MaverickNH
NES Member
Nine men, including me, attended the 830am-430pm Close Quarters Rifle class at SIG Academy 18 Dec 2019. Five were armed professionals (4 LEO and 1 Military) and 4 others (3 SIG employees and me). I was the lone Tavor X95 among 7 ARs in 556 and 1 SIG MCX Rattler in 300AAC. Two from NY, one MA, one PA and the rest NH. With a LEO-rich student ratio, the instructor, Dan Hunt, ramped it up quickly with an hour intro, hour lunch and 30 min close-out for 5-1/2hr of trigger time (~300rd rifle & ~50 pistol). For instance, non-LEOs did room-entry drills as a homeowner moving from room to room while LEOs drilled entry behind the Instructor in a pair-stacked entry formation.
About 90min was spent on rifle retention, first using blue rifles & blue pistols and then with our own rifles with bolt-carrier groups removed and blue pistols. Blood was shed and boo-boos covered with Bandaids. Grabbing and retaining sharp rifles requires gloves - glad I brought mine! After a few "warm-up" drills that also serve to weed out anyone who definitely should not be there (it was an "advanced" class) we mostly shot 3-10yd. No sighting in, no hold-over assessment - that was an assumed known. Everyone knew how to manipulate their rifles.
Skills to make a first stopping hit(s) were the focus of the drills and instruction. The goal was to hit 8 inch COM or 4 inch FACE targets as fast as possible without the extra 1/10s of seconds to get 1 inch groups. Rifle to pistol transitions on rifle FTF was expected. Dan insisted we not train range drills but simulate reality - transition to pistol is faster than reloading or diagnosing and fixing a malfunction with the rifle. We all proved that in a our drills - everyone could get a pistol shot off faster than tap/rack or reload after a "click" and no bang. Transition to pistol to stop the threat, diagnose and fix the rifle after.
I think that the missing element was contact shooting. One contact shot will destroy a target and backer so that's a range limitation. We didn't do "fall on your *ss and shoot your way back to standing" drills I've done elsewhere - probably a corporate liability thing. I'm sure they do that in their LEO/Military-only courses - or should.
SIG has a 1-day Rifle 101 class for basics, a 2-day Defensive Rifle and 2-day Advanced Defensive Rifle as well as this CQ Rifle, Low Light and Cold Weather Rifle classes. Next year they are going to add a Rifle Operator class that bridges the Defensive Rifle (Now called Rifle Mechanics) and Advance Defensive Rifle, and make ADR even more advanced - fat and slow need not apply. That counts me out ;-)
About 90min was spent on rifle retention, first using blue rifles & blue pistols and then with our own rifles with bolt-carrier groups removed and blue pistols. Blood was shed and boo-boos covered with Bandaids. Grabbing and retaining sharp rifles requires gloves - glad I brought mine! After a few "warm-up" drills that also serve to weed out anyone who definitely should not be there (it was an "advanced" class) we mostly shot 3-10yd. No sighting in, no hold-over assessment - that was an assumed known. Everyone knew how to manipulate their rifles.
Skills to make a first stopping hit(s) were the focus of the drills and instruction. The goal was to hit 8 inch COM or 4 inch FACE targets as fast as possible without the extra 1/10s of seconds to get 1 inch groups. Rifle to pistol transitions on rifle FTF was expected. Dan insisted we not train range drills but simulate reality - transition to pistol is faster than reloading or diagnosing and fixing a malfunction with the rifle. We all proved that in a our drills - everyone could get a pistol shot off faster than tap/rack or reload after a "click" and no bang. Transition to pistol to stop the threat, diagnose and fix the rifle after.
I think that the missing element was contact shooting. One contact shot will destroy a target and backer so that's a range limitation. We didn't do "fall on your *ss and shoot your way back to standing" drills I've done elsewhere - probably a corporate liability thing. I'm sure they do that in their LEO/Military-only courses - or should.
SIG has a 1-day Rifle 101 class for basics, a 2-day Defensive Rifle and 2-day Advanced Defensive Rifle as well as this CQ Rifle, Low Light and Cold Weather Rifle classes. Next year they are going to add a Rifle Operator class that bridges the Defensive Rifle (Now called Rifle Mechanics) and Advance Defensive Rifle, and make ADR even more advanced - fat and slow need not apply. That counts me out ;-)