Folks,
GSquared, asquinton and Craigh attended Threat Solutions Shotgun 1(ThreatSolutions.biz - Threat Solutions Weapons Training - Kentucky Firearms Training) two Saturday's ago at Cedar Ridge shooting range in Cave City, Ky (Defensive Firearms Training ? Expert Handgun, Shotgun, Rifle Training but the website is still a work in progress). In the interest of punctuality, we took off for Cave City Friday morning, with the obligatory stops at Keisler's, Jim Beam and Heaven Hill distilleries. We arrived in Cave City with plenty of time to check into the hotel and checkout the range. The weather was hot and windy Friday but, fortunately a cold front was on the way. We awoke to a sunny, ~60 F, somewhat windy Saturday. Perfect.
We had dinner with Eric Dean (one of our instructors) and the owner of the range Friday night and a had a nice discussion about the class, their range and business model. The range is still under construction but, will be extremely nice when finished (later this summer). It has a full trap range, at least two 'square ranges' with turning targets and a 300 yd rifle range. The pro shop/club house/classrooms building is under construction and promises to be quite nice. Bunk houses are to be added later. It is quite convenient to get to, as its only about a 15 minute drive from the hotel/restaurants.
The class had three other students besides us, for a total of six and three instructors (a nice ratio). Saturday started at 9:00 AM in the hotel conference room with a lecture (after breakfast at Cracker Barrel) . The four rules were discussed along with fundamentals of using a shotgun for defense (use one, load one). Once the lecture concluded, we headed to range. We stared with a pattern check at 25 yds, using our preferred carry load (Remington 00 buck for Craigh and GSquared, Rio 4 buck for asquinton). This is where it gets interesting... Previous tests have shown that Craigh's Mossberg 500 shotgun throws a wide pattern (too wide) at 25 yds to be considered effective. The fellow shooting on the left end of the line was also using a Mossberg, model 590, 18" cylinder bore barrel like Craigh's. His 25 yd pattern was about palm sized, in the A-zone.... He was using Federal 00 buck, with the FliteControl wad (LE 12700). He let Craigh use one and the pattered tightened right up as well. Quite impressive. There is a case coming from Ammoman now. Key take away, the Federal FlightControl works for tightening patterns! Once everyone was satisfied with the pattern test, we moved to slugs at 25 yds to ensure POI. That went well for all of us. We switched to bird shot for the remainder of the class. Shot ~150 rounds during the day.
The class focused on keeping the shotguns fed, as they have limited capacity and are somewhat of a pain to reload (as compared to most things that are magazine fed). We were only allowed to reload from the source we will fight from (side saddle and butt cuff in our case). Of course the proper loading technique is with the shotgun shouldered, controlled with the firing hand, ready to engage if needed and loaded with the support hand, while keeping the eyes focused down range. This requires practice. When one's shotgun ran out of ammo, one was expected to transition to the side arm and solve the problem. This really showed the value of the two-point sling, as it controlled the shotgun while freeing the hands.
We worked on singles, doubles, multiple targets, worked around barricades, and shooting on the move. We also worked on turns while controlling the muzzle. The day culminated with the CSI drill, where we moved (shooting) from one set of cover to another, shot around cover (keeping the shotgun topped off while behind), stepped out and closed on the target firing one round from the shotgun then transition to the sidearm and finish the problem (as long as the targets were visible). The targets were timed and 'available' for ~4-5 seconds each time. Sometimes they might 'reanimate' if one was not paying attention. We ran this drill twice. Lots of fun.
All in all we were quite pleased with the day. Each our shotguns ran all day (Craigh's Mossberg 500, GSquared's Winchester 1300 and asquinton's 870), except for the occasional operator induced short-stroke. Most everything stayed in place, although all of our flashlights migrated forward during the day, but continued to function (mini-mag light with led, clamped to the barrel in my case). The other three students were running Mossberg 500/590's and had good luck as well. The Remington Super Cell recoil pad did its job well on Craigh's and asquinton's shotguns. Our shoulders feel fine and the Hogue over molded stock worked and felt good on Craigh's Mossy 500. We felt the drills were well designed and well taught. We also believe that everyone could benefit from taking a class(es) from Threat Solutions. The instructors (Loren, Eric and Eddie) are all REAL combat veterans, trained by Jim Higginbotham, and are passionate about what they do. They are professional, courteous, have good attention to detail an offer VERY COST effective training. We highly recommend them as instructors. We really hope they can make a go of their business and the range a Cave City. They are a good resource that we hope to use and refer other to them in the future.
