Tic Toc Tactical's Intro to Rifle Course

[Kenneth Mescall]

This past weekend, Tic Toc Tactical extended an invitation to members of the WTA for a one day version of their Intro to Rifle Course. It was held at Darnell's Range in Bloomington, Il and turned out to be well worth the drive.

I thought we would be zeroing our rifles while laying in puddles of rain, but the gods of war smiled upon us and the weather cleared and the lesson that it may be the rifle that shoots the zero, but it is the shooter that shoots the grouping was imparted.

From there, we were shown a different way to present the rifle, drilled on shooting on the move and practiced clearing a number of malfunctions, keeping in mind the best solution to a rifle malfunction is a clean transition to pistol!

The day ended with a shooting scenario worthy of a Survivor episode. We were put in a box and had to get off three shots using whatever was within the box. The lesson taught us a real world survival skill and taught us to- yes, wait for it- think outside of the box while putting rounds on target.

All the shooters recieved individual instruction from Raul and AJ on how to better drive the weapon. The range itself was contained in a number of grassy berms that allowed us to take shots at 50,75 and almost 100 yards that instilled in us the confidence that the shot is within us should we ever have to take it.

I do believe they are planning the two day version of this course in early August that will include an all day shoot followed by some trigger time at night. These guys are some serious operators and crack instructors and will help anyone up their survival quota. This was another fine training opportunity offered trough the WTA and if you are not out here, you dont know what your missing.

[J. Larry Laidley]

Ken has hit the synopsis of the class squarely on the mark. While we laid in the puddles getting the Tic Toc 35 yard zero the effort was worth the slight discomfort. This group teaches a much more aggressive posture for getting, and keeping, the M4 in operation during CQB. Raul and AJ were vetern instructors who have tailored a program to today's anticipated needs. This class will teach you to run your' M4, hit what you want / need to, and if all else fails, transition to a backup side arm. Fast paced and full of information the class attempted to condense a full array of evolutions into a single day of training. Carbine manipulation, carbine to handgun transition, balance of speed and percision, multiple target acquision, malfunction clearing, get off the X, and target discrimination were just some of the topics covered. The course was worth the drive and I would strongly recommend attending any of Raul's classes given the oppportunity. 4 stars.