December 6, 2015
Carbine Fundamentals- One day class. 8AM-3 PM. Cost $195. https://mastsolutions.com/product/carbine-fundamentals/
Location: Downrange Academy, 7210 McHard Ave. Pearland. The outdoor range consisted of 100 yards and 50 yards. We began at the 7-10 yard line and progressively moved back to the 50 yard mark where we went prone.
Attendees: 8 Students (seven males, one female). The teacher:student ratio was 3:8
Instructor: primary instructor-Matthew of MAST Solutions. He was assisted by Rob, and Rich.
Company: MAST solutions https://mastsolutions.com/
DISCLOSURE: none. I was not paid for this review nor do I receive any benefits or discounts from MAST solutions.
RATING: 4 stars out of 5
DESCRIPTION please review from their website https://mastsolutions.com/product/carbine-fundamentals/
Personal Gear:
1. Primary weapon- LWRC 16 inch Special Purpose Rifle. Optics-Trijicon MRO on an American Defense QR mount. BUIS were Paul Howe’s CSAT iron sights. Sling-VTAC padded sling with Frank Proctor paracord modification at front attachment. Mags- Gen2 Pmags and Lancer L5AWM
2. Secondary weapon - HK VP9 with 10-8 sights (Black serrated rear and FO front)
3. Primary Rig- G-code Contact series operator’s belt with inner Velcro (http://www.tacticalholsters.com/prod...TS/GSG001.html ), mated with a soft loop belt on pants from High Threat Concealment (HTC) (http://highthreatconcealment.com/products/belts.html). On the outer belt, I attached the following:
o Kydex Holster with RTI adapter from Fury Carry Solutions (http://www.furyholsters.com/products.html )
o one HSGI double rifle mag taco (http://www.highspeedgear.com/hsgi/x2r-taco-112R00.html )
o one HSGI pistol taco, http://www.highspeedgear.com/hsgi/bm-ptaco-13PT00.html
o Dark Angel IFAK Gen3, https://darkangelmedical.com/product/dark-3-upgrades/
o Maxpedition Rollypoly folding dump pouch (http://www.maxpedition.com/store/pc/...Pouch-p228.htm )
o one HSGI leg rig V1 platform (can carry two rifle mags, and 3 pistol mags or two pistol mags and one flashlight/tool) (http://www.highspeedgear.com/hsgi/HS...V1-21DL00.html )
4. Ear Pro: 3M Peltor TEP-100 Digital earplugs (http://www.amazon.com/3M-TEP-100-Tac...peltor+tep+100 )
This was my first course with MAST solutions and only my second basic carbine dedicated class. I was not disappointed. The experience was great in several respects.
First, we practically had three instructors for 8 students, an amazing ratio. Matt was the primary instructor and was assisted by Rob throughout the day and then Rich (former Marine and Force Recon) joined in the afternoon. Rob walked the line, made sure we were all safe, and provided feedback when appropriate. Rich joined the instruction team in the afternoon. The guy exuded a “quiet warrior” persona. He did not say much, but you got a sense that he knew his stuff and had skills a plenty. One of the students was a young boy of 12 years old. Naturally, he did not have the skills of the adult students. Rich was a star by spending a lot of time helping him zero his rifle among other instructions. Matt is a great instructor and demonstrated each drill for us. He is funny and very laid back but was definitely a hawk in observing us and providing personal feedback.
Second, my fellow students were great. There was a current LEO and even a father-son team. Although most of the attendees were return students and knew one another, I felt very welcome. I liked how Matt divided us into teams. We all counted 1-2 down the line. Group 1 usually went first for each drill while group 2 observed their partner from behind/side. We then switched roles and gave each other constructive feedback on what we saw. I think more instructors should use this arrangement. There are several benefits: 1) prevents front line crowding during live fire, especially if you have a narrow range and many students (we did not have this problem as we were at least one arm’s length apart even with all 8 students in front), 2) it minimizes hot brass ejection to the person on your right, 3) it forces everyone to pay attention, 4) it helps us to give feedback to each other, and evaluating someone else helps you to reinforce the same pointers for yourself, and lastly 5) it promotes cohesion/teamwork amongst the students.
Third, the best part of this course was the instruction in malfunctions. My previous rifle classes included malfunction instruction. However, each malfunction was practiced individually and under low stress drills. At MAST, we handed Matt and Rob a magazine with 5 live rounds. They did their magic voodoo (inserted blanks, bad rounds, etc) and handed us back our mags. We were blinded as to what was in our magazines. We then lined up and fired downrange while clearing the many malfunctions as they arose. Then we did it again with time limits. It was intense and required you to react instinctively and keep going despite the frustrations. It was during this exercise that I learned my weakness, which literally is a weak forearm. Although I drew the rifle into my workspace during the malfunction clearances, the repeated weight of the rifle in an extended position made my forearms ache. How I love my Tavor for its rear heavy weight distribution. Conclusion- More gym time.