Thanks,
Craigh, GSquared and asquinton
GSquared, asquinton and Craigh attended Threat Solutions Shotgun 1(ThreatSolutions.biz - Threat Solutions Weapons Training - Kentucky Firearms Training) two Saturday's ago at Cedar Ridge shooting range in Cave City, Ky (Defensive Firearms Training ? Expert Handgun, Shotgun, Rifle Training but the website is still a work in progress). In the interest of punctuality, we took off for Cave City Friday morning, with the obligatory stops at Keisler's, Jim Beam and Heaven Hill distilleries. We arrived in Cave City with plenty of time to check into the hotel and checkout the range. The weather was hot and windy Friday but, fortunately a cold front was on the way. We awoke to a sunny, ~60 F, somewhat windy Saturday. Perfect.
We had dinner with Eric Dean (one of our instructors) and the owner of the range Friday night and a had a nice discussion about the class, their range and business model. The range is still under construction but, will be extremely nice when finished (later this summer). It has a full trap range, at least two 'square ranges' with turning targets and a 300 yd rifle range. The pro shop/club house/classrooms building is under construction and promises to be quite nice. Bunk houses are to be added later. It is quite convenient to get to, as its only about a 15 minute drive from the hotel/restaurants.
The class had three other students besides us, for a total of six and three instructors (a nice ratio). Saturday started at 9:00 AM in the hotel conference room with a lecture (after breakfast at Cracker Barrel) . The four rules were discussed along with fundamentals of using a shotgun for defense (use one, load one). Once the lecture concluded, we headed to range. We stared with a pattern check at 25 yds, using our preferred carry load (Remington 00 buck for Craigh and GSquared, Rio 4 buck for asquinton). This is where it gets interesting... Previous tests have shown that Craigh's Mossberg 500 shotgun throws a wide pattern (too wide) at 25 yds to be considered effective. The fellow shooting on the left end of the line was also using a Mossberg, model 590, 18" cylinder bore barrel like Craigh's. His 25 yd pattern was about palm sized, in the A-zone.... He was using Federal 00 buck, with the FliteControl wad (LE 12700). He let Craigh use one and the pattered tightened right up as well. Quite impressive. There is a case coming from Ammoman now. Key take away, the Federal FlightControl works for tightening patterns! Once everyone was satisfied with the pattern test, we moved to slugs at 25 yds to ensure POI. That went well for all of us. We switched to bird shot for the remainder of the class. Shot ~150 rounds during the day.
The class focused on keeping the shotguns fed, as they have limited capacity and are somewhat of a pain to reload (as compared to most things that are magazine fed). We were only allowed to reload from the source we will fight from (side saddle and butt cuff in our case). Of course the proper loading technique is with the shotgun shouldered, controlled with the firing hand, ready to engage if needed and loaded with the support hand, while keeping the eyes focused down range. This requires practice. When one's shotgun ran out of ammo, one was expected to transition to the side arm and solve the problem. This really showed the value of the two-point sling, as it controlled the shotgun while freeing the hands.
We worked on singles, doubles, multiple targets, worked around barricades, and shooting on the move. We also worked on turns while controlling the muzzle. The day culminated with the CSI drill, where we moved (shooting) from one set of cover to another, shot around cover (keeping the shotgun topped off while behind), stepped out and closed on the target firing one round from the shotgun then transition to the sidearm and finish the problem (as long as the targets were visible). The targets were timed and 'available' for ~4-5 seconds each time. Sometimes they might 'reanimate' if one was not paying attention. We ran this drill twice. Lots of fun.
All in all we were quite pleased with the day. Each our shotguns ran all day (Craigh's Mossberg 500, GSquared's Winchester 1300 and asquinton's 870), except for the occasional operator induced short-stroke. Most everything stayed in place, although all of our flashlights migrated forward during the day, but continued to function (mini-mag light with led, clamped to the barrel in my case). The other three students were running Mossberg 500/590's and had good luck as well. The Remington Super Cell recoil pad did its job well on Craigh's and asquinton's shotguns. Our shoulders feel fine and the Hogue over molded stock worked and felt good on Craigh's Mossy 500. We felt the drills were well designed and well taught. We also believe that everyone could benefit from taking a class(es) from Threat Solutions. The instructors (Loren, Eric and Eddie) are all REAL combat veterans, trained by Jim Higginbotham, and are passionate about what they do. They are professional, courteous, have good attention to detail an offer VERY COST effective training. We highly recommend them as instructors. We really hope they can make a go of their business and the range a Cave City. They are a good resource that we hope to use and refer other to them in the future.
Thanks,
Craigh, GSquared and asquinton
