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View Full Version : AAR: Mossie Tactics Carbine 2 April 28-29, 2012



Onikudaki
05-03-2012, 01:31 PM
Mossie Tactics Carbine 2
April 28th & 29th
Oak Tree Gun Club

This AAR will be put together of my own personal notes from the class and what I was able to remember off the top of my head, hopefully it comes together in a somewhat coherent manner lol. This was an advanced carbine class with a mixture of military, LE and civilian students. Buck is a strong believer in training how you fight. If you are civilian, and would most likely be carrying your handgun concealed, do not come to training to be proficient using some type of drop leg rig or other holster system that you would not be wearing in the event you had to use deadly force against an attacker. Likewise, if you are military and issued a berretta 92 do not come to class with your $2000+ 1911 that will be put back in the safe where it spends its time when you are deployed overseas.

Buck does not teach THE way, but A way to do things. Simply give it a try, and honestly assess if what he shows you works for YOU. It was made clear early on that this was not a class to teach you how to win 3gun competitions, but a class that would teach you how to run the carbine effectively in a combat situation and understand its role and limitations.

Accuracy was reinforced constantly throughout the class. You can’t miss fast enough. By the end of the day the 7 principles of marksmanship were ingrained into our brains. I will never forget them or the order in which we should remember them.

7 Principles of Marksmanship:
1. Stance – Square up to the target, and bend your knees; this is a stable standing position and allows movement in all directions.
2. Grip – Consistent eye relief cheek weld is very important for accuracy. NOSE to CHARGING HANDLE.
3. Sight Alignment – Never changes. CLEAR FRONT SIGHT TIP.
4. Sight Picture – Modified for different targets and different distances.
5. Breath Control – Also important for placing accurate shots in positions like Prone; natural respiratory pause
6. Trigger Control – Most important aspect. Consistent pressure is applied to the trigger straight to the rear. The speed may change but the pressure is always consistent.
7. Follow Through – Very misunderstood concept. This is everything applied after the shot breaks to make the next accurate shot.

We then discussed the various sling positions. Buck highly recommends a two-point sling attached near the FSB and at the rear of the stock. The best two-point sling is the Blue Force Gear VCAS sling. Gear placement on the belt was also discussed. Buck recommends the following order starting closest to your center line: rifle magazine, pistol magazine, secondary light source (or primary if you do not have a WML), and, if needed, dump pouch. If you are running a thigh rig, it should be attached at two points and you should be able to reach the pistol without having to cant your body.

Manual of Arms:
- Low Ready
- Indoor Low Ready
- High Ready (Eyes, Muzzle, Target)
- Port Arms
- Primary Side Muzzle Up
- Support Side Muzzle Down
- Primary Side Muzzle Up Climb and Carry
- Support Side Muzzle Down Climb and Carry
- Support Side Muzzle Down to on target
- Support Side Muzzle Down Climb and Carry to on target
- Tac Sling Position – Hanging in Front
- Tac Sling Position to on target
- Administrative Loading and Unloading
- Chamber Check
- Low Light Chamber Check


Next we went over the 5 shooting positions. Obviously the lower you are to the ground the more stable and thus (for most people ;)) the more accurate the position.

5 Shooting Positions:
1. Prone
- Military Prone (Toes off the deck, pointed outward in opposite direction)
- Inline Prone (Toes pointed in same directions, to the right if right handed shooter)
2. Seated (Legs push inward, arms push outward)
- Cross Legged Seated
- Cross Ankle Seated
- Open Legged Seated
3. Braced Kneel (Bone to muscle is more stable than bone to bone)
4. Speed Kneel
5. Off Hand (Standing)

After the lecture portion of the class, we proceeded to zero our rifles. Buck prefers the 100 yard zero, however due to range limitations we zeroed at 50 yards. During the zero portion of the class Buck discussed how important it is to find our Natural Point of Aim and how to achieve this. After all of the students’ rifles were zeroed Buck had a brief lecture on the internal, external and terminal ballistics of the 5.56 carbine. 2650 FPS is the magic number for the 5.56 caliber to be effective out to 300 yards. The shortest barrel to achieve this FPS is 14.5” inches; anything shorter and you might as well be shooting 22 magnum.

