Northern Red Gunfighter Carbine - Palmyra, PA - Aug 5-7, 2016

ggammell

Does not pass up an opportunity to criticize P&S.
Northern Red Gunfighter Carbine
Aug 5-7, 2016
Palmyra, PA (near Hershey


Who: Northern Red

They are a little different then some of the other well known training groups. Most places, the figurehead of the company is the instructor (i.e . Haley or Falla etc). This is not the case. Most associate Northern Red With J.D. Potynsky or Tom Spooner however; they have a cadre of instructors. The instructors for this class were part of the cadre. One instructor did the majority of the teaching with the other just getting into the teaching game so he was the demo guy. Names are left out since they seem like pretty low-key types. Instruction was top notch. Very clear instructions with practical relevance with goals of learning and progressing. They do work with high-level head people so they understand the learning process and integrate that into the program. They do not believe in burning through ammo for the sake of just shooting. They seek the perfect rep. If you don’t have it that day, stop while you’re ahead instead of burning in bad reps. That’s huge. And they were dumbfounded at the round count of other classes I’ve taken.

One other item of note, is that these instructors in particular left the military within the last 2 years so their combat experience is very recent (as opposed to guys who got out 10+ years ago). Their resumes stack up just the same as Potynsky or Spooner so you’re not left disappointed.


The Students: 10 total. Everyone had a background in arms of some sort. Many were active LEO; some were former military. One was soon to be. Small classes are awesome.


Where: Palmyra Sportsman’s Association

This is pretty sizable facility. Multiple ranges from 25-yard pistol to 200-yard rifle. Bow targets all over the place. One hiccup we had was the inability of the instructors to get in contact with the range staff so we ended up starting on the wrong range. So after about an hour, we had to pack up and drive to the other end of the complex to get to the range we were supposed to be. The range staff also collected the brass at the end of each day.


When:

August. Humid. Hot. On the range, little shelter. I definitely did not bring enough water. Thanks to the other guys who lent a bottle.


Equipment:

There was a real good mix of stuff. Several BCM rifles (including the cadre who were shooting stock BCM 14.5 mids), at least one bushmaster, some Daniel Defense, Noveske. Optics from Vortex variable power to a few different Aimpoints and a few Eotechs (none of which failed in any sort). In fact, the instructor sung high praise for Eotech and noted that he personally had not seen the zero shift issue.

One of the instructors did some damage to a BCM stock while demonstrating a mortaring malfunction clearance. A DD gun had a stock that would collapse under recoil every few rounds. No one could even figure out how to get the thing off. Luckily a second rifle was at hand. It was refreshing to see the instructors not shooting some whiz-bang gun with the latest comp and stuff.

The program started off with a 400-point diagnostic assessment. This was humbling. Not hard but it really showed deficiencies (which is exactly the point). It would be repeated at the end of the class to gauge progress (and there was, by every shooter).

The lesson plan takes you through a methodical course on the fundamentals and application of accurate fire. Of note here, is that the instructors really did not demonstrate. Now what they were asking for was pretty easy to go with for one (for instance, 1 shot in the upper A-zone in less that .75 seconds). This continued throughout the class. If they shot more than 100 rounds for the weekend I would be surprised.

There were a number of breaks in the class, not for the sake of a break but rather for discussion of certain topics like weapon setup, tactical medicine, instructor background, application of what we learned on the range, target locations, speed of follow up shots. Bottom line is that not everything has to be taught on the firing line. Plus it gave us a good chance to rehydrate, get out of the sun, stuff mags etc.

Northern Red staff are advocates of the 100 yard zero. Looking for a fist-sized group of 10 shots in the black on a B8 bull target. Having worked off a 50 yard zero for a few years, it took some getting used to.

For positional shooting, they hit prone, standing and kneeling. Range limitations prevents us from doing barricade drills but the positions were demo’d by the instructors. The range was supposed to have some steel on hand but did not. There were no unusual or alternate position drills.

I don’t want to say it’s a low round count class because at the end of the program, I fired just under 1100 rounds total but you wont generally speaking shoot more than a few rounds per run. When they combined drills (usually a competition, you could hit 12 rounds per run). One drill continually engaging a threat while moving forward (constant fire from the threat call to about the 3 yard line) ate almost a full mag. So supply wise, 2, maybe three mags with you is all you need.

Each day ended with a competition (one of the drills we learned that day) for bragging rights. And each day went a full day. 8-5 with an hour break for lunch was the norm. You definitely get serious bang for the buck

So the company recommends 900 rounds for a 3 day class. You WILL need more of that to accomplish the lesson plan. They are aware and working on correcting the discrepancy.

These guys keep things really simple. They demonstrate and dispel some of the more difficult “conventional” wisdom (you know, what “Big Sarge” will tell you) in favor of natural movement with weapons manipulation. A person who had never fired a carbine before would walk out of the class with a wealth of information and new skills. An experienced shooter will walk out of the class with a refreshed sense of the fundamentals and easier methods for doing stuff they could already do.

The instructors stressed that once you’re a student with them, you have total access to their resources forever. Got a gun question? Ask. If they don’t know, they will go find out for you. “Want to learn how to fly a space shuttle? We’ll go find someone to teach you.” Quote. That’s quite the backstop to their program. I’m going to want to find these guys again. Soon.
 
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