Archive for the ‘Training’ Category
Coming Soon – Shrek’s 10 Warrior Commandments
Saturday, March 23rd, 2013Cylinder and Slide – Takes Virginia Beach
Friday, March 22nd, 2013Each Spring 1911 specialists Cylinder and Slide comes to the Virginia Beach area to offer several training courses but these are classes unlike any others out there. This year Pistolsmith Bill Laughridge offered two days of match oversized 1911 barrel fitting, followed by a full day of 1911 maintenance including the history of the pistol. After a one-day break the course culminates with a week-long, full custom .45 build course where students get a frame and a box of parts and learn to fit each part. Bill describes the process as “putting ten pounds in a five pound sack,” due to the sensory overload experienced by day five. Bill went on to explain that the hardcore students will attend their first course and immediately start working on their next build. Invariably, they’ll run into a new challenge. Cylinder and Slide is prepared for that and all former students have to do is pick up the phone and ask for some advice. Additionally, graduates are supported from then on with dealer pricing. Many come back for a second course and say that they pick up those little extras that really make the gun during that second experience.
For example, Tracey, the lady in the photo receiving instruction from Bill Laughridge is a recreational shooter who is finishing her second class. She reiterated that she has picked up quite a few new tricks on her second go around. Tracey is incorporating some different options in this latest build including an ambidextrous safety. Earlier this year, she began to shoot southpaw and has seen an increase in accuracy. Below is one of the guns Tracey built alongside a build by her husband Dave, a retired Navy SEAL friend of mine.
One of things I really enjoy about this course is that Bill teaches students how to do everything with hand tools. You don’t need a machine shop to work on a .45. Instead, students learn to use dremel tools and drills in some interesting ways. Naturally, students also become intimately familiar with files. There is lots of marking and filing, marking and filing until everything fits. At the end of the week, the students take their new creations to a local range and test fire them. For some, this will mean a few more passes with the file but for all, a rewarding experience, crafting a new firearm. Jim Tolbert Sr is seen below working on his new 1911.
If you are a 1911 aficionado this is a great course, regardless of where you take this training.
Sneak Peek – Spartan Ranch Tactical Training Center
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013I was invited to a sneak peek look at a new training facility near Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and i want you to check it out. ISAP Inc has assembled a new set of training capabilities for mid-Atlantic region. Spartan Ranch Tactical Training Center is located in Maysville, North Carolina just north of Jacksonville, home of the US Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune. Naturally, it’s also close to the Atlantic Ocean and the Intercostal Waterway for additional training opportunities.
There are three components that make up the capabilities that Spartan Ranch Tactical Training Center offers. First, there is the facility itself. Next is Tactical Applications Group which is the training arm and provides specialized instructors. Finally, Spartan Tactical Arms offers firearms manufacturing and maintenance.
Some of you may remember Tactical Applications Group’s range facility. Spartan Ranch Tactical Training Center uses the same basic layout but parent company ISAP Inc has greatly expanded the facility to include new berms for the precision rifle range which is certified out to 800 yards but can be extended to up to 1200 for certain customers, a 100 yard general purpose range as well as 50 and 25 yard pistol/shotgun ranges.
In addition to the ranges, Spartan Ranch Tactical Training Center will boast billeting for up to 70 personnel as well as latrines, classrooms and a team room facility for gear prep and mission planning. During my visit, contractors continued to improve the facilities slated for a 1 May launch.
Tactical Applications Group is rooted in the Camp Lejeune area. Staffed by Marine and Naval Special Warfare Veterans, it offers a variety of training specialties including CQB and long range precision shooting. As the staff expands they will be adding specialists from all branches to represent full SOF capabilities.
Also located on the Spartan Ranch Tactical Training Center campus is Spartan Tactical Arms which specializes in precision rifles as well as a line of CQB pistols designed to meet the USMC’s exacting requirements. Both of these products are already available for government and LE clients but will be offered commercially as well. Vice President CJ Quinlan also hinted at a line of carbines on the horizon.
ISAP has additional plans for the 300 acre facility including a shoot house and tower. Keep a look out here for details. Interested parties should contact cj@spartanranch.com.