After a quick water break, we proceeded to cover the 5 shooting positions and shoot silhouette targets at 50 yards, these were no time limit shoots with the goal being the best 5 shot group size possible. It was emphasized to get into the desired shooting position as quickly as possible, and then take the time to find your natural point of aim and take the shot(s). We moved back to ~75 yards and ran through the 5 shooting positions again.
From here we moved to the 15 yard line and began shooting a variety of failure drills, strings of fire to the body and headshots. We discussed offset and the merits of the 100 yard and in our case the 50 yard zero.

Transition to pistol was next. Transitioning to the pistol while already in the tac-sling position is easy. Guide the rifle out of the way with the support hand and proceed to draw your pistol. Transition to pistol while the sling is not attached to the body is slightly more complicated. The two methods we were shown and told to pick one you like and get good at were: Over the head transition or superman sling and the Speed Sling. After a pistol walk back drill we broke for dinner.

After dinner, we began the low light portion of the class. Light positioning on the rifle was discussed and I will say that the Mossie Midnight Mount is the way to go on a rifle with a fixed FSB and no extended rail in front of the FSB. Buck strongly recommends running the light at the 12 o’ clock position. After his explanation of why, I see no reason to run the light at any other position. There are no down sides to running the light at 12 o’ clock and plenty of reasons not to run it at other positions. The low light shoot started running through another rolling thunder drill from 50 yards in which we ran through the 5 shooting positions. Next was more 15 yard shooting focusing on light discipline and moving after engaging the threat. Come up on target with light on, engage threat, search and assess with light on and safety off. Safety goes on, light goes off, and MOVE. When clearing a malfunction, whether it be an out of battery speed reload or any other malfunction, turn the light off and MOVE. Once recovered, light comes back on, and re-engage the threat.

Day 2 focused on building off what was covered on day 1. We started off with a review of the various sling positions and another rolling thunder drill to touch on what was covered on day 1 and quickly moved on to engaging multiple targets. To work on this topic we ran the Hackathorn drill multiple times. This was a class favorite and was run again towards the end of class.

Tactical reloads were demonstrated and explained by Buck, then practiced in all of the 5 different shooting positions by the students. Being able to effectively execute a tactical reload in the prone, seated, kneeling and standing positions is important, not just while standing. From here on out the class was responsible for their own ammo management through all courses of fire. If you had down time, load magazines, move around magazines on your person and chamber check/tac reload prior to running a drill. There were a couple instances where students started a drill with a magazine that only had a few rounds left in it from the previous drill, or transition to an empty pistol.

Next was turning to engage threats at 90 degrees to the left or right and 180 degrees to the rear. Look before you move. Always step towards the threat; if you step backwards you are stepping into the unknown. Turn the same way you looked, pivoting on the foot of the side you looked, again stepping towards the threat.

Finally we covered shooting on the move. Imagine your self carrying a pitcher that is filled to the brim. That is how you walk/run when shooting on the move. Shoot when the sights are aligned. Your shots should not be dependent upon your footing or when both feet are firmly planted on the ground. DON’T STOP MOVING to reload, clear a malfunction, or transition to pistol. After working on shooting and moving in a forward and rearward direction, lateral movement was discussed. Whether you side step or turn the hips and move laterally is dependent upon how fast you need to move. To cover all of the various directions of movement, we ran The Humbler. This was a personal favorite and truly challenging drill.


If you have not had the opportunity to train with Buck Mossie yet, I highly recommend you sign up for a class. The real world experience that Buck brings to the table to provide the why behind what he is teaching, along with his ability to teach what he is showing students is very rare. Buck, thank you for an excellent class! Another thank you to Battle Comp and Bravo Company USA for the swag!