GORUCK Custom Breacher Course

TRAINING LEAD-UP

Sunday, Nov 19:

Core & Restore and Quick Restorative Yin Yoga with Adriene.

18A "Hanging Abs" in 15:47, Glute and pec PT v2 in 28:27, GORUCK TNT "Frannish" in 10:45.  

Monday, Nov 20:

18A "Upper Body Prep" in 22:37, "Push-up" in 43:49.

Tuesday, Nov 21:

I got a used tripod that I might use for a spotting scope one day.  It seems to be able to hold up my gun.

I also practiced using a new armboard for the first time.  It's stiff and has heartier velcro, which is nice.

I mainly practiced shooting from the top of my pack and from the top of a tac table.  I focused on building very squared and skeletal positions to minimize wobble.

I figured out that it's more efficient to do bold elevation dial turns. 

It is neat that 32 min of dry fire can help you discover new techniques and test gear in a very cost-effective way.

Wednesday, Nov 22:

I did a 5am ruck with 50# in the v2 rucker wearing MACV2s.  I covered 4.5 miles in 1:03:20.  My glute was sore at the end, and my Achilles felt a little strained.  I used the TENS unit at night.

My dad arrived in town that evening, so I had wanted to get in the ruck while I could.

Thursday, Nov 23:

THANKSGIVING

I went to Iswa Nature Preserve with my dad and used 30# in my RPC wearing Garmont T8's.  My glute was sore. It was low-key, and my dad even took a break to enjoy the view.  We covered 1.5 miles in 39:32.

Later, I did HDT 31.1.2 (CORE) in 34:02, followed by Glute and pec PT v1 in 28:40.  That's the good HDT core workout that is able to make my abs sore.

Friday, Nov 24:

BLACK FRIDAY

I went to Blackstone for donuts, a bit of browsing, and then a full auto demo day with Daniel Defense.

I had signed up for Green Beret Fitness's Operation Shooter the day before, and they warn that your gear may get wet and abused, so I went to the range to practice with my iron sights Glock and with my old LMT with the red dot.

The pistol shooting was pretty accurate, but I got malfunctions, and the armorer helped me figure out that my extractor might be dirty because it was sticking out.  

I switched to my CZP10C to continue training.

When I got home, I did a full disassembly and cleaning for my Glock.  It was the second time I've done that, with the first time being in early 2022.  I was proud of myself for watching youtube and successfully disassembling and re-assembling everything without losing any parts or breaking anything.

At night, I took my dad to see the new Lights trail at the USNWC.  He learned the word "zamboni" today.

The trail was obstacle course-themed this year.  They put lights on the existing obstacles in that area, which is probably a little easier than putting up a bunch of brand new art pieces.

The vibe was different than from previous years, since there were a bunch of screaming kids around, instead of it being a peaceful nature-themed art walk through the quiet night.  It was fun and interesting, though.  We did 1.5 miles in 1:00:34.

Body check: I've been taking Ibuprofen for the past 1.5 days due to glute soreness.  I've also been eating 700cal over my body's needs (resting plus activity), after not eating much while working hard in Iowa.

Saturday, Nov 25:

I did a 11.5 mile trail run (per Garmin with Glonass) in 2:16:00 in Brooks Mazamas and a t-shirt.  I did Parkway-Panda-Smokey-Bandit-Rail-Gravy Train for the first time.  Gravy Train looked interesting, since it took me under a bridge at first.  It looked like there was a backstop of the edge of the property not too far away, so I wasn't expecting to be out on this trail for long, but it switched back as many times as possible within property bounds, so I was on it for a long time!  Zombies Run on my phone says that I did 13 miles.

My core was still sore from HDT 2 days ago.

Sunday, Nov 26:

In the morning, I went to Blackstone again.  I wanted to check my Glock for proper function after the full cleaning and shoot my prize gun from Sheepdog after mounting my prize Sig Romeo from the Ready Tournament on it.  I had also moved the Aimpoint on my night shooting LMT closer to the butt stock, so I wanted to re-zero that.

My dad went on a walk while I did all of this.

