LAPD Advanced Combat Qualification Course
Should an armed citizen become involved in a lethal confrontation he may want to prove to a court of law that he is competent with his firearm. There are several ways to prove competence. Completing recognized training courses and obtaining a state concealed carry permit are the most common. Achieving a passing score on a recognized law enforcement qualification course is another and perhaps more convincing way.
The Los Angeles Police Department has two pistol courses which are used to prove the competency of their officers. The Combat Course and the Bonus Course, also referred to as the Advanced Combat Course. An Officers shooting medals and marksmanship bonus pay are based on the Bonus Course. This course is so difficult that most officers do not shoot it after graduation from the Police Academy.
Any civilian who can shoot and pass this course has demonstrated that his pistol skill is higher than most Los Angeles Police Officers. This should satisfy any reasonable expectation of competence. Shooting an expert score on this course would be equivalent to being in the top two percent of all Los Angeles Police Officers.
In this class attendees will learn and practice the course of fire. They will qualify on this course of fire to strict time limits. The course will be conducted exactly as it is at the Los Angeles Police Academy. The results will be recorded, and the record will be signed by several firearms instructors as witnesses. The record will be presented to the shooter to keep and refer to, should he ever need to prove competence with his handgun. Primary Instructor, Lawrence Mudgett has conducted this course hundreds of times for thousands of Los Angeles Police Officers.
Equipment List for the LAPD Advanced Combat (Bonus) Course Class
Handgun– Bring a safe, reliable, accurate and appropriate handgun. You may use a striker fired or a double action or a single action cocked and locked pistol that you know how to manipulate correctly and safely. We suggest that you bring the full-size pistol you used in Pistol 1-4/5 but any safe handgun that you know how to manipulate correctly will suffice. Call us if you have any questions. A spare pistol and accessories are always good to bring in case of a breakage. We usually have at least one loan pistol available.
Magazines– Minimum of four functional, reliable high capacity magazines are required (ten rounds or more). If you have a single stack magazine pistol (such as a Glock 43) you will need 5 or 6 magazines rather than 4. We also suggest, if you own a single stack subcompact pistol you should own and bring at least 3 increased capacity magazines such as Taran Tactical or HYVE plus 2 or plus 3 magazines. These can be used for training, skip loading, home defense and carried in your spare magazine pouch on your person every day without adding any bulk to your pistol riding in your holster. You should probably own at least 6 magazines for every semi auto pistol that you own. A pistol without magazines is almost useless. Magazines get lost in combat and they break. A minimum of six are recommended for general ownership.
Ammunition- Approximately 250 rounds (classes will vary) of reliable, accurate, factory practice ammunition, no Russian or reloaded ammunition, no tracer ammunition or steel core bullets. We have had serious problems with some “factory loads.” We do not recommend “no name or brand X ammunition”. We had a no name factory 9mm cartridge rupture, blowing the magazine out of the pistol, damaging the magazine beyond repair and stinging the shooters hand. We have seen cheap factory .40 ammunition break up in the barrel and hit the target as a bunch of fragments. As a result, we strongly suggest that you consider bringing only Winchester, Remington, Federal or CCI practice ammunition.
We have had nothing but problems with clients bringing reloaded ammunition. Yours may be great but the problems have been so serious that we have had to stop a class and send everyone to the store to buy factory ammunition to resume training. As a result, we were forced to adopt this policy. No reloads.
Holster-A belt holster carried on the primary side, pistol butt to the rear, leather or kydex, made specifically for the pistol being used, no generic and no nylon holsters. We prefer Kydex holsters for range work and we strongly suggest a vertical draw and not a canted holster. Generic holster that are made to accommodate a dozen different pistols will probably not work well. No shoulder or cross draw holsters are allowed. Our good friend and fellow instructor Thomas Erickson is local and makes excellent concealed carry holsters.
Due to the number of people who have accidently shot themselves while drawing from the popular holster which has a plastic tab to unlock the pistol, we cannot allow its use in our classes. If you have a question about this, please call us.
Magazine Pouch- At least one, appropriate for the pistol magazines being utilized.
