A Student’s Perspective: I won a trophySo, I decided to participate in the Shoot Logic’s Second Chance Charity Shoot. I’m a big believer in owning pets, and in spite of the endless carnage they commit on your home, I can’t help but believe that a rescued cat or dog will often make life that much better. Personally, I subscribe to the theory that shelter animals are the way to go. They will love you just as much (maybe more), cost substantially less, and unlike Breeder/Petshop animals, you are saving them from being euthanized. Now that I think about it, this is not that far removed from the feeling I get when I save a classic Smith and Wesson revolver from a pawnshop. Anyway, I also like guns, competitive shooting, and I jump at the chance to bump into a few friendly faces from the gun community. Essentially, the Shoot Logic Second Chance Charity Shoot was a no-brainer, as this was going to be a great day at the range, and I’d also help some folks that work pretty hard in the name of caring for our local animal refugees. Well, it didn’t take long for me to get what I wanted. There were familiar faces everywhere. There was a veritable East Coast Gun Shop reunion, a bunch of Shoot Logic alumni, and of course, the Shoot Logic staff. There was also raffle, and I’m a sucker for raffles, so I had that going for me too. In short, the day was really looking like a winner. The participants were divided up into four groups, and we all started at one of the four stages that were set up by Tommy and the Shoot Logic instructors. The competitors were classified into four distinct classes that might represent their particular experience with a handgun. This set up was unbelievably clever and it really showed that the Shoot Logic staff understands that we are all in a different place in our study of shooting, and their classification system really reflected the steps that I’ve gone through personally. New shooter – I can remember being a new gun owner, so proud of my Smith and Wesson Sigma that I bought with a high interest credit card I so easily acquired in my first days of college. I was long on enthusiasm, but unbeknownst to me, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. In those days, I measured my skills by a simple metric - if the silhouette target was a person, would I have stopped “the attack”? Since I managed that almost all of the time, I figured that I was simply a natural gunslinger. Looking back, it was a great time. If I had to choose a motto for this era in my gun owning days, it would have to be “Ignorance is bliss”. CWP – Obviously, this was for folks who have been through a CWP class, and have hopefully seen that there is much more to learn. They have taken the steps to educate themselves, and perhaps they are starting to recognize there is much more to being a firearms enthusiast than the occasional fun trip to the indoor range. For me, this epoch was the beginning of being a true expert (or truly self deluded, whatever). Beyond my immeasurable knowledge that I gleaned from the pages of American Handgunner and Shooting Times, I was now well versed in the intricate legal applications of personal defense. This is also the time in my life where I unapologetically questioned anyone that didn’t own a gun. I’m sure I wasn’t unbearable at all… Competitor – This class was for anyone that had any competitive experience. Honestly, there is a huge shift the first time anyone competes with a gun. The shooter is introduced into very definitive elements of accuracy, speed, and the effects of pressure while shooting. They also get to discover an entirely new dimension of fun with their guns, and I cannot recommend enough that everyone try a local shooting match. Fortunately, this period of my shooting is much less cringe worthy. In between my CWP and the first time I signed up for an IDPA match (which was only 7 months ago), I have had the good luck to meet and learn from so many shooters, I can barely believe it. I count the staff at Shoot Logic among my friends, and I’ve managed to find a great community in the Low Country to share ideas with, practice with, and of course, trade barbs with when we inevitably miss the broad side of the barn. Law Enforcement – This division was for those that carry a gun as part of their job description. Well, this hasn’t anything to do with me, but segregating the professionals from the hobbyists seemed like a fair and wise category, frankly. At any rate, their courses of fire were impressive. They built four stages that were challenging to anyone as a shooter, but still accessible as a beginner. Personally, I thought the courses were tough. There were never more than 6 rounds required, and there was no movement or manipulations required. Basically, it was all about being as accurate as you can, and the timer was constantly whispering in my ear “Hey, hurry up”. It was really an elegant set of stages, and everyone who participated was pushed more than they expected. The stages borrowed from multiple shooting sports and training techniques, and they left me further convinced that solid fundamental skills will always be more valuable than caliber, capacity, or whatever “high speed/low drag” tactical shenanigans are in fashion this year. It really was a great morning. The weather played nicely, the folks handling food did a bang up job, and good times were had by all. The shooting wrapped up around 1:30, and then the staff was off to tabulate the scores. A few minutes later, Tommy was addressing the crowd and reminding folks about all the animals that were helped by this, and we got to hear from some of the Summerville