Randy Cain Practical
Rifle Class
Review of September
22-24 class at
Echo Valley Training
Center, High View WV
It is a little difficult to figure out how to start this
review. I guess I’ll start with a brief
history of what lead me to take the class as that will give some perspective on
what I got out of it. I have been
reading about Jeff Cooper’s Scout Rifle concept since 1990. I have owned hunting rifles since 1992 and
Cooper’s ideas always played heavily into my choices of guns, ammo, scopes,
slings and stocks. I’m the type who
reads and studies a lot and I have had a lot of opportunity to put this into
action in the field. I am an avid hunter
and have learned a lot about what does and does not work in the field.
I have also taken several firearms courses over the
years. I did Frontsight pistol twice,
Tactical Response Fighting Rifle and Fighting Pistol plus several competition
pistol courses from various instructors over the years. I have never taken a practical or scout rifle
class but have always wanted to. The
reason I never did was because the only place that really offers this kind of
training is Gunsite and I could never scratch up the $1800 tuition plus travel
and ammo expenses for that.
In early 2017, I again started looking for a practical/scout
rifle class. I stumbled upon a mention
of Randy Cain and did some research.
Everything I read put it on par with Gunsite which is no surprise since
Randy was one of Jeff Cooper’s instructors at Gunsite for years. His training also costs less than one third
of Gunsite and I found a class being offered about 150 miles from my home.
Now for the review. I’ll
cover several different aspects of this, including suggestions for preparation
and ideas for the best guns for this class:
The instruction:
This was fantastic. I
have read for years about the snap shot, surprise break, sling use, shooting
positions, natural point of aim, skeletal support, and all the fundamentals of
proper rifle shooting. I’ve watched
videos and for the most part, I’ve done pretty well. However, having it taught to me and doing it
all hand’s-on with a good instructor was amazing. Everything I had read from Cooper was being
demonstrated right in front of me. The curriculum
was straight out of “Art of the Rifle” and I soaked it up.
Day one started from scratch. We didn’t do anything with the sling, but
learned different prone methods, sitting, squatting, kneeling and
standing. Weapon manipulation was a big
part of it as well. Some shooting was
done slowly and deliberately. Some was
done rapidly. We did more precision work
before lunch. After eating lunch, we did
more things that didn’t require as much precision and this included moving and
the snap shot.
Day two built on the lessons from day one but added in the
use of a sling as a shooting aid. We
drilled getting into supported positions from standing. We also learned just how fast one can get
from African carry to a solid shot. I’m
pretty sure one could not draw a pistol as quickly as we were able to get a
head shot from a slung position.
Day two ended with an interesting drill. Five shooters lined up side by side, 15 yards
from 5 target stands. On command,
shooter one put one round into target one.
Shooter two did the same, followed by shooters 3, 4 and 5 until all had
fired one round on target number one.
Shooter one then shot one round at target 1 and target two. Shooters down the line did the same
thing. Then shooter one shot one round
at target 1, 2 and 3 and so one until we were all shooting a 5 round
string. The drill was really about gun
manipulation and reloading under pressure.
If you didn’t reload while the others were shooting, you missed your
turn and the thing turned into a train wreck.
I’ll expand on how this worked out when discussing the guns later.
Day 3 started at 200 yards and making sure we had a true 200
yard zero. Once that was done, we had a
shoot-off where two shooters were paired off.
On signal they would drop to prone and shoot at a steel target at
200. The first one to hit advanced and
the other was eliminated. This went on
until a winner was declared. I won this
shoot-off. We then had a chance to shoot
at steel at 300 yards.
We then moved back to the 100 yard range to continue the
drills. Day three also had some
transition work to pistols. Emphasis was
on precision and speed (in that order) and on building on the fundamentals. We had another shoot-off that used all 5
shooting positions while advancing forward. The winner was the one with the most hits in
the scoring ring (about 5” in the middle of a camo target). If there was a tie on the number of hits, the
one who did it in the shortest time was the winner. I placed second with 3 hits in 42 seconds. Two of my shots were about 1” below the
scoring ring. My group was tighter than
the winner and I did it 30 seconds faster but he had 4 in the scoring ring… oh
well. LOL
Randy did a great job of explaining and demonstrating
everything. At no point did I feel lost
and I don’t think the other shooters did either.
For the rest of this article, it will be necessary to give
some details about guns, scopes, slings and demographics of the class. Normally, this class should have at least 12
students. Randy made an exception and
there were 8 signed up. One guy was a
no-show so we started with seven. My
wife was in the class but she had been struggling with tendonitis. This got MUCH worse by mid-day on day one and
she was unable to shoot after that.
Students:
1.
Mid-50’s male and I’m not sure of his previous
training experience. Very nice guy but not exactly “dialed-in” but he soaked up
information like a sponge. He had a
Savage Walking Varminter in .222 Rem with a Leupold VX2 1-4X scope and a carry
strap sling. I loaned him a Rhodesian
sling I had brought.
