Non lethal firearms training

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Since I am going to (at some unknown time in the future as of now) get some CQB (Close Quarters Battle, in my case, room clearing and home defense) I decided to start seeing what it was like to do some sort-of realistic training.

I went to an iCombat laser tag match. They use a pretty realistic AR 15 type rifle, the magazine runs dry and has to be changed, you have to work the bolt after a mag change (I would change mags before empty, hopefully) it has a safety and a fire mode select, single, burst, or full auto. Not exactly like an AR, but close.

The weight is slightly heavier than my 10.5 inch AR pistol.

The match took place in a tall building, with a few jeeps inside, and some big crates and other cover, with a 20 x 20 tent in the middle. It was dark, with the lighting being "spots" rather than floods.

2 teams, of 10. My team had two "veterans" who played in tournaments on a regular basis. The opposing team had 5 guys from a tournament team. We got destroyed.

The better you knew the playing field, the better you were going to do. The opposing team cheated, by calling out positions after they were killed. Also by sprinting right out of the starting gate (you start in 2 rooms on opposite sides of the field.) they could just kill all of us as we came out of the door late.

The opposing team wore black, and you couldn't see them, you had to pick them out by their shadows, typically. Sometimes they would show up against a wooden surface, but it was dark. We wore ACU, and stood out like beacons in the black, with any light on us.

I found a great spot by the third round, and did pretty well, but comms were non existent and it was a real problem. Other members on my team consistently got in the way of my shots, even when I was standing in the open.

The "claw" overhand grip right behind the front sight is great for standing there shooting targets, but SUCKS for CQB. You can't manipulate the weapon the way you want to, to get your head and body behind cover while leaning and looking through the red dot with your left or right eye. I got the most "kills" in a row standing behind a brick wall, on my tip-toes, leaning out to my left by arching my back, looking through the scope with my left eye and the stock pressed against my neck and my front (left) hand on the magwell. That's just how I had to contort to get the shot, and make it so I couldn't be shot in return.

I placed third consistently, which wasn't too bad for my first time.

You have to really "work" cover, moving back and forth and backing away and then moving to new cover, otherwise people you had already shot would call out your position, and then their buddy would come whack you toot sweet.

It was expensive. I could buy two AR mags for the cost of ONE hour. So I am going to switch to airsoft, we have the midwests largest airsoft field right outside town, and I can do a walk-in on a Sunday for 15 bucks and play as long as I want. But it's tiring. Holding an AR up for the shot for 10 minutes... I was surprised. I think it's the intensity that makes the difference, wearing me out faster than normal.

Overall, the iCombat was pretty good CQB practice, but suffers from a rifle that doesn't EXACTLY function like my AR, so I don't want to train in bad habits, and a poor team setup, with no "levels" to divide great players from beginners, so it can be discouraging.

I will check out the airsoft, if I can get an EXACT functioning AR (I can, I have looked it up) I can use my mag pouches, and even change some parts back and forth between the airsoft gun (made by colt) and my AR. Then, I would consider it more accurate and realistic training, with a 400 fps BB reminding me to use cover effectively and not be a hero.
 
Also, it an entirely different skillset than shooting at the range, unless you are doing some pretty dynamic drills. Running the rifle, multiple opponents all moving, "snipers" setup to hit you when you break cover, against a solid team it's rough. I have some shoot house experience, but against static targets. This was much more challenging.
 
I have an airsoft 1911 that functions EXACTLY like the real thing. Many parts are almost interchangeable, but made of zinc instead of steel. (grips are interchangeable though) I guess they made them dimensionally slightly different so that the zinc parts wouldn't be used on a real gun. Back when ammo and components were hard to find, that's what I was reduced to in order to practice.

Here is a demo practice run for Steel Challenge using the airsoft 1911 in the back yard. (I slowed down to make sure I hit all the targets for the camera :) ) I used pie plates set on poles to simulate steel. I only loaded 5 in the mag just to show a slide lock reload on camera.

