The AK has come a long way in the US market since I first started shooting at least in terms of perception and aftermarket support. It used to be perceived as a battle rifle for bubbas who didn’t want to spend on something better and there was no use developing high-end accessories for $200 rifles – the bubbas wouldn’t buy them. Now the AK is seeing a resurgence in popularity and a golden age of development that is dragging the Kalash into the future.
As more and more people find out that the old stamped steel workhorse is capable of more performance than they have been told over the years, they are understandably looking to find the limits. That can only mean one thing. It’s time for an AK-centric practical shooting competition. Enter the Red Oktober Kalashnikov Championship.
The Red Oktober Kalashnikov Championship is a shooting competition that will be held on October 29-30 at the Southern Utah Practical Shooting Range in St. George, Utah. It will have a class system like any other practical rifle competition and the rifles employed will be limited to Kalashnikovs and some other combloc weapons.The match will be held over two days on a half-day schedule and will have room for up to 200 shooters. It will consist of 10 courses of fire (2 at night, 8 daylight) spread over the two days with a round count of 350.
The rules are already being hashed out. Karl Kasarda, of InRange TV and various other practical rifle events in the southwest, and Jim Fuller, of Rifle Dynamics, have provided input on the rules and structure of the event. With Karl’s experience hosting practical firearms competition and Jim’s guru-level AK knowledge, this is shaping up to be a great event.
If you want to learn more about the event, you can check out their website and Facebook page.
Your wife wants a real vacation. You want to take a precision rifle course. You can both get what you want with the APO Experience.
APO stands for Ashbury Precision Ordnance, one of the premier names in precision rifles. The APO Experience is an all-inclusive precision rifle training experience that is similar to a premium golf getaway or high-end hunting lodge experience. You get to work with APO to choose from their beautiful training locations and accommodations. They provide top-flight trainers, 5 star accommodations, gourmet food, and a variety of seriously cool rifles.
In the courses, you will get a chance to train on long range targets, extreme long range targets, high angle shooting, and more. This is real long range training that is tailored to anyone from the beginner to the experienced.
I was given the opportunity to review Vehicle CQB with William Petty – an on demand training video featuring instructor William Petty and produced by Firelance Media. The video seeks to give shooters tools that they can use in a conflict that takes place in or directly around a vehicle and, along the way, it slays more than a few sacred cows.
Video Training Done Right
Much of the video training content that is out there walks the fine line between entertainment and training. There is always some value in viewing training content but it will never be a replacement for in-person training with a skilled instructor. Video remains a powerful medium for conveying ideas but is more limited for conveying skills.
Vehicle CQB works so well as a video because it isn’t necessarily a shooting skill course. It is more of a problem-solving course. The handling of basic shooting positions is a great example of this. The video doesn’t teach you the basic shooting positions. It shows you how they might be used when fighting around a vehicle. That is an important distinction and one of the biggest reasons this video works so well.
This is very specific material that most people would never have access to outside of video. Most ranges don’t allow you to shoot vehicles and courses like this are hard to find for the civilian shooter. The material is presented with a depth that could never be accomplished in a shooting course. This type of depth can only be presented in a vehicle specific course or video.
Vehicle CQB is heavy on ideas rather than specific skills and it presents subject matter that would otherwise be inaccessible for most people. This video is what video training can and should be.
Quality Instructional Design
Vehicle CQB is very well executed from an instructional design standpoint. The format of the video and logical progression will feel familiar to you if you have ever attended a shooting course from a quality instructor. Objectives and context are given, the basics are built upon, new information is introduced, and then the students are expected to apply that new information in drills.
The video follows a group of students through a Vehicle CQB course as taught by William Petty. As with any good course, it starts in the classroom where objectives are set and context is given. This initial lecture phase sets the table for the instruction that follows on the range.
The range portion of the video takes place over three days with each serving as a subsequent block of instruction with a debrief at the end of each. The first block teaches the student how to use and tweak the shooting positions that they should already know to be more effective around a vehicle. These are not new shooting positions but rather refinements that are applicable for use around any cover, not just vehicles.
The second range block introduces the ballistic concepts that set this video apart. I don’t want to give away to much in this review but it was paradigm shifting for me. I have attended shooting courses before where the extent of the vehicle related instruction given was something to the effect of “Only the wheels and engine block are cover” or “Vehicles are bullet magnets and you should get away from them ASAP.” Petty systematically shows, caliber by caliber, that there are many more points of cover than that to be found on a vehicle. This is powerful content when you consider that we spend a significant time in vehicles on open road where cover is sparse. There may not be other cover to run to so it makes sense to know how to maximize the only cover you have rather than exposing yourself needlessly by leaving it.