SPCA folks who are working hard to take care of Summerville’s hobo pets. At long last, Tommy started announcing the top 3 spots for each division. This might have been my favorite part, and no, not because of the obvious reasons. Yes, I won 2nd place in the competitor class, and I’m not going to pretend that it wasn’t awesome. However, it wasn’t as amazing as watching all the other winners get called up. Everyone cheered, and I like to think everyone learned a little something about what they would like to improve upon. Hopefully the proceeds will do some good for the furry friends this event was centered around, and I know I’m grateful for all the sponsors that helped make this possible. To be clear, I’m not associated with the SPCA or any of the sponsors, but the fact is, they cut into their bottom line to help a charity, and made it possible for a bunch of nice people to have a lot of fun. Sadly, I did not win the raffle, so the day was ultimately ruined. Post Script – Two weeks later, I found myself facing an IDPA qualifier match, which is used to classify a shooter into an appropriate division as based on their abilities. Without going into details, lets just say that for every charity trophy you may win, there will be an absolutely humbling day at the range close behind. Well, we win some, we lose some, but at least at the Charity shoot, I think everyone got win a little more. In August of 2014, I was fortunate enough to attend the Frank Proctor Two Day Performance Pistol class hosted at Shootlogic. Honestly, it was a wonderful class, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone tempted to try it. Outside his vast knowledge of shooting techniques, Frank Proctor, like any good Alabama boy, is a something of a huge football fan, and loves tossing around a ball while making idle chit chat. So, for the two-day class, it was totally normal to see the pigskin going back and forth between classmates during breaks.
I conversely, do not like footballs. Now, to be clear, I like football, and think the best part of high school was participating in that sport. Some of the guys from the team are pals I have retained into my late 30’s. It is the actual ball I don’t like. I’m not sure how, but somehow in my developmental years, I never really mastered the art of throwing and catching (my Mother would blame the comic books). While this has been a topic of great amusement among my friends, the simple fact is, I don’t like having to catch things thrown at me. So, while I was training with one of the best instructors in America, and having a blast at the best school in South Carolina, I was quietly dreading the possibility that someone would wing that ball at me, and my “fear of the ball” would be made clear to everyone present. After hundreds of rounds of fire, and learning a new way to process our sight picture, my nightmare became a reality. Early Sunday morning, we were running a multi target course of fire, and were introducing shooting on the move to our curriculum. The final step of the drill was to catch a football that would be lobbed at us after re-holstering. The goal of the drill was to learn to work with our bodies, and not fight our natural abilities to compensate for movement while firing a pistol. I’m not sure if the football was really part of it, or if everyone was just looking forward to the upcoming season of college football. Either way, I had to deal with it… So, I was called to the starting position, and the buzzer went off. I drew and engaged the two steel silhouettes 10 yards in front of me, and when I emptied my magazines, I turned 60 degrees to my right and started walking toward the final target, reloading and blasting away as I went. Now, on a side note, I love shooting and moving. I’m not sure why, but it has come pretty easily for me. However, I was off my “A-game”, and was whiffing rounds into the berm more than I expected. I started getting consternated, and redoubled my efforts. Finally, I got my groove back as I closed in on the steel target and was relieved to hear that satisfying “ting” as my rounds landed. I reached the stopping point and took a moment to consider why my initial rounds weren’t hitting my target. I turned back to the group, looking for suggestions and input, when I noticed Tim Elmer’s arm outstretched and swinging toward me…what the heck was he…OH MY GOD THE FOOTBALL! With seemingly milliseconds to react, I re-holstered my pistol, got my hands up and searched for the ball. A brown blur was screaming at my head and then…pain. I had gotten my hands in front of the ball, and it whacked my left hand with what seemed like the power of Thor. It bounced away, and I was immediately concerned how stupid I looked as a fully-grown Southerner who couldn’t catch a ball that I knew was coming. That embarrassment quickly subsided to the sharp static emanating from my hand. While I awaited ribbing for such a bad catch, my left hand darted into my right armpit, seeking protection. The rest of the class quickly realized something had gone wrong, and the Shootlogic instructors present checked in to see what had happened. I assume I had just banged it, and with a little ice, all would be fine in a few minutes. The rest of the day was…challenging. I basically pushed past the stinging, and still had a fantastic time. A little off subject, but as great as Shootlogic classes are, the 2-day guest instructor classes are really great to attend. You should try one. Seriously. A month passed and my finger still hurt. A high school football buddy (who happens to be a cardiologist now), suggested that it could be broken, and maybe I