Hello!

Last weekend I mounted my first-ever red dot on my S&W sport AR. I did my best to dial it in and make my iron sights cowitness. That day I put about 200 rounds through it.

Yesterday I attended a local basic carbine course. Put 600 rounds through my rifle and had no problems at all. That's 800 rounds over seven days with no cleaning.

As an added bonus, in a class of eight students I was one of two who got five out of five hits on a man-sized steel target at 300 yards! John Wick ain't got nothin on me! (Just kidding of course - I'm so sore today I can hardly walk!) - lots of stuff done from the ground.

Rifle is 100% factory other than the red dot. I shoot my rifles from my left shoulder despite being right handed, as I'm left eye dominant. Other guys present strongly encouraged me to add a tactical charging handle. Otherwise no one gave my any grief because I didn't have the latest tacticool gear. They were all geared up, so I expected to catch some flack. I was pleasantly surprised.

Mine was the only AR in the course without a forward assist. One student had a strange hangup after he chose to do a chamber check. These were not taught in the class, he just did it on his own. Instructor saw this and let him experience the malfunction, then stopped the shooting to use it as a teaching moment. He spoke about how to use a forward assist after a chamber check so as to avoid the malfunction. I spoke up and asked "what do I do since I don't have the forward assist?" Answer? Pull the charging handle all the way back and charge the weapon! I liked that he didn't give me grief over my rifle design (as this can be a touchy subject on any gun forum).

After the course was over I got to shoot one of the instructors AKs. In 46 years of shooting I've never shot an AK. That might have been a bad choice on my part, as now I'm wanting one. That thing threw brass 15-20' out!

Just wanted to share - thanks for reading!

Jim

Forgot to say that all 800 rounds were steel cased Tulammo!

Sounds like a hoot! Nice job. I also shoot long guns lefty and my favorite AR has no forward assist, nor a shell deflector. Colt SP-1. What class was it? Some don't allow steel cased stuff.

Hello,

Class was tactical carbine 1.

Jim

I love it Jim. Congrats. Less is more many times. I am not surprised by your weapons success. Sounds like you were prepared and it showed. Old guys can rock!

Sounds like a good class with a great instructor.

So your forward assist is the inward cut on the bolt if the gun is out of battery you can push it forward with your finger.

You have found part of the magic of these guns and that is for not a lot of money they can do quite a bit. You do not need the performance enhancements some people scream as mandatory. I often find people with a ton of tactical gear on their guns are lacking in other places...like they have never shot it and the optic is not zeroed. Most of the modern high demand tactical upgrades do not enhance performance much, that said...trigger upgrades are often worth the money once you get off the shelf down. It takes away some of the "processing" of shooting when the trigger break is lighter and more predictable. For budget minded the ALG Defense Advanced Combat Trigger is not expensive and is a good leap over the standard triggers on most AR's

Sir, I am thinking about buying a red dot myself. Would you mind me asking which one you used and how you picked it? Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim1970:
Forgot to say that all 800 rounds were steel cased Tulammo!

Hey Jim,

Do you mind telling what class you took, the school, instructor, etc? I'm asking because I'm always in the market for good carbine classes. I'm a California resident and the about the only time I can shoot my ARs the way they are supposed to be shot is in a tactical carbine class

Thanks

Hello!

Optic was recommended by a friend who works in law enforcement - vortex sparc 2; think it was $110 from Walmart of all places - ordered online & had it shipped to my home.

Course was put on by a local team - Wyoming Survival & Tactics. One of the trainers attends big name trainings then brings back stuff & shares - after they make it fit their style - that's what a colleague explained to me. I've done handgun trainings and I've read a lot about training methods & styles - these guys were very pragmatic & user friendly.

Thanks for the kind words!

Jim

Sounds like you had a good day. I'm assuming you oiled.

As for a chamber-check without a forward assist. Here is a TTP.

With Weapon pointed in a safe direction

Look at your magazine, note the position of the top round.

insert magazine and chamber round.

remove magazine and look at the top round. If the top round is in the same place as before you cycled the weapon, then your chamber is empty. If the opposite round is on top you chambered a round.

Reseat the magazine with the push/pull method.

then look through the ejection port cover and verify that the bolt is in place.

close the ejection port cover and verify that the weapon is on safe and you are done.

Chamber checks can be useful if done right or can cause malfunctions if done wrong (as you saw). Whether or not you do they is entirely your choice. I was trained to do chamber checks in Basic (Army) but when I got outside training (LE/MIL) they recommended the above method because screwing with the bolt can cause malfunctions (as you saw).

I'd also refrain from running out and buying a tactical charging handle until, you can explain to yourself why you need it and how it fits into your TTPs.

sounds like a great time and money well spent. Nothing wrong with running a stock rifle imo.

I love my S&W Sports. Great rifles. Some of my compadres were put off by the lack of foward assist and dust cover. But the 2 rifles rock on and the good natured ribbing has subsided.

AK's are fun and can be addictive.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim1970:
Hello,

Class was tactical carbine 1.

Jim

taught by whom?

Hello,

Taught by Wyoming Survival & Tactics. Local crew - not a big name.

Jim