The final range block finds us on the range with Petty and his students while they apply their new found knowledge. The drills are many and varied. They include students working along and in pairs to exit a vehicle while engaging cardboard targets, drills that are heavy on information processing, and some very illuminating force-on-force drills. There are plenty of ideas here that you can incorporate into your own training even if it just dry fire. The force-on-force content in particular is excellent in that you get a chance to see many of the concepts introduced earlier by Petty playing out exactly as he said they would in a dynamic way.
The debriefs that follow each range block do a good job of personalizing the training and driving home the main points. There are also interviews with Petty interspersed that gives us a window into his mind and these do a good job of delving deeper into the context of the course.
Context is Key
Petty does an excellent job of giving context in this video and that is something that is often sorely lacking from training videos. He sets the overall context early in the video in the classroom portion and then doesn’t deviate from the theme of armed conflict happening in and around the immediate area of a vehicle. Even the familiar aspects of this training like shooting positions are handled within the context of Vehicle CQB. This specific context and very limited scope is key to understanding what is being conveyed in this instruction.
He also gives rich depth of context to two specific techniques that, without context, are often regarded as cool guy stuff for internet operators – urban prone and temple index. I have never seen urban prone taught in such a complete way or, frankly, a way that makes so much sense. Petty shows graphically its utility for shooting under objects like vehicles and why more traditional prone positions fall short in this context.
Temple index has been particularly controversial as of late but that is largely due to it use out of context as some sort of default ready position. Petty shows the correct (as in safe) way to do it, why it is preferred to other positions in this context, and when it is applicable. As he says, “That shit is not hot sauce, you can’t put it on everything.”
William Petty as an Instructor
I’ll qualify this by saying that have not met William Petty in person. However, he comes across as very personable in the video (and all the various outtakes released by Firelance Media). He seems warm and humorous with a laid back style and a willingness to demo the concepts that he talks about. You’ll come away from this wanting to train in person with him.
His command of the subject matter really shines through. The second day is spent shooting vehicles with calibers ranging from 9mm to .308. During that entire day of filming, everything happens as he says it will which indicates that he has spent a lot of time shooting cars for research. On the third day, all of the concepts that he introduces are born out in the force-on-force scenarios in the exact way he presented them. All of this points to a man who has done his homework.
Slick Presentation
The overall quality of the presentation is excellent. It looks great. The camera is seemingly always in the right place to see exactly what Petty is demoing or the students are working through. The editing keeps the pace lively without glossing over important details. It feels very polished and complete. I highlights what needs to be highlighted and uses clever editing to emphasis important points. It feels like you are in the course, following the progression but also outside of it, picking the brain of the instructor.
The video is delivered via Vimeo. Accessing it was seamless and streaming it in HD was easy, even on my North Idaho DSL connection.
Wrap Up
I realize that I have barely touched on the specifics of the content in this video and that is by design. It is always a challenge to write reviews like this without giving up too much of the content. Rest assured, the ballistic content alone is worth Vehicle CQB’s cost. It is even better when you consider how it is expertly woven into the overall presentation.
The content will change how you think about any vehicle and the context given will change how you think about various techniques. Seeing the concepts play out on video exactly as they are introduced by Petty will give you confidence that you can take his word. Vehicle CQB progresses logically and is easy to follow. It is an entirely appropriate and effective use of video as an instruction medium.
William Petty and Firelance Media have released their anticipated Vehicle CQB video. This video fills an important void in the training plans of many shooters. We all spend significant time in and around vehicles yet it remains difficult for many to find training sources that deal with the realities fighting around cars in any kind of meaningful way or that even allow vehicles on their range.
Land navigation can be a fun hobby when applied toward orienteering and it can be a vital skill when you are off the trail (or even on it). Like any other skill, there is plenty of gear and training that will make land navigation easier. You can spend a fortune amassing all that gear from various sources… Unless, someone does the leg work for you.
ITS Tactical is offering the ITS Land Navigation Starter Pack via their webstore. It comes with everything you need to get started in land nav except the map and compass.
The contents include:
DIY Pace Count Beads Kit w/ 26” Length of Paracord and 13 Beads (paracord color may vary)
Reference Card Pack Including:
UTM, MGRS, USNG Reference Card
Declination & Compass Rose Reference Card
Latitude Longitude Reference Card
Time, Speed, and Distance Reference Card
Millimeter Grid Reference Card
Inclinometer for Slope Angle Reference Card
Pocket Magnifier
Pocket Sized UTM Slot Tool (Protractor)
ITS Golf Pencil
Book – Using your GPS with UTM Coordinates (3rd Ed.)
Map Math Instruction Sheet
North Reference Sheet
USGS Topographic Map Symbols Pamphlet
Locating Coordinate Grid Information on USGS Maps Pamphlet
Tools for Working with UTM, MGRS and USNG Coordinates Pamphlet
This kit is impressive in its how complete it is but also in its price. Many of those items, especially the reference cards and map/UTM tools can cost several dollars a piece when purchased separately. On top of that, you likely wouldn’t be able to get all of them at the same place which would leave you paying shipping on multiple orders.