should look at getting it x-rayed. Then he laughed at my circumstances, as any old friend should. I took his advice to heart when I passed on a Shoot Logic class I wanted to take. My off-hand hurt, and weapon manipulations were pretty hard to do. It had been five weeks, and I was getting really annoyed. Well, it turns out it was broken, and I had bent my finger too far back. The tendons pulled off the finger bones, and a piece of bone cracked off with them. I ended up talking to another high school football buddy (who happens to be a real life military badass), and he laughed hysterically. I told him that I hadn’t been shooting since, as I was letting my finger heal. The Marine stopped laughing. He was shocked that I wasn’t using this injury as a great time to hit the range and work on my “firing while wounded” drills. He asked if I was familiar with one hand/off hand shooting and reloading and I told him that I was. He asked again, why wasn’t I taking advantage of this OPPORTUNITY to train up that skill set. I really need new friends… So what’s the point of all this besides a funny story? What does this do for anyone else thinking about heading off to get a little time on the range? Well, there are tons of lessons in this for me, so maybe someone might learn something too. Lessons learned Keep your focus - This accident happened because I was thinking about my performance on the drill…before the drill was concluded. I lost my focus, and literally took my eye off the ball. This isn’t shooting exclusive advice, but the stakes are higher at the range. I think we’ve all had a bad shot and were still thinking about it while taking the next. When you have lemons… - My friend was right. I have practiced one-hand and off-hand skills when I’m perfectly healthy, so I missed a good opportunity to put those skills to use, or at least test them under “real life conditions”. Masaad Ayoob endorsed owning an opposite side holster for all defensive carriers, in case your dominant hand ever gets hurt. Let’s face facts not all shooting will be done on balmy spring days under the perfect situations, so I think we should all take a little time to make sure we aren’t completely useless when the conditions aren’t ideal. These things can be done with copious amounts of dry-fire to save ammo if need be. Don’t ignore obvious problems – Now, this falls out of the prevue of range adventures, but my trip to Nason medical to get an x-ray cost me $35, and took about an hour one Saturday morning. I waited almost 6 weeks to start taking care of this issue. It is now November and I am seeing a physical therapist. This injury happened on August 18th. So, if I saw problematic behavior in my neighborhood, or office park, would I wait six weeks to call the police? If I felt something felt off in my car’s brakes, would I wait 6 weeks to get it looked at? The point being, no problem was ever resolved by ignoring it. It only makes it worse. Caring about what other people think – I’m willing to bet that no one from that pistol class cares if I can catch a ball. But, in that moment, I made an effort to catch the ball instead of side stepping because I didn’t want to get embarrassed. So, if some delinquent started calling my wife names while I was armed, what actions would I take to look like a tough guy? Sounds silly, but is it? Would I get in a shouting match? Would it escalate? Would I ultimately wish I just walked away? I think we can all see the point. Deep down, we all react to public perception, and it is probably the dumbest thing we do. In this case, some long winded dude broke his finger, so it’s not a huge deal, but I think it’s worth a moment of introspection. Well, I’d keep rambling on, but I have to go do my finger exercises so I can make a fist again. After that, I’m going to wrap my finger to help with the swelling (yeah, it’s still swollen). I currently do not have a full range of motion in my left hand, and it is unbelievably annoying. This is, ironically, the first injury I’ve ever seen on the range. It wasn’t even gun related. By not concentrating on the task at hand, and worrying more about what I looked like, then tuning up my gun craft, I alone caused it. Considering how “dangerous” guns are, I actually find it pretty funny that a football took me down. It’s safe to say that I’ve always been more nervous around footballs than guns, now at least I have reason. I really like shotguns. I mean, what isn’t there to like? They are inexpensive, effective, and reliable. Frankly, I don’t care if we are talking about pump-action, double-barrels or semi-automatics; shotguns have a mystique that just draws me in. If nothing else, no subset of guns has such an awesome array of cool nicknames. I’m partial to “12-bangers”, “scattergats”, and “boom-sticks”, but your mileage may vary on that front. Anyway, as great as shotguns are, they seem to carry this reputation that they’re idiot-proof, and can serve the least educated shooter as a powerful defensive tool. Well, although I wish it were true, I don’t think shotguns are idiot-proof, and sadly, I’m the idiot that proves this. Anyway, I checked out an internet thread where a shooter asked this question: Is there a way to unload a pump shotgun without racking shells through the chamber? Well, I counted 16 replies to this question, and the break down looked like this: 10 shooters said “no”. A few explained their “safe” technique for unloading while racking the slide. Two of them theorized that you could unscrew the magazine end cap and pour them out. 6 shooters answered “yes”, and explained or linked YouTube videos on the proper method to