Class started at 0750 on TD2. Weather started fairly chilly at about 40 °F, intermittent rain throughout the morning, and reaching the low 60s °F as the day progressed, with the sky clearing up in the late afternoon.

We started out with policing yesterday’s brass at the 100 yard line, to minimize the amount of time we’d have to do that later in the rain.

Chuck mentioned about how microterrain may be used to relieve issues with neck tension; for example, using a small rise in the ground to rest one’s pack or magazine on, helping force the rifle a bit higher than one’s body. One could even put a pack under one’s chest to help bring it up, not only adding to stability, but also further relieving further stress on one’s body.

That being said, Chuck once again stressed that the keys to prevailing in an engagement was aggression and efficiency in getting into a stabilizing position.

While we waited for a break in the rain, Chuck spoke about choice of eye pro. All eye pro will affect the sight picture, as it is one more barrier that the photons from the target will have to overcome. Optics that magnify take in the emission of the photons from the target, but in order to magnify, there is refracting and bending of the light. This can potentially lead to a poor decision in crosshair placement, amplified by all the different factors that stack up. A 3” gun, shooting 5” ammo, with a 3” shooter behind the trigger can have some serious accuracy issues; while the factors can cancel each other out, they can also just as easily be additive. Other than the movement of the muzzle, everything else in the shooting process is all controlled by the shooter’s visual perception and reaction to the image.

Chuck spoke about how Oakley would do a demo that would highlight the alteration of light, by shining a visible laser, and then placing a competitor’s lens in front of the laser, and show how the laser’s point of impact would shift; this would have the same effect for a shooter using optically inferior eye pro, thus inducing poor crosshair placement. Due to the design of most eye pro, the least optical distortion occurs when one has the optic centered in front of the eye pro. Chuck also spoke about how many pro masks would have the same issue; pro masks with large, curved single piece lenses that afford excellent field of view often would induce optical distortion, enough that it could even be an issue at CQB ranges. The distortion issue also was why many snipers will not use eye pro when shooting.

Parallax with magnified optics could be approached like DOPE, where one would have to shoot and see how much the shift is at closer ranges when the shooter wasn’t perfectly centered behind the optic.

Chuck gave a quick plug for Rudy Project, speaking about how their scratch resistance was second to none, despite achieving parity with Oakely when it came to optical distortion.

On ocular adjustments, Chuck’s rule is simple: if either the target is fuzzy or the reticle is fuzzy, it needs adjustment until both are in focus. The diopter measurements that the diopters are in are the same as those in corrective lenses, and one could feasibly adjust an optic to compensate for near-sightedness/far-sightedness to mitigate the need to use corrective lenses when trying to shoot precision (thus removing one set of lenses that will cause distortion). One should set up the ocular adjustments first, then move on to parallax adjustment (should one’s optic have parallax adjustment). To do so, one should first get something close in focus, then adjust to also get something far beyond the target in focus, before finally adjusting so that the target is in focus.

On tint, one should wear untinted lenses whenever feasible, as tint by definition removes information. It can also make CQB difficult, as one transitions from a light environment to a dark environment. Chuck talked about how there was no tinted lenses allowed during CQB training, which again tied into the idea of allowing zero excuses for people, thus not having the issue of given undeserved second chances, which in turn may end up allowing the straggler to bring everyone down. For Chuck, he instead simply learned to swap out the lenses on his eye pro when needed while on mission.

The lenses also need some sort of hydrophobic/anti-fog treatment; streaks of water on the lenses would distort the image, while fogging would flat out reduce the image in general. For anti-fog, Chuck recommended the use of the paste formulation of Cat Crap if possible (the liquid being less effective); while nothing would forever prevent fogging, treated lenses would generally extend the time of unfogged lenses by noticeable amounts of time, and would also allow for the lens to clear up much faster as conditions change. Chuck also noted that the reason that he preferred using the Crye AirFrame to the Ops-Core FAST was that the ventilation slit on the AirFrame increased the amount of time it took to fog over Chuck’s eye pro and/or NODs. In some scenarios, one will be forced to make the decision of whether to continue to fogged up eye pro (thus operating under reduced information) or else to forgo the eye pro (thus risking one’s eyes).

