When it comes to small arms my attitude is ‘never be afraid to try new things’. You need to keep an open mind and look at the possibilities of how a particular small arm or accessory might be employed. The features of a particular design may have no merit in 99% of the situations it would be used but in 1% it is without peer. There are many instances where keeping an open mind or thinking out of the box has resulted in game changing capabilities that we now take for granted. Night sights on pistols, red dot sights in general and the assault rifle concept are just a few that immediately come to mind. In my experience being close minded in the small arms arena has overwhelmingly been a negative, not a positive, approach to modern weapons and weaponcraft.

-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.

Always remember that keeping your finger off the trigger until you have made the conscious decision to engage the target is the most critical of all firearm safety rules. It is the foundation all the rest are built upon, as well as being the key factor in real world use of small arms, everyday. The reality is, rarely do small arms discharge for reasons other than someone pulling the trigger. Always keep that in mind when handling any firearm, and look to correct any shortcomings with those who do not abide by this golden rule of firearms safety

-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.

www.VickersTactical.com

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.

‘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.

www.VickersTactical.com

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.

Firearms safety in the real world- this is the safety brief I give in my classes;

1) Know your target and what is beyond it; on the range you have something ( a berm for Instance ) that acts as a bullet stop- in the real world you can’t predict what your bullet stop will be or if you even will have one. Understand if you launch a bullet Downrange in the real world you own it so it’s in your best interest to make sure you hit your target and you know what is beyond your target in case you miss it or over penetrate

2) Treat weapons as if they are loaded at all times; people know we need to do this but the fact of the matter is once most people have convinced themselves a firearm is cleared they are likely to point it at anything or anybody – including themselves. This is a seriously bad habit that could mean life or death someday. Chances are good if you handle weapons long enough you will eventually have an unintentional discharge – at that point the only thing that will keep things from getting ugly fast is the proper handling habits you have built over time. This is a major issue- learn it and live it.

3) Do not allow your muzzle to cross anything your not willing to destroy; in the military and LE often times individuals sweep each other with your muzzle – that’s not a good thing but is sometimes unavoidable – my approach is know when you are doing it and minimize it to the best of your ability. In the civilian sector pointing a gun at somebody is a really big deal so you have to be switched on 100% of the time in terms of muzzle awareness.

4) Finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot; this is rightly considered the golden rule of firearms safety as it is the fail safe in case I happen to sweep someone with my muzzle I won’t put a bullethole in them because my finger is off the trigger. Fortunately the popularity of guns like the Glock has made this rule universally accepted – that’s a good thing as not long ago having your finger on the trigger was seen as the best way to be ‘ready’ for instant action – in reality what you were ‘ready’ for was an AD

These are the safety rules I highlight in every class – I believe in them and you should to – be safe and see you at the range

-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.

www.VickersTactical.com

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.