YammyMonkey
Member
Surgical Speed Shooting:
We started off on Sat. with introductions, a brief overview of the class (Andy has taught this one more than all the other OPS classes combined). We got into the meat of the lecture with a review of Ayoobs priorities (Mindset, Tactics, Skill & Equipment- in the order of importance) & where SSS fits in that scope (Skill). We also discussed the application of this class (5’ & out distance-wise) & that this is the only OPS class that will carry over to competition. One of the key items that the Iso vs. Weaver debate seems to ignore is that the feet don’t matter. The feet have nothing to do with how your body handles recoil & it’s possible to have a Weaver upper body with an Iso lower & vice versa. After additional info on the why & what to expect behind the modern isosceles stance & thumbs forward grip we went over the gunhandling position & methodologies. Finally we had a safety & medical briefing, went over range commands & rules & hit the range.
We started range time by working the SouthNarc/OPS/whoever else teaches it 4-count draw backward from the 4 position (full extension, sights on target, ready to shoot). Working back to the 3 (both hands on the weapon, barrel level & pointed at the target & gun just inside the cone of vision), 2 (high retention position & first firing position) & 1 (holstered with a firing grip on the weapon). SouthNarc gets credit for the high 2 position & OPS considers this to be the defining position of the drawstroke. You ALWAYS hit the 2 during the draw. Likewise you always run the correct drawstroke from the holster on out & from full extension back in. Correct repetition over time builds skill. We practiced the drawstroke live fire after a brief discussion on the proper target areas (eyebox & upper center of chest) & then broke for lunch.
After lunch we started running trigger bar drills to clean up any issues with our trigger control. You can visit Ron Avery’s website at www.practicalshootingacademy.com to download the original trigger bar & other targets. The one we used was a little different, but in the end you’ll get the same value. The trigger bars were used throughout class to assess & clean up any issues. This was an 800+ round count class so it was very important to address any flinch/anticipation issues that were developing early on & this was a very good way to do that.
Next we did some shooting out at 10-20 yds & some target focus & taped up sights point shooting drills closer in. The slightly longer distance shooting was done to get people to realize that the limiting factor is not the gun. One comment was something along the lines of “It’s nice that your gun will shoot 1” groups at 25 yards. Too bad you can barely keep them on the target.” Reference Ayoob’s Priorities in the first paragraph. Having 50 yard pistol shooting as a normal part of my range training time made me much more comfortable at the closer ranges while guys that hadn’t shot much beyond 7 yards felt a little out of their element at 20. On the target focused drills we were all able to make pretty good hits with a hard focus on the target while secondarily paying attention to the sights on the gun. Point being, the sighted fire people (of which Andy is one) aren’t all right & the target focus people aren’t all right. It is a compromise- imagine that. We also did some pure “meat & metal shooting” as the Suarez guys call it. With sights taped over we ran some drills from 1 shot/sec & faster just getting an index with the slide on the target. I sucked at this drill- my hits were all over the A & C zones but some of the guys were able to get decent groupings. That said, all of my hits were on target & while not perfect, would still put a hurting on a badguy. I like my sights.
Next we ran some sight deviation drills & shooting out of the notch (for people using standard notch & post sights). The deviation drills helped people realize that a perfect sight picture is not necessary to get decent hits on target. We ran with the front sight all the way out of the notch, all the way depressed into the notch, all the way right & all the way left. For those of us using Big Dots the process was similar but without the hard rear notch reference points we had to play around with the golf ball placement in the shallow rear V. Shooting out of the notch was addressed as a way to make a regular front sight easier to spot. While it will raise your point of impact there’s something to be said for the increased speed of target acquisition in a gunfight. It is essentially forcing notch & post sights to function like the XS sights.
