Posted: 2/10/2003 10:42:14 PM EDT
I will be attending the Insights GDR class at WSI this weekend. Is anyone else going, or is this stuff old hat to you guys? I've only had my AR-15 for a few months ( ), so I'm expecting to learn a lot. For those that have taken this class, any tips to pass on, or recommended equipment beyond what they require that might be helpful?
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In short: the most fun I've had over a weekend in a very long time.  I felt that the course curriculum was well designed, with a good balance of lecture, dry fire drills, and live fire exercises. Each additional step of gun handling instruction seemed like a logical progression, and the live fire exercises required combining many of the basic skills together in quick succession. There was some discussion of wound ballistics, which differed from the theories espoused by the moderators in the Ammunition forum. I don't think it needs to be belabored though, as both come to the same conclusion: a rifle round is going to mess up anybody's day if you hit them in the right spots. Of the 13 shooters, 12 used ARs, 11 of those a carbine-length variant. (There was one 20" AR and one AK.) However, among the ARs there was a good variety of secondary equipment. We spent some time on the second day shooting every else's guns, so we could get an idea of what shooting was like with different scope setups and accessories. We also turned off all the lights and had a muzzle flash test. I was very surprised at how great the differences were between the guns without flash suppressors - the AK-style muzzle brake throws a HUGE jet of flame.  (The A1, A2, and Phantom flash suppressors all looked pretty much the same - extremely impressive.)Equipment-wise, my Rock River Arms carbine performed flawlessly. My ARMS #40 rear sight kept zero after being flipped up and down, and changing apetures. I found that a few of my mags had problems seating on a tactical reload, even when downloaded by 10%. I also bought some hard shell kneepads at Home Depot after the first day. Repeated quick transitions from standing to kneeling or prone on concrete are brutal without them. (I should have listened to that recommendation on their website in the first place.) In terms of course improvements, it might have been nice to live-fire the transitions to pistol. I think this was probably left out due to a lack of instructor confidence in the safety of everyone's draw stroke, and the large number of shooters in close proximity on the line, so I can not fault leaving it out for safety's sake. I would strongly recommend this class if you have any inclination to use an AR or similar rifle for defensive purposes. It is certainly not the be-all, end-all, but I believe it will provide a solid foundation in the fundamental skills necessary to perform should the need ever arise. |