires reloads and that it requires rapid transitions to change shooting positions. All are good muscle memory to develop.

I worked with the narrow openings on the V-TAC barricade to come up with a way to shoot through them without moving my flashlight, without putting holes in the barricade, and without resting the barrel on the barricade and disrupting it's harmonics. What i discovered was this: I can anchor the muzzle-end of the rifle on the barricade using the "teeth" on the front of the flashlight and give myself a straight shot through the slit with the rifle angle matching the angles of the slit. It takes a little mental work to adjust for drop with the rifle canted 45 to 90 degrees but it wasn't so hard I couldn't hit a torso gong at 100 yards doing it. My fellow arfcommer is using a different technique. He's putting his off hand on the barricade, the barrel through the barricade, n then bracing the fore-guard with the off hand gripping the barricade. His rifle has a shorter fore-guard than mine and several inches of barrel extend past the the end of his fore-guard. Mine is full-length.

Next time out, I want to run the 9-hole drill 4-6 times. There are nine holes in the barricade. Timed drill, complete with one hit on a gong at 100 yards through each of the nine holes. It's an incredibly challenging drill. Kyle Lamb knew what he was doing when he designed these things.

I shot from prone at 50 and 100 yards quite a bit while sighting and was pleased with my best 3 of 5 groups. When I missed, I was able to call my shots, until I started getting fatigued. Thanks to the other shooters, I had the opportunity to shoot some amazing firearms.

I learned more about my physical limitations, this time with the heat. Despite pouring water into myself all day long, the heat got to me starting in the early afternoon. So I need to make some adjustments just like I did after my first cold-weather session. Age and my past unhealthy choices have had a big impact on my ability to tolerate temperature extremes and I have to be smart about being prepared for it and to take care of myself when I'm out in it. Thanks to my friends for helping me with reminders to take breaks and get hydrated too.

Every time I go out, I learn new things and get better at the things I know. I couldn't ask for more.

Yesterday's training was recovering from Friday and Saturday. Today's training will be some time on the dry-fire range with my wife's AR so I can stay in touch with her mil-spec trigger. When I fired it over the weekend, the difference between it and my Geissele triggers was brought home to me. So I need more time with it. I'm also going to do some upper-body rifle drills.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to do a three-hour sunrise resistance workout at the gym followed by some time at the range with ten rounds per mag for reloading drills and with rubber dummy bullets randomly inserted into them for malfunction drills ... while doing ready-up drills.

This is a panoramic shot, so it's distorted. The curved striations you see in the ground are actually straight lines and all the targets are, in fact, squared up to the firing line.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/582146/July_Range_Day_3-3267501.jpg

The firing line.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/582146/July_Range_Day_2-3267502.jpg

I think there are 9 or 10 target stands out there.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/582146/July_Range_Day_1-3267500.jpg