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View Full Version : AAR: VSM 1 Day Basic Pistol Feb 19 2011 Casa Grande AZ



snappy
03-06-11, 13:23
VSM Basic Pistol taught by ChrisL at the Casa Grande Police Department Range, 2/19/2011

This was my first formal firearms training experience and is also my first attempt at sharing an AAR, so bear with me. 2 weeks have passed since the course took place and I expect to have forgotten some details, exact sequences of events, names of participants etc. Training with ChrisL helped me identify and correct several mistakes unknowingly adopted over years of shooting on my own so I am really glad to have had this opportunity. The real purpose of this AAR is to outline the nuts and bolts of the course and share how it helped me to improve accuracy/consistency. Replacing poor technique with proper form so that one can shoot/train for proper function under stress is what it is all about.

Here is a brief primer taken from the course announcement thread:

(This) Defensive Handgun course is taught using the Vickers Shooting Method and will expose students to proper handgun manipulations, marksmanship fundamentals and tactics using minimal classroom time and extensive live fire exercises. This course will provide students with the skills and tactics necessary to gain a significant advantage over aggressive attackers during life-threatening encounters. The following principles will be strongly reinforced throughout the course:

Know and adhere to the real world safety rules that govern professional firearms handling.
Only accurate hits on target can decide the fight in your favor – therefore accuracy is King.
You are accountable for every round you fire – squeeze the trigger as if your life depends on it because it does.

Our group consisted of 13 shooters with a wide range of abilities and training experience. Some were relatively new to shooting. Several had been shooting for years yet had no formal instruction outside of the odd concealed carry weapons class or hunter safety course. A few of the participants were very experienced shooters and had trained with some of the biggest recognized names in the industry. Overall I found our group to be friendly and supportive of each other. Often a seasoned shooter would share the benefit of their experience with one lesser skilled. If I have one regret from the class it is that I didn't have the time to get better acquainted with some of the other shooters. This was a one day course after all and as they say, time flies when you're having fun.

The day started with introductions and a thorough discussion on safety. Chris' professionalism came through in the details here. For starters he sent out an e-mail before the course reminding people to hydrate and be ready to dress for a variety of weather conditions, (this is AZ after all). It would prove wise as the weather did in fact go to crap and would have been tough on anyone ill prepared for it. We quoted the 4 Rules of firearms safety and how they applied to our activities that day. We discussed not trying to catch a dropped or bobbled gun which is an all too common occurrence. We identified a person in the group with first aid/first responder training, noted where a first aid kit was located and pointed out where our gps coordinates were documented in case we needed to call in a helicopter evac. Chris then went around the group and identified any equipment that could pose safety concerns, (like certain holsters), and we took this safety consciousness immediately to the line to begin live fire.

We began shooting almost immediately with all attention to safety awareness and range control in tact. Chris walked the line to observe each shooter