‘Once in awhile go out and shoot some older small arms to get a sense of where we are today and how we got here. I highly recommend weapons such as the M1 Garand, FN FAL, G3 as well as bolt guns such as the K98k, Mosin Nagant and Lee-Enfield.
If you have never fired these you may be very surprised how well they perform at certain tasks – the Garand, FAL and Lee-Enfield in particular.
In handguns make sure you try a rack grade M1911A1, Luger, P38 and Browning Hi Power – all of them in as issued condition from WW II. It can be a real eye opening experience when you see just how much more user friendly modern handguns are.
All of this will give you a different perspective when you pick up your tricked out M4 and Glock – you likely won’t take things for granted when you see how far we have come.’
-Larry Vickers
Vickers Tactical Inc.
Host of TacTV
Larry Vickers of Vickers Tactical in a retired US Army 1st SFOD-Delta combat veteran with years of experience in the firearms industry as a combat marksmanship instructor and industry consultant. In recent years he has hosted tactical firearms related TV shows on the Sportsman Channel with the latest being TacTV of which Bravo Company is a presenting sponsor.Larry Vickers special operations background is one of the most unique in the industry today; he has been directly or indirectly involved in the some of the most significant special operations missions of the last quarter century. During Operation Just Cause he participated in Operation Acid Gambit – the rescue of Kurt Muse from Modelo Prison in Panama City, Panama. As a tactics and marksmanship instructor on active duty he helped train special operations personnel that later captured Saddam Hussein and eliminated his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein. In addition he was directly involved in the design and development of the HK416 for Tier One SOF use which was used by Naval Special Warfare personnel to kill Osama Bin Laden. Larry Vickers has developed various small arms accessories with the most notable being his signature sling manufactured by Blue Force Gear and Glock accessories made by Tangodown. In addition he has maintained strong relationships with premium companies within the tactical firearms industry such as BCM, Aimpoint, Black Hills Ammunition, Wilson Combat and Schmidt & Bender.
Larry Vickers travels the country conducting combat marksmanship classes for law abiding civilians, law enforcement and military and has partnered with Alias Training to coordinate classes to best meet the needs of the students attending the class.
Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.
Tags: Alias Security and Training Services, Larry Vickers, LAV, Vickers Tactical
I did this the last range day with some friends. Brought out the M1 and a Hi-Power. My friends thought it was amazing that they could hit an 8″x8″ plate at 300 yards with iron sights. They where also impressed of the Hi-Power’s accuracy and feedback through their hands, something they couldn’t get through the Polymer frames. It was unanimous that the M1 was still a solid, tack-driving battle rifle even with its somewhat tricky reloading process and lack of modern optics.
Picking up their M4’s they commented that they felt like toys in comparison to the M1 Garand.
A big “yes and amen” to what LAV says. I went through a major “mil surp” obsession a few years ago and acquired every Allied main battle rifle used in WWII that I could get my hands on. It was really amazing to shoot these weapons. Each one has their up/down points.
The M1 Garand is an amazing rifle to shoot. The Lee-Enfield is phenomenally accurate and by far my favorite mil-surp bolt action rifle.
My M1 Carbine, for pure fun, is tops in my book and its history is amazing, well, as amazing as the Garand.
I’ve never shot a true WWII 1911, but having shot some replicas, I can certainly appreciate how far we have come with 1911s. I got hammer bit big time on the replica of the 1911A1 and was nowhere nearly as accurate with it. The sights on the 1911A1 are horrible.
“you likely won’t take things for granted when you see how far we have come.”
What’s that even mean? I’d expect a skilled hunter/killer with a SAA and a 45-70 Sharps carbine to beat a nimrod trigger-basher every time, no matter what they had. It’s almost embarrassing when you look at the kill rates throughout history versus the technology used.
From my perspective, even more interesting would be to compare training programs across agencies and over time, and to look at the impact of new technologies on training and outcomes.
It means what it says, Bill.
I have several Enfield Sniper T’s and Larry is so correct on how good these (in may case 1940’s) vintage shooting sticks really shoot!
A Glock is more user friendly then a Browning High Power?
Absolutely – have you ever shot a WW 2 era Browning Hi Power and tried to use the manual safety ? How about the sights ? The Glock 17 killed the BHP worldwide because there isn’t anything it doesn’t do better than a Hi Power
I had the opportunity to fire a Nagant a few months back, and it was slightly awkward to shoot. It was quite accurate and it had some recoil. I would love to own a WWII M1 Garand, M1A1 Carbine + a Paratrooper version, M1911, M1902 Springfield, M1917 Enfield, M2 Carbine, M1A1 Thompson. I would also love an early Vietnam era M14.
M1903*