A trick for LEOs that Chuck had seen would be to zip tie a pair of shades in a case to the light bar; as an officer exits the vehicle, they would leave the sunglasses they had on inside the air conditioned car and swap out to the ones that were sitting in a case outside.

When monopoding with a magazine, Chuck stressed the use of the sling, using the flexing of the shoulders to tighten up the sling, or perhaps wrapping the sling around the magazine to further induce tension. The off-hand would then be used to further stabilize the gun, with the position of the hand being dependent on the gun, accessories on the gun, and the shooter themselves.

On magazines themselves, Chuck strongly preferred the Gen3 PMAGs, stating that the Gen1 and Gen2 PMAGs would generally only work reliably for about 5000 rounds; the colored magazines were particularly suspect, as the dyes introduced weakened the magazines. Unfortunately, this also meant that the MagPod was not an option if using Gen3 PMAGs, as they currently do not produce something for the Gen3s, although it was very recently announced that they were bringing such a product to market.

At this point, with a break in the rain, we did a 5 shot group at 200 yards on B-8 targets, aiming at the center of the target, to get DOPE for our guns.

Like everyone else on the line, my groups printed slightly low, as we were all using a 100 yard zero.

We then repeated this, but this time being allowed to hold for elevation if we wished.

I had previously used Strelok to calculate the drop for the hash marks on my reticle (albeit using different ammo and in much hotter weather), and used that to hold for 200 yards; my data proved to be dead on.

We then tried 5 rounds at 300 yards on B-8 targets, holding the center of the target. Chuck noted that we had some wind coming from almost directly behind us, slightly from the right; while most folks only worry about the lateral component of wind, Chuck spoke about how winds directly from behind or in front can cause serious shifts in elevation.

Like everyone else, the drop at 300 yards was much more pronounced.

We then repeated the 300 yard shots, this time holding if we wished.

Once again, my holds held true.

Chuck quickly went over the concept of quartering a target. When zeroing, one should not simply strive for “close enough”, but to tune the optic as finely as allowed by the optic’s adjustments. Thus, one should quarter the target, which is to say, to divide the target into four quadrants, evenly splitting it between the middle on both the x and the y axis; if there is a noticeable difference in number of hits between the four quadrants, then the gun should not be considered zero. Chuck also spoke about how one should try to shoot at shorter ranges (i.e., 300 yards or in) when trying to refine raw precision, as this would minimize the amount of environmental influences that are generally considered outside of raw mechanical precision (e.g., wind).

We then moved over to the range next to the long range, which was a 100 yard range, and we proceeded to place a number of steel targets at the 100 yard line (reduced sized B/C torsos, 8” circles, 6” circles, and 4” squares), evenly spaced. As Chuck argued, the differing target sizes are excellent training tools to help shooters learn throttle control (an MGM reduced size B/C target with the hostage head swinger being another great option). One will need to make decisions on body position, cant, stance, etc. When transitioning from a bigger target to a smaller target, one may need to change stance a bit and further refine sight picture, or it may be small enough that it necessitates a full change in position, and use of a sling or barricade. When needing a barricade, hard corners are friends.

People have a raw visual reaction time of around 0.15 seconds to a quarter second; once decisions are introduced, this will stretch much longer, and decision will have to be made whenever liability is involved. Thus, to help make up for this lost time, a shooter must make everything besides the final action of firing faster (e.g., getting into position, getting behind the scope, etc.). Making up for lost time via fast shooting invariable leads to subpar shooting.

We then went over the basics of steel safety. While frangible rounds comes apart very well when hitting a hard surface, and can allow you to shoot at steel as close as 3 yards, it remains a lethal round. And despite the construction of the frangible, it is still mandatory to use eye pro and long sleeves. Still, due to the far lower percentage of ricochet and splashback, using frangible on steel allows for far more training time on steel, though one will always get bit when training with steel, it is simply a matter of time. Frangible is generally ballistically accurately enough to hit a 6” target at 200 yards.

