Last week my friend and I headed to Las Vegas for our first time attending the Wolverine Wednesday event being hosted by the Pro Gun Club. For most, the event is a Kalashnikov themed evening of camaraderie, competition and fun but for me it was much more. As a young man I was interested in the Kalashnikov rifles but I never went down the rabbit hole that so many others have. Instead, I just picked up a WASR and we have virtually fired 7.62x39mm rounds through it continuously ever since. I still love that rifle and I think it’s about time to check the headspace and have it gone over by someone more competent in this specific weapon platform, maybe I’ll even learn something new!
When we arrived at the Wolverine Wednesday event there were three ranges in play. The first was the machine gun range mainly used for controlled mag dumps through very expensive fully automatic weapon platforms such as the box fed RPK or belt fed PKM. The next range was set up to zero your firearms at 100 yards, and the third range was staged for a mock competition.
The competition was a test of both speed and precision. From the starting box the shooter was required to engage two paper targets by placing one shot into Zone A (center mass or face) or two shots anywhere on paper aside from the hostage. After taking out the paper targets the shooter must now place one shot on each of two steel targets at 100 yards before running to the second box of the stage. The obstacle at box two consists of three 55-gallon drums stacked into a vertical pyramid with the shooting box placed directly behind the tallest barrel. The shooter must accomplish the same engagements as the first stage but from around the sides of the large barrels before sprinting to the final box. The last box is nearly identical to the second except that the barrel pyramid is replaced with a wooden barricade.
Struggling with my back injury, in addition to not feeling very comfortable nor safe running a Kalashnikov rifle in intense situations I sat out of the mock competition but, my buddy Russ ran the drill. It was his first time running a stage of competition and he now has more experience than me by one stage. Russ ran a 9mm Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) AK platform braced pistol in the competition with a Red Dot Sight (RDS) while most of the other men ran rifle caliber SBR’s or pistols with iron sights. On our way home Russ and I discussed the course and what we learned from witnessing the competition first hand and how that could be applied to real life and Emergency Preparedness.
What we learned was very interesting. Russ, being a very novice beginner, was able to achieve times very close to his much more experienced competitors. I believe this achievement was assisted by a couple of pertinent factors. The weighted recoil of a PCC and the technology of RDS. I am not arguing that a pistol caliber is more effective than a rifle caliber nor am I trying to open the debate up about the ballistics of handgun ammunition. What I am trying to do is merely point out, that those who have less experience or ability in operating firearms still have a fighting chance with the handicap provided by the Pistol Caliber Carbine coupled with a Red Dot Sight.
Russ was able to shave off a fair amount of time by making very well placed shots that resulted in him having to pull the trigger less (1 shot instead of 2 for Zone A hits).
If you would like to check out a few PCC options or even set up a custom shooting experience please feel free to contact us at the Prescott Caliber Club Today!