Executive Summary:
These two courses will kick your ass!
Seriously, the pistol course is a fast paced Tour de Force of accurate high speed shooting. I qualified "Basic" on the Shotgun course but did not qualify on the pistol course. I have no excuses; I was busy unlearning things and learning new stuff. Through the process I learned what will work for me and what is best left alone.
The Pistol CourseThe course starts with a lecture from Bill Rogers on Sunday night about the principles used in the course. He warns all that the course is extremely challenging and we will all struggle at some point. I arrive at the range on Monday morning around 8:45 am and we get our stuff together and it is pedal-to-the-metal from there to the end of the day, around 4 pm. This is the drill all the way through Thursday and we do a half day on Friday.
We start from the extended ready position and place a shoot on the target 1 head in less than a half second! Most of us miss. We perform numerous drills on taking head shots on targets (8" steel plates) from 7 -18 yards. Transitioning from one target to the next is emphasized almost constantly. There is no letup, no slowing down, and no complaining either! We did extensive holster work. Strong and support hand shooting was emphasized heavily too; this is what killed me.....We had a chance to shoot at night and that helped us understand what we need to do to get the hits we need to get in that situation. The targets were slowed some for that training session, but not by much; and all head shots too.....Oh yes, we did extensive reloading- free style and strong/weak hand. Did I mention the targets move too?
There are six qualifying exams and 125 point (hits) is the maximum for each exam. I was particularly amazed by one of the people there who shot no lower than a 121, but he also had a background in SF and is a professional shooter too. Someone mentioned that the exams can be "gamed", allowing one to get a better score. This does happen but before one can even begin to think of "gaming" this course they have to have the ability to execute! For me, I was too lost in remembering the fundamentals and executing them before I could even begin to think of gaming a course.
Summary of Pistol CourseI am going back to this school in May 2010. It is not uncommon for people to come back 2 - 3 times. I highly recommend this course to all of you. I know money is tight, but if you can muster around $2K, I think you will find it very challenging and rewarding. I learned through this course I need to step down in caliber to a 9mm for my carry weapon. I will get a Glock 19 trick it out a little and proceed to shoot numerous rounds via my left and right arms. There are other items I learned with respect to equipment that I comment on if any wants to know.
Shotgun CourseLike the pistol course, this course is very intense but only lasts for three days. The key to this course is being able to reload rapidly and engage the plates in a timely manner. I also made some equipment decisions in this course too. I like standard stocks on a shotgun and I like ghost sights. I fired a Mossberg 590A1 (14" barrel) and I have to say that thing is the sh!t! I qualified "Basic" on this course. I highly recommend this course all of you too!
The course has its best fit in the competition arena but I do note that many, many professionals have used this course to help them. This says a lot to me. Like I stated before, the price is steep but I think it is worth every penny! If any of you have any questions, let me know....
Other StuffPistol ammo fired: Over 2,000 rounds of 115 gr 9mm Georgia Arms ball.
Shotgun ammo fired: ~200 rounds of birdshot, both high base and regular.
Dry fire? Extensive amounts of dry fire...
BTW,
Bill Rogers told me that Michael Bane came there several years ago and shot over 90, which is a "Intermediate" rating. Michael, I salute you!!!!
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