Busy Period of Training

[CJS06]

A couple of guys asked me to post a quick write up of a busy period of training that I just finished up.  I try to attend 4-6 specific training classes per year in addition to regular training and practice that I do throughout the year.  This year I have been lucky enough to get to classes with 4 of them falling into the last 3 weeks. 

Sept 22-23  Performance Handgun- Pace Performance/Paul VanDunk
This class has a focus on the gaming side of the house. It is a performance class with a huge focus on speed.  Accuracy is not dropped , but rather maintained while bringing efficiencies to different aspects to get faster.  I am not a diligent competitor though I do enjoy periodic USPSA matches. I took this class to work on mainly may grip and recoil management.  I ran the entire class with either my "duty" Safariland ALS holster or my RDR appendix rig.  Paul is an excellent instructor that was not just about the improvements I saw in class (definitely saw them) but also gave me a very strong base for diagnosing problems and working on my individual training.

Sept 25-25  Long Range Rifle - Deliberate /Jake Gregson
Wow this class was as much about the details as it was about the actual pull of the trigger.  Jake is an amazing knowledgable guy with a great ability to make complex simple.  Understanding ballistics and the factors that give you the end results on the range. This was not focused on the equipment but on being a shooter that allows you to maximize the equipment that you have. Jake is not teaching full time, but rather on a word of mouth system as he still contracts and works as an leadership instructor for Big Green.

Sept 29-30  Defensive Handgun-Red Dot-  Sage Dynamics/Aaron Cowan
So I dabbled in the Red Dot world for a little and figured if I was going to give it an honest go that I should give it an honest go. Aaron is an excellent straightforward instructor. All principles are based on defensive use of a handgun. It is meant for developing skills and techniques for everyday carry. Go in with an open mind and be a sponge because there is real learning that will happen in an Aaron class.  Aaron is one of the few instructors that I know that uses 3d targets and tries very hard hard to bring the seriousness and variability of the everyday world onto to acknowledged limitations of a flat range.  I have to say the the red dot does help extend the effectiveness of a pistol in speed and range.  I may not be ready to put Dots on all of my handguns, but I dot believe in them and will continue to train and develop my skill with them.

Combined with the Performance Pistol class from earlier in that week I feel that I have definitely improved my handgun shooting.....and more importantly have given myself a base to continue to train and grow from.  Handgun being what I have with me every day, as well as being my weakest link were the real focus of this week of training and I definitely am happy that I did it.

Oct 14-16  Scoped Carbine/Recce Carbine - Follow Through Consulting/Buck Doyle
This was an interesting weekend.  The class was really a photo/video shoot for an advertising campaign for Mechanix Wear gloves.  They wanted a lifestyle segment around a Follow Through class. I was invited down by Buck along with Jeff Wilber from RDR, Andrew Haywood from Reactive and Jake Gregson.  He wanted a small group of guys that he could pack the equivalent of 6 days worth of classes/courses of fire into 3 Days with.  We shot from 8am to approx 10pm. We got down a day early to set the targets and prep the area as well as to dry run portions of the class. Buck teaches gunfighting....no matter the range you are at.  We shot a varied course of fire from 25m to almost 1400m in a variety of conditions.  Honestly the most fun was the high angle portion of the class.  It was very fast paced with tons of movement and we shot approx 3800rds over 3 days.  Having a professional film crew follow you around and shooting was an interesting and pretty cool experience.  They were a really solid bunch of guys.

I write this from my desk at work where I am procrastinating dealing with the pile of paper that was here for me when I got back   .  I know this is just a quick write up, if you have any questions about any of the specific classes let me know.

Chris

[JohnyMac]

A few questions in order of training writeup.

1) Performance Handgun- Pace Performance/Paul VanDunk
    Concerning holsters - So you used your duty rigs and not your EDC rig just curious, why? Also with the Safariland what kind of "duty"
    rig do you carry? Belt, quantity of mags - primary and secondary, et cetera.

2)Long Range Rifle - Deliberate /Jake Gregson
    What trigger are you running in your AR (s)? I am thinking of modifying my AR's with a new trigger as I want to get smaller groups.
    The standard trigger group that comes with a Colt 6920 is a bit heavy. I was think of a Rock River two stage trigger because I can't justify the cost
    of a Calvin Elite or other one of that quality. Your thoughts here are appreciated.