My "forever target" now had 540 rounds on it.

Yoga for Lymphatic Flow and Center - Day 21 - Strength with Adriene.  My hip flexors still felt a bit strained today, and my abs were still sore from HDT.

Monday, Nov 27:

Glute and pec PT v2 in 23:58, 18A "Upper Push / Chin-up" in 35:28.

At night, I invited the ruck club out to the USNWC, and we played on the obstacles and chilled by the fire.  It took 2:02:43 between the obstacles and the fire.

I did mess around with doing traverse wall climbing with a ruck and discovered that I could do it, which would come into play later on at GBF Operation Shooter.

Tuesday, Nov 28:

18A "Lower Body Prep" in 23:02, 2.5 mile half interval run with a 1-mile warmup from 7-7.5mph, then 2x (0.5 mi @ 9mph, then 0.25 mi @ 7.5mph).  I couldn't manage more than that today.  I used my lime/teal Saucony Kinvaras.  I finished with a 20 min HIIT Peloton Ride with Jenn Sherman covering 5.8 miles to still get in some cardio.

Wednesday, Nov 29:

Another trip to Blackstone, my fourth with the forever target.

I went back to shooting the CZP10C, and I practiced some more rifle at 25yd.

870 rounds total on the target now, but a little TLC makes it as good as new!

GORUCK CUSTOM BREACHER

Part of the requirements for earning the "Fight Terror" GORUCK Shooter Capstone patch is completing a Tactical Shotgun Operator or Breacher Course.  They used to have a course called "Breacher" that emphasized breaching, but since then, they've shifted the focus to defensive shotgun.  This course is rarely put on, though, maybe once per year, and you're lucky if it's in a part of the country that's easy for you to get to.  My southeastern friend figured that it'd be waaaay cheaper to organize a custom class as long as he could get at least a few to jump in on it, than to pay for airfare, hotel, and the class, to go across the country to earn that patch.  He filled up the class and then some, so we had one at his range.

SB and I helped PM make practice door pieces for the breacher portion of the class.

In the dry fire barn area, we learned about 

- the parts of a shotgun.

- loading procedures (chambering one then using the mag tube for the rest)

- unloading procedures (pushing the detent in the mag tube)

- topping off on ammo and ammo swaps between different types of rounds like buckshot for close range vs slugs for longer range, due to the spray and therefore missing that buckshot would do once you got about 20yd out

- emergency reloads

- walk, stop, shoot, continue

- manipulating the gun straight out in your workspace for quick re-engagements

- kneeling (tall kneeling due to recoil)

- barricades (leaning 45 degrees out and forward due to recoil)

- dry fire walkthrough of the eval course of fire, which involves all of the above, plus shooting while walking-ish

Notes: 

- Any time you're not on target, go on safe, so do that for reloads, when you're walking at low ready, etc.

- some guns like mine wont' let you add another round in the mag tube without chambering the next round, so ammo swaps may involve ejecting whatever you currently have, unfortunately.  

- for transitions to pistol, for extra safety, have the pump back and have the gun on safe

On the live fire range, we

- saw a penetration test of birdshot vs buckshot vs slugs on melons as well as cinderblocks

- realized that exit wounds on melons are much larger than entrance wounds; the same would apply to flesh

- walked back with buckshot to see how the spread of the pellets increased as our distance increased... 20yd is about my limit before starting to miss the torso with some of the pellets, with my ammo

- practiced the skills that we had dry fired earlier

- ran the qual

- used special Hatton rounds to breach a door that JB had helped PM construct... go at a 45* angle horizontally, a 60* angle downwards to increase the chances of hitting the bolt, which is centered to the knob, and go right above and right below where you think the bolt might be, to maximize your chances of getting it for sure within 2 shots.

Notes:

It's tempting to slap the trigger with the amount of boom that the shotgun creates

Not having the buttstock firmly planted on your shoulder is a self-correcting issue

With the quality of cadres who teach the class and the people who are part of the participant community, we get to learn life lessons and learn to become better people, beyond just learning shooting skills.  Makes me want to keep coming back for more!