Reston Group (Jared Reston) /Ridgeline (Alex Hartmann) – LE DM/SPR
Aurora Sportsman’s Club Oct 8-9 2020
What is the course?
Jared and Alex said many times over the 2 days that it is not a “sniper-lite” course; it’s about fighting 0-600y. This means using the gun effectively for CQB work as well as being efficient and effective at distance without reliance on ballistic charts, solvers, kestrels, and range finders. This also means remember the context of “fighting” as in considering the dynamics of engaging “meat” that is living, breathing, moving, and capable of fighting back.
Why Take the course?
There’s lots of precision rifle courses, sniper courses, carbine courses to choose from. As someone who has been into precision and scoped carbines for nearly 20 years and taken several of the aforementioned classes, a realistic DMR/SPR course is hard to find. I guess that makes sense given that the DMR/SPR is itself is a highly delicate balance of opposing concepts. Having heard some of Alex’s thoughts on scoped AR’s on a Primary & Secondary podcast (Precision Basics #153 if you haven’t heard it), I was confident the philosophy would be practical and contemporary. I’ve also heard other LE and his peers in the instructor world speak highly of Jared as well.
If you’re someone wondering exactly how to get more out of that carbine with a 1-6x, 1-8x, 1-10x then this is a good start.
What should I expect? (General itinerary)
TD1: Pretty much consider this setup and data gathering. Zero confirmation, basic position/fundamental review, known distance data confirmation 100-600y. TD1 culminated with “hasty milling to engage unknown distance targets without a range finder or milling formulas that require a calculator.
TD2: Began with the CQB portion taught by Jared and moved into positional shooting. The second have of TD2 was dedicated to wind.
(Sorry, I don't like giving the play-by-play and nuts and bolts of what's taught in the class)
Advice for those taking the class
While the course can be done with standard bulk FMJ ammo, I definitely feel that using higher quality/match ammo made things easier. However, I would say bring some cheaper range ammo (200 rounds) for the CQB portion.
Don’t be afraid to bring your duty carbine. In our course, the guy shooting his 11.5” Colt did just fine. Some portions might be challenging for a heavy, cumbersome precision rig. Be sure your gun can run; one student’s 6.5 Grendel did not like the cadence of the CQB portion. A lot of immediate action and it was in taken apart on the line at one point.
In terms of optics (and this facility’s 600y max range), the ability to use both dialing and holding was beneficial for the course but not necessary. Fixed power or optics 4x and under, BDC reticles without wind holds will present some challenges. Offset RDS regardless of available 1x magnification is also beneficial.
Having some data on your gun and/or familiarity with a ballistic solver app is good to have prior to the course but not mandatory.
Also, don’t leave your Hodge laying around or Jared might knock it over or Alex might suggest rattle canning it gold.
6 Month look-back
I’ve since taught a few people the expedient “hasty milling” techniques for UKD elevation and wind shooting solutions. A few times I had to look back at my notes and refresh myself on the math of the UKD wind calls. So, take good notes AND have them where you can reference them.
I made a few minor kit modifications to include a monopod adapter to keep my rear bag away from my adjustment lever. I also added a wrap to my handguard for support use on barriers (doesn’t hurt to have in the winter months either). I also adjusted my sling setup and run the forward attachment point farther up the rail.
In the class, I was shooting a Hodge Defense Au Mod 1 with a Schmidt & Bender 1-8x24 Dual CC and a piggy-back RMR. Even with all the benefits of the uber-expensive LPVO, I’ve come to appreciate the piggy-back red dot more. And with that, I decided to give another look to a higher power optic (Alex ran a 4-16x ATACR; Jared had a Mk5HD 3.6-18) and picked up a Nightforce 4-16x42 with Mil-XT; great optic by the way. But in the end, I went back to my original 1-8x setup. First, I liked the balance and profile a little better with the smaller optic. And while the bigger optic allowed me to see more, the fixed parallax and less-refined reticle of my LPVO aren’t necessarily bad in this context. I also toyed with different offset RDS mounts and positions. Like the optics, there’s too many factors to list and ultimately optic and mount is personal preference.
I also see now that there is a “Varsity SPR” in Florida in 2021 as a supplement to this course. I will definitely be keeping an eye on that.
ridgelineshooting.com
and
www.sigsaueracademy.com