It should be cut low exposing about half of the magazine. It may be leather or kydex but not nylon.
Dummy Rounds- Rhino brand or A-Zoom brand in the appropriate caliber. Minimum of 5. Essential for manipulation drills and simulating malfunctions. Due to breakage and malfunctions caused by using Tipton dummy rounds those will not be accepted for use in our class. We have also witnessed accidental discharges which occurred because other dummy rounds being used could not be easily distinguished from live rounds when observed in the feed way during a chamber check.
Note: You need a minimum of 5 and more would be better as some will no doubt be lost on the live fire range. We suggest that you paint the tip of the nose of the bullets (only) in the dummy rounds so that they will be easier to find on the range and so that yours can be identified from those of other shooters. If you paint the entire nose of the bullets in the dummy rounds they will become lodged in the firing chamber and leave dry paint residue in the pistol causing malfunctions.
Glove for Your Support Hand- With exposed fingers, to protect the support hand during manipulation clearing. The glove should be thin in the palm.
This is an optional item for this advanced class.
Eye Protection- clear and shaded shooting glasses.
Hearing protection- Rubber (not foam) ear plugs on a string and a muff type head set. Foam ear plugs must be squeezed and compacted with your fingers to get them into your ear canal. Your fingers will be contaminated with airborne lead and Mercury. The time required to compact your ear plugs perhaps 10 times a day adds up. Often shooters will have difficulty compressing their foam ear plugs and cannot get them to properly enter the ear canal while the class stands ready and waits. The soft rubber tapered ear plugs (with multiple flanges) are easy and quick to insert. They do not require you to touch them with your contaminated fingers. If the use of foam ear plugs had not been a constant hindrance in the past we would not insist on a specific type of plug. You may buy these at Wal Mart or most any sporting goods or gun store. Electronic Muffs are allowed and preferred.
Note: If you cannot hear the range commands while wearing both plugs and muffs you may wear only the muffs. Wearing only the plugs is insufficient to protect your hearing and is not allowed.
Small Pocket Note Book- Essential for taking notes on the range.
Belt- A wide thick belt that will fit and fill your belt loops and accommodate your holster will be required.
Trousers with wide belt loops- such as cargo trousers (preferred) or jeans.
Dress in Layers- Be able to adapt to changing temperatures.
Boots- or sturdy shoes, high tops providing ankle protection preferred. We are off the concrete. There are rocks and occasionally snakes.
Chair– Folding and camping chair.
Baseball Cap- A cap or hat, not a visor and make sure it is compatible with your head set and your shooting glasses. You may also bring a brim hat to wear during lunch and other breaks.
Mosquito Repellent- Optional.
Sun Block- Strongly suggested.
Sun Shade- Umbrella or Awning optional– Beware of strong wind gusts.
Bring a Lunch- You will not have time to leave the range for lunch. This is a time to relax and not rush to get back on time. The dirt road is slow. Nothing is close by
Water- We suggest a gallon of drinking water plus sports drinks for electrolytes each range day.
Note Book– Your note book should contain all the pre-training documents we emailed to you and we suggest that you include a copy of the articles on our web site as we consider them part of the course.
Pocket notebook- For taking notes on the range.
Writing Implement- You will need to take notes.
Optional Item- Fire Extinguisher – if you have a fire extinguisher or 2, please bring them. The possibility of starting a fire with the type of ammunition and targets that we use is almost zero, but due to the recent wild fires we wish to err on the side of caution. If we have 10 or 12 fire extinguishers, shovels and water we should be able to stop a problem before it gets out of hand. Fire can start from a hot exhaust pipe.
Rain gear– Be prepared for any possible conditions.
Shooting mat or moving blanket or heavy pad or a towel- something to drop you magazines on during speed reloading.
If you are flying in from out of state please email us with a list of those items that you would like us to provide for you, such as folding and camping chairs, ground blanket, etc. well in advance.
Any questions regarding equipment please call us at 801-669-1886.
Larry and Stacey Mudgett
Marksmanship Matters LLC