3) Defensive Handgun-Red Dot-  Sage Dynamics/Aaron Cowan
    So are you going to stay with a Red-dot? If so why? If not why?

4) Scoped Carbine/Recce Carbine - Follow Through Consulting/Buck Doyle
    Today a model for Mechanic's tomorrow Chris will be in my Filson catalog - Hi, hi. Sounded like a intense 3-days though.

5) Picture
    Looks like a Dead Air Sandman K, longer barrel on a AR platform. Please fill us in. Thx

Last, thank you for taking the time, albeit at work mind you, on this years fun. 

   

[CJS06]

I'll try to answer in order.

1.  I ran my duty rig as this was a performance based class and most of the people in it were running full race kit. I needed the extra mags for much of the course of fire. Though it is far from a race rig due to retention it was a close as I could get to a offset holster and allowed me to work on my draw stroke. I was still faster than  half of the class while drawing from retention.  By belt normally has 2 rifle mag, 2 pistol mag, a blowout kit and a multi tool as well as my holster.  For this class I went to 3 pistol mags and droped the rifle mags.

I run Safariland 6300 series holsters for my Triarc 2011s, S&W M&Ps and M&P w/ RDS.  These are all for use with Surefire X300U lights.

2. I run Geissele SSA-E triggers in all of my AR platforms. They are excellent for both precision and combat type shooting.  They are not inexpensive but I find them to be worth it. Also if by some weird happening one fails Geissele will replace it...no questions.  Some of my good friends like the SD-E which is the flat face version.  I also like the Larue MBT trigger which is very cost effective.

3. I will stay with the Red Dot on my M&Ps ( I have an RMR 06 on one and an RMR 09 on the other) as they are full Agency guns with cuts for them all done. I am not getting my Triarc 2011's cut at this point but may do my 5" gun sometime this winter.  My compact carry guns will not get Red Dots as I carry those for the conceal ability and a Dot does ndd complexity to that.  For Fall and Winter carry I will keep my RMR's on the M&Ps.

4. The photo stuff was interesting and after the first hour or so you kind of forget they are there. It was an intense couple of days because we were packing the courses of fire from multiple classes into just 2 days......and we completed shooting them all.  Tiring but damn fun!

5. My rifle  is as follows. Noveske gen1 receivers with Geissele Mk8 rail, Proof Research 18"  .875 Carbon barrel, Deadair Sandman K can,  Leupold Mk5 3.6-18 in a Geissele Super Precision mount, and Dueck Defense offset irons.  It has just 10k rounds through it following the class.

A few questions in order of training writeup.

1) Performance Handgun- Pace Performance/Paul VanDunk
    Concerning holsters - So you used your duty rigs and not your EDC rig just curious, why? Also with the Safariland what kind of "duty"
    rig do you carry? Belt, quantity of mags - primary and secondary, et cetera.

2)Long Range Rifle - Deliberate /Jake Gregson
    What trigger are you running in your AR (s)? I am thinking of modifying my AR's with a new trigger as I want to get smaller groups.
    The standard trigger group that comes with a Colt 6920 is a bit heavy. I was think of a Rock River two stage trigger because I can't justify the cost
    of a Calvin Elite or other one of that quality. Your thoughts here are appreciated.

3) Defensive Handgun-Red Dot-  Sage Dynamics/Aaron Cowan
    So are you going to stay with a Red-dot? If so why? If not why?

4) Scoped Carbine/Recce Carbine - Follow Through Consulting/Buck Doyle
    Today a model for Mechanic's tomorrow Chris will be in my Filson catalog - Hi, hi. Sounded like a intense 3-days though.

5) Picture
    Looks like a Dead Air Sandman K, longer barrel on a AR platform. Please fill us in. Thx

Last, thank you for taking the time, albeit at work mind you, on this years fun. 

   

[Erick]

Thank you for posting this.
It's important to encourage folks to train!

[JohnyMac]

Thx brother!

[zeerf]

Thank you for posting and great info!

[Kbop]