Magpul Dynamics Training Videos...

[jokester_143]

I was thinking about purchasing one of these videos, possibly pistol or carbine, and was wondering if anyone else had any experience with these and their opinions on them.

http://store.magpul.com/prod_detail_list/175

Thank you.

[Freakdaddy]

I have the handgun video and am very pleased with the content. I'm impressed enough with it that I want to pick up both the carbine videos and shotgun video as well and I've read many positive reviews on them as well. Go for it, you won't be disappointed.

[saands]

I've seen both of the Dynamic Carbine series and the Long Range Precision Series. I am a carbine novice, and I learned a TON from those videos. I'm not a long range expert by any means, but I have a solid grasp of the fundamentals and an in depth understanding of the aerodynamics and physics at play. I still felt like I learned something from them, but not as much as I did from the Carbine vids ... I think that the long range set focused too much on specific equipment (PDAs, HORUS reticles, etc.) that I don't have or have the budget for, whereas the Dynamic Carbine seemed to be pretty much equipment agnostic. They showed all kinds of carbine setups ... and while there was clearly a MagPul presence in the gear, I didn't find it overwhelming.

I recommend them.

Saands

[irish52084]

The magpul DVD's are excellent. I learned a ton from them as a novice pistol shooter and they do a really good job of breaking things down, which helped me learn more quickly.

The shotgun DVD's were the ones I learned the most from. Lots of good info in there for those inclined to use a shotgun for home defense. I know I gave up the idea of a shotgun for home defense based on the DVD info. It just made it very clear that a shotgun was not the best tool for my situation. I have 2 young sons and a wife, so I like to be able to control my defensive weapon with one hand, so I stuck with a handgun.

[jokester_143]

I decided to order the pistol, as I am less familiar with those than rifles.

[fasteddie565]

Jokester143,

I have both rifle and pistol videos as well as the shotgun.

They are great for weapons manipulation. If you are looking for shooting drills look at Kyle Lamb's offerings at Viking tactics

[valleyforge.1777]

I have the Magpul handgun DVD's and the Viking Tactical DVD's for handgun as well. Kyle Lamb is a true professional, comes across as a real gentleman, a good guy and a good teacher. The drills in his video were not really what I was looking for. Too much shooting at distances that I consider game-playing and not real self-defense distances. I know, law enforcement and military might have to shoot at those distances, but I do not. Also, I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but those darn shot timers are so freaking annoying to listen to over and over and over again. Just drives me up the darn wall. Anyway, it is a shame because as I said, Kyle Lamb seems like a great guy and he does share a few really good points, but the videos contain too much of people shooting at long distances with shot timers and it all just seems like game training more than self-defense training.

The magpul handgun set of DVD's is good, I like it. I am about half way through the four discs now. Some good stuff in there. The one instructor is a bit too much of the gung-ho rah, rah, rah, etc. A little too over the top on that stuff. Reminds me of a preacher on Sunday morning. And, I can do without the repetitive admonishments regarding hand grip and stance, but once you get beyond those segments of the initial disc, the content is pretty good, kind of what I had expected but did not get from Kyle Lamb's video. At this point in my life and my training, I am not going to pay anyone to set off a shot timer in my ear over and over again. No thanks. But anyway, the Magpul videos are pretty good and worth the money, I think. If you like traditional handgun training, you'll like the magpul videos a lot.

And, just a general comment about all these videos: Why do these instructors think I want to watch 4 or 6 or 10 people in the class each doing the same darn exercise or drill, one right after the other, etc? Just show one person going through each step, maybe also show an instructor doing it, and then the student, but I don't need to see each student individually doing each drill. Kyle Lamb only had 2 or 3 students in his video, but even that was too many. How many people do I need to see shooting for speed at 50 feet or 25 yards? And with that shot timer going off over and over for each shooter, oh my God, whoever invented those darn things needs to undergo brain surgery done with a rusty can opener.

I think the Ralph Mroz videos and books are the best for the kind of realistic self-defense instruction that I was looking for. He has a series of videos called Armed Response. Good pointers, lots of important info. Good overall teaching. I also have the DVD's of the first season of "The Best Defense" TV show with Michael Bane, Rob Pincus, and Michael Janich. You might be tempted to dismiss Michael Bane as too polished, too much hollywood, but he is awesome in his knowledge and experience and I really learned a lot even though I thought I already knew it all. Rob Pincus is a great teacher. Michael Janich is my hero. That guy could rip apart a bad guy with one hand tied behind his back and the other hand tied to the first hand! He's a true warrior. He comes across totally professional, all calm cool and collected, but if you've read any of his books or seen his other videos, you realize that guy is a warrior. Anyway, that first season DVD set is sold by midwayUSA and really contains some useful info. Also, Andy Stanford and Michael Janich have a video called Martial Marksmanship and if you can find it, you should get it. Really good stuff. Great info, great training. Michael Bane is a member of TFL forum and he is such a naturally good teacher that you can learn a lot just by reading his forum posts. You really can't go wrong with any of his videos.

[J.R.]

I have gotten the Magpul Handgun DVD's and was impressed. Yes, they teach differently than some other instructors, but that is good. It would get very boring if all the instructors taught the same way.

valleyforge.1777 :: I noticed your impression of the Handgun DVD's that you seemed disappointed in it was not exactly what you were looking for. Nothing wrong with that. I believe we all have at one time or another bought DVD's that from the info or other people opinions that it would be an excellent DVD and was disappointed after we got them. I myself have several like that. However that is part of learning. Just like various training classes. There will generally always be something one can learn from most any respectable training class one goes to. Especially if one goes into the class with an open mind.

I noticed you were complaining about the number of students in the classes and part of what you were looking for was more of a one on one training video. I agree, I would like to see that also, but I have also learned that watching a class that has students in it, I was able to learn a lot more of what was right and or wrong. Watching how the instructors corrected some of the students, etc.

In the case of the Magpul video, this was filmed during a class of about 10 students and was not meant, imo, as a one on one training video. For me I got a lot out of it.

I agree about the timer going off, after a while it can get very obnoxious. But when you have gone to training classes, don't they use timers? Any training class I have been at, some part of the training, there was always a timer being used.

Don't feel bad that you didn't like the DVD's. At the very least, you can resell the dvd's to some one that might want them and get some return on your investment. At the positive side, there may have been something that may hit home that you didn't know or might have been doing wrong and can see if it helps you to improve.

With the Armed Response series video's with Ralph Mroz, that whole series is meant for a one on one training. You are right they are an excellent series. But as much as I like them, I can't watch them to many times as his voice drives me up the wall.

As I have heard before; each to their own.

Good luck

ps: sorry for the length, had not planned to wright this long

[valleyforge.1777]

J.R.,
Thanks for your reply. I was jumping all over in what I wrote, and may have left the wrong impression. Let me try to clarify. I thought Kyle Lamb (Viking Tactical videos) was a great guy, very laid back, not at all preachy, makes some good points and demonstrates them, and he is an actual war hero (Blackhawk Down). However, his handgun video was very disappointing. There are some animated graphics and background music that are used as transitions between each scene and they are drawn out and repetitive and really annoying, and from an educational standpoint they are useless. His instructional stuff is good, but too short. There are a bunch of drills presented, and while everyone who carries a gun needs to know how to use it and needs to practice to be able to hit the target, I found his drills for the most part to be too applicable to shooting games and not very applicable to what a concealed carry self-defense firearms user will need to practice. To his credit, Kyle Lamb is a genuine guy who shoots all the drills that his students shoot and he is not afraid to show you that he is not a perfect marksman every time. He's good, and he did survive the Blackhawk Down incident, so he must know a lot about how to shoot a gun, but he is not afraid to let the viewer see him being not-exactly-perfect. In terms of practical knowledge, the kind of stuff where I say to myself, "Wow, I did not know that and I really think I needed to know that," I was disappointed. he makes good points, but not enough of them and overall I'd skip buying his videos from here on out, but I might be interested in his books (they are WAY expensive, so maybe not).

I hope I did not leave the impression that the Magpul videos were not good. I think the dynamic art of handguns set is good, I like it, even if I don't necessarily think I can make use of everything they teach (i.e., even if I disagree with them about some points based on my own research and other training I've had). The one instructor is a bit annoying, but that is not enough to wish I'd not bought the set. I will finish watching the set of DVD's and will keep them and re-watch them.

Yeah, Ralph Mroz's voice is a bit unique and I can see how that can get to some folks. In terms of the Kyle Lamb and Magpul videos not being what I was looking for, I do stand by my comments about how I would prefer one on one teaching videos and far fewer students. More than that, however, for training at a range and for videos, I want to concentrate on training that is as close as possible to real life situations I might actually face. I'm not going into Somalia on a Blackhawk and I'm not law enforcement, so the chances of my needing to shoot someone from 25 feet away are remote. The training classes that I've taken over the years were OK in that I surely did get some stuff out of the experience, but they are expensive and spent most of the time with us standing still on a firing line doing various exercises. Yes, you need to crawl before you walk, and walk before you run, but that concept gets overblown with firearms training. Yes, you can learn to do a speed re-load while standing still, but you need to be moving the next time you practice it (one minute later), not the next time you take a class. And, as Ralph Mroz points out in one of his books, it is very unlikely that the average citizen conceal carrying for self-defense is ever going to do a tactical reload. Ever. It is OK to see it, learn it, do it a few times in a class, but if you are practicing it, you are practicing for gun shooting games, not for real self-defense. A lot of classes, and videos, seem to spend too much time on shooting distances that are not realistic and with the students standing still on a firing line. That's not what i am looking for. Most of the schools I have looked at seem to treat CQB and ECQB as some "ultra-high level" thing for highly experienced class-takers only, and only if one has mastered the material in several other classes offered by that school. But most non-LE and non-military will only ever have a self-defense situation that is right up close and personal at arm's-reach touching distances, or closer. So, when I said I was looking for something else, different from what they teach in the Kyle Lamb video and even the Magpul video, I meant that I was hoping for realistic training that is applicable to what i am likely to have to do in my real life. If you read Ralph Mroz's books, he explains why most classes do things the way they do, and what's wrong with that approach. So yeah, even if the class or video is not what you were expecting or looking for, one can certainly learn some stuff, and get something out of it, but maybe not in a way that is worth the cost or time involved. The Magpul videos are not teaching the tactics and style of practice that I am looking for, but there is definitely enough good stuff in there to make them worth the time and money to watch them. Unfortunately, Kyle Lamb's videos did not have enough even though I'd surely pay money for one-on-one instruction from him personally (as long as the first thing we shoot at is the darn shot timer!).

I do a lot of training on my own and with friends at a local range. We try to be as practical and realistic as we can in the drills we design and run through. A lot of close up shooting, always moving when drawing and shooting, speed reloads while engaging multiple threats, etc. One of the biggest problems I still have is trying to make myself go slow enough to really work through each shot and each scenario so that I can concentrate on each and every motion and shot fired. I still keep going too fast which makes it hard to know what i am doing right and what I am doing wrong and why. I am a firm believer that skills can be learned and practiced and then speed will naturally follow skill perfection. So, I don't need a shot timer and don't want to go to classes where the training philosophy involves scoring targets for points and time. I just have no use for that. Plus, that darn sound is so annoying!

Another good set of videos for beginners and advanced beginners are the Lenny Magill videos from gunvideo.com He's a little too "California hip," and he takes shameless self-promotion to the extreme level. And his videos are bit too un-tactical, and sometimes he can come across as a weird mixture of physical fitness gym-rat guru and part time mythbuster (you kind of have to see his videos to know what i am talking about). But he also at some level is a very genuine guy who seems to be self-taught and seems to have a good sense of what really works and what is just gun school filler material. I think the story goes that he had a video business and got robbed one day and decided to make himself better able to defend himself in case it ever happened again. That can be strong motivation to cut through the crapola and the fads of handgun training and just get to what really works. He does seem to like his shot timer, much to my dismay, but he also shoots his own drills for the viewer to see. For beginners new to carrying a gun for self-defense, the Lenny Magill videos with Ken Hackathorn and Bill Wilson are quite excellent.

Can't say enough good stuff about Michael Bane and Michael Janich. They are both true warriors and I always learn something good from any Michael Bane video segment or program. Michael Janich has a bunch of knife videos and books, but if you look around for his firearms stuff, you'll hit the diamond mine. The guy is my hero.

[sonick808]

well worth the money!! My personal favorite is long range rifle. I'm still learning from that one. Watching them pull their scopes and passing them to the next shooter, and then using math to put .308 on 16" steel at a mile every time blew my mind. I just wish the vids weren't so $$. That goes for the AGI videos also. I bought the AGI glock videos, they're not cheap, but still worth it. Speaking of AGI, is Bob Dunlap not the coolest guy you've ever seen ? I love that guy

[Steviewonder1]

The MagPul Pistol video is very good. I don't have an issue with multiple students as I can see (based on replay) how each reacts to the training. I have viewed the series multiple times and enjoyed them every time. In the last 3 years I have taken 5 gun fighting courses and look to the time that I can take a Magpul class near me. I cannot afford to travel with all the travel restrictions and go to theirs, but if I can find one near me I will take it!