Gunfighter Moment – Larry Vickers 
Saturday, March 16th, 2013
‘When you get the chance learn how to operate different small arms; everyone in a serious line of work should know how to run common weapons like the AK, FAL, G3, and M14. In addition understand how to handle pistols like the TT 33, P38, CZ 75, Makarov, and others. Just simply knowing how to unload and clear these weapons or even disable them is a skill set that may come in handy in some remote corner of the world, or even the USA.’
-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, Schmidt & Bender and Daniel Defense.
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.
Wilderness Advanced Life Support
Saturday, March 16th, 2013We just found out about this medical training opportunity.
Advance beyond WEMT. Unique, in-depth – 3 days private cadaver lab sessions. Self-reliant medical training for Wilderness, Remote, Foreign settings or Preparedness
Day 1 – Expeditionary/Travel/Improvisational Medicine, Legal issues and physician protocols, Pharmacology basics, Altitude issues including hands-on Hyperbaric Chamber experience, Anaphylaxis assessment and intervention, Lost tooth, Dental fillings & Root Canal.
Day 2 – Wound closure including suturing/stapling/multimedia, Amputation care, Foot Gear Selection and Foot Care, Hypothermia, Water treatment and storage.
Day 3 – Advanced Respiratory (Intubation-ET LMAs, Cric’s, Chest Decompression), Heat illness, Solar injury, Field Hydration and Nutrition, Food procurement.
Day 4 – Fractures-determining w/o x-ray, Splinting & casting, Dislocations/Reductions, Hypothermia, Disaster Preparation and Recovery, Humanitarian assistance issues.
Day 5 – Fluid resuscitation, IVs, Injections, Catheter, Insects-Reptile-Mammalian Attacks. Physicians, RNs, and advanced practitioners, WFRs EMTs all find this course awesome!
Ten years old, this course is only offered once a year in Denver March 27-31 2013.
MagPul Dynamics Updates Ammo Status for Classes
Thursday, March 14th, 2013MagPul Dynamics issues this update on ammunition or their classes.
Class Ammo Now Available!
Apologies for the delay, but we are now ready to get this program rolling. We’ve had some hiccups on the pistol ammo side, but by working with various manufacturers and vendors, we are ready to go. Prices are not as low as we’d like them to be, but if our costs go down, we will announce price adjustments to pass the savings on.
For Carbine classes, we will have Magtech 5.56 which may be M193 or 62gr (no penetrator) ball, depending on availability. Price will be $380 per 1000 rounds. You may purchase up to 1200 rounds for the class, but not more, and each additional 100 rounds will be $38.00. You can probably get by with 1000.
Handgun ammo for Carbine students will be available in 100 round increments up to 200 rounds max. Right now, all we have is 9mm, at $27.50 per 100 rounds. 100 rounds will probably get you by for the class. 200 preferred for Carbine 2.
For Handgun students, we will have Magtech or Fiocchi 115gr ball ammo. Price for either will be $275 per 1000 rounds. You may purhase in 100 round increments up to 1200 rounds per class, with each additional 100 rounds costing $27.50. 1000 will probably get you through, but the extra 200 rounds won’t hurt, either.
Once again, if you order ammo, and then cancel your class slot, you will be refunded the amount of the ammo, and will not be afforded the option to take the ammo. If the ammo has been shipped to the class location (approx 10 days before class date), the cost of shipping the ammo (both ways) will be withheld from any refund.
Now…get on the web or on the phone and reserve those class seats, with ammo package!
Sheriff of Baghdad Talks Grip
Wednesday, March 13th, 2013This is one of the most useful things you’ll see all day so stop and take a few minutes to listen to the legendary Sheriff of Baghdad, SGM John McPhee (USA, Ret) talk about grip.
Follow John McPhee at sheriffofbaghdad.com.
BCM Gunfighters
Tuesday, March 12th, 2013John Chapman, Kyle Defoor, Ken Hackathorn, Travis Haley, Dave Harrington, Pat McNamara, John McPhee, Mike Pannone, Pat Rogers and Larry Vickers. All legendary names in the tactical firearms training business. And, all use Bravo Company guns. BCM wanted to honor these men and showcase their input regarding their products, so they created the BCM Gunfighter Program.
To learn more visit www.bravocompanymfg.com/gunfighters
