maliciouslogistics
Plinker
Hello - I'm a long-time lurker on the forum and thought since I took some training recently it would be a good opportunity to make a useful first post.
I attended the Armed Dynamics Defensive Pistol I on October 27th, 2012. The class was hosted by AGS Armaments and conducted at Hillside Shooting Sports. Jeff Bloovman lead the class. I attended the Mindset Lab Intro to Force on Force a couple of months ago and another student recommended the Armed Dynamics training very highly.
I have limited formal training with pistols. I have fired a wide variety of them but am no expert or operator-type. I used to own 1911s but decided to switch to 9mm because of the cost of ammunition. I had been shooting an HK USP 9mm for about the last three years and enjoyed shooting with it but it seemed like everyone who does this sort of training (Tactical Response, Mindset and Armed Dynamics) strongly prefer the Glock. I got a great deal on a G19 recently and put some night sights on it and practiced with it three times before the class. I was a little bit worried about not having a lot of familiarity with the pistol but the instructors said that they have students sometimes that have a lot less or no experience at all so no big deal. Nine students attended with a variety of experience (including one guy who had only fired a gun three times before the class).
I arrived at about 0830. The class began about 30 minutes late because some people went to the wrong location. Not sure how that happened but it gave me time to go get something for lunch since I found out that I was supposed to have brought it with me. The lecture portion of the class was useful, fast paced and did not use any power point (which I hate). The typical topics were covered including safety, legal concerns and some range communication rules.
The range (Hillside Shooting Sports) was perfect for the training. It is designed with backstops on three sides and we were completely isolated from other parts of the range. No other shooters were present on the range with us. It would have been very difficult to have this training in a mixed environment with other shooters or outside range safety officers. One of the first things that I noted is that "big boy" rules were in use. Students were expected to operate their firearms safely and with discipline rather than having someone constantly looking over your shoulder like at other ranges. We used the four universal gun safety rules which are very different than range safety rules. This was important to me - safe gun handling always applies but range safety rules do not. This reminded me a little bit of the "train as you fight" motto in the army.
The range training began at around 1100 or so with draw stroke practice. The four count\step draw stroke was taught. This was pretty much the same as what I learned at Mindset except the Mindset training emphasized clearing cover garments a lot more. I was glad that it was pretty much the same and I suspect it is also the same as what is taught at Tactical Response classes. I probably drew over a hundred times during the training and tried a few different ways to deal with cover garments and never really had any problems. We did draw and shoot many times, practiced reloading and practiced clearing three types of malfunctions over and over. Training on clearing malfunctions was very useful for me. The non-diagnostic method was used where the clearing action is the same regardless of the cause (because we don't take the time to investigate it). I wasn't able to do the clearing procedures quickly though so I intend to practice this a lot more on my own. We also covered one handed draw, shoot, reload and malfunction clearing with strong hand and weak hand. The one-handed training was tough for me and revealed to me that I have a lot to work on (especially when working in the dark).
We took a lunch break at a little after 1500. Some students didn't bring anything and had to leave which caused a longer than expected break. During the time we waited for the other students to return, we kept busy with discussion and practice so the learning didn't stop.
After lunch we worked on neural-based shooting. All I can say about this technique is that it overflows with badassery. Imagine yourself drawing and shooting fist-sized groups with your eyes closed. This was a big confidence boost and I felt like this was a "light went off" moment for me in the training. I will definitely incorporate this into my normal range practice and kind of wish we had spent more time on this.
There were many things during this full day of training that I had never done before. Chief among the firsts was the dizzy bats draw and shoot (or stazi method training which has nothing to do with cold-war secret police I was told). Make yourself dizzy to simulate having your bell rung, then draw and shoot. This sounds pretty dangerous but was made very safe by the instructors' close supervision.
Shooting and moving is something that most of us probably never get to practice at traditional ranges. I found this to be very useful and entirely new to me. How to walk quickly in different directions, shoot, reload, look, pick up things safely and select targets. We had one drill with a steel target that was really fun to shoot. There is no more positive feedback than the steel ringing.
We had a short break for dinner which was like the lunch break where we just stayed there talking and practicing ad-hoc. One of the AGS guys brought a .22 1911 with a suppressor that I got to fire a few rounds through. Lots of fun. I also got to shoot a student's FN 5.7 pistol which was like shooting a buck mark in terms of recoil - really fun to shoot.