When practicing, one will need to practice with both high magnification and low magnification for the same size targets at the same range. When shooting in an unstable position, magnification is often the enemy, as it amplifies the perceived wobble, which in turn creates shooter induced movement of the muzzle, as the shooter attempts to time the shot. A realworld example of this is how Barrett M82s were mounted with EOTechs when deployed against vehicles while inside rotary wing aircraft, or the use of the offset RDS for movers 100 yards and in. Lower magnification also gives more FOV.

Chuck demoed the use of the RDS on the steel, transitioning from target to target.

As Chuck noted, his old unit used to do ~60% of firearms training on handguns, despite <1% of their engagements ever using a handgun. This is simply because competency with a rifle 200 yards and in is not particularly difficult to generate and maintain. On the other hand, competency at 700 yards and beyond with a long gun can cost significant time and effort.

We then did standing ready-ups off of a timer at 100 on the reduced sized B/C IPSCs, with two shooters at a time, working from the ends of the line toward the middle, each shooter engaging until they each hit the target.

I had been dreading this part of the class, as I had a very muzzle heavy rifle, while not being particularly well-built. I was definitely one of the slowest people in the class on this, though I scored a first round hit.

This was then repeated with an 8” plate.

I was faster this time, as I had more confidence that my shot would land despite the wobble.

We then did one mag of freestyle shooting at the steel, playing with stance, body position, hand position, sling work, etc.

I had a single FTF on the last round; upon ejection, it was immediately obvious why the round did not feed, as it was experiencing extremely noticeable bullet setback.

We broke for lunch at 1145.

Class resumed at 1220. We started with Chuck talking about wide target transitions while in the prone. Chuck selected an array of 6 consecutive targets, each about 10 yards apart, and had us engage all 6, starting from the outside and working our way to the center (i.e., order the targets were arranged physically was 1, 3, 5, 6, 4, 2 in terms of shooting order).

I was able to intuit that one should have one’s natural point of aim toward the middle of the array, to minimize the amount of muscling needed to engage both sides of the array, which Chuck spoke about after the string of fire. I did have some issues with overswinging the target and needing to hunt for the right one.

We then had a course of fire where the shooter would start facing down range, Chuck would call out what targets to engage, turn on the buzzer, get into the prone, and engage.

I was given a Mozambique on a reduced sized B/C target, then two of the 8” circles. I was able to make all hits.

This was repeated on a different section of the target array.

I do not remember the exact targets I was assigned, but I had great difficulty finding the reduced sized B/C, due to the steel being darkened by the other hits and thus blending into the background, and the water spots on my eye pro. I should have checked to see the position of all targets first before getting into prone, and stopped hunting through my optic (which I had cranked up to about 4×) and simply looked with my eyes.

Chuck then went over positional shooting, using some of the traditional NRA competition positions (Chuck had cut his teeth shooting bulls eye growing up). The traditional NRA standing position has some niche uses outside of competition, such as when there are no barricades to use and microterrain precludes the use of lower positions, such as in a rural era. In general, the key to positional shooting is to maximize the use of structural support over use of the muscles. When standing, one can kick the hip out to create a shelf for the off-hand; the sling is also another important component. One will have to play with off-hand position to determine what the best placement will be, due to differing physiques and rifles; common grips include the reverse c-clamp near the slip ring, the fist under the handguard, and the pool cue. If done properly, one can consistently make 300 yard B/C zone hits off-hand; however, standing is extremely technique heavy, and needs extensive practice to master. This is also where flinching can often be seen. Chuck argues that if there is an acceptable backstop, and a wobble zone that stays within the overall target, one should simply shoot with proper trigger control, rather than trying to force the timing.

The closer a position is to the ground, the more stable it usually is. That being said, there are some positions that offer little shooting support. While something like a double knee kneel does offer a reduced profile, it has little difference in performance compared to simply standing. With something like the NRA kneeling position, competitors will often use a pillow between the back leg and the ground; without the pillow, some folks will simply sit on the back foot, though not all shooters are physiologically able to do that. The tricep should be on the knee, while the elbow is just forward of the knee; one can also use sling tension to further improve the stability. One should strive to avoid bone on bone. If one is unable to sit on the foot, one will need to be cognizant of the position of the rifle, making sure that as much rifle as possible is over the body, to reduce the amount of muscling needed.

