Topic: Tactical Meets Practical (Raul Garcia and Travis Gibson AR Class)

[ekuo]

Item being reviewed: AR rifle class put on by Raul Garcia and Travis Gibson

Description of item: The best way to explain this class is to call it a "Tactical Meets Practical" from two of the best shooters in the valley.  With Raul and Travis you have the differing perspectives from their two widely different, yet similar backgrounds.  The class combined the techniques and pursuit of pure speed that have been developed in 3-gun competition and put it into a LE/tactical perspective.  I will say that this concept of using USPSA Grand Master's or IMGA 3-gun national champs to instruct LEO or military shooters is not new -its just that those GM or nat'l champs typically don't come to Idaho... until now.  Furthermore, techniques and gear used in competition have a way of being adopted by LE and military (i.e. red dot scopes which are now common place in LE/Mil, which got their start in the competition world).  

Description of review tests:  The class started with a comparison of competition-style rifles and AR rifles set up for law enforcement, and one cool things was the apparent similarities between the two for some very good reasons.  Sure, LEO applications may call for SBR's, and compensators that are used in competition are obnoxious to your fellow entry-team mates, but the concepts are morphing together faster than one may imagine.  Granted, the LE application usually desires quad rails for bolting on stuff that a 3-gunner would disdain because of the weight or thats just more crap to get hung up on a barrier, but both sides want the free-float handguard, extra length so you can get the support hand as far forward, big charging handles for ease of operation, and even the optics of the LE instructor was starting to resemble his 3-gun set-up more and more.  

The live fire portion of the class consisted of a series of drills that were shot at distances ranging from 7 yds to 75 yds, free-hand as well as supported barricade drills, and a lot of time was spent on transitioning.  As can be imagined, stance, balance, and using the legs to drive the gun onto the next target played a big role, much of which stems from the competition arena.

To mark our improvement, the class ended with the same drill we started with, and I found myself shaving significant time on my final runs (some of the reduction in time was almost a full second, which is an eternity in 3-gun).  

Pros:  Student-teach ratio was excellent.  A lot of one-on-one time, good critiques that you could take to heart, and we were able to reinforce learning moments with trial and error.  Both instructors have a pretty good teaching style, and the drills they had us do are easily repeatable on our own.  Furthermore both are very accomplished shooters, so if a technique was in doubt you could easily get a live demo (in fact I think they shot as much as I did).  

Cons:  The only thing I can think of is these guys are getting good at teaching, which is a good thing, but that also means their demand is going to go up.  Unfortunately that means their availability for local classes will go down, and they'll charge more per class!  

Best Uses:  Like the title suggests, the training is suitable for LEO application, home defense, competition shooting sports or if you just want to improve you AR handling skills in general.  In my limited experience, I think a class like this is kind of unique because it is blends the two backgrounds in a way you don't hear much about, and plays on the strengths of one that would augment the other.  It also highlights the balance between speed and accuracy from competition, and works that into how one might apply it in an environment where the cardboard targets might actually be shooting back.  Which is cool because it seems like there are some within the LEO community that are hesitant to get involved in competitive shooting (look at any of our matches, civilian's outnumber the LEO's 10:1) because they fear it might teach them bad habits.  But when this was brought up, Raul was quick to say: "which part of competition shooting are they afraid of, the shooting really accurately or the shooting really fast?"
  (seriously, he said that)

Duration Used:  Half day class, which is a good duration because I was starting to get a little punchy towards the end.  I think I went thru 350 rnds and had four mags on me.  Tacticool gear is not needed, and I used my 3-gun get-up.  But a comfortable sling was definitely needed.    

Where purchased:  See TG, a fellow forum member

Cost: $50 for 4 hrs (which is a STEAL!)

Rating: (1 through 5, 5 being best)  Not having much to compare it to, I would still rate it a 5 out of 5.  Good class, with solid instruction and learning moments that I'll remember for a while (hopefully during the Area 1 MG match in Oct!).

Oh yeah, my AR was one of the few that didn't jam...    Hopefully I don't jinx myself, but YAY for quality parts and running it with the bolt dripping wet seems to be working.  Now where did I learn that?

[tgibson]

WOW!  Thanks for the great write up Ekuo!  Glad you liked the class!
Adios,
TG

[rgarcia]

Glad you enjoyed  it and found the class informative.  Thanks for the good comments.  And great shooting by the way.

[ekuo]

Looking forward to seeing Danny's video, especially the out-takes! 

Yeah, I did enjoy it, and I learned some good stuff.  Plus you guys made it fun.  Having some experience with teaching (but from an ICS perspective of how to light stuff on fire or put it out) I'd say you guys did really good.  You had a good lesson plan, really good delivery, and it wasn't overwhelming.  Now I'm looking forward to Tactical-Practical II. 

Good luck with your class in Bend next weekend!

[Alita]

When and where is the next class and/or is there a schedule up somewhere?

[han_cholo]

When and where is the next class and/or is there a schedule up somewhere?

Looks like they announced it here: http://www.boiseshooters.com/index.php/topic,13125.0.html

But I'd definitely like to know when the next one is.  I'm always game for some good training.

[kevin42]

I took the class also and I got a lot out of it. Next time I'm going to spend the day before practicing, I wasted a bit of time at the start of the class warming up.

I'd recommend any class by Travis or Raul, they are both excellent instructors, and fun people to hang out with.

Here's a little video of me shooting the timed test at the end of the class:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/5uecAeKgDDw?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&quot;" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/5uecAeKgDDw?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&quot;</a>

http://youtu.be/5uecAeKgDDw

[ekuo]

Good shootin', Kevin! 

[RevolverLove]

That was so cool!

Sadly I don't have an AR.

What are the chances you guys teaching an advanced pistol class???

[tgibson]

I'm trying to put the following classes together for October or November
Pistol
Three gun
Ladies pistol class

Now I just have to get dates together!  LOL!
adios
TG

[Nomad]

 Would highly recommend these instructors....
 Raul has held three classes for LEO instructors in our area and everyone learned a very great deal
from the instruction and is being passed on......Thanks Raul.
 Travis is an outstanding threegun shooter who has shared with others his experience....
 Both are top shooters and have a to get to any class of shooter.......

[idahobuckeye]

I'm trying to put the following classes together for October or November
Pistol

Now I just have to get dates together!  LOL!

Any dates set for pistol??  I'd definitely be interested.

[Shade OGrey]

I also very much would like to attend one of your and Mr. Garcia's pistol classes.
Unfortunately I work weekends, so unless there is the possibility of a mid-week session......

[tgibson]

Right now I'm I have two days scheduled in November for training but I don't remember the dates. Check the events section. Right now I have three or so people signed up. Could do a pistol class on Saturday and a ladies class on Sunday or vice versa. Lmk.
Adios
TG

[Nomad]

 Having shot with both of these shooters. They some of the top shooters in Idaho and
offer a great deal to All level of shooters....