After dinner I found out a few things during the low-light training: 1. I can't focus on the front sight at night with bright rear tritium night sights and darkening them with a sharpie helped. 2. Shooting and reloading (correctly) with a handheld flashlight takes a lot of coordination. 3. Shooting at the steel and not hearing it ring makes me sad.
Another first for me was intentionally dropping my pistol. I dropped it right in the dirt along with everyone else as part of the training. I also tossed magazines, stepped on them and banged them up pretty good. I shot a little over 800 rounds for the training and had three malfunctions. One was a double-feed due to a dented case (I was picking up unfired rounds off of the ground and using them). I also had a couple of stovepipes that may have been due to cheap ammo. Overall I'm very happy with the G19. The size is much better for me than the full-sized USP and I'm already shooting better with it.
Finally we had a round of feedback, picked up certificates and left at around 2215 or so. It was a long day of awesome training. I left out a lot of details but thought this would make a good summary. This was a great day of training and the cost was very reasonable in my opinion. Training for my job costs nearly $1,000 per day in most cases. This was quite a bargain in comparison. Shooting at traditional ranges every weekend like I was doing up to this point may have helped me improve my marksmanship but it hasn't helped to improve my ability to fight with a pistol. Practical shooting probably seems like a better way to practice safely and deliberately than paper targets at fixed distances.
I went to the course with a "blank slate" attitude. I left everything I had previously learned back home. I think that is key to getting the most out of training like this. If I had showed up and questioned every detail because it was different than what I had learned previously, I wouldn't have gotten much out of it and the other students would have been annoyed. The only thing I thought could have been better was the communication prior to class so that people would have what they need (lunch) and showed up at the right place. Also, I thought it would have been better to have met at the range instead of at AGS just because it would have saved some time driving over there.
The instructors are among the best at operating weapons and at teaching others to be their best. The class was challenging and also a ton of fun. I will also say that I was a little bit reluctant to attend just because I didn't want to be surrounded by the kind of people that ego-flame everyone on gun forums. That was not the case at all. All of the students were professional, disciplined, easy to get along with and came with a humble attitude. There is nothing more annoying than a student that wants to play stump the chump with an instructor - that never happened at this class.
I highly recommend this course. Anyone who has questions should reply in the thread or PM me if it is more personal. I hope this post was useful. Thanks for reading.
-Brian
I attended the Armed Dynamics Defensive Pistol I on October 27th, 2012. The class was hosted by AGS Armaments and conducted at Hillside Shooting Sports. Jeff Bloovman lead the class. I attended the Mindset Lab Intro to Force on Force a couple of months ago and another student recommended the Armed Dynamics training very highly.
I have limited formal training with pistols. I have fired a wide variety of them but am no expert or operator-type. I used to own 1911s but decided to switch to 9mm because of the cost of ammunition. I had been shooting an HK USP 9mm for about the last three years and enjoyed shooting with it but it seemed like everyone who does this sort of training (Tactical Response, Mindset and Armed Dynamics) strongly prefer the Glock. I got a great deal on a G19 recently and put some night sights on it and practiced with it three times before the class. I was a little bit worried about not having a lot of familiarity with the pistol but the instructors said that they have students sometimes that have a lot less or no experience at all so no big deal. Nine students attended with a variety of experience (including one guy who had only fired a gun three times before the class).
I arrived at about 0830. The class began about 30 minutes late because some people went to the wrong location. Not sure how that happened but it gave me time to go get something for lunch since I found out that I was supposed to have brought it with me. The lecture portion of the class was useful, fast paced and did not use any power point (which I hate). The typical topics were covered including safety, legal concerns and some range communication rules.
The range (Hillside Shooting Sports) was perfect for the training. It is designed with backstops on three sides and we were completely isolated from other parts of the range. No other shooters were present on the range with us. It would have been very difficult to have this training in a mixed environment with other shooters or outside range safety officers. One of the first things that I noted is that "big boy" rules were in use. Students were expected to operate their firearms safely and with discipline rather than having someone constantly looking over your shoulder like at other ranges. We used the four universal gun safety rules which are very different than range safety rules. This was important to me - safe gun handling always applies but range safety rules do not. This reminded me a little bit of the "train as you fight" motto in the army.
