Day 1:
We started the day with a safety brief followed by introductions and our expectations of the course along with the instructors expectations. After that we moved into a quick zero of our rifles at 50yds. This went pretty quick since most of us were already dialed in.
They then had us at about 10-15yds working on “driving the gun” and getting rounds on target quickly and accurately. As we shot the instructors would walk up and down the line evaluating our stance, grip, movements, and rifle/gear set up. We then worked on quickly getting to a hasty kneeling position and getting rounds on target. The kneeling position they had us do was different then what I was used to, but I much prefer the version they taught us. After this we coved speed and tactical reloads, malfunctions, and transitioning to our secondary weapons. This then led into communicating with a partner/teammate to cover you while you cleared a malfunction or reloaded a weapon.
The weather this day was awful. It was dumping rain the entire day and temperatures were in the low 40’s to high 30’s. The section of the range we were using this day is basically a big sand pit at the rear of the facilities, so everything ended up with wet sand on it or in it. There was little to no covered area for us to use during breaks to load mags, but at least a couple of students brought collapsible canopies we kept our extra gear under. We ended up calling it a day a little early just because it was so wet and miserable outside. Everyone agreed there was no point pushing ourselves the first day, only to feel like crap during the next two days of the class. This was ok, because we made up for it the next two days of the class.
Day 2:
On the second day we got to move out of the “sand pit” portion of the range and into two bays that were much nicer. There was a large covered area and tables for us to use, as well as indoor restrooms (instead of the Honey Bucket at the sand pit). The weather was also a little better. It didn’t rain on us as hard, in fact we actually saw some sun by the end of the day. Since our class was too big for us all to shoot in one bay at a time, there was about 24-26 students, we were split into two groups. My group was mostly LEOs such as myself.
In the morning my group worked with Steve Fisher. Steve had us working a lot on quickly transitioning to support side shooting. This is something I needed work on, so I found it to be one on the most valuable portions of the class. We then moved into shooting from kneeling, with support side transitions mixed in, and urban prone position.
It was while doing urban prone that I had a major gear fail. I was using a BLACKHAWK SERPA holster for my Glock 21sf. After a couple of reps of urban prone there was enough sand in the side button on my holster to cause it to fail. I was completely unable to get my Glock out of my holster. At our next break I had to flush it out with water in order to make it usable again. Now I have heard of this happening before with SERPAs, but there is a lot of BS on the net so up until this point I was still on the fence about whether or not to trade out my SERPAs. After this I will be getting rid of my BLACKHAWK SERPAs and buying Safariland SLS and ALS holsters. I STRONGLY recommend avoiding SERPA holsters! There was a second LEO in the class who also had his SERPA fail in the same manner, so I wasn’t alone.
After lunch our group switched with the other group and went over to Chris Costa’s bay. With Chris we did some drills with a shot timer, working on our speed and ability to get multiple hits. This progressed into engaging multiple targets. We then we worked kneeling, prone, and facing/turning. Our distances varied from about 5 yds to 50.
Near the end of the day, about 15-20 minutes left, is when my secondary went down on me. I was shooting my AR at about 20 yds when my weapon went empty. I immediately transitioned to my secondary weapon, my Glock 21sf, and fired three rounds. On the third round my hand hurt… bad. So bad I dropped my gun. Essentially my Glock blew up in my hand. Luckily I was wearing gloves so there was minimal injury to my hand. We immediately put ice on my hand, so the swelling didn’t get too bad. I do have a couple of pretty good marks on my hand though.
As best we can tell the round was a double charge (I was using factory ammo). 
Day 3:
This was the fun day. Again we were split into two groups. My group started with Chris in the morning. We started with some drills engaging multiple targets while competing against the shot clock. After this we got to do some running and gunning. My favorite exercise is when we split up and did some relays.
After lunch we switched and went over to Steve’s bay. With Steve we did a lot of moving and shooting. We worked on quickly moving laterally and back and forth. We did a lot of walking forwards and backwards, while waiting for a threat to appear and shooting it on the move. This led to rapidly advancing on a target while shooting.
At the end of the day we all got together and had a little competition to end the class. It was good fun and I managed to get to the final 2, but DQ’d myself on the last target.
Final notes:
The instructors were great! Chris Costa was as sick as a dog during the whole class, but still kept with it to make sure we all got our money’s worth. Steve Fisher wasn’t feeling so good by the end of the class either, but continued to keep a good attitude. Both of them were very approachable. I have attended other firearms classes, either through work as an LEO or for fun, where the instructors have an attitude or treat you as inferior. This was not the case with the guys from Magpul. They seemed to know there stuff and did a great job relating the drills to real world situations that we may face as LEOs, military, or as a private citizens.
Overall I felt I did well during the course. I don’t think I was a standout student, but I never felt like I was behind the group. I know I could use some more work on weak side transitions and left hand shooting, but we got a lot of good training and practice with this in the class. For the most part I felt the class did a great job fine-tuning and building on skills.
If you take a Magpul class bring extra ammo. We were originally told to bring at least 2,000 rounds of primary and 300 rounds of secondary. I had left over handgun ammo, but I probably used close to 2,500 rifle rounds. This wasn’t me being trigger happy. We were busy and did a lot of shooting! If you take a class, not just Magpul’s, bring extra ammo. I also brought about 30 AR mags and had most of my ammo on stripper clips. It was great during reload breaks to just grab some more loaded mags or just use my Strip-LULA to quickly load up. This gave me the opportunity to talk to the instructors or some of the more experienced shooters in the class.
Overall I am happy with how I have my AR, plate carrier, TT MAV, and duty belt set up (besides my BLACKHAWK SERPA
). I did move my pistol mag pouch on my plate carrier because it kept snagging on my rifle sling. Taking a class really is the best way to figure out what gear set up works best for you. I brought an extra AR and my Glock 22 and Glock 23 as backups. Although I didn’t need my extra AR it was reassuring to know it was there if needed. Obviously I did need an extra Glock. If I had not brought them I would have been screwed because my Glock 21sf is DOA.
I know Magpul classes aren’t the cheapest out there, but if you have the chance to take one I say do it.
, otherwise I would show you some pics of what I mean.