When done properly, sitting can be almost as stable as the prone. One is usually sitting bladed to the target, so one will need to be aware of natural point of aim as one sits down. The best way to adjust elevation to move the legs forward or back, while changing windage must be accomplished by move the entire body; muscling while sitting and kneeling are particularly bad compared to prone. It is fairly difficult to change natural point of aim in sitting, compared to other positions; the fastest way is to simply push one’s buttocks off the ground using the hands (maintaining a sitting position), shift to the desired position, and then drop down.

Chuck notes that different shooting positions will require different lengths of sling to maintain proper sling tension. Shooter can mark their sling with different colored paint to indicate the different lengths for each position, if they have a suitable quick adjust two point sling.

As Chuck had said the previous day, magazine supported shooting can on occasion cause issues when on the edge of tolerances. To shoot prone without a magazine, sling tension is paramount. In sling supported prone, one blades the legs toward the weak side, cock the strong side leg up to compensate, and have the sling wrapped around the hand to help with the tension. Due to the fact that one is resting on the elbows, sling supported prone can be unstable when done on hard surfaces. In sling supported prone, one also needs to have the position absolutely locked in, or else it provides only minimal support.

We started with standing off-hand, 10 rounds at the B-8 at 100 yards slow fire.

I scored a 76 with 3 6s, 2 7s, 2 8s, 2 9s, and a 10. I was quite bladed, and used heavy sling tension, had my weak side elbow tucked into my rib cage, and used the weak hand palm under the magazine as a shelf for it to rest on. The muzzle heavy nature of my rifle made this a particularly difficult course of fire.

Chuck spoke about recording these scores and practicing the course of fire, comparing one’s scores with past performance as one tries different things. We then went to the kneeling. Chuck stated that for kneeling, one should get in position, get on target, close one’s eyes and relax a little, then open back the eyes, seeing if one was on target; if not, one’s natural point of aim was off, and the position needed adjustment, whether it be foot placement, where the foot was pointing, etc. After finding natural point of aim, then figure out where one’s feet were placed and oriented while standing, and keep that in mind and practice; figuring out natural point of aim and practicing it can be done unloaded and cost zero ammo. Kneeling also gets one over the ground clutter quite well usually.

I found kneeling to be far easier than standing; I was one of the folks able to sit on the back foot, though like most, I found it uncomfortable, particularly given my pre-existing ankle injury. I was able to score a 90, with 2 Xs, 2 10s, 3 9s, 2 8s, and 1 7.

We then practiced sitting, where much of what was spoken about kneeling would also apply, in terms of finding natural point of aim and maintaining it.

I actually found sitting to be less stable than kneeling, probably due to my muzzle heavy gun, and my scores bore this out, an 88 with 4 10s, 2 9s, 2 8s, and 2 7s, with vertical stringing being evident.

We broke at this time to allow a student to check their rifle out and fire a few groups to see if his poor scores were due to his own shooting or if there was something wrong with the rifle. Chuck stated this is important for the learning experience, as a student that cannot trust their rifle to be accurate will not get much value out of the training, as they will constantly be questioning if they were making mistakes or if it was just their rifle having issues.

We then had a competition between all the students. We were to shoot 20 shots at B-8 targets at 100 yards, with 5 rounds in each position: standing, kneeling, sitting, and prone. There was a 120 second part time and use of the NRA scoring system (no points for complete misses or anything outside the 5 ring, line breaks count up).

I failed to utilize sling tension, as I was too preoccupied with getting into position and spent too much time on the standing. I was able to fully utilize my time, though, finishing right at the 120 second mark, so I at least had my head about me for that. My final score was 149, with 1 5, 5 6s, 6 7s, 3 8s, 2 9s, and 3 Xs. The class high score was 182.