We finished the day off with some 2-target X drills on IPSC targets. The basic layout is to shoot 2 rounds to the eyebox of target A, 3 to the body of B, 3 to the body of A & 2 to the eyebox of B. I’m not sure if that’s exactly the process we used, but the idea is to make an X pattern while shooting eyeboxes & A-zones on two targets. It doesn’t matter if you start on the eyebox or body A-xone as long as you’re making the X pattern. The point was to shoot the body shots quickly (goal was 1 shot per ¼ second or faster) then slow down just enough to make the eyebox shots. If moving from body to body there shouldn’t be any pause between the first & second 3 round sets. It should sound like bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang . Using the time in recoil to reset the trigger & move the gun is critical to avoid the sound of bang-bang-bang---------bang-bang-bang. You’ll also blow the eyebox shots if you don’t slow down & see what you need to see.
Day two started off with more trigger bar drills followed by some trigger manipulation drills. While a good portion of day 1 was spent on the draw & use of sights, most of day 2 would be spent on trigger manipulation. We spent some time running slack out drills where we would try to find the point just before the gun would fire. Point being that you can reset & pre-load the trigger in recoil to make your follow-ups faster.
Next we worked on the X drills again, but broken down to shifting the eyes from one target to the next followed by shifting the gun & firing. Moving your eyes first helps your speed & accuracy considerably when transitioning from target to target- much more efficient use of your time in recoil. We continued with this concept by firing 3 shots at each of two targets & if we did it right there was a steady cadence for all 6 shots. Again, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang instead of bang-bang-bang-------bang-bang-bang. More X drills followed & it looked like scores improved compared to the day before. We went to lunch.
Upon return we did…wait for it…trigger bars. After that we worked on finding the natural cant for shooting one handed (reference the Tactical Response logo) & then shot a few mags one handed both body & head shots. The head shots were done with the “other” hand. That was interesting for the guys that didn’t have much (if any) practice shooting with their other hand.
Shooting on the move was the next item. We worked forward & backward from about 15 yards in to 3 & then back out. Next we worked shooting on the move crossing in front of the targets left to right & right to left. Picking up the target early in the process gives you more time to get a good sight picture & you can keep your speed up since you’re less likely to end up in an awkward twisted position when it’s time to shoot.
Next on the list was a rolling thunder-type drill where we all shot 6 rounds in sequence keeping a steady cadence from the first shooter to the last. We ran it at 1 shot per sec which is the time frame that gives me the most trouble. Slower or faster I shoot better. My 1 shot/sec shooting has improved considerably since the last time I was in this class, but I’m still not as accurate as I am at the other speeds. We ran this drill at 5, 10 & 15 yards. Surprisingly, not everybody’s groups opened up much as the distance increased. There is something to be said for focusing on the task at hand & running the gun.
We finished off the day with a few more X drills & trigger bars.
Everybody left with an improved ability to shoot quickly & accurately. Now it’s up to the students to make sure we keep up with regular practice. It does very little good to throw down the money & time to take a class & then not practice anything for a year until the class rolls around again. We’re all feeling the pain from the economy & the ammo shortage but we still need to practice. If it is really important we’ll make sacrifices elsewhere in order to make the payments on this class. This was my 2nd time through SSS & my 7th class with Andy but every time I train with him I pick up something new. Whether it’s a tweak on a technique, an improvement in my accuracy or speed or even just my confidence level. There’s a lot to be said for knowing you can do something before the time comes to do it.
For this class I ran my full size M&P9 with a Streamlight M3X in a Raven Concealment ACR-LCS holster. I’ve been running an AIWB setup for almost 2 years now & I’m sold on it in terms of speed, access & comfort. You do have to tweak the placement, especially with a full size gun & weaponlight combo but it can be done. I ran the whole class from concealment & while I wasn’t the first guy to shoot on the drawing stages I got a lot more practice with how I normally run my weapon. I’ve also defaulted to a one-handed draw based on my experiences in ECQC & the fact that I have an almost 4 year old running around that I may need to control. I’ve worked out a solid access technique that keeps my cover out of the way & ends up being pretty fast because a lot of it mimics the drawstroke I use. Spare mags (2) were in RCS single mag carriers. I like the singles because they’re more comfortable & conceal better on me that a double mag carrier does. They also give a little more room for the large M&P mag baseplates. I don’t think I’ve ever snagged the rear mag when drawing the front one with this setup.
Again, my camera is on vacation somewhere without me so I don’t have any pictures of my own but I’m trying to get some from the other guys who were there.
We started off on Sat. with introductions, a brief overview of the class (Andy has taught this one more than all the other OPS classes combined). We got into the meat of the lecture with a review of Ayoobs priorities (Mindset, Tactics, Skill & Equipment- in the order of importance) & where SSS fits in that scope (Skill). We also discussed the application of this class (5’ & out distance-wise) & that this is the only OPS class that will carry over to competition. One of the key items that the Iso vs. Weaver debate seems to ignore is that the feet don’t matter. The feet have nothing to do with how your body handles recoil & it’s possible to have a Weaver upper body with an Iso lower & vice versa. After additional info on the why & what to expect behind the modern isosceles stance & thumbs forward grip we went over the gunhandling position & methodologies. Finally we had a safety & medical briefing, went over range commands & rules & hit the range.
We started range time by working the SouthNarc/OPS/whoever else teaches it 4-count draw backward from the 4 position (full extension, sights on target, ready to shoot). Working back to the 3 (both hands on the weapon, barrel level & pointed at the target & gun just inside the cone of vision), 2 (high retention position & first firing position) & 1 (holstered with a firing grip on the weapon). SouthNarc gets credit for the high 2 position & OPS considers this to be the defining position of the drawstroke. You ALWAYS hit the 2 during the draw. Likewise you always run the correct drawstroke from the holster on out & from full extension back in. Correct repetition over time builds skill. We practiced the drawstroke live fire after a brief discussion on the proper target areas (eyebox & upper center of chest) & then broke for lunch.
After lunch we started running trigger bar drills to clean up any issues with our trigger control. You can visit Ron Avery’s website at www.practicalshootingacademy.com to download the original trigger bar & other targets. The one we used was a little different, but in the end you’ll get the same value. The trigger bars were used throughout class to assess & clean up any issues. This was an 800+ round count class so it was very important to address any flinch/anticipation issues that were developing early on & this was a very good way to do that.
Next we did some shooting out at 10-20 yds & some target focus & taped up sights point shooting drills closer in. The slightly longer distance shooting was done to get people to realize that the limiting factor is not the gun. One comment was something along the lines of “It’s nice that your gun will shoot 1” groups at 25 yards. Too bad you can barely keep them on the target.” Reference Ayoob’s Priorities in the first paragraph. Having 50 yard pistol shooting as a normal part of my range training time made me much more comfortable at the closer ranges while guys that hadn’t shot much beyond 7 yards felt a little out of their element at 20. On the target focused drills we were all able to make pretty good hits with a hard focus on the target while secondarily paying attention to the sights on the gun. Point being, the sighted fire people (of which Andy is one) aren’t all right & the target focus people aren’t all right. It is a compromise- imagine that. We also did some pure “meat & metal shooting” as the Suarez guys call it. With sights taped over we ran some drills from 1 shot/sec & faster just getting an index with the slide on the target. I sucked at this drill- my hits were all over the A & C zones but some of the guys were able to get decent groupings. That said, all of my hits were on target & while not perfect, would still put a hurting on a badguy. I like my sights.
Next we ran some sight deviation drills & shooting out of the notch (for people using standard notch & post sights). The deviation drills helped people realize that a perfect sight picture is not necessary to get decent hits on target. We ran with the front sight all the way out of the notch, all the way depressed into the notch, all the way right & all the way left. For those of us using Big Dots the process was similar but without the hard rear notch reference points we had to play around with the golf ball placement in the shallow rear V. Shooting out of the notch was addressed as a way to make a regular front sight easier to spot. While it will raise your point of impact there’s something to be said for the increased speed of target acquisition in a gunfight. It is essentially forcing notch & post sights to function like the XS sights.
We finished the day off with some 2-target X drills on IPSC targets. The basic layout is to shoot 2 rounds to the eyebox of target A, 3 to the body of B, 3 to the body of A & 2 to the eyebox of B. I’m not sure if that’s exactly the process we used, but the idea is to make an X pattern while shooting eyeboxes & A-zones on two targets. It doesn’t matter if you start on the eyebox or body A-xone as long as you’re making the X pattern. The point was to shoot the body shots quickly (goal was 1 shot per ¼ second or faster) then slow down just enough to make the eyebox shots. If moving from body to body there shouldn’t be any pause between the first & second 3 round sets. It should sound like bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang . Using the time in recoil to reset the trigger & move the gun is critical to avoid the sound of bang-bang-bang---------bang-bang-bang. You’ll also blow the eyebox shots if you don’t slow down & see what you need to see.
Day two started off with more trigger bar drills followed by some trigger manipulation drills. While a good portion of day 1 was spent on the draw & use of sights, most of day 2 would be spent on trigger manipulation. We spent some time running slack out drills where we would try to find the point just before the gun would fire. Point being that you can reset & pre-load the trigger in recoil to make your follow-ups faster.
Next we worked on the X drills again, but broken down to shifting the eyes from one target to the next followed by shifting the gun & firing. Moving your eyes first helps your speed & accuracy considerably when transitioning from target to target- much more efficient use of your time in recoil. We continued with this concept by firing 3 shots at each of two targets & if we did it right there was a steady cadence for all 6 shots. Again, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang instead of bang-bang-bang-------bang-bang-bang. More X drills followed & it looked like scores improved compared to the day before. We went to lunch.
Upon return we did…wait for it…trigger bars. After that we worked on finding the natural cant for shooting one handed (reference the Tactical Response logo) & then shot a few mags one handed both body & head shots. The head shots were done with the “other” hand. That was interesting for the guys that didn’t have much (if any) practice shooting with their other hand.
Shooting on the move was the next item. We worked forward & backward from about 15 yards in to 3 & then back out. Next we worked shooting on the move crossing in front of the targets left to right & right to left. Picking up the target early in the process gives you more time to get a good sight picture & you can keep your speed up since you’re less likely to end up in an awkward twisted position when it’s time to shoot.
Next on the list was a rolling thunder-type drill where we all shot 6 rounds in sequence keeping a steady cadence from the first shooter to the last. We ran it at 1 shot per sec which is the time frame that gives me the most trouble. Slower or faster I shoot better. My 1 shot/sec shooting has improved considerably since the last time I was in this class, but I’m still not as accurate as I am at the other speeds. We ran this drill at 5, 10 & 15 yards. Surprisingly, not everybody’s groups opened up much as the distance increased. There is something to be said for focusing on the task at hand & running the gun.
We finished off the day with a few more X drills & trigger bars.
Everybody left with an improved ability to shoot quickly & accurately. Now it’s up to the students to make sure we keep up with regular practice. It does very little good to throw down the money & time to take a class & then not practice anything for a year until the class rolls around again. We’re all feeling the pain from the economy & the ammo shortage but we still need to practice. If it is really important we’ll make sacrifices elsewhere in order to make the payments on this class. This was my 2nd time through SSS & my 7th class with Andy but every time I train with him I pick up something new. Whether it’s a tweak on a technique, an improvement in my accuracy or speed or even just my confidence level. There’s a lot to be said for knowing you can do something before the time comes to do it.
For this class I ran my full size M&P9 with a Streamlight M3X in a Raven Concealment ACR-LCS holster. I’ve been running an AIWB setup for almost 2 years now & I’m sold on it in terms of speed, access & comfort. You do have to tweak the placement, especially with a full size gun & weaponlight combo but it can be done. I ran the whole class from concealment & while I wasn’t the first guy to shoot on the drawing stages I got a lot more practice with how I normally run my weapon. I’ve also defaulted to a one-handed draw based on my experiences in ECQC & the fact that I have an almost 4 year old running around that I may need to control. I’ve worked out a solid access technique that keeps my cover out of the way & ends up being pretty fast because a lot of it mimics the drawstroke I use. Spare mags (2) were in RCS single mag carriers. I like the singles because they’re more comfortable & conceal better on me that a double mag carrier does. They also give a little more room for the large M&P mag baseplates. I don’t think I’ve ever snagged the rear mag when drawing the front one with this setup.
Again, my camera is on vacation somewhere without me so I don’t have any pictures of my own but I’m trying to get some from the other guys who were there.