The range training began at around 1100 or so with draw stroke practice. The four count\step draw stroke was taught. This was pretty much the same as what I learned at Mindset except the Mindset training emphasized clearing cover garments a lot more. I was glad that it was pretty much the same and I suspect it is also the same as what is taught at Tactical Response classes. I probably drew over a hundred times during the training and tried a few different ways to deal with cover garments and never really had any problems. We did draw and shoot many times, practiced reloading and practiced clearing three types of malfunctions over and over. Training on clearing malfunctions was very useful for me. The non-diagnostic method was used where the clearing action is the same regardless of the cause (because we don't take the time to investigate it). I wasn't able to do the clearing procedures quickly though so I intend to practice this a lot more on my own. We also covered one handed draw, shoot, reload and malfunction clearing with strong hand and weak hand. The one-handed training was tough for me and revealed to me that I have a lot to work on (especially when working in the dark).
We took a lunch break at a little after 1500. Some students didn't bring anything and had to leave which caused a longer than expected break. During the time we waited for the other students to return, we kept busy with discussion and practice so the learning didn't stop.
After lunch we worked on neural-based shooting. All I can say about this technique is that it overflows with badassery. Imagine yourself drawing and shooting fist-sized groups with your eyes closed. This was a big confidence boost and I felt like this was a "light went off" moment for me in the training. I will definitely incorporate this into my normal range practice and kind of wish we had spent more time on this.
There were many things during this full day of training that I had never done before. Chief among the firsts was the dizzy bats draw and shoot (or stazi method training which has nothing to do with cold-war secret police I was told). Make yourself dizzy to simulate having your bell rung, then draw and shoot. This sounds pretty dangerous but was made very safe by the instructors' close supervision.
Shooting and moving is something that most of us probably never get to practice at traditional ranges. I found this to be very useful and entirely new to me. How to walk quickly in different directions, shoot, reload, look, pick up things safely and select targets. We had one drill with a steel target that was really fun to shoot. There is no more positive feedback than the steel ringing.
We had a short break for dinner which was like the lunch break where we just stayed there talking and practicing ad-hoc. One of the AGS guys brought a .22 1911 with a suppressor that I got to fire a few rounds through. Lots of fun. I also got to shoot a student's FN 5.7 pistol which was like shooting a buck mark in terms of recoil - really fun to shoot.
After dinner I found out a few things during the low-light training: 1. I can't focus on the front sight at night with bright rear tritium night sights and darkening them with a sharpie helped. 2. Shooting and reloading (correctly) with a handheld flashlight takes a lot of coordination. 3. Shooting at the steel and not hearing it ring makes me sad.
Another first for me was intentionally dropping my pistol. I dropped it right in the dirt along with everyone else as part of the training. I also tossed magazines, stepped on them and banged them up pretty good. I shot a little over 800 rounds for the training and had three malfunctions. One was a double-feed due to a dented case (I was picking up unfired rounds off of the ground and using them). I also had a couple of stovepipes that may have been due to cheap ammo. Overall I'm very happy with the G19. The size is much better for me than the full-sized USP and I'm already shooting better with it.
Finally we had a round of feedback, picked up certificates and left at around 2215 or so. It was a long day of awesome training. I left out a lot of details but thought this would make a good summary. This was a great day of training and the cost was very reasonable in my opinion. Training for my job costs nearly $1,000 per day in most cases. This was quite a bargain in comparison. Shooting at traditional ranges every weekend like I was doing up to this point may have helped me improve my marksmanship but it hasn't helped to improve my ability to fight with a pistol. Practical shooting probably seems like a better way to practice safely and deliberately than paper targets at fixed distances.
I went to the course with a "blank slate" attitude. I left everything I had previously learned back home. I think that is key to getting the most out of training like this. If I had showed up and questioned every detail because it was different than what I had learned previously, I wouldn't have gotten much out of it and the other students would have been annoyed. The only thing I thought could have been better was the communication prior to class so that people would have what they need (lunch) and showed up at the right place. Also, I thought it would have been better to have met at the range instead of at AGS just because it would have saved some time driving over there.
The instructors are among the best at operating weapons and at teaching others to be their best. The class was challenging and also a ton of fun. I will also say that I was a little bit reluctant to attend just because I didn't want to be surrounded by the kind of people that ego-flame everyone on gun forums. That was not the case at all. All of the students were professional, disciplined, easy to get along with and came with a humble attitude. There is nothing more annoying than a student that wants to play stump the chump with an instructor - that never happened at this class.
I highly recommend this course. Anyone who has questions should reply in the thread or PM me if it is more personal. I hope this post was useful. Thanks for reading.
-Brian
