Howdy SHTF party peeps, guest post today from “Sir Lancelot”. Lancelot took a class at Weaponcraft and offered up the following review for SHTFblog readers. Sounds like he had a good time. Acquire skills like you acquire gear – BEFORE you need it.
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Greetings fellow survivalists
I have been visiting this blog for about a year and just finished taking the Urban Rifle 1 course at Weaponcraft. Having no military training, I was interested in getting some training with the AR-15 rifle. The time and money required traveling several states away to attend some other training sites was not in the foreseeable future. Although we qualify once a year with the AR (state corrections) it is very basic stuff and I was looking for some more in-depth training.
It was cloudy in Boston, but I decided to take the motorcycle anyway ,rain be damned! The weather started improving and by the time I reached the Rod and Gun club it was sunny and hot. (I had to travel to Maine to find nice summer weather in September, go figure.)
The range was a clean , well kept area. The 2 instructors were friendly, and kept things moving and organized. We singed the liability waivers, got our safety briefing, introductions to the staff and started the day sighting in our rifles (mine was a Bushmaster M4 rental).
All the shooting positions were covered: standing, kneeling, prone, barricades, strong side, and weak side. I shot the barrier twice even after the instructors informed us of the front site to muzzle distance. Having two instructors provided two schools of thought, different ways for holding and supporting the rifle, iron sights vs. optics, etc. There was no right or wrong way, just options. Both instructors taught the universal basics of good marksmanship: sight picture, breathing and trigger squeeze. The other interesting thing was we used a bungee sling instead of the traditional shoulder strap. These proved to be handy in the transition to pistol drills and gave me that real “operator” feeling :-)
We broke for a quick lunch and it was time to “run and gun”. For me this was the best part. Not that I didn’t like the basic marksmanship stuff (lord knows i need it), but running and shooting is something that just won’t fly at my local sportsman’s club. We covered all aspects of shooting on the move and at the end ran through a course of fire were we where timed for speed and accuracy.
The instructors always kept things moving and kept the BSing down to a minimum which was great because that meant more trigger time and less talk. The class was a really great bunch of guys. I thought there would be more cops, but most, if not all were average working guys with lots of firepower (you’re a dangerous bunch in Maine :-) ).
I was concerned there might be some gun snobs sneering at my rented rig or some condescending SWAT types, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. The day was relaxed, easy going, but always a professional atmosphere with a strong emphasis on safety (which I like).
I would recommend this class to anyone looking to get some solid training with a rifle (there was one young gentleman with a very nice AK), so even if you want to bring something other than the AR that’s fine with the folks at Weaponcraft. I was thinking of bringing my politically correct mini-14, but opted to try out the M4.
The price was $175 for the day, $100 for the rental ( nice piece of hardware and didn’t have to clean it at the end of the day ! ) and $15 for the t-shirt :-)
Looking forward to the Urban Rifle 2 :-)
Check em out if you get the chance.
Sir Lancelot
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Thanks a lot, Lancelot.
– Ranger Man
4 comments
No comments yet, we must all be jealous, and as with my shooting club, all that is allowed is static shooting, one cannot wear a holstered gun at all let alone darw to shoot, how real is all that. Shooting and moving is the way to stay alive so states my USMC friend’s, so kudo’s, great post, as always much to ponder…..
I know the feeling. I don’t belong to a club, per se , but when I do head out to the gravel pit to go shooting, either alone or with friends, I always have plans to do some shooting on the move, either walking down the target or switching guns mid-session and going from rifle to pistol or shotgun to pistol. I’m not set up for 3 guns in a session. I don’t think it’d be too realistic anyway as when you’re in a “situation” you rarely, if ever have 3 different guns on you. The only downside to my “method” is that the target isn’t moving, and it certainly isn’t shooting back at you. Although, I could probably put a target on one of those old tires out there and roll it down a dirt pile to get it moving. Just a thought. BTW, I am a bit jealous. Not so much at the fact the man went to Weaponcraft, and definitely not at the fact that he lives in Massachusetts. I’m jealous at the young guy he mentions who owns a “very nice AK.” Also, thanks for the compliment on Mainers being a “dangerous bunch.” We did take over a British warship, back during the very early part of the Revolution (1775), using mostly pitchforks (Battle of Machias). We’re only dangerous because we’re prepared. If we were like alot of the victims of natural disasters you see on the national news programs, a little old state like Maine wouldn’t ever be an issue on the national/international stage.
I have taken UR01 and its a great course, and hes right most of the guys there from Maine had plenty of firepower and were good shots.
I know its crazy to respond to a post that is 2 years old, but I believe I was the gentlemen with the very nice AK. I could be wrong but I took the class around septemberish of 2008. I just stumbled across this site while searching for peoples opinion of Weaponcraft. I think they’re awesome and they deserve a lot of credit.