Official AAR: Sean M/F2S Epic Carbine Course of Win and Bacon

**Jay Cunningham** · 05-17-2015, 05:04 PM

This is the official after action report thread for the Sean M/F2S Epic Carbine Course of Win and Bacon which took place on May 16/17 in Beaver Falls, PA.

**Vinh** · 05-17-2015, 10:18 PM

Thanks to Sean and F2S for taking the time to teach the class, as well as TCinVA for helping out.

Thanks to Jay for hosting the class.

Thanks to Tom for the CCC mag pouches and Aray for the miracle lube.

I had a great time dragging my MR556 around and learned some good stuff.

**Josh Runkle** · 05-18-2015, 07:31 AM

This was a wonderful course. It fell within the objectives of how it was listed as a pretty basic course for the average carbine owner running gear in a self-defense, home-defense setup.

Friday night began with a get together that went from 1830-2300ish. Free food was catered in thanks to Tom Jones and PF. There was no food left over, if that's an indication of quality. The scotch was of decent quality in more than decent supply. Honestly, conversation was fairly limited, since it was so fascinating to listen to Sean and Jack tell tall tales and war stories and everything in between. Everyone got a little more vocal as the scotch got passed around several times. The get together alone was a blast and well worth the trip out. Hanging out with gun owners, especially ones who aren't idiots and don't think they're God's gift to mankind is always a good time.

Saturday started around 0900, with most people arriving around 0800, and it ended around 1730-1800. Weather was slightly overcast, warm and humid, with sprinkles or rain on and off throughout the day.

Sean taught the first portion until about 1400-1500. We covered basic fundamentals of carbine work from about 5-50 yards. Much of the focus on day one was under 25 yards during Sean's portion.

The last 2-3 hours of the day one were spent with Jack covering fundamental firing positions around the 100 yard line. Prone, various seated, kneeling and standing positions were covered. Obviously, every shooter that wants to become a great shooter needs to master the fundamentals. While the information sounds oversimplified as I describe it, as if it were something you could watch on a video or read in a book, there were constant "nuggets" of golden information that were no-nonsense, no-bullshit, that you CANNOT simply get by reading a book or taking a local class on fundamentals. Sean and Jack very clearly do things differently and approach things from different angles, yet it was very amazing how easily their information flowed together.

Saturday night involved a night out getting beers at a local pub, is my understanding, however, I went to bed early around 2030. My understanding is that everyone else closed down the bar.

Sunday was similar times and weather, although it got very sunny the last few hours of the course. Sunday was a faster pace than Saturday. Jack taught until about noon, and we shot various positions, leading up to shooting the 400 aggregate before moving over to Sean around noon. We shot a modified version of the navy qual with Sean before lunch. After lunch we went through decision making on multiple target engagement at CQB distances with Sean. Jack had to head out for the airport around that time. We shot "Sean's Box Drill", as I have no other name for it, and I already shoot other drills that I call a "Box Drill". His involved remaining in place and creating a "box" between target engagements. Simple drill, but one I can improve on. I started hitting my failure point around this time of the day, which was great, because you aren't learning of you aren't failing. You won't always recognize it, or you will accept it as a fluke unless someone points it out to you, and you can't learn anything if you don't realize when learning needs to occur. We shot a modified version of sean's box drill on the clock and compared times, to allow for an "individualized" way to problem solve. Lastly, we shot a different version of the modified navy qual, which involved various positions and steel at various distances. Frankly, the last drill felt to me like less of a drill and more of that idea that Ken Kackathorn teaches about why he shoots steel at the end of classes to "end on a high note". It was fun, and while I did miss 1 out of 30 shots, the targets were all "gimme" targets, where you got your optic on target and for most shots had about 12-14 moa of "play" on the target. He told us to shoot to 100% accuracy and I went slow and focused on getting hits (as everyone did). I missed because I fucked up, not because the target was hard. After the drill, Sean told us that his guys shoot a similar version of that drill to 80% standards, and I think everyone was thinking, "Man, if I knew I could miss that much, I would have burnt the wheels off that Bitch and cut my time in half". However...because he told us to shoot to 100%, everyone shot fairly well on steel, and everybody left with a happy face...which I'm going to assume was the instructor's goal.
To my recollection, everyone ran some version of a fairly standardized AR, with the exception of one XCR, one AK (who took top shot) and some left-handed abortion of something resembling an AR-15.

Excellent course that would've been well worth paying decent money for. Also, one of the more fun courses I've been too. Both instructors were just fun guys that love shooting and kept it very lighthearted. I can't believe how many people skipped out on this thing last minute. It was well beyond a bargain for the gas, food, beer, hotel and ammo expense.

Thanks again to the instructors for making the trip out. Especially Sean and his family, for the simple fact that he gets so little time home with them, yet they were willing to give a lot of that time to teach hobbyists from the Internet.

**Failure2Stop** · 05-18-2015, 10:21 AM

I want to throw a huge thank-you out to Tom, Jay, Ashton, Tim, and Sam.
Their contributions were responsible for this becoming reality.

From Tapatalk:
Jack Leuba
Knight's Armament Company: Military/Govt Product Liaison
F2S Consulting: Director of Shooting Stuff

**rjohnson4405** · 05-18-2015, 01:50 PM

Josh covered most of the curriculum so I only have some subjective things to add.

I had never been to a carbine course and it showed. Both days were fun, but humbling.

I left having mastered nothing, but I know the concepts, techniques, and bad habits that I need to work on to improve. I have never left a class feeling like I had so much instruction and understanding that will keep me growing and improving for a long time. I have left classes feeling more confident than I currently feel with a carbine (kudos to the instructors for pushing me, forcing me out of my comfort zone, and not watering down drills to make me feel better), but I have never had a class that had so much value and long-term growth potential after 2 days.

Sean and Jack deserve our thanks for their service, generosity, patience, and first-class instruction. Also thanks to Tom, Jay, Tim, Ashton and Sam who volunteered time/money to ensure safety and provide their own valuable insights/constructive criticism.

To anyone who hasn't taken a carbine class: I thought carbines were "easy" to shoot compared to handguns and this type of course would be impractical to an average citizen with limited time/funds for training. I was WRONG. The concepts like breathing, sights, trigger control, and more all apply to handgun (any) shooting. I have no doubt that I am also a better handgun shooter as well as a better and safer carbine shooter after this course. It was not stand at 5 yards at mag dump then get prone and shoot big targets at 100yds. It challenges you to really use all the advantages of a carbine in whatever situation you're in. I have a much better understanding of the AR platform as well my abilities and limitations.

**voodoo_man** · 05-18-2015, 02:08 PM

Good stuff.

Much win.

9/10.

Would operate with again.

**rjohnson4405** · 05-18-2015, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by Tom_Jones

Is it safe to assume that an annual PF training event, would be something that PF members would enjoy and attend? ...

Anyone who doesn't enjoy and attend (if possible) a class like this is full of retardation and whatever the opposite of bacon is. Incredible opportunity.