This is the second time I have taken Randy Cain's Practical Rifle class and it was even better than the first. If you have never taken a class like this, some explanation is in order. This is not a long range shooting class. It is not a hunting class. Here is the best way I can describe what it does: It teaches one to fight with a common hunting rifle by imparting the foundational skills required for any rifle shooting.
That's a pretty tall order but Randy pulls it off well.
The class starts by discussing and practicing natural point of aim and learning respiratory pause. This is not a simple thing and it often isn't fully understood until long after the class is over. He stresses skeletal support and proper body position. As the training progresses, he adds in proper sling use (a real shooting sling and not a carry strap). He then moves on to the 5 basic shooting positions of off-hand, braced kneeling, squat (rice paddy prone), sitting (3 variations) and prone (3 different types). He spends a lot of time ensuring all the positions are understood and executed correctly.
Randy also spends a fair amount of time on loading and topping off. He runs a hot range which is refreshing. It means the shooter has to pay attention to keep the gun topped off so they are ready for the next drill. For those with detachable magazines, it means figuring out how to carry the spare mags and the empties.
Each day, he has a drill called Rolling Thunder. It involves having 5 shooters on the line and creating a shooting sequence. The first one is easy... shooter one shoots one shot, followed by shooter two doing the same and on down the line. After shooter 5 shoots, shooter 1 shoots 2 shots and so on. It gets hectic and by the time the shooters are doing three shots, somebody has fumbled a mag change. Stress is introduced and it becomes clear that the purpose of the exercise is to reinforce lessons about gun handling, loading and topping off. It is madness and you'll see who has a firm grip on gun handling.
Because I took this class during standard time, we were able to do a night shoot on day two. This is really cool. One drill demonstrated that scopes matter. Low light sidelined many shooters pretty quickly but the guys with better scopes were able to shoot much later than the others. I had the Leupold VXR Scout scope 1.5-5X with the Firedot reticle and I was able to last until the very end which was about 40 minutes past published sunset time. The only other scope that made it that long was a guy with a Leupold VX6 HD 1.75-6X. We then moved to other drills and the advantage of a weapons mounted light became clear.
Day three moved to 200 yards for a bit but we also did drills while moving and we learned transitions to pistols. The Rolling Thunder drill was made more complicated and again, reinforced skills of weapons handling and topping off.
By the end of the class, a shooter will have learned a huge amount about their gear, their body and what needs improved. They will feel much more confident with their rifle and will have learned to use a common deer rifle as a fighting tool. They will know things they didn't know they needed.
Notes about rifles and gear:
Any rifle will do, but a bolt action, .308 with a low power variable scope works best. A detachable magazine isn't needed and in some respects, is a handicap. This is particularly true of the AICS style mags. I saw many of them dropped during the weekend and they don't go in as smoothly as my Steyr mags. If you have AICS mags, having a few 10 rounders is nice during Rolling Thunder but defeats the purpose of the drill.
I took 2 rifles. Each had detachable mags and I had enough to be on the line with 50 rounds loaded. That was plenty and usually more than needed, but I would not go with less. For those with hinged floorplate guns, a simple pocket full of loose ammo worked fine.
Having a dump pouch was nice and I recommend one. I also used 5.11 pants which have an internal pocket for neoprene knee pads. The FL range is grass but a hurricane had just gone through so it was VERY wet. The knee pads helped. A good shooting mat helps with that as well.
As for ammo, you're going through about 500 rounds in 3 days so don't waste money on expensive match ammo. It really doesn't matter. If your gun will shoot 2 MOA with cheap milsurp ammo, that's all you need. Just don't bring any steel core ammo because there is some steel target work.
One last piece of advice for this class. Leave your ego at home. Leave your excuses as well. Randy is a no-BS kind of guy and assumes you paid him for his opinion and isn't afraid to offer it. Learn from that.
Bottom line is, this is the class to take if you want to learn the fundamentals of the rifle. Read Jeff Cooper's book The Art of the Rifle and you'll be ready for the class, but there is no substitute for actually doing it with an instructor like this.
www.guntactics.com
Oh... and if you sign up for the class, tell him Steve Clifford referred you.