Generally, barricade work is the most practical use of supported shooting. That being said, as a general rule, simply placing a rifle on hard cover does not help any on recoil management. There needs to be some sort of protrusion that a shooter can use in order to get a bite onto the cover, whether it be a hand stop, dedicated barricade stop, slings, VFG, WML, etc. One can see the variety of such things on PRS gas guns, along with the use of conformal socks to help with barricade work, to minimize the amount of hard surfaces on hard surfaces. When using training barricades (e.g., VTAC barricades), they should be mounted in a way that allows for loading of the rifle against it, without the barricade falling.

A trick that can be used is to use the firing side knee to be used to support the firing arm, to further stabilize the gun, though one must be cognizant of where the cover ends and not expose one’s self too much. By kneeling, one can further stabilize the gun, and thus engage longer range targets. The reticle of one’s optic will be the determinator of whether such a position needs to be used.

If at all possible, work as far from the barricade as possible, rather than sucking up to it, as this allows for much better situational awareness and also gives one more space to work in general. When utilizing a barricade in a team environment, one must be cognizant of muzzle placement, as it is very easy to sweep a partner; pushing the muzzle past the barricade can make this much easier. Likewise, when moving from a barricade, check to see where your teammates are, to make sure you don’t cross their field of fire or bound into their path of movement.

When working a barricade with firing ports, the square ports can be practiced with a canted gun. On a barricade on a very low port in a canted position (e.g., Brokeback firing strong side for a right handed shooter on the bottom ports on a VTAC), be cognizant of how close the ejection port is to the ground, and create enough clearance to make sure that the empty brass can eject without issue; Chuck usually tries to have at least a fist’s worth of clearance. Another technique for working very low ports is to splay out from the prone, which can be easier for shooters with back issues. Urban prone (i.e., laying sideways, parallel to the barricade) works very well if there is a curb or other properly conformal hard cover, but is often quite exposed if there isn’t.

On slings, Chuck sees necklacing is mostly a gaming technique, as it does not provide any support, unlike a quick adjust 2 point. By having the sling attached to the outboard side of the stock, a shooter will have greater range of motion before they start choking themselves with the sling when manipulating the rifle. Chuck has not found the free running tail of the VTAC sling to be an issue, while he has found the lack of adjustment on the VCAS to be more of an issue.

The fastest way to get the rifle to the support side is to simply bump shoulders, and this can work very well if precision is not needed. However, it will never be as supported as actually switching hands. When switching hands, Chuck has his firing hand go to the magwell, push the rifle out, place the stock in the weak side pocket, bring the weak hand to the grip, push the firing hand to the handguard. One can also collapse the stock to make the transition easier, something that may need to happen if wearing kit up front; one may also need to practice swimming out the sling if the sling is generally too tight to allow for a transition.

As an example about the need to learn off-shoulder shooting, Chuck relayed an anecdote about Operation Gothic Serpent, where a Ranger was attempting to move to a crash site. There was a technical in moving parallel to the force, and the Ranger was unable to figure out how to shoot off the weak shoulder, and ended up having to sprint across the alley ways under fire, before engaging the technical.

We then dragged out two VTAC-esque barricades (they were not the same template as the standard VTAC, being a bit squatter, with some variations in the ports) engaged the steel targets at 100 yards with one mag of free form shooting, switching positions from right shoulder to left, standing to kneeling, and bracing off barricades or the support posts of the cover over the firing line.

We then ran a variant of the Scrambler. There are multiple stations on the line, utilizing the barricades, posts holding up the awning, etc., each one with a shooter, and a specified position and target. Clear the shooting position, and then move to the next position. If there is still a shooter there, tag them, and they are out. The goal is to be the last shooter left on the line. During movement, a shooter must be cognizant of muzzle position, and should be using either Sul or else muzzle up. After the first run, was down to three shooters, Chuck instituted a sudden death to select the winner (same position and target, based off of time), then ran a losers bracket, instituted sudden death, then had the winners of each bracket shoot off against each other similar to sudden death.

I was able to clear about three stations both times, getting tagged out on one of the kneeling positions at the very end of the line.

