Range Report: Advanced Skills Clinic, 10/17/22

[BassCliff]

Hello my friends!

It was a wild and woolly exercise at the range this evening! The instructors threw a lot of stuff at us trying to add stress and cause some cognitive overload. On my drive to this Fletcher Arms location I pass this corn field every time. It's almost harvest time.

This is actually the board from the last class. We had a brief safety overview then headed out to the range.

We each started with our own target for the "warm up" drills. It's fun being on this side of the firing line.

In addition to all the stress the instructors threw at us, I was also wearing one of my winter coats for half the drills in order to practice defeating the extra layer.

This is also the first time I've worn something other than athletic shoes. These are my "winter" work boots. They are almost broken in.

I had only marginal extra trouble presenting with my coat. I had more trouble grabbing my extra magazine for a reload. I'll need to practice that in my basement. We also did a lot of pivoting, 90° left and right and 180° for a lot of the drills. Some of the drills we could kneel if we wanted. Instructor Ashley demonstrated her kneeling technique that gives her more stability.

The first couple of drills involved pivoting and/or kneeling, shooting on command at either chest or head. My "combat accuracy" was just OK.

Then Ashley swapped out the targets and John gave us instructions for our Box Drill, including pivoting.

Jody and Michelle finish up their box drills.

Now we're really having fun! This was like a "Double Bill Drill" including pivoting, six quick shots on each target.

John is now instructing a student for our El Presidente Drill, including pivoting, combat reload, and "getting off the X". We ran this drill twice, timed, so we could judge our performance against ourselves, not each other. My second run was a little slower but I got more good hits.

Drill #6 we called the "Advance/Retreat Drill". While advancing on the left target, fire five shots center mass, transition to the center target and fire five shots while moving laterally, then transition to the right target and fire five shots while retreating. After the entire class ran the drill we did it again in reverse. Instructor John complimented me on this drill. My accuracy was good but he really liked my pace and my reload.

Then John and Ashley set us up for our last drill of the evening using one bad guy target and three barrels.

The last drill was an obstacle drill. We maneuvered around the barrels while unloading two magazines at the bad guy target. We had to watch our pace, our footing, and perform an emergency reload.

This is harder than it looks. I must remember to be a "tank", i.e. use my upper body as a turret and my legs as the track. Don't cross your feet or side-step.

The instructors really threw a lot at us and I admit I had a couple of brain farts that I will dry-fire practice at home. I will take this clinic again the next time it's offered because they change up the drills and stress factors. I haven't trained like this since I left California. I could tell I was a little rusty. I had a blast and went through a little over 200 rounds. @KillerFord1977 will be glad to hear that I also spoke with Instructor John after class. We are going to arrange a private session in the next couple of weeks so that he can help me with my slow fire accuracy beyond 10 yards. I'm looking forward to that.

Once I get a couple of holsters for my new Garrison I'll start training to carry it once in a while. In the meantime, my XD9 is my EDC. Hey! Thanks for putting up with me. Until next time.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[nmedge]

Looks like a very interesting class!

 

[SimonRL]

Looks like a good time! @KillerFord1977 and I do a drill similar to yours with the barrels except they stack them two-high so you have to pull your gun in tight as you pass behind each column. We were brutal, we looked like two old men who left their walkers at home! I was so bad I actually thought about buying six drums and putting them in the yard to practice, but I didn’t think the boss would approve. We’ve actually requested to do that drill again next week in our session. We’ll probably be fine and get humiliated on some new drill we didn’t see coming! Thanks for sharing.

 

[KillerFord1977]

Hello my friends!

It was a wild and woolly exercise at the range this evening! The instructors threw a lot of stuff at us trying to add stress and cause some cognitive overload. On my drive to this Fletcher Arms location I pass this corn field every time. It's almost harvest time.

This is actually the board from the last class. We had a brief safety overview then headed out to the range.

We each started with our own target for the "warm up" drills. It's fun being on this side of the firing line.

In addition to all the stress the instructors threw at us, I was also wearing one of my winter coats for half the drills in order to practice defeating the extra layer.

This is also the first time I've worn something other than athletic shoes. These are my "winter" work boots. They are almost broken in.

I had only marginal extra trouble presenting with my coat. I had more trouble grabbing my extra magazine for a reload. I'll need to practice that in my basement. We also did a lot of pivoting, 90° left and right and 180° for a lot of the drills. Some of the drills we could kneel if we wanted. Instructor Ashley demonstrated her kneeling technique that gives her more stability.

The first couple of drills involved pivoting and/or kneeling, shooting on command at either chest or head. My "combat accuracy" was just OK.

Then Ashley swapped out the targets and John gave us instructions for our Box Drill, including pivoting.

Jody and Michelle finish up their box drills.

Now we're really having fun! This was like a "Double Bill Drill" including pivoting, six quick shots on each target.

John is now instructing a student for our El Presidente Drill, including pivoting, combat reload, and "getting off the X". We ran this drill twice, timed, so we could judge our performance against ourselves, not each other. My second run was a little slower but I got more good hits.

Drill #6 we called the "Advance/Retreat Drill". While advancing on the left target, fire five shots center mass, transition to the center target and fire five shots while moving laterally, then transition to the right target and fire five shots while retreating. After the entire class ran the drill we did it again in reverse. Instructor John complimented me on this drill. My accuracy was good but he really liked my pace and my reload.

Then John and Ashley set us up for our last drill of the evening using one bad guy target and three barrels.

The last drill was an obstacle drill. We maneuvered around the barrels while unloading two magazines at the bad guy target. We had to watch our pace, our footing, and perform an emergency reload.

This is harder than it looks. I must remember to be a "tank", i.e. use my upper body as a turret and my legs as the track. Don't cross your feet or side-step.

The instructors really threw a lot at us and I admit I had a couple of brain farts that I will dry-fire practice at home. I will take this clinic again the next time it's offered because they change up the drills and stress factors. I haven't trained like this since I left California. I could tell I was a little rusty. I had a blast and went through a little over 200 rounds. @KillerFord1977 will be glad to hear that I also spoke with Instructor John after class. We are going to arrange a private session in the next couple of weeks so that he can help me with my slow fire accuracy beyond 10 yards. I'm looking forward to that.

Once I get a couple of holsters for my new Garrison I'll start training to carry it once in a while. In the meantime, my XD9 is my EDC. Hey! Thanks for putting up with me. Until next time.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

I think you just wanted to justify pictures of Ashleys backside …