Yesterday, I had a rare opportunity to live fire a DShK (dush-kah) which is a Russian produced heavy machine gun. Blackheart International offers the only hands on, live fire instruction for heavy foreign weapons in the United States.
Day 3 of the BHI Foreign Weapons Course was all about Machine Guns…big, dangerous looking, Soviet Machine Guns. Over the course of a career, you might get to handle foreign weapons and maybe even shoot an AK, but rarely if ever do you get the opportunity to not only get into the nitty gritty of how to use and maintain them, but actually fire them as well. It’s training like this that promotes adaptability, going beyond simply demonstrating a capability to a student. Blackheart ensures you know how to do it.
Once again, we began the day with lecture paired with hands on application. Using the same methodology as previous days, our instructors gave us history of each weapon followed by a demonstration on how to make it safe, load it and maintain it. Due to the variety of machine guns we completed the lecture portion before starting a round robin with students rotating between the RPK, RPD, PKM and DShKM. In addition to the weapons themselves we also learned about accessories such as the tripods and cleaning kits. Below are examples of amazing cleaning kits provided to Russian troops with these weapons. Not shown is the DShK kit which includes a hammer!
PKM Cleaning Kit
RPD Cleaning Kit
Employment tips would come later in the day, at the range. We had one left to do before we could head out the door. After loading our DShKM links with specially produced 12.7 x 108mm ammo, we headed to the live fire range.
Once we set up the weapons, we were given the opportunity to load ammo belts and magazines and then put them to good use. The range was an unknown distance affair with various targets out to 800m. This meant that we would employ the range settings on the sights of the various weapons we had learned about during the morning’s classroom portion. Everything Blackheart does builds on what is learned previously and reinforces it.
Firing the RPK
Firing the PKM
Firing the DShKM
We all also fired the RPD.
Then, we headed back to the classroom and cleaned the machine guns. This not only provided critical maintenance but once again reinforced the day’s lessons. Due to the length of the training day, we capped it off with a written quiz on weapons nomenclature and calibers after a quick briefing on some of Blackheart’s other training courses and technologies.
Once the class arrived back at Sugar Creek Lodge, the class was surprised with a home cooked meal. Prepared by BHI’s very own Miss Carolyn, it was delicious and really hit the spot. Big thank you from all of us! It really means a lot to attend a course and be able to go back to a homelike atmosphere with all of the amenities. In addition to a great view of the West Virginia countryside, the lodge even has a workout room in the basement. Service like this allows you to concentrate on the training.
Today, we familiarize ourselves with the RPG and get some hands on time with the SDV, Moisin Nagant, and SKS.
