BassCliff
Professional
Hey gang,
It was wild and woolly at the range today. There were seven experienced students in the class today. We worked on a combination of drills and "scoot-n-shoot" scenarios that involved movement and pivoting. Fun stuff! The class started at 8am, on a Saturday, and the drive was brisk to say the least.
We worked out beyond the bays today. I like getting on this side of the range.
We used a couple of different "speed and accuracy" targets. The other target, not pictured, had bigger number shapes, brighter colors, and the silhouette looked more like a bowling pin. You've seen it. We started with this target, smaller numbers were harder to hit.
One at a time, we all started with a cold drill they called "5-4-3-2-1". It was timed and scored at the beginning of the class and at the end of the class, then compared. Course of action: From 12 yards, 5 shots to high center chest; move to 7 yards, 4 shots to high center chest; move to 3 yards, 3 shots to high center chest; move back to 7 yards, 2 shots to high center chest; move back to 12 yards, 1 shot to high center chest. You must include a mag change/reload at some point during the procedure.
On my first run I had one of the slower times buy my accuracy was pretty good, only one hit out of the high center chest box. This gave me a score of 2.55. (There was some math involved with the time and the score that gave us our final number.)
Anything in the circle or large rectangle was 3 points. Anything on the silhouette was one point. Anything outside was zero. My second run at the end of the session was faster but I had 3 hits outside of the high center chest for a score of 2.51. The best scores in the class were 2.95 and 2.98. There was only one "clean" run on the day.
For the "meat and potatoes" of the session, we did a lot of thinking about targets, when to shoot, what to shoot, when not to shoot, etc, depending on the command given. A number command would mean one hit to that number. An "up" command would mean 3-5 shots to high center chest, rotating that target between center mass and the "A and B" box.
I was doing pretty well until the instructor pointed out that I had forgotten to rotate my "center mass" target. Oops. They give you a lot to remember during these drills. Later the shooting solution included putting the same number of hits as the number called, or one hit on a color or shape. Sometimes they would call a color and a number. You had to explain why and where you put your hits on your target. For instance, a "Yellow Three!" command might mean three hits on the number three and then one hit on two yellow targets. Instructor John and a student are talking about his shooting solution.
I was doing pretty good as we changed distances and followed instructions. So far I was a little wide on the "2" target.
This is the other target that also gave us headaches with numbers, shapes, and colors. Each command could have a different shooting solution. Plus they incorporated 90° and 180° pivots from different distances.
At one point our instructors put on a choreographed brass sweeping demonstration. These guys were pretty good.
The last big drill for the day was a "scoot-n-shoot". We didn't exactly run but hurried quickly between the "front line" (3 yards), "middle line" (7 yards), and "back line" (12 yards) on command. At any point could come a "fire" command and we would have to stop, pivot if necessary, check the line, adjust as necessary, draw, and fire. We don't want anyone shooting from behind, like that video that was posted recently. I managed to keep my hits on center mass and even made a head shot.
Then we finished up with the drill we started with. Like I said earlier, my second run wasn't quite as good as the first as far as total score, but it was faster and not all that inaccurate.
Since I had a box of ammo left I thought I'd hang around after class and see if I could put some more holes in some paper.
It was busy right after class, lots of folks waiting to shoot. I lucked out because somebody didn't show up for their reservation so I got my favorite lane, bought a couple of targets, and quickly burned through another box. I used this "Troubleshooter" target to start.
The first two magazines went on the top two bullseyes.
Then for the small bullseyes in the middle I rotated double-taps on each until the mag was empty.
I split the next magazine between the two bottom targets, eight on the left and nine on the right.
That lower left and upper left targets were the best of the bunch.
I had about a mag and a half left so I saved them for my reactive target. This reactive silhouette is a little bigger than the one I usually use. I blasted away. Hence the spread.
And that's all the fun I had today. I can't wait to get the Speed Sights on this VP9. I think it will help these old eyes.
Thanks for letting me hang out with you guys.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
It was wild and woolly at the range today. There were seven experienced students in the class today. We worked on a combination of drills and "scoot-n-shoot" scenarios that involved movement and pivoting. Fun stuff! The class started at 8am, on a Saturday, and the drive was brisk to say the least.
We worked out beyond the bays today. I like getting on this side of the range.
We used a couple of different "speed and accuracy" targets. The other target, not pictured, had bigger number shapes, brighter colors, and the silhouette looked more like a bowling pin. You've seen it. We started with this target, smaller numbers were harder to hit.
One at a time, we all started with a cold drill they called "5-4-3-2-1". It was timed and scored at the beginning of the class and at the end of the class, then compared. Course of action: From 12 yards, 5 shots to high center chest; move to 7 yards, 4 shots to high center chest; move to 3 yards, 3 shots to high center chest; move back to 7 yards, 2 shots to high center chest; move back to 12 yards, 1 shot to high center chest. You must include a mag change/reload at some point during the procedure.
On my first run I had one of the slower times buy my accuracy was pretty good, only one hit out of the high center chest box. This gave me a score of 2.55. (There was some math involved with the time and the score that gave us our final number.)
Anything in the circle or large rectangle was 3 points. Anything on the silhouette was one point. Anything outside was zero. My second run at the end of the session was faster but I had 3 hits outside of the high center chest for a score of 2.51. The best scores in the class were 2.95 and 2.98. There was only one "clean" run on the day.
For the "meat and potatoes" of the session, we did a lot of thinking about targets, when to shoot, what to shoot, when not to shoot, etc, depending on the command given. A number command would mean one hit to that number. An "up" command would mean 3-5 shots to high center chest, rotating that target between center mass and the "A and B" box.
I was doing pretty well until the instructor pointed out that I had forgotten to rotate my "center mass" target. Oops. They give you a lot to remember during these drills. Later the shooting solution included putting the same number of hits as the number called, or one hit on a color or shape. Sometimes they would call a color and a number. You had to explain why and where you put your hits on your target. For instance, a "Yellow Three!" command might mean three hits on the number three and then one hit on two yellow targets. Instructor John and a student are talking about his shooting solution.
I was doing pretty good as we changed distances and followed instructions. So far I was a little wide on the "2" target.
This is the other target that also gave us headaches with numbers, shapes, and colors. Each command could have a different shooting solution. Plus they incorporated 90° and 180° pivots from different distances.
At one point our instructors put on a choreographed brass sweeping demonstration. These guys were pretty good.
The last big drill for the day was a "scoot-n-shoot". We didn't exactly run but hurried quickly between the "front line" (3 yards), "middle line" (7 yards), and "back line" (12 yards) on command. At any point could come a "fire" command and we would have to stop, pivot if necessary, check the line, adjust as necessary, draw, and fire. We don't want anyone shooting from behind, like that video that was posted recently. I managed to keep my hits on center mass and even made a head shot.
Then we finished up with the drill we started with. Like I said earlier, my second run wasn't quite as good as the first as far as total score, but it was faster and not all that inaccurate.
Since I had a box of ammo left I thought I'd hang around after class and see if I could put some more holes in some paper.
It was busy right after class, lots of folks waiting to shoot. I lucked out because somebody didn't show up for their reservation so I got my favorite lane, bought a couple of targets, and quickly burned through another box. I used this "Troubleshooter" target to start.
The first two magazines went on the top two bullseyes.
Then for the small bullseyes in the middle I rotated double-taps on each until the mag was empty.
I split the next magazine between the two bottom targets, eight on the left and nine on the right.
That lower left and upper left targets were the best of the bunch.
I had about a mag and a half left so I saved them for my reactive target. This reactive silhouette is a little bigger than the one I usually use. I blasted away. Hence the spread.
And that's all the fun I had today. I can't wait to get the Speed Sights on this VP9. I think it will help these old eyes.
Thanks for letting me hang out with you guys.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
