Cole_McD
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2A Bourbon Hound 2024
2A Bourbon Hound OG
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I attended @Apex Defense Group Scoped Carbine course this past weekend and wanted to offer a summary and some thoughs since I did thoroughly enjoy the course.
I've taken 6 or 7 classes with Apex over the past year or so, however mostly oriented towards 300 yards and in with an emphasis on closer in shooting and cqb. I'm also much less experienced on riflescopes and lpvo's than I am on red dots or a simple prism scope, hence why I wanted to learn a little more.
Part 1 - the class began with a couple close range drills focusing on getting accustomed to the nuances of lpvo/mpvos at close range engagements. There was a emphasis on precision and height over bore close in before moving back a little further and working transitions and a few light relays. I ran the class with a min 3 power optic so it was good to get some close range reps in, not something I'd worked much prior on a 3-18 š¬.
Part 2 - after wrapping up thoughts on close range shooting we took a quick reload break and Chrono'd everyone's ammo. It was pretty surprising to see the range of velocities from the same ammo on the same barrel length (pmc xtac was running a full 100fps faster out of my 16" barrel than out of @beeleafs 16" barrel). Once everyone had chronographs their loads we used a ballistic calculator to work up tables for everyone's rifle. Again this was brand new to me, so pretty educational. We had a brief discussion of Mils and Moa and then broke for lunch.
Part 3 - after lunch it was time for hard zeros. Pretty straightforward, we all confirmed zero at 100 yards.
Part 4 - using our ballistic data, we started engaging steel from 300 out to 500 yards with a pretty target rich environment of c zone to a zone steel set up at pretty random distances in-between 300 and 500. Everyone had a chance to work their turrets and dial solutions and get impacts and make adjustments as necessary.
Part 5 - barricade work. We discussed off axis shooting and shot from urban prone, off unstable ladders, and ran x drills at range. For sure shooting a rifle sideways at 500 was pretty nutty, honestly not sure how practical it is, but nonetheless I was able to figure out my holds and get impacts doing so. Better to have that skill than not I suppose.
Part 6 - final portion of the class and it was time for fun. We walked up 150 yards and ran relays for speed. Emphasis was on fast engagements between 175 and 350 while working through standing, kneeling, supported kneeling, prone, etc. Given the time crunch this was a great opportunity to practice dialing different elevations under a time crunch. Definitely a on of fun.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the class and left with a much greater knowledge base on how to work my turrets (mil in my case) and also left with the information I need to continue practicing on my own time. I definitely recommend the class to anyone looking to get started on some intermediate range shooting by actually dialing as opposed to attempting to true a BDC reticle.
If anyone is curious, I was running a home built rifle, 16" FN barrel, dd quad rail, magpul bipod, strike eagle 3-18 in Mil, hate the scope honestly, but it served its purpose in getting my feet wet. Shooting 55gr pmc for the close range portion and 77gr AAC SMK at distance.
I've taken 6 or 7 classes with Apex over the past year or so, however mostly oriented towards 300 yards and in with an emphasis on closer in shooting and cqb. I'm also much less experienced on riflescopes and lpvo's than I am on red dots or a simple prism scope, hence why I wanted to learn a little more.
Part 1 - the class began with a couple close range drills focusing on getting accustomed to the nuances of lpvo/mpvos at close range engagements. There was a emphasis on precision and height over bore close in before moving back a little further and working transitions and a few light relays. I ran the class with a min 3 power optic so it was good to get some close range reps in, not something I'd worked much prior on a 3-18 š¬.
Part 2 - after wrapping up thoughts on close range shooting we took a quick reload break and Chrono'd everyone's ammo. It was pretty surprising to see the range of velocities from the same ammo on the same barrel length (pmc xtac was running a full 100fps faster out of my 16" barrel than out of @beeleafs 16" barrel). Once everyone had chronographs their loads we used a ballistic calculator to work up tables for everyone's rifle. Again this was brand new to me, so pretty educational. We had a brief discussion of Mils and Moa and then broke for lunch.
Part 3 - after lunch it was time for hard zeros. Pretty straightforward, we all confirmed zero at 100 yards.
Part 4 - using our ballistic data, we started engaging steel from 300 out to 500 yards with a pretty target rich environment of c zone to a zone steel set up at pretty random distances in-between 300 and 500. Everyone had a chance to work their turrets and dial solutions and get impacts and make adjustments as necessary.
Part 5 - barricade work. We discussed off axis shooting and shot from urban prone, off unstable ladders, and ran x drills at range. For sure shooting a rifle sideways at 500 was pretty nutty, honestly not sure how practical it is, but nonetheless I was able to figure out my holds and get impacts doing so. Better to have that skill than not I suppose.
Part 6 - final portion of the class and it was time for fun. We walked up 150 yards and ran relays for speed. Emphasis was on fast engagements between 175 and 350 while working through standing, kneeling, supported kneeling, prone, etc. Given the time crunch this was a great opportunity to practice dialing different elevations under a time crunch. Definitely a on of fun.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the class and left with a much greater knowledge base on how to work my turrets (mil in my case) and also left with the information I need to continue practicing on my own time. I definitely recommend the class to anyone looking to get started on some intermediate range shooting by actually dialing as opposed to attempting to true a BDC reticle.
If anyone is curious, I was running a home built rifle, 16" FN barrel, dd quad rail, magpul bipod, strike eagle 3-18 in Mil, hate the scope honestly, but it served its purpose in getting my feet wet. Shooting 55gr pmc for the close range portion and 77gr AAC SMK at distance.
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