2.
Early-40’s male who was pretty “dialed in. I know this was his 2nd time
taking Practical Rifle and I’m pretty sure he has taken pistol classes as well. He had a pre-64 Winchester M70 in .308 with a
Nightforce 2-8X (not positive but was definitely a low variable) and an Andy’s
Ching Sling with standard studs.
3.
Late 30’s female who had taken no formal
training. She is my wife and I prepped
her well and she knew what she was doing til she dropped out. She had a Ruger American Compact in .223 with
a Leupold Vari-X III 1.5-5X with a Ching sling with studs.
4.
Late-40’s male… me. I shot day 1 and 2 and the
long range portion of day 3 with a Mossberg Patriot RECON built by Steve Bons
at Granite Mountain Tactical. The gun wore a Leupold VX2 Scout 1.5-4X and a
Wilderness Ching Sling in Pachmayr sockets.
I switched to my Steyr Scout in .308 with a Leupold Mark 4 1.5-5X MR/T
(conventional scope) and an Andy’s Ching in sockets.
5.
Male mid-40’s who may have had previous pistol
training but nothing with a rifle. He
knew he would learn enough in the class to make a good decision on a proper
practical rifle but he didn’t own one.
He brought a Henry 1892 lever gun in .357. He was plagued by malfunctions and used Randy’s
loaner rifle which was a Ruger M77 in .223 with what I think was a Leupold VX2
2-7X and a Ching sling with studs.
6.
Early 70’s male who had clearly taken a number
of firearm classes but not Practical rifle.
He and his wife (shooter 7) had matching Ruger M77 rifles with laminated
stocks in .223. Both rifles had what
looked like the Leupold VX2 2-7X and both had Andy’s Rhodesian slings.
7.
Early-60’s female who was the wife of Shooter
6. She was retired military and had
taken several training courses. She was
the most accurate shooter on the line.
I’m providing these details because it will explain a few
things about the rest of the review.
Training pace:
The pace was a little slower than I would have chosen, but
it was exactly the right pace for the group.
Randy talks a lot and he will riff on a thought by telling story after
story. By the middle of the second day,
this was starting to annoy me but then I did a mental self-check and realized a
couple of things. First of all, had we
been shooting instead of listening to these stories, only 2 of us would be
standing by the end of the class. His
anecdotes slowed things down so others didn’t get worn out. Even at this pace, I was suitably tired by the
end anyway.
The other thing I realized is that this kind of story
telling is how wisdom is passed on. I
got to listen to first-hand stories about legends such as Jeff Cooper, Louis
Auerbach, Pat Rogers, Clint Smith and others.
This is stuff you will not find in books. It’s just curious and interesting vignettes
that create a history. It’s something
you can’t put a price on and I’m better for it.
If you take this class, be aware of it and pay attention.
Gun stuff:
All the guns shot acceptably well in terms of accuracy. I’m leaving out the lever action rifle in
this discussion but with that exception, the major differences were the
magazines, scopes, and slings.
Detachable magazines versus hinged floorplate:
Randy has a decided preference for the hinged
floorplate. His stated reason was that
they are quicker to top off with just one or two rounds and tend to be more
reliable. He didn’t say, but I suspect that
aesthetics have something to do with it as well. Those bulky metal mags hanging below the
Ruger GSR and Savage Scout really look horrible and are clunky. I’ve seen that they are not the easiest to
seat properly as well.
The hinged floorplate guns did not fare as well as either of
my magazine fed rifles. Most of this was
due to user error (fumbled loading) but all 4 people using them had to stop on
a regular basis. Shooter 1 also had
constant magazine issues. Neither the
Steyr nor the Mossberg had a single feeding issue. During the drill with the 5 targets, mine was
the only one that completed the drill.
Many of the drills seemed intended to almost coddle the
hinged floorplate guys. We had frequent
reminders of when to top off. Having a
detachable magazine was of no advantage until that last drill. I was the only one not in panic mode.
Slings:
Randy prefers the classic Ching to the Rhodesian and I
agree. It is more stable and easier to
loop up. Shooter 6 and 7 did not put a
twist in their slings and I saw that the leather didn’t lay flat across the
back of their hand. The sling I loaned to shooter 1 was not broken in and I
think he struggled a bit.
The nylon Wilderness sling worked well but did cause a bit
of rashing on my upper arm. I use that
sling because it sticks on my shoulder better than leather when I’m wearing my
hunting jacket.
I want to comment about swivel studs. Randy prefers the standard stud as opposed to
the Pachmayr sockets. He says he’s seen
them pop out with hard use. I don’t
dispute that, but during our class, both rifles with studs and standard Ching
slings has a stud back out a half turn.
That’s an easy fix, but it was annoying and doesn’t happen with sockets.
Scopes:
All the scopes performed well and none had any issues. I do want to address the difference between
the scout scope and the conventional ones.
I’ve used both quite a bit and this class allowed me a direct
side-by-side comparison. Randy prefers the
low variable conventional for real world use.
He says the scout scope is great in class, but is less useful in low
light conditions. Several years ago, I
came to the same conclusion after not being able to see deer in cover and in
low light with a fixed power scout scope.
Lately, I’ve been using the variable power scout and it is showing a lot
of promise in low light. I’m not ready
to call it as effective, but I’m going to try it this season and will report
back.
So aside from low light, what is the advantage to one over
the other? Situational awareness and
speed. The scout scope, even at max
magnification, allows for things you just can’t do with a conventional
scope. Here is what I mean. Start from a low ready position at 100
yards. There are 8 target stands and you’re
shooting at the third from the left. The
signal is given to drop to prone and fire one shot rapidly. Your eyes are fixed on your target. The stay fixed as you drop to the mat while
slinging up. Both eyes remain on the
target all the way down. The gun comes
up and both eyes still have your one target in view. Now, with your dominant eye, you shift focus
to the scope and see your target without shifting or hunting. It is the only thing you see and your left
eye still has it non-magnified as well.
It is extremely fast and you never lost sight of your target.
Now do the same thing with a conventional scope. You’re good right up until the gun comes to
your face. Even with both eyes open, you
will momentarily lose sight of your target.
The ocular takes up all the vision of your dominant eye and now you have
to find your target. Third from the
left, isn’t it? It isn’t just the
speed. The scout scope improves situational
awareness and not just a little. The low
variable is fast, but losing sight of the target, even just for a moment puts
it behind the scout in my opinion.
RECON versus Steyr:
The RECON is a true scout rifle built by Steve Bons at www.granitemountaintactical.com
in Prescott AZ. Cost is less than $1000
and it is an amazing little gun. I
wanted to run it the entire time, but also wanted to give my Steyr a try and I’m
glad I did. Both had strengths and
weaknesses and running them both was enlightening.
First of all, the RECON just feels better. It is lighter and trim. Weight with scope and sling is right at 7
pounds even. At 200 yards, with military
surplus ammo, it shoots just under 2 MOA. The factory trigger wasn’t doing it
for me so I replaced it with a Timney which is set at 2.25 pounds. The length of pull is a bit too short for
me. When standing, the bolt touches my
cheek during cycling. From prone, I have
to raise my face from the stock. I’ll be
adding the spacer soon so that’s an easy fix.
The design of the action allows the RECON to be top loaded
which the Steyr can’t do. The Steyr does
have the double detent magazine which was a lot less useful than I had assumed. When topping off to load a 6th
round, I inserted a full mag to the first catch. I then opened the bolt and dropped in the 6th
and tried to close the action. It doesn’t
feed like that. You must tilt the gun
forward and drop the round into the chamber.
Well… tilting forward sends the bolt forward as well. Because the top of the action is not open,
you can’t use your left hand to hold it back and you need a third hand. It can be done, but is not as handy as I had
thought.
The trigger on the Steyr is simply amazing. Mine is adjusted to 2.25 pounds which may be
the same weight as the RECON, but they are not the same. Press the trigger on the Steyr and there is
just no movement at all. Just a
click. You don’t feel anything
move. I don’t know how to describe it,
but it feels like the lock time is zero.
It is stunning.
The spare mag carrier is also very slick. Performing tactical mag changes are fast and
you don’t even have to lower the gun to do it.
From a fighting perspective, that’s pretty cool.
So which do I prefer?
Can’t really say but if given a choice of a Steyr or a RECON plus a
Randy Cain class and 500 rounds of ammo for the same money, well, I think you
know the answer. If you want one though,
you need to do it right now. Due to a ridiculous
ATF ruling Steve is closing up shop at the end of 2017.
Overall:
Randy Cain’s Practical Rifle was worth every penny. I confirmed a lot of things I had suspected,
proved a lot of my gear choices and learned a huge amount. I really feel like I got a full measure of
knowledge but I also think that if I took it again next month that I would
learn even more. There were times he
slowed down the pace so others could keep up but I don’t feel at all shorted by
that. I think everybody there is at a
much higher level than before the class.
Anybody considering this type of class should check out
these resources:
http://www.scoutrifle.org/index.php
very well informed discussion board
http://scoutriflestudy.com/
this requires registration and is an amazing compendium of Cooper’s scout rifle
concept.
http://www.guntactics.com/Rifle.htm
Randy Cain’s site
http://granitemountaintactical.com/?page_id=301
Buy a RECON (my rifle is featured on this page, it is the one with the tan
finish)
https://www.andysleather.com/
https://www.andysleather.com/
