My daughter-in-law is an enthusiastic new shooter. She has been working on her pistol skills the past few years, and seemed quite interested in our AR-15s. So, when she came to visit us at Easter, we took some time on the range with an AR-15, equipped with a SilencerCo Harvester EVO. Why? Because it’s perfect for home defense drills.
Sponsored by SilencerCo
My daughter-in-law wears glasses. She doesn’t have electronic ear protection, so on the range with unsuppressed firearms, she wears ear pro (muffs) and “fit-overs” over her glasses. That’s a lot on her head, especially with having to line up the gunsights or optics and find the target quickly. We found that outdoors, at our private range with no-one else shooting, she felt quite comfortable with the level of report delivered from the gun and suppressor combo. It made it nice, because we could talk back and forth while she practiced a new shooting drill I discovered recently. It comes from Springfield Armory’s instructor, Jason Burton; it’s the “Up, Look and Press” drill. Our son owns an AR or two, and it’s important that our daughter-in-law be willing and able to use it for home defense, too, if she chooses.
The “Up, Look and Press Drill” hones the skills of switching off the safety, acquiring the target quickly and going back into the safe mode. Here’s the sequence:
We started with me demonstrating what she would be doing, as some people like to see someone else slowly perform a drill first. We talked about the anatomy of the AR-15, and what the various buttons do. She practiced loading and unloading a magazine, inserting and removing the magazine, operating the charging handle and working with the safety.
Then, she dry-fired this drill several times.
Eventually, she got to the point where she loaded one cartridge and performed the drill with one shot. Then, she would drop the mag, load another round and do it all over again.
After about 15 shots, her confidence started improving, and her group got tighter. We had set the target at 7 yards.
For new AR-15 shooters, the “Up, Look and Press Drill” effectively breaks down many components of shooting this type of rifle, and truly concentrates on not only fundamentals, but also, safety.
The EVO Harvester doesn’t add much weight to the AR; in fact, making the gun slightly muzzle-heavy can help tame the slight recoil of the 5.56 round. The suppressor, of course, significantly reduces the report of each shot. Since research reveals that new shooters don’t like recoil or noise, and noise increases the shooter’s perception of recoil, a suppressor is a definite plus. Of course, if you use a suppressed gun with a standard (non-locking) thread-on system, make sure you have an oven mitt or cloth handy at the range so you can check a few times to make sure the suppressor stays on tight.
If you’d like to read a review of the EVO Harvester, and how I use it on our old ranch here in the Ozarks, check this post.
Learn more about the SilencerCo Harvester EVO.
It ships with Bravo Direct Thread Mounts for ½ x 28 and 5/8 x 24 barrel threads.
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