That's a pretty tall order but Randy pulls it off well.
The class starts by discussing and practicing natural point of aim and learning respiratory pause. This is not a simple thing and it often isn't fully understood until long after the class is over. He stresses skeletal support and proper body position. As the training progresses, he adds in proper sling use (a real shooting sling and not a carry strap). He then moves on to the 5 basic shooting positions of off-hand, braced kneeling, squat (rice paddy prone), sitting (3 variations) and prone (3 different types). He spends a lot of time ensuring all the positions are understood and executed correctly.
Randy also spends a fair amount of time on loading and topping off. He runs a hot range which is refreshing. It means the shooter has to pay attention to keep the gun topped off so they are ready for the next drill. For those with detachable magazines, it means figuring out how to carry the spare mags and the empties.
Each day, he has a drill called Rolling Thunder. It involves having 5 shooters on the line and creating a shooting sequence. The first one is easy... shooter one shoots one shot, followed by shooter two doing the same and on down the line. After shooter 5 shoots, shooter 1 shoots 2 shots and so on. It gets hectic and by the time the shooters are doing three shots, somebody has fumbled a mag change. Stress is introduced and it becomes clear that the purpose of the exercise is to reinforce lessons about gun handling, loading and topping off. It is madness and you'll see who has a firm grip on gun handling.
Because I took this class during standard time, we were able to do a night shoot on day two. This is really cool. One drill demonstrated that scopes matter. Low light sidelined many shooters pretty quickly but the guys with better scopes were able to shoot much later than the others. I had the Leupold VXR Scout scope 1.5-5X with the Firedot reticle and I was able to last until the very end which was about 40 minutes past published sunset time. The only other scope that made it that long was a guy with a Leupold VX6 HD 1.75-6X. We then moved to other drills and the advantage of a weapons mounted light became clear.
Day three moved to 200 yards for a bit but we also did drills while moving and we learned transitions to pistols. The Rolling Thunder drill was made more complicated and again, reinforced skills of weapons handling and topping off.
By the end of the class, a shooter will have learned a huge amount about their gear, their body and what needs improved. They will feel much more confident with their rifle and will have learned to use a common deer rifle as a fighting tool. They will know things they didn't know they needed.
Notes about rifles and gear:
Any rifle will do, but a bolt action, .308 with a low power variable scope works best. A detachable magazine isn't needed and in some respects, is a handicap. This is particularly true of the AICS style mags. I saw many of them dropped during the weekend and they don't go in as smoothly as my Steyr mags. If you have AICS mags, having a few 10 rounders is nice during Rolling Thunder but defeats the purpose of the drill.
I took 2 rifles. Each had detachable mags and I had enough to be on the line with 50 rounds loaded. That was plenty and usually more than needed, but I would not go with less. For those with hinged floorplate guns, a simple pocket full of loose ammo worked fine.
Having a dump pouch was nice and I recommend one. I also used 5.11 pants which have an internal pocket for neoprene knee pads. The FL range is grass but a hurricane had just gone through so it was VERY wet. The knee pads helped. A good shooting mat helps with that as well.
As for ammo, you're going through about 500 rounds in 3 days so don't waste money on expensive match ammo. It really doesn't matter. If your gun will shoot 2 MOA with cheap milsurp ammo, that's all you need. Just don't bring any steel core ammo because there is some steel target work.
One last piece of advice for this class. Leave your ego at home. Leave your excuses as well. Randy is a no-BS kind of guy and assumes you paid him for his opinion and isn't afraid to offer it. Learn from that.
Bottom line is, this is the class to take if you want to learn the fundamentals of the rifle. Read Jeff Cooper's book The Art of the Rifle and you'll be ready for the class, but there is no substitute for actually doing it with an instructor like this.
Cumberland Tactics
www.guntactics.com Oh... and if you sign up for the class, tell him Steve Clifford referred you.
