SpeedRacer
Well-Known Member
Aimpoint in the new RS Mount (sweet!)
What a Gear Queer!
Paul Gomez - AK 101 / Defensive Pistol / Traumatic Medical Skills - Nov 18-20
- Thread starter SpeedRacer
- Start date
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What a Gear Queer!
J
jayd
Guest
Sometimes Paul gave verbal encouragement (to speed things up a bit 
)
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J
jayd
Guest
Celebrity sighting.....
This actor guy, famous within certain circles snuck in :POOF:: and shot a little with a FAL
This actor guy, famous within certain circles snuck in :POOF:: and shot a little with a FAL
J
jayd
Guest
J
jayd
Guest
J
jayd
Guest
From Supine
J
jayd
Guest
Here's a tip: If you bring you favorite blankie to a carbine course, keep it from in front of the bullets when you sight in your rifle.
Yea but I overheard that guy was just aging/antiquing his woobie into an Arab style head wrap (shemaugh/keffiyeh) to wear when shooting his AK
J
jayd
Guest
SpeedRacer
Well-Known Member
Blowing up his blankie almost ruined his Supine nap time. 
This was my first carbine course. I figured I’d fumble, be awkward, and look stupid. I did, I did and I did, but not as much or badly as I predicted. The reason was prior pistol training. It didn't dawn on me at first how much pistol training would convey and translate to the AK, but in the end it's all the foundation stuff only on a different platform. That was the sweeping message; however, the devil is in the details, and we certainly got them for the AK from Gomez. What I'm glad I didn't do ---I heard Racer say the same thing as well--- is try to pick up the details before I went in. I was a swaddling-clothed baby with an AK; a pied-eyed, blank slate; an absorbent doof. All the prior experience I had with the AK is buying it, the sight tool, and the LULA (so lovey, my little LULA) and pooping off a few hundred function test rounds. No shaky YouTube instruction, no bad advice from the internet, and not having misinterpreting the good info is how I arrived. I wish that’s how it would have been with pistol. I had to be broken of bad pistol habits like a donkey. Not so with the AK!
The rest was Paul’s superb instruction. Paul laid it all in a syllabus that build upon itself. I could cover the details like a structured AAR, but I’m not. I think that’s better done after a second carbine or pistol class. What Gomez delivers is everything you need to take away. You do it under his eye and then you go home and do it many, many, many more times. I didn’t expect to walk out a Blackwater prospect, but I’m exponentially better off now. Exponentially.
The thing about Paul is he’s very, very intelligent. Paul has put hours of thought into the wee minutiae. If there were PhDs in gun work and history, he’d have six. Over the weekend I thought to myself “oh yea, that makes sense” at least two dozen times while Paul pointed out the reasoning behind a detail or method - one specific example was transition to pistol. It makes a lot of sense to get the pistol out and working with the strong-hand-only before you concern yourself with where the rifle ends up when it clicks.
So, the AK’s warts? Sure, it has them. The safety blows. What ape-handed human did Boris have in mind. I’m going to try the Krebs MK-VI (no lock-back notch). The Blackjack S.W.I.F.T no longer available. The Krebs design looks good. I’m anti-aftermarket ****, but it seems like I can manipulate the Krebs with same set of flagged fingers as the OEM but just won’t have to pivot my thumb as far around (or at all) on the grip to get to it, so it keeps the motions close.
Mag changes are clunky SO FAR. That’s a repetition thing, though. I doubt they can be faster than an AR for me. I’m not that far along yet to be sure.
So, the good: Clearing AK malfunctions is a joke. It’s doesn’t take pneumatic pry par, or days studying the myriad of different malfs. The bottom line is the gun is extremely simple.
Oh, off-hand-only, firing from supine to standing, along all the intermediate positions, with a mag change slathered on top, is a bizarre thing. That drill was also an interesting study in how people solve problems. To do that effectively and somewhat quicker, it helped to lose the sling. I heard two others say they did same after the drill.
That's the quick and dirty. It's hard to do much more without real instruction on the AR to compare. I won’t ‘pick’ a platform ‘till I’ve had some training on both. For now, if the zombies start to stir, it’s the AK.
The rest was Paul’s superb instruction. Paul laid it all in a syllabus that build upon itself. I could cover the details like a structured AAR, but I’m not. I think that’s better done after a second carbine or pistol class. What Gomez delivers is everything you need to take away. You do it under his eye and then you go home and do it many, many, many more times. I didn’t expect to walk out a Blackwater prospect, but I’m exponentially better off now. Exponentially.
The thing about Paul is he’s very, very intelligent. Paul has put hours of thought into the wee minutiae. If there were PhDs in gun work and history, he’d have six. Over the weekend I thought to myself “oh yea, that makes sense” at least two dozen times while Paul pointed out the reasoning behind a detail or method - one specific example was transition to pistol. It makes a lot of sense to get the pistol out and working with the strong-hand-only before you concern yourself with where the rifle ends up when it clicks.
So, the AK’s warts? Sure, it has them. The safety blows. What ape-handed human did Boris have in mind. I’m going to try the Krebs MK-VI (no lock-back notch). The Blackjack S.W.I.F.T no longer available. The Krebs design looks good. I’m anti-aftermarket ****, but it seems like I can manipulate the Krebs with same set of flagged fingers as the OEM but just won’t have to pivot my thumb as far around (or at all) on the grip to get to it, so it keeps the motions close.