unload a shotgun magazine without involving the action/chamber. Wow, only 38% of gun enthusiasts could answer the question correctly. I realize that this isn’t the most scientific study ever, but it seemed appropriate to share this revelation. I would normally take this moment to assure you that I, of course, knew the answer, but only because Tommy Judy educated me a few weeks ago. Before I took the Progressive Shotgun class, I would have fallen in with the “rack the slide” respondents (I told you I was an idiot). I have always had a Remington 870 or Mossberg 500 in my gun collection, and only now do I know the safest way to unload those guns. I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one who could use a little help. Sure, with a little common sense, anyone can administratively load and shoot a shotgun in a safe manner, but I believe that all firearms demand a little more from their users. If you own a shotgun, then you owe it to yourself to understand its strengths, weaknesses, and all the nuances in between. For instance, do you know EXACTLY when your shotgun pattern starts getting larger than your target? Does your shotgun have a sling, and will it help or hinder your shooting efforts? Can you safely remove a live shell from your chamber, without the next shell in the magazine popping into the action? If learning the answers sounds interesting to you, and you also like to have an unbelievably good time, I think you should look into this class. As usual, I strolled into this class with the assumption that I had my shotgun wired tight and good to go. Also, as usual, I walked out of this class with a laundry list of things to change about my shotgun to make it more useful and effective. When will I ever learn that “less is more” and over-accessorizing is always a bad idea? Since completing the class, I’ve removed the extra shell carrier that was attached to my stock, as it was simply bulky and awkward. I had to re-rig my side mounted two-point sling, as I was running it too tight and it kept restricting my movements. The maladjusted sling also made sweeping anyone to my left side ever so easy when I let the shotgun hang idle. I moved my flashlight to the right side of my fore-end, as slamming my thumb into it when shooting buckshot and slugs grew pretty old, pretty quick. I discovered that my shotgun, when loaded with Remington #00 buckshot, only keeps all 9 pellets on a man-sized target at 15 yards. The range discovery was a tough one to swallow. I have a hall in my home that is just about 25 yards long from cover point (where I could be) to entry point (where bad guy could be). Finding out that my trusty 870 with Remington ammo could end up launching an errant round in a neighbor’s house was definitely depressing. Fortunately, I learned that I could make 25-yard shots, but only after using Shoot Logic’s suggested rounds. This is why I love training and wish more people who love guns would engage in it. I’m an experienced and not totally moronic shooter, and only at Shoot Logic could I truly discover 4 massive weaknesses in my home defense shotgun. My ammo carrier, sling, flashlight placement, and ammo all were detrimental to my perceived abilities with the gun. When feeling things out at home or the gun club, these flaws are not as obvious. However, when Tommy, Carlin or Tim is watching you shoot, they will point out these simple errors and guide you into the correct decisions. Ironically, spending a little more on the gun and ammo, and throwing the expensive after-market goodies in your junk box can resolve most issues. However, it is important to remember that the staff at Shoot Logic can teach. Sure, they can shoot, but being a great shooter and a great teacher are not the same things. As shooters, they can teach me proper gun handling, and demonstrate the advantages of various techniques. As teachers, they can help me diagnose what I’m doing wrong, and help me craft a solution that works for me. I have been to classes where the instructor might be a great shooter, but isn’t a great teacher, and there is no comparison. As a final bonus, the Progressive Shotgun Class is one of the best values I’ve ever had in attending firearms training. Ammo for the class is predominantly bird-shot, and I estimate I needed less than 150 rounds. We spent a little time exploring our gun’s effective ranges, and that only requires 5-6 buckshot loads and I think I fired 1 or 2 slugs total. All in all, my ammo costs were under $55, and where was the last time you shot for hours on end for that little cash? Frankly, it amazes me that you could buy a pump shotgun, a ton of ammo, plus acquire practical and useful training and end up spending less than the cost of a common pistol. So to that end, I jumped on the first shotgun class that Shoot Logic has done, and I cannot express what a fantastic experience it was. Now, if you are reading this, you are at the Shoot Logic website, and are probably already a fan of theirs on Facebook. You don’t need me to promote how good they are. However, if you own a shotgun, you owe it to yourself to take this class. While Shoot Logic does lean toward a defensive application of the shotgun, these skills will easily translate into the duck blind or deer stand. I’ve taken a handful of excellent training classes over the last few years, and Progressive Shotgun might very well be my favorite. |
Mike HoganMike Hogan is a forever student of shooting and is an avid shooter and collector. A self avowed mall-ninja...he does that to hide the fact that he can write. Archives
June 2017
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