Some comments about my gear. As a novice carbine shooter, I debated constantly on whether I should wear a chest rig (I have the D3 Haley Strategic chest rig), battle belt (have both HSGI and VTAC Brokos battle belts), a combination of both chest rig and battle belt, or the set up I described above. I really liked my set up for the following reasons:
1. The Cobra outer Velcro belt mated securely to the inner soft loop belt on my pants. Nothing moved! At the same time, it was extremely slim and light compared to my battle belts. I felt maximally trimmed and slick while still carrying the essentials. My system used belts from two different companies. Both the belts from G Code and HTC had an outer Velcro cobra operator belt and an inner soft loop belt. The G Code system had a great stiff outer Cobra belt that was 1.75 inches. However, their inner soft loop belt was smaller at 1.5 inch. The HTC system had a 1.75 cobra Velcro outer belt as well but it was not stiff at all. Conversely, it had a great 1.75 inner soft loop belt. Therefore, I used the stiff outer Velcro 1.75 inch Cobra belt from G Code and the 1.75 inch soft loop inner belt from HTC. Best of both worlds!
2. The HSGI leg rig platform allowed me to distribute four rifle mags more ergonomically. Two were on my belt and two were on my lateral thigh. This felt less cumbersome than if all four had been on my belt.
3. The Maxpedition rollypoly folding dump pouch was great- compact when folded but stiff and wide when opened.
4. The Trijicon MRO worked great as advertised. The wider field of view was awesome compared to my Aimpoint T1 and I certainly felt that the red dot was clear and crisp. I zeroed the optic at 50 yards prior to class and it certainly held true.
5. The 3M Peltor digital ear plug was phenomenal. It protected my ears just as well or even better than my MSA Sordin Supreme Pro-X. Additionally, it was great for rifle shooting with the closer cheek weld. My ears also did not have that sweaty hot sensation that occurs with any over the ear device. TWO THUMBS UP! The rechargeable batteries lasted from 8 AM to 3PM when the class concluded. It may have lasted more but I cannot verify.
This is a great fundamentals class. Matt discussed all the basics, from stance to safety, from sights to ballistics, from reloading to slings, from rifle set up to rifle operation cycle, from zeroing to offset, etc. I rated the class 4 stars and not five for several reasons. There were some listed points of instructions that we did not cover. For example, “Movement” was listed but we did not cover this. Also, “shooting stances” was a POI and I interpreted this to include standing, kneeling, and prone. However, we did everything standing except when we were prone to zero at 50 yards. Finally, the ammo requirement listed was 450 rifle and 250 pistol. I think we shot less than 150 rifle rds and less than one pistol mag. Matt communicated later to me that there were several students that needed more attention. They did not have the requisite fundamentals to progress to shooting and moving and stance transition. I can certainly see that looking back. I also wished that we received more instruction in recoil management and ready positions. I learned a great deal despite the low round count. I would have no hesitation in recommending this class to anyone interested in learning the basics. There was even a student in the class who had taken this same course three times!
Matt has a neat membership option for his classes. There are different membership levels (silver, gold, platinum, etc) with different monthly fees. The silver level rate, for example, is $200 /month. For this fee, you can take two classes each month and use the range at any time. I looked at the MAST Solutions schedule and there are quite a number of classes each month. In December, there are 5 different classes and in January there are six. They range from handgun to carbine, CQB to knife fighting, CHL to vehicle interdiction. The offerings are diverse and very interesting. I think this is a great option for those who can commit to two weekends a month to train. Unfortunately I cannot and will be taking classes individually as my schedule permits.
If you read Matt’s bio, you will notice that he does not list any military or LE experience. However, the man certainly has had an overabundance of training. That may be a big negative for many potential students who desire either combat or real-world experience from their instructors. I have taken several pistol courses from nationally recognized teachers (Jeff Gonzales, Frank Proctor, Tom Givens) and the intensity level is certainly different. For the carbine fundamentals class, however, I felt that Matt was very competent and professional. I felt safe during the entire class and learned a lot. Matt was teaching the fundamentals and not tactics. MAST solutions is offering a knife fighting class that I was interested in. Apparently, Rich (Force Recon) is teaching this class and Matt is assisting. If this is the case for the more advanced courses, then I think the blend is appropriate. I plan on taking the Carbine Operators class in January 2016 and will try to report then. Personally, I think that MAST Solutions is a hidden gem in Houston.
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Originally Posted by caleb
