Just a short AAR, this was a small class with a few military, industry people and friends at the Ant Hill range in North Carolina. AWESOME range, very clean, more than adequate facility with access to a props and a little longer range than I'm used to at a carbine class. It was a three day class, and I was shooting more than taking photos, so I don't have as many.

I've taken this class before and while the structure is usually similar, there's always new drills and info. If you take one of their classes with either Costa or with Travis, you will have an excellent class. If you happen to get a class where they are both instructing, hold on. Each of them are very serious, energetic and passionate about what they are doing. Each of these qualities is equally matched by their sense of humor, especially when doing a class together. If you've seen it, you know what I mean, if you haven't, you wont know until you do see it.

What I always enjoy about Magpul Dynamics classes is how hard I am pushed to do things I may have never done before. There are always confidence building drills followed by drills which will push you to the limit of melt down. For example, On day two they set up a drill where with about 5 or 6 steel plates about 170 yards down range. I don't know how big the plates were, not huge though, maybe 6"x8"? Either way, it seems a little far, especially when they told us we had to hit them from offhand, then from supported standing positions, using a few large wooden barricades as a rest. I was using a new LaRue 12" barrel Stealth gun with a Aimpoint T1 that day. I actually had a Short Dot in my range bag and thought about getting it, but I figured I would be cheating myself by gaming it that way. I had the gun with the Aimpoint, I should use it to run the drill. Chris and Travis both demo'd the drill before we ran it. One, the other or both will almost always demo every drill they ask students to run. I think that's admirable. Sure enough, all of us were hitting the steel with greater frequency than most of us expected. Going into it I expected I could finish the drill fine, but figured I would have easily as many misses as hits. By the time I was done, if I had to make a dozen hits, I think I only missed about 3 shots. By the end of the drill, I was feeling pretty confident.

Very next drill was a melt down drill. I don't know what they call it but about everyone who runs it simply calls it exhausting. Its one of my favorites and if I ruined it here by telling you what it was, it wouldn't be as fun if you get to do it, so I'll simply say it will involve you, a partner, shooting, moving, verbal commands, verbal replies, transitioning, tac loading, speed loading and a bunch of mags. Everything is done while moving. If you stop moving at any point they will get on you to move it! I've run it plenty times before and knew exactly what to expect. Didn't matter, I spent so much time concentrating on my moving, communicating, transitioning and loading, I think I must have pulled 2/3 of my pistol shots. I guess sight picture and trigger control took a back seat to the rest of the madness that was going on in the drill.

The most challenging drill was probably the one which required the least ammo. 100 yards down range, there must have been 18 or 20 targets set up. Each of them had what looked like a police sketch of a face on them. We were so far away we couldn't see the faces. Chris and Travis would take two of the faces and show them to you up range. Then you had to run to the targets, but they would not let you get closer than about 15 yards to them. In the crowd of targets you had to pick out the two they showed you and hit them, being careful not to hit any of the others, especially those which may have been behind your hostiles. I went first, they gave me about 10 seconds to look at the ones I needed to hit. I thought I had it. About halfway down range I pretty much completely forgot what they looked like and I didn't know what I was going to do. When I got closer to the targets, I was saved by remembering a couple very small details which set my targets apart from some of the others. Not everyone who ran the drill was so lucky.

It was another great class, I was happy to have been there. Thanks to Costa and Travis, The guys from Aimpoint and Drake from Magpul for the Pmags! Thanks to the Ant Hill Range, and chromeluv for driving! Here's some pictures we were able to snap.

PS: I shot the car

No, not an employee, just a friend of Costa's before there was such a thing as Magpul Dynamics.

Sorry I missed the earlier question asking about the mil guys. One of the two Aimpoint guys I was an Army SF type, the guy shooting next to me is a Marine, one of the other guys in the class was is out of the Marines, and there was one other guy there who I dont remember what he did but it was something involved.

As for lauging at the guy who shot the window... had I been there, I might have laughed too. But only because I would have been glad it wasn't me. Everyone screws up once in a while. I've seen and come to believe that the really good shooters simply recover from a screw up much faster than someone who will let a screw up fluster, usually making them commit further mistakes.

PS: Costa is my BFF

Chromeluv is right. Most people at the class had silencers, and most of us used them at one point or another. But as I recall, everyone ran the class without one the majority of the time.

Silencers show up at classes I go to with MUCH more frequency in the last year or two. Chromeluv and I both have run through a few classes suppressed from start to finish, so have some others I have seen. Personally, I probably wont be doing much of that any more. Among other reasons (which I posted in the parts that break in carbine courses thread) extended high round count shooting will dramatically decrease the life of your can.

No, not that I have seen, but they would be the ones to say for sure. There were so many silencers in the second disk of the DVD because some of the people in it worked for AAC, and a couple others were from Polite Society (silencer dealer). If you notice, Chris and Travis rarely have cans on their guns.

Your in better shape than me... Heck, I dont even rate.

Find a range and a dozen friends and make it happen! Thats what I did.