After Action.net covered the LMS Defense AK 101 course at the Casa Grande Police range in Arizona in March 2007: two days of combative gun handling for the Kalashnikov, taught by two of the best-known AK instructors in the country.
Course overview
- School: LMS Defense (Last Man Standing)
- Instructors: Paul Gomez, a 13-year veteran with a decade in private training, and Yancey Harrington, who first met the AK during his years with the 82nd Airborne
- Course: AK 101, An Introduction to the Combative Kalashnikov
- Prerequisites: None, though a working knowledge of firearms and range commands helps
- Cost at the time: $350, plus about $200 in ammunition
- Round count: 900 to 1,200 per student over two days
- Required gear: An AK-pattern rifle with a sling and at least three magazines, 1,000 rifle rounds, a chest rig, a pistol with three magazines and 100 rounds, gloves, knee and elbow pads, a notebook, water and a packed lunch
- Topics: design orientation, the combative platform, loading and reloading, status checks, wound ballistics, sighting and triggering concepts, ready positions, transition to pistol, gear setup, stoppage reduction, alternate positions and firing on the move
Why the AK
- Estimates put AK-series production at 80 to 120 million rifles, more than every other common military rifle combined. Chances are an AK will end up in your hands at some point, so know how to run one.
How day one ran
- Fast start: introductions, safety and paperwork, then straight to the range for operation, manipulation, malfunctions and reloads. Students went from clumsy to efficient remarkably fast.
- Variants: every student brought at least one AK, which made the lecture on variants hands-on.
- Heat: unusually hot for March. AKs have sharp edges, so every student wore gloves.
- Magazines: heavy AK magazines are usually not worth holding onto during a reload, so most students let them drop. The magazines are tough and none were damaged. Retrieving them was taught too: head up and scanning downrange, not bent over staring at the ground.
- Sustained fire: a few drills simulated laying down sustained fire. Hearing protection is a must; these are not quiet guns.
- Pistol transition: Gomez taught a quick transition to the pistol that was new to many.
- First aid at lunch: Cavalry Arms staff brought a large medic kit and opened packages so students could see inside. Gomez favored the NATO tourniquet.
- After dark: low light drills, comparing muzzle brakes and how muzzle flash affects shooting in the dark.
The gear
- Rifles: at least five WASR-10s, two Veprs (one in .223), seven rifles in 5.45×39, two Yugoslavian rifles (one broke), three underfolders including a Krink, and two Krebs-built rifles. Only three or four were student-built, and most ran military surplus ammunition.
- Pistols: nearly all Glocks, plus one Kahr and one Kimber Desert Warrior 1911 that ran flawlessly.
- Holsters: mostly outside-the-waistband Kydex, with six drop-leg holsters.
- Rigs: mostly US-made chest rigs. A Chinese chest rig works better after cutting along the stitching for easier magazine access, and two zip ties made a working improvised side sling mount.
Observations
- The Casa Grande Police range is an asset to Arizona: sturdy target stands, seating, shade and a mountain backdrop.
- The instructors answered questions quickly and knowledgeably, with no time wasted on back-patting or gear sales.
- Load from a loose pile instead of boxes, and consider a magazine loader to save your thumbs.
- Watch for bees, scorpions and snakes on desert ranges.
Takeaways
- Learn the AK even if you shoot an AR; you may need to run one someday.
- Wear gloves, and let empty AK magazines drop.
- Continue with Day 2.
Originally published on After Action.net on March 21, 2007. Rebuilt from the archived report; the original photos were not preserved. See every class in the Training Log, or share your own training experience.
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