imported post
I attended the range day on Saturday 8/23 south of Culpeper, VA offered by Team Ruthless at a private range.
First, let me get the superlatives out of the way: This was the single best self-defense training I have attended. OK...so it was also my first, but, hey, I'm just sayin'. Oh, and I have a tendency to go on and on...so, there it is.
The skills we practiced were applicable to real-life situations which may require defensive use of a firearm. As this was a practice day we did not have much lecture or review printed material. The short introductory discussion covered basic principles of defensive shooting. The day was training for how to deal with close, middle and longer distance threats with and without movement. For purposes of the day's training "long" distance was considered 10 yards and most of the drills were inside 5 yards.
Most participants brought Glocks. The instructor used a glock. I brought a Sig 229 in .40 S&W that I hadn't spent much time with. Suffice it say I'm a lot better with it today than I was before the class. Bring at least four mags to minimize time reloading...more if they are single stack.
We began with straightforward drills on the "Dot Torture" sheet. The sheet had 9-10 colored circles about 2 inches in diameter. The first drill was simple, draw, aim and put five shots into the first dot from about 5 yards. The drills progressed to draw and shoot one shot at two dots, shooting one handed, weak handed and at varied distances. All the drills were live draw and reload during drill as necessary emphasizing quick and smooth reload by feel while maintaining eyes on target at all times.
We then moved on to shooting from the combat crouch and point shooting. I hadn't done any point shooting, but the name says it all. You focus on the a point on the target, point the gun and shoot multiple shots. We learned the "combat crouch" and started with crouching one and two handed aimed shots, then shooting without lining up the sights, then shooting at shoulder level, then chest level, then waist level.
You can't line up the sights when shooting below shoulder level. The method is to focus on a single point on the target and shoot. The objective is to train yourself to automatically walk the successive shots onto the point of focus while shooting rapidly. If you focus intensely on a single point (button, etc.) on the chest you have a much better chance of landing a hit than if you are thinking you just want to hit the center mass. All of this occurred prior to lunch and consumed 200-300 rounds.
We had a break for lunch. The best idea is to bring everything you want for the day with you. Lot's of Water in an ice chest, Gatorade, lunch, snack. You will spend most of the day in the sun so max sunscreen & hat. It was in the mid 80s Saturday and standing in the sun was plenty hot. And bring a chair.
After lunch we began doing more dynamic drills. We practiced shooting to the left or right of the direction we were facing. The instructor made an appropriate emphasis on safety since it would be easy to paint the person next to you when drawing from the right shooting to the left.
We proceeded to drills that included movement toward or away from the target. Moving toward the target in a crouched walk while shooting with one or both hands after an initial diagonal step. Later we pacticed a zigzag walk toward the target while shooting and starting close to the target then moving away while firing.
That is by no means a complete recounting of the day. We took some time in the afternoon for free shooting. Some folks brought rifles they wanted to practice with or sight in. I brought mine, but elected take some time in the shade then practice with some additional pistols I brought. Overall, I shot about 500 rounds for the day.
Thank you cREbralFIX for a great day at the range and a great learning experience. I enjoyed meeting you and the other board members. Oh, and don't forget to bring your brass magnet for cleanup!!