Mag changes are clunky SO FAR. That’s a repetition thing, though. I doubt they can be faster than an AR for me. I’m not that far along yet to be sure.
So, the good: Clearing AK malfunctions is a joke. It’s doesn’t take pneumatic pry par, or days studying the myriad of different malfs. The bottom line is the gun is extremely simple.
Oh, off-hand-only, firing from supine to standing, along all the intermediate positions, with a mag change slathered on top, is a bizarre thing. That drill was also an interesting study in how people solve problems. To do that effectively and somewhat quicker, it helped to lose the sling. I heard two others say they did same after the drill.
That's the quick and dirty. It's hard to do much more without real instruction on the AR to compare. I won’t ‘pick’ a platform ‘till I’ve had some training on both. For now, if the zombies start to stir, it’s the AK.
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I learned a ton this weekend, much of what was well-stated by others, and much that the others had learned before showing.
The internet community has always made fun of itself, often polarizing into the extremes of the "collector/hobbyist" camp with the "tacticool/mallninja" camp. I learned that outside of the desktop, that there is a very relevant and important gray area. There certainly accessories that become more of a management liability than an advantage, but KISS does not necessarily = bone stock. The AK design is an equal opportunities offender for righties and lefties alike. Righties are ergonomically disadvantaged by the charging handle, safety, and some of the buttstock designs. Lefties are disadvantaged by the sling point attachments and by some of the other buttstock designs. Knowledge, training, AND the right equipment are vital elements of using a system effectively. I missed half a day's focus (minimally) because I had to go from stock sling to improvised sling (off my range bag) to 11th hour Bass Pro purchase for day two.
I learned many things about HOW to take a course, thanks to attending Paul's course...
One thing Paul incorporated from others in his training is the Tactical Hierarchy (adopted from Maslow). Everything plays a part in a fight from equipment at the bottom, to skill, to tactical (dis)advantage, to mindset. The same is true of taking a course.
- Do I have equipment that addresses the task at hand as worn/held/used by ME, including weapons(s), magazines, ammunition, accessories, and support gear like holsters/slings?
- Do I have the requisite skill to be both safe and capable of keeping pace with the level of instruction of that course, including practice with the platform and/or foundation courses?
- Is there a tactical advantage to gain or disadvantage to avoid based on my gear, skill and other factors that may be within my control?
- Am I mentally conditioned to take full advantage of this course... in general... beforehand... that day... the next day?
Looking back on the list, there are many bases that I hadn't covered before hitting the range. My mindset was "if it can make it, it will be really great", and everything followed. With that mindset, the course was a last-minute opportunity to join instead of an opportunity I had a solid month (minimum) for brushing up and preparation. With at least two solid preparatory trials, the AKs used would have revealed certain mannerisms that I would have adequate time to address, rather than experience the discomforts and quirks on the fly at the course. More research could have been done on support equipment and other tactics, including time to ask Paul and the others questions with an adequate amount of time for them to respond.
That I was able to learn so much with inadequate preparation and a near-crippling sling issue was a real testament to Paul's teaching ability and problem-solving to work with the shortbus kids in his main classroom.
The internet community has always made fun of itself, often polarizing into the extremes of the "collector/hobbyist" camp with the "tacticool/mallninja" camp. I learned that outside of the desktop, that there is a very relevant and important gray area. There certainly accessories that become more of a management liability than an advantage, but KISS does not necessarily = bone stock. The AK design is an equal opportunities offender for righties and lefties alike. Righties are ergonomically disadvantaged by the charging handle, safety, and some of the buttstock designs. Lefties are disadvantaged by the sling point attachments and by some of the other buttstock designs. Knowledge, training, AND the right equipment are vital elements of using a system effectively. I missed half a day's focus (minimally) because I had to go from stock sling to improvised sling (off my range bag) to 11th hour Bass Pro purchase for day two.
I learned many things about HOW to take a course, thanks to attending Paul's course...
One thing Paul incorporated from others in his training is the Tactical Hierarchy (adopted from Maslow). Everything plays a part in a fight from equipment at the bottom, to skill, to tactical (dis)advantage, to mindset. The same is true of taking a course.
- Do I have equipment that addresses the task at hand as worn/held/used by ME, including weapons(s), magazines, ammunition, accessories, and support gear like holsters/slings?
- Do I have the requisite skill to be both safe and capable of keeping pace with the level of instruction of that course, including practice with the platform and/or foundation courses?
- Is there a tactical advantage to gain or disadvantage to avoid based on my gear, skill and other factors that may be within my control?
- Am I mentally conditioned to take full advantage of this course... in general... beforehand... that day... the next day?
Looking back on the list, there are many bases that I hadn't covered before hitting the range. My mindset was "if it can make it, it will be really great", and everything followed. With that mindset, the course was a last-minute opportunity to join instead of an opportunity I had a solid month (minimum) for brushing up and preparation. With at least two solid preparatory trials, the AKs used would have revealed certain mannerisms that I would have adequate time to address, rather than experience the discomforts and quirks on the fly at the course. More research could have been done on support equipment and other tactics, including time to ask Paul and the others questions with an adequate amount of time for them to respond.
That I was able to learn so much with inadequate preparation and a near-crippling sling issue was a real testament to Paul's teaching ability and problem-solving to work with the shortbus kids in his main classroom.
Paul Gomez
www.Gomez-Training.com
Thanks for the kind words, guys. And, thank you, for showing up and doing the work. We all know plenty of guys who own plenty of guns and always come up with plenty of reasons not to train.