 
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I can see it as a useful training tool, and a way to save some bucks on ammo. Still have to pop for the range membership though, there's just no substitute for the real thing. The real thing can get pricey though, lol. I haven't figured out a price per 30rd mag. Then I might accidently let it slip in front of the wife. And that mag runs dry so fast!
 
You are practicing yes and maybe some good skill sets. The only thing I would say is realize that almost nothing is actually cover. To a laser and a B.B. sure but, 7.62 could care less about your plaster or plywood “cover”. When ever we run airsofters or paint ballers through our cover or concealment class they always die and fast, Thinking I’m safe from bullets on the other side of 1/2 inch plywood. Lol. Try to train how you fight. Be conscious of where your at. Ask yourself out there, Cover or concealment? The answer most of the time is the ladder. While practicing ask that question every time you stop. That’s good training then.
 
I used to do a lot of paintball. It's all good training. It's a good note about actual cover. Sometimes, it was to our detriment, because we'd train to use REAL cover (i.e. something that would protect you from bullets), but in paintball, a good bush can provide cover, lol.

It's also why military guys usually get their clocks cleaned in paintball. They are trained to shoot center of mass, use real cover, and care about casualties, etc. Whereas in paintball, we can go out in the field with designated people to draw fire and get taken out, to achieve misdirection, and another objective, etc. Or even use completely unconventional tactics.

My local field even had to completely change one of their scenario games, because I'm a fiend for weird tactics. One scenario is a two-story fort, like a castle. Only a small force defends, but the attackers outnumber them like 5 to 1. But, the castle folks have almost total cover...whereas the attackers have only a few items for cover as they approach. The objective is to get one of the attackers through the doorway unshot. Just one. Most times I played it, the attackers only won about one in every 4 games. I got tired of my "leader's" advice.....Time for a new strategy....

So, I simply formed us all in a wedge, shortest kids on the inside, tallest guys outside of them, then the rest on the outside. We made a beeline for the door (no cover, just balls to the wall), the outer layers getting shot up and tagged out, meanwhile, the inner kids (shielded by those getting shot) were right at the door by then, and poured into the castle, killing all. This worked every time and the game was over in like 5 minutes (and the castle team was not happy, hehe).

So, they outlawed that strategy, and changed it up, lol.
 
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Another favorite...this scenario involved my team having to place a long white missile into the enemy team's base.

Next time we went, I brought a few white t-shirts and a camo one. Had different duos carry the stretched out shirt between them (looking from a distance, like the missile). The enemy would converge on them, thinking an easy end to the game, only to be bamboozled, as would the next ones, etc. Meanwhile, the REAL missile team was traveling on the outer border of the field, the camo t-shirt draped over it (never said it violated the rules), with all of these decoys getting tag teamed....lol.

Needless to say, yep, another rules addition caused by me....hehe. (gave me the nickname "Hannibal"...guess the owner was either an A Team fan, or it was the first historical tactics guy that came to mind.
 
You should have seen the look on those faces in the castle, when a huge wedge of folks just rushed the thing....!!!

Although, I did learn the perils of night fighting once. We were at a MOUT training facility (urban combat) doing paintball, at night. My group had set up in a 3 story building. My "brilliant" general decided to change the discussed missions, and we saw a group in the mock city that (as far as we knew) shouldn't be any of ours, so we started lighting them up. The other 4 with me were taken out (via the windows, etc.). We took out about 10 of theirs, and then another group came up. How the heck did the enemy penetrate so many, that far? Anyhow, I proceeded to snipe them (taking out about 8 more) for the next 20 minutes, before they finally stormed the building and took me, only to realize, I'd been firing on my own side... That's when I found out there was a change of plans.

Well, our comms guy was taken out, so ....we didn't know. LOL. Talk about going from hero to zero, hehe.....
 

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