The shooting portion of the class then ended at 1610, after which brass was policed, targets were put away, and the range cleaned up in general. Chuck stated that this was almost certainly the only "designated marksman" class he would hold, though he would incorporate the lessons he had learned teaching this class into his main rifle class. He noted that this was definitely not a sniper-type class, as there was very little field fire, and was specifically about precision at midrange. Given that this course had what he considered a very rough POI, he offered all shooters 50% off their choice of any future course, or the opportunity to attend the upcoming No Fail Pistol (which was on the next two days) for free.

Chuck noted that his No Fail Pistol course had change substantially over time, despite having of taught it for only about a year. Classes with rigid POIs, while much easier to teach, allow for a more polished presentation, and less stressful on the instructor, do not lend themselves to being good fits for every class, as each class will have a unique student population. Chuck sees his teaching and sharing of his experiences as his way of giving back to the community; still, he struggles with social media and self-promotion, and asked the students to help spread the word.

Chuck then went into a very powerful speech that he gives at the end of every class, concerning his struggles with substance abuse (alcoholism in his case), including very personal details, and how he was able to finally achieve sobriety through the help of his sponsor, Tom Spooner, and the rehab organization that Spooner helped found, Warrior's Heart (https://www.warriorsheart.com/).

Chuck's talk about his personal struggles was deeply affecting to me, and it clearly highlighted how he was dedicated to helping others in any way that he could; it showed how his dedication to sharing his experiences in order to help others extended far beyond just the mechanics of shooting.

After that, Chuck then showed us a few things that he had in the works.

Class formally ended at 1730.

This class was, despite Chuck's claim of having a rough POI, very educational for me, as my skills with the rifle are far below that of my pistol shooting. The positional shooting was something that I rarely had any practice in, besides in a few previous courses, as most of the rifle shooting I do outside of classes do not demand a very high level of accuracy or else is simply done at a bench. The usage of the sling to help with stability was reinforced, and I gained much confidence in my ability to put rounds on target even with a noticeable wobble. I also absolutely loved how we refaced targets after essentially every run, and how every single student was provided the proper equipment to do so, something that I wish that every instructor would do.

Most of the weak points of the class for me was tied either with the weather or else with the range, both of which were out of Chuck's control. Due to the weather, TD2 definitely had a rougher feeling, as we were often forced to wait on the weather, though Chuck did an admirable job in trying to fill the dead time with lecture. The fact that we had to use a 500 yard range meant that there was some noticeable down time as we moved from the shooting line back to the staging area, given the hundreds of yards we'd have to walk back and forth on. I was also not the biggest fan of the free fire portions of the class, as I prefer a bit more hand holding, as I feel that I'm at a point where I'm still not necessarily able to properly figure out exactly what is right and what is wrong within just a mag or two, though this is obviously a personal preference and something that I have had other highly acclaimed instructors also do.

Gearwise, the only issues I had during the class was with the Lancer L7AWM 25 not chambering and my Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra 2 GTX soaking through on TD2. I already spoke about the former on TD1, while on the latter, this was not the first time I had this issue; testing showed that it was simply a failure of the Gore-Tex liner at the toebox, as these shoes have seen substantial miles in rough conditions in the backcountry with SuperFeet Copper insoles, which I was not aware could cause damage to the liner. After the class, I also found that a combination of the rain and lack of lube had led to some minor corrosion on my rifle (I did not immediately clean my rifle after the course, and instead let it sit in the case for a couple days until I had returned home); there was some minor rust on the ejection port and ejection port sprint, along with some sort of pitting/corrosion on my BCG and charging handle. The NP3 coating on the Raptor-SD somehow became pitted/separated, with the bare aluminum underneath being exposed; Radian replaced the charging handle free of charge after a quick and painless RMA process, while I was able to scrub off the corrosion on my BCG, which was hard chromed. I will also say that the use of a full-sized suppressor made my gun predictably cumbersome, but I was happy overall with my ability to fight through the muzzle-heaviness of it.

Overall, 287 rounds of Magtech First Defense Sniper 308D (168 gr SMK) were expended, with a single malfunction due to excessive bullet setback.