AR15/CARBINE CLASS Feb 13th/14th

[Airgator0470]

I had two failures in two rifles.

Failure 1 took the rifle out of the training. I had a Tennessee Arms poly lower where the safety selector became increasingly difficult to manipulate. I tore it down tonight, and it appears that the detent had put enough force into the hole in the receiver to make it oval, allowing the detent to rock in the hole instead of only going up and down. The selector is pitted all to hell now as well. This was a new LPK that was installed. I plan on contacting TA tuesday.

Failure 2 occurred in my lefty AR. Spikes lower, LPK unknown. I was getting random failure to hold the bolt open. First instance was with one of Bob's metal mags. Later this happened with 5/6 of my pmags. Upon inspection tonight, I discovered that the bolt hold open latch was sticking, to the point that the follower was unable to force it into a full up position. I swapped this out and now have correct operation again.

I shot the class left side because I am cross dominant with a stronger left eye. I think I was more accurate and faster on the left side to acquire targets and complete follow-up shots, but still felt more fluid and had better fine motor skills on the right. Overall, the ease with which I can focus on my left side leads me to want to stay on the left. Shooting with both eyes open was much easier on the left, and the controls are not SO much different that I was unable to find a way to make it work. I will say that the AR-15/M-16/et al were designed for right handed shooters. Manipulating the bolt, over the optic is difficult and I'm not really sure if I performed failure operations with my left or right hand.

Overall, I had a great time and think I learned a lot. The advanced class had a bit too much repeat info from the basic class. I feel the first hour was lost in order to catch up the people who opted to skip basic. The basic class was the perfect intro to the platform, both in the classroom and hands on. I shot basic with iron sights, and am glad I did. It gave me a good idea of what my limitations are with irons, as well as an indication that, in many cases, irons will be good enough to end a threat. I'm not driving tacks with irons, but I'm also not missing as much as I though I might.

We definitely learned what did not work. Namely, AK-47s did not work. 9/10 failures on the line were attributed to the one guy who brought an AK. Sure you can call it operator error, that's fine. Also, Bob hates the AK platform, as well as 1911's, and cheap mall ninja crap. Muzzle brakes have no business being on a home defense gun. SBRs are really loud, and pose a similar hearing threat to anyone, bad guy, or good guy, who may be in front on it. 2lb suppressors hanging off the front of a 16" AR, work, but suck to carry.

Thanks again for putting on a great class.

I appreciate the feedback. What specific block of instruction(s) or drill(s) would you recommend I drop from the second class so as not to have students feel time was wasted?

Keep in mind... the BASIC class and ADVANCED class, as scheduled and ran, are two "stand alone" classes. In training, I believe there should be a slight overlap/review from one session/class to another. When teaching tasks A,B,C,D,E the next class should start at D or E and progress from there... as a building block approach.

Constructive feedback is critical for any instructor wishing to improve... I'm all ears... I welcome any/all suggestions.