Last year myself and a few like-minded friends got together and formed a small training group. The purpose of the group was to have regular range sessions where we focused on specific skillsets in an effort to keep them sharp. The sessions aren't "open shoots", but rather times of very focused and concentrated refresher training.
We all come from similar training backgrounds, and have similar goals in regards to defense. This fosters an environment of sharing and leaning from each others' knowledge and experiences. I find this model is a great way to continue learning at low cost in between professional training courses throughout the year.
Slacking off for the first part of 2012, we finally got together yesterday afternoon. Our focus was pistol work, running several different timed and scored drills. Yesterday's group was comprised of myself, shooter521, akaindy, and troy_mp. lovemywoods was our gracious host, providing both the range and the fantastic smoked turkey dinner. A special thanks to Mrs. lovemywoods for takings lots and lots of pictures. Not only do they allow us to share our time with our fellow INGOers, but they also serve as excellent diagnostic tools for later critiquing our own techniques.
We started off with a basic setup consisting of several target stands, some Bobcat Steel rounds, and a Bobcat Steel dueling tree.
shooter521 provided all of the drills for the day. He did an excellent job of keeping us all focused and in line.
One drill we ran was the MEU(SOC) Qualifcation Standards. This was a very interesting multi-stage course of fire that focused on accuracy at varying distances and positions.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wf69nmykPU[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t33ilNexiao[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSDgrLipWLw[/ame]
Another interesting drill was one used by US Air Marshals. The focus there was speed AND accuracy. Every stage had par times, and they MUST be met in order to qualify. That, and you have to get a passing number of hits. My first attempt was awful. I only passed the times for 2 of the 7 stages. And my scored hits weren't even close to the minimum passing score.
But after watching the others run the drill, and after running it again myself for a second time, it became one of my favorites. I think I'll be using this one more regularly as a performance benchmark.
esrice
troy_mp
shooter521
akaindy
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIrW54HlbQ8[/ame]
We also spent some time on steel. We did a couple renditions of a "walk back", where shooters started at 7 yards, shooting a round steel plate, moving back one shooter at a time until someone misses. On a 12" plate we ended up back in the woods, about 35 yards away.
And of course we had to do some head-to-head dueling tree duels!
(if you look closely, you can see the light reflecting off the actual bullet, marking its path like a laser beam)
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fkF03hVGrQ[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgjMNU1uAH8[/ame]
After we concluded our session, we broke out some rifles and other guns-- some to sight in, some to function test, some just to play with.
shooter521's .300BLK
My new SBR, Project Iron Widow
akaindy's custom Benelli M3
shooter521 function testing his new Lage .22 upper
Did anyone know that Daewoo made rifles?
After about 5 hours on the range we packed it up and headed for the house. lovemywoods and Mrs. lovemywoods prepared a fabulous meal of smoked turkey, corn, salad, and yeast rolls-- topped off with peach pie and ice cream. We were also treated to having bwframe join us!
I'm thankful to each of these gentlemen for what they contributed to our successful day. I learned things and was able to get in some real quality practice time, as well as spend time with people I call friends.
And of course, thanks to INGO for bringing us all together in the first place.
We all come from similar training backgrounds, and have similar goals in regards to defense. This fosters an environment of sharing and leaning from each others' knowledge and experiences. I find this model is a great way to continue learning at low cost in between professional training courses throughout the year.
Slacking off for the first part of 2012, we finally got together yesterday afternoon. Our focus was pistol work, running several different timed and scored drills. Yesterday's group was comprised of myself, shooter521, akaindy, and troy_mp. lovemywoods was our gracious host, providing both the range and the fantastic smoked turkey dinner. A special thanks to Mrs. lovemywoods for takings lots and lots of pictures. Not only do they allow us to share our time with our fellow INGOers, but they also serve as excellent diagnostic tools for later critiquing our own techniques.
We started off with a basic setup consisting of several target stands, some Bobcat Steel rounds, and a Bobcat Steel dueling tree.
shooter521 provided all of the drills for the day. He did an excellent job of keeping us all focused and in line.
One drill we ran was the MEU(SOC) Qualifcation Standards. This was a very interesting multi-stage course of fire that focused on accuracy at varying distances and positions.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wf69nmykPU[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t33ilNexiao[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSDgrLipWLw[/ame]
Another interesting drill was one used by US Air Marshals. The focus there was speed AND accuracy. Every stage had par times, and they MUST be met in order to qualify. That, and you have to get a passing number of hits. My first attempt was awful. I only passed the times for 2 of the 7 stages. And my scored hits weren't even close to the minimum passing score.
But after watching the others run the drill, and after running it again myself for a second time, it became one of my favorites. I think I'll be using this one more regularly as a performance benchmark.
esrice
troy_mp
shooter521
akaindy
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIrW54HlbQ8[/ame]
We also spent some time on steel. We did a couple renditions of a "walk back", where shooters started at 7 yards, shooting a round steel plate, moving back one shooter at a time until someone misses. On a 12" plate we ended up back in the woods, about 35 yards away.
And of course we had to do some head-to-head dueling tree duels!
(if you look closely, you can see the light reflecting off the actual bullet, marking its path like a laser beam)
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fkF03hVGrQ[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgjMNU1uAH8[/ame]
After we concluded our session, we broke out some rifles and other guns-- some to sight in, some to function test, some just to play with.
shooter521's .300BLK
My new SBR, Project Iron Widow
akaindy's custom Benelli M3
shooter521 function testing his new Lage .22 upper
Did anyone know that Daewoo made rifles?
After about 5 hours on the range we packed it up and headed for the house. lovemywoods and Mrs. lovemywoods prepared a fabulous meal of smoked turkey, corn, salad, and yeast rolls-- topped off with peach pie and ice cream. We were also treated to having bwframe join us!
I'm thankful to each of these gentlemen for what they contributed to our successful day. I learned things and was able to get in some real quality practice time, as well as spend time with people I call friends.
And of course, thanks to INGO for bringing us all together in the first place.
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