Customized rifles and shotguns
There is another issue that I see come up when taking new students to the range. I usually bring various military style rifles with me to get people to adjust to recoil and realize the common military style weapons that exist in the world. Many of these individuals, after a day on the range tend to select the gun that fit them the best. When I first got into shooting rifles, I started out with all of the military surplus firearms that came into the Country in the early and mid 1990s. There may never be another time where Soviet style weapons are imported into this Country. The military warehouses got cleaned out after the fall of the Soviet Empire and American gun owners were the beneficieries.
When I started shooting these rifles, I was lucky if I could hit a pie plate since my shooting expertises was at the novice level. I’ve shot within 2 inch groups with all of these weapons in the last few years with handloaded ammo so I know that my shooting skills had achieved there peak with these types of firearms. Another thing I had to do before being able to shoot these rifles comfortable is to upgrade all of the rifle stocks to longer lengths. I put on various rifle stocks on my SKS rifles, MAK90s and Romanian and Bulgarian AK styles weapons. I told some of my students that when choosing a Primary rifle or Carbine for Defensive training, don’t hesitate to customize the weapon to your personal comfort. Put the rifle buttstock on your rifle that you feel comfortable with and make sure you measure your length of pull. Many of those AK style weapons are too short for us taller types but it is possible to get longer rifle stocks that can get you closer to your comfort zone.
Keeping a scope cover on your objective and being aware of your flash is extremely important. I highly recommend a flash kill cover for any combat optics and also suggest a cover for your flashlight. Even something like a red lense will help avoid giving away too much reflection. Flashlights are probable the biggest giveaway in low light even if you don’t turn them on. Next time your at the range, put your rifle on the bench and walk down range and look again. Keep in mind that even though you may be 50-100yds away and wearing camoflauge, your fancy schmancy M4 has various points of reflection and even moonlight will have an impact.
Ever since the gun community went from the A2 style AR15s to the M4 Configurations, the AR15 became the most modified and accessorized firearm in existance. I sometimes have to stair at some of these AR15 designs to tell if it is even a 5.56 gun anymore. The AR15s these days are the old style Direct Impingement guns and also various style pistol driven guns. There are plenty of lower grade stock accessories that look cool and tactical, but they won’t hold up to bad weather and rough play. The old “you get what you paid for” is still true today.
The caliber wars are never ending, but once spin to the argument that in my opinion is not much of an argument anymore, is that bullet designs are becoming more and more effective. When you read about the 9mm vs 45acp debates people argue about the size of the bullet, over penetration and stopping power. The reality is that hunting bullets and defensive ammo has taken a step, maybe not a giant step, but a considerable step forward in increasing a calibers effectiveness.
It’s hard to know if a configuration is best for you. I recently got a phone call from a shooter that sounded like he was new to the AR15 family. He was asking about which rifle stock configuration was best and then I asked him what his LOP or length of pull was and he had no idea. The reasons for adjustable stocks is because each operator issued a Carbine has a different arm length. I’ve punched myself in the nose with rifles and shotguns that were too short for me and modified several of my M1A rifles to fit my comfort. There are also other reasons for having stock modifications. If you are wearing a heavy winter coat or body armor you will want to shorten your stock. Next time you are at a gun shop or a shooting range, ask other shooters if you can hold there gun and see how it feels. Check the gun stock manufacturer and do some research.
You might want to think about collapseable stocks or folding stocks. Guns can take up a lot of space depending on the optics and accessories you put on them. I’ve seen plenty of my friends go from 12 or 18 rifle safes to full size gun safes just because of the optics they had on rifles. One thing they never advertise when you are shopping for a gun safe is what kind of rifles it will hold. Cramming your guns in will only cause damage and make getting guns in and out a headache. Instead of worrying about having to find a new gun safe, you might want to think about spending a few hundred bucks on changing the stocks of your military style weapons to something that can fold or collapse.
Soft cases are usually made of nylon and many of the assault cases are designed similiarly. Assault rifle cases are very practical because they hold and organize your magazines. I highly recommend marking the case for a specific rifle just so you don’t get your semi-autos gun magazines mixed up. If you don’t need something like an assault rifle case, then and easy think to do is just a zip up soft case or gun sock. You may want to look into a range bag which can hold staplers or even handguns and magazines as well as ammo.
With the advent of the accessorized rifle or carbine, people are putting so many things on rifles these days that need to be screwed on, locked in, and battery operated that Murphys law has some really cold things to say about this. Every screw on your carbine is going to come loose at some point and every battery operated device will fail at some point. I’ve seen a lot of accessories that fit in the pistol grip, buttstock or other areas and this is nice for some purposes, but any of those operators were spending more than a day with their setup, they find that they aren’t carrying enough tools sand gear on their guns to get through 48hrs of hard use.
When training for a class or tactical situation, dealing with an unloaded magazine or an unloaded gun in the situation is expected, all guns go empty at some point. Most of us have the ability to plan ahead and carry extra magazines, but there may be a point where loading a magazine up will be necessary. Maglula from Butler Creek makes a great 
There area a lot of good upgrades one can do to a firearm, a fighting rifle should be customized to fit an operator. Advanced Technology makes some quick and easy upgrades for your shotgun or carbine that can give you better grip or balance. Shotgun shell holders on the buttstock or riding side saddle is a practical tactical upgrade you can do on your remington 870. The fiberforce stock for the MAK90 is a way to legally get around some firearm bans and are a big step up compared to the stupid thumbhole stocks. Attach a rifle sling that fits yoru purpose from Blue Force Gear, they come in 1 point, 2 point and 3 point attachements. Minor firearm modifications make need to be done to attache rifle slings, but do some research on various rifle sling configurations to see what works for you.