I recently joined Templar Defense for their Rifle-1 half-day class outside of Houston, Texas, at the Wallis-Orchard Gun Range.
Carbine 101
Rifle-1 is a four-hour basic carbine course primarily intended for students brand new to carbines. By that, I mean that the student who best benefits from Rifle-1 is the same student who recently purchased an AR-15 (or some other rifle) and maybe zeroed it off the bench but hasn’t done much with it in a tactical shooting bay. Templar Defense holds this specific course in a 50-yard bay, and most shooting is done from the 10-yard line.
Students get the chance to run their guns without having to worry about bringing 1,000 rounds (which is extremely expensive these days), while also getting a chance to spend time with their carbine slung and loaded over their chest. Likewise, they get familiar with handling it in a way that isn’t possible at the regular fuddy firing line.
As someone who owned ARs for years and only carried them in cases from the trunk of a car to a bench, I think there’s great value in the ability to freely wear the slung carbine around the neck and shoulders to get used to it. One can really learn the nuances of the relationship between their sling, their weapon, and their body.
Rifle-1 covers the core concepts of running a modern carbine; this includes basic zeroing (done at 50 yards), height over bore awareness, static drills, drills with movement, carbine manipulation, and the like. Templar Defense’s sole instructor, Craig Summers, runs a tight ship.
He sticks to the main points, watches over the students, and does not waste time. We started at 08:30 AM sharp with a safety briefing and a succinct overview of shooting with carbines. By 12:50 PM, all students were casing their rifles and packing their gear, ready to go home and continue about the rest of their day.
The Beauty Of Half-Day Classes
I realize that Templar Defense specifically covers the Houston, Texas area, while our readership at GAT Daily is worldwide. I understand that reviewing a local outfit can only be so relevant to the rest of our readers, so here’s my tie-in and the big takeaway.
Rifle-1 made me take a step back and appreciate the beauty and simplicity of half-day training classes, especially as someone who frequents and travels to various 2-day courses throughout the year. Furthermore, even though a class like Templar Defense’s Rifle-1 is best suited to new shooters needing a crash course in defensive AR-15 shooting, a course like this one can serve experienced shooters, too.
First and foremost, it’s a chance for the experienced to get out of the house and shoot for a morning without having to be tied up the entire day or weekend. It’s a great way to knock off the rust and/or try out a new carbine or different set-up, like I did with the JP5.
Not to mention, the tuition is considerably more affordable, along with the ammo requirements. 2-Day courses are great. But sometimes, getting some good reps in and being done by 1 PM hits the spot, too.
Furthering The Roller-Lock Obsession
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been shooting a 9mm JP Enterprises JP5 carbine. Now, my official review of this fascinating firearm has been submitted to one of the other publications I write for, and as I write this piece about Templar’s Rifle-1, the JP5 review is pending publication.
In the meantime, the gist of the JP5 is that JP Enterprises took the timeless roller-lock action of Heckler & Koch fame and then proceeded to build an entire AR-pattern upper and lower receiver set around the MP5’s roller-lock action.
The end result is one of the smoothest shooting and most reliable blowback 9mm PCCs on the market. It not only handles like an AR-15 but also dominates the highest levels of serious action-pistol shooting competitions, like IPSC, IDPA, and USPSA.
The single biggest downside to the JP5 is how much it costs. Even the most basic iteration retails for about $3500 after taxes. But the upside is having one of the smoothest 9mm PCCs whose recoil impulse best mimics actual AR-15s.
More importantly (and the reason I was drawn to reviewing it in the first place), as a 9mm firearm, pulling the trigger costs 50% less compared to 5.56mm every time. I make the same point in my formal review, but in summary, there’s something to be said for having something that handles like an AR-15 in almost every way without feeling marginal, like, say, a .22 LR AR facsimile.
Having Your [Expensive] Cake And Eating It Too
For this reason, I kitted up my JP5 with an LPVO and the same type of sling (Magpul MS-1) and furniture set–just like I run on my actual 5.56 carbines. Besides shooting the JP5 for groups for its formal review, I had only shot it at local USPSA matches, where using slings and having loaded firearms slung around one’s body is forbidden.
Rifle-1 was a nice opportunity to run the JP5 with a sling in a more natural context for a carbine. Since it’s only a four-hour course, the ammunition requirement is only 250 rounds. In terms of 9mm for anyone who shoots regularly, that’s an afterthought. I actually ended up “cleaning out” the bottom of my range bag and spent most of the class shooting up mixed rounds of 9mm target ammo from left-over boxes of factory or handloaded ball ammo.
The JP5’s roller-lock action didn’t care and fired it all. Blazer, soft handloads, warmer handloads, “Magtech-style” steel-case ammo, etc. It all went bang and cycled.
It was worth noting that I also had a Ruger RXM on my hip, but I didn’t shoot it at all during the class. Either way, having a Glock 19-sized sidearm is nice because it’s compact and stays out of the way until it’s really needed.
