1 Attachment(s)
CTT Solutions Hybrid Carbine/Pistol
20170828-20170830 Prado Olympic Shooting Park
Instructor
Mike Pannone; former USMC Force Recon, 1st Army Special Forces Group, Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta and several training/advisory capacities throughout government and private entities before starting CTT Solutions in 2008.
Introduction
This was my second class with Mike this year and an exclusive class with members of Southern California law enforcement agencies from LASD SEB, OCSD SWAT, Ventura County, DHS SI, DEA, etc so the class tempo and standards were raised higher than an average open enrollment class.
Equipment
Weapon Outfitter's Ballistic Advantage Aero Precision AR15 14.0 with Gessiele SMR Mk8 and Steiner P4Xi
Beretta 92G-SD with X300U-A
Safariland 6820 LASD
HSGI Battlebelt with Pistol Tacos and ITW FastMags
Off The Grid Concepts Pistol Eggrolls
JM Custom AIWB
TD1: Carbine
I missed half of day 1 due to prior obligations with a specific department and joined in with the class after the lunch break where Mike began the break down of fixing a bolt override malfunction.
Mike's break down on bolt override.
We got on line and set up our carbines with a bolt override. I observed a number of students unfamiliar with clearing the malfunction worsening the malfunction by beating the charging handle instead of holding the bolt lock back before doing so. Often resulting in worsening the malfunction that would require a tool to rack the bolt back or extensive mortaring to clear the malfunction. Average time to get the malfunction cleared should be around 25-30 seconds. Mike made it very imperative that this can be done without looking at the weapon system at all, explaining his process all while maintaining focus on the students.
We then got back up to the line and worked support side shooting. Manipulation of the selector is key with Mike, he explained why we should manipulating the selector with our trigger finger on our support side due to having overall better control of the carbine. Those who manipulate the selector with their thumb and/or either re-wrap their hand to fire a shot or keep their thumb over the selector will not have complete control of the carbine. A simple bump of the muzzle or end of the carbine would be suffice to knock the carbine out of the shooter's grasp, something very common with CQB.
We practiced transitioning from dominant side to support side shooting. At 7 yards, we had to be mindful of our mechanical offset. Running an ADM high mount which raises my 1-4x roughly under 2" off the bore so I had to adjust accordingly. Once we were accustomed to shooting off our support side, we went back to the 20 yard line and conducted the Half & Half Drill. Mike broke us into groups of 4 shooters and timed us as the end of the iteration Mike timed our final rounds at the 5 yard line. This was all shot from the support side.
I noticed the biggest problem with a lot of shooters shooting on their support side, apart from the unfamiliarity or comfort of doing so, was the distinct trigger pause in their cadences. Granted, one would notice a distinct difference in cadence when shot from dominant side versus support side, but specifically shooting only from the support side would have major instances of trigger pause in their cadences. I often practice shooting from either shoulder, so trigger pause does not happen as often and my cadence of fire from either shoulder are relatively consistent with one another. Another thing I noticed while running the Half & Half was that my LPVO was significantly faster and more accurate than those running just red dots, which was the entire class (mainly Aimpoints and EoTechs). Just observation on running the Steiner hard for the first time.
Mike closed out the day a bit early, stating that the temperature rise is really tearing some guys down so it would be best to close out before we had a heat casualty. We closed up shop and began hydrating for day two the next morning.
TD2: Carbine/Shooting on the Move
We opened up day two with our carbines. Mike wanted us to work on the bolt override malfunction sporadically during day two. We got on line and practiced clearing that malfunction. Mike really drilled it in us to be proficient about fixing problems, especially in a team setting where other people other than the general public are counting on you to conduct and perform duties in that critical incident.
We then lined up to work on shooting on the move with the pistol. Mike started us with our drawstroke from the holster. Nearly every shooter had a Safariland SLS or ALS holster on the line, including myself. We paired up and worked on shooting the ISPC A zone from 7 yards from the holster. Once we got things going, Mike then had us shoot on the move. Mike explained how and when we should break our shots while moving in any direction. We practiced moving forward and rearward while shooting. Mike then explained how to shoot when moving laterally. Basically, we do not want to overstep our angle. Once you have over stepped your angle of fire, it becomes more difficult to have a stable platform to shoot from. We practiced this on reduced sized IPSC steel, specifically A zones and "Noner" targets by Defensive Targets.
Mike set up cones for us to practice forward, lateral, and rearward movements. Key thing that was addressed was muzzle awareness. Armed professionals are expected to have an adept level of muzzle awareness, wherever the muzzle of the gun is, the operator should already know and be fully aware of where it is and whatever movements can be warranted when needing to move with the gun. This became increasingly important when Mike taught the class his insight on single hand reloads. Mike prefers to put the pistol behind our knee and kneel down to conduct the reload. Everything was intuitive in a sense from initial insertion of the magazine, insuring the magazine is seated, and sending the slide forward before reengaging. Then we did it support side; draw with support hand, fire the shot to slide lock, pin pistol behind knee, magazine insertion, insure magazine is seated, slide forward onto threat, reengage.
Once we were briefed on that aspect, we then stepped up the cones and worked the movement exercises. We all went through the course of fire at least twice before starting on the opposite end. Few things I noticed when observing other shooters moving with the gun. Muzzle direction and re-presenting the gun back on target. At first, some shooters kept their muzzles down range but that affected their movement, often at times side stepping into the next shooting position. A quick recap on explaining how to position the gun while moving, quickly fixed that problem. I have instilled in myself to if I were to move a long distance, then I would decock the gun while making movement. Mike showed us to orient the muzzle behind us while making longer strides to cover distance before pivoting to re-present the gun to shoot. Mike even addressed what most people would question about running with a DA/SA gun; whether or not to decock and go back to the long DA pull when reengaging. Mike explained earlier about proper trigger press and a DA pull should not even hinder one's ability on putting rounds on targets. He and I like to press the trigger at the end of our presentation instead of during our drawstroke, that method specifically can be contested by other DA/SA shooters but it goes down to preferences and methods.
We did the movement exercises a number of times, including a run single handed. I had forgotten that Mike wanted us to conduct the single handed reload by kneeling but since I was on the move; I reloaded from the holster while moving to the next cone. Other shooters just reloaded from their pouch with both hands, so I was sorta of right ;)
We went back to shooting carbines and practicing bolt override after lunch. We split up the class in half and we all set up bolt override malfunctions to work on. Pick up respective carbine, attempt to fire, remedial action, fix the problem, take the 50 yard shot from any position. We ran the competition three times, my side won (OCSD). Closed up the day with more talk on mindset and skill building. Overall, solid practice and recap of what I have done with Mike earlier this year for our Low Light class. We packed up our kit and his steel and went home to hydrate for the last day of class.
TD3: Covert Carry
We opened up day 3 on briefing on the difference between covert and concealed carry. Basically, conceal carry is just having the gun covered and out of relative sight to the public eye. While, covert carry is more along the lines of not having the gun even noticeable to those who would be actively looking for a gun on your body. Mike discussed the drawstroke, when working with the cover garment, we have to have principal and positive control over our garment to ensure a master grip over our gun. For single hand drawstroke, pinning the cover garment over the gun would be very imperative. A majority of the class was running striker fire guns (G19, G43, M&P variants) while myself, Pannone, and another student were running hammer guns. Mike explained why he prefers hammer guns for carrying, overall additional safety method of placing the thumb behind the hammer during reholster.
We went up to the line and practiced our drawstrokes. We then went into the Rabbit Drill. Mike had me demo it with him. The Rabbit Drill is a reactionary exercise that requires both shooter to face one another with one initiating the scenario and the other reacting and attempt to beat the person on firing a shot onto steel. I was running a full size gun against a sub/micro compact pistol like a G43 or M&P Shield against shooters who would rock out with their duty guns and beating them by a large margin in drawspeed, first shot, and accuracy.It was already a given, but it reminded me of how important it is for that certain balance to be attained.
We worked on shooting on the move again from our concealment rigs. Mike talked about the 21 foot rule and set our standard of shooting at 1.5 seconds on the draw. Some things to consider in a combative situation with someone charging onto you. We practiced the drawstroke and were timed on two shots from the draw.
Closing:
Day 3 came to a close and we broke down our kit and Mike's steel. We discussed mindset and recapped what we had gone over the past three days. Overall, I was already familiar and had already known the curriculum of the three days of training, but it was still good to compare notes with other students. Especially with students with SWAT and high level LE experience. As I have said before, Mike Pannone always brings out very solid shooters to his courses. Only serious and adept shooters sign up for his classes and this class being primarily all veteran law enforcement/military members, really pushed the envelope for what kind of standards these guys are held at and what kind of standards SWAT members and seasoned law enforcement personnel should be at.
Personal Notes:
- The gun is always talking to you, whatever you put into the gun, it will give you feedback. Diagnosing malfunction, an empty gun, etc. all of which can be solved subconsciously with reinforced prior knowledge.
- Knowing capabilities; size, distance, and ability of overall threat. Determines overall tactics.
- Carry a gun that you can be consistent with; draw speed, ease of reload, does not hinder (too much of) shooting ability. Overall a given, being able to beat the sub/micro compact pistols against shooters who are generally really good shooters.
As always, very humbling to train with Mike and alongside motivated law enforcement officers. The three days, each day could be its own two day course but the level of instruction and tempo, easily compressed into single day modules with solid shooters. I want to thank OCSD SWAT for hosting the class and allowing me to partake in it along with Mike's approval. Always a pleasure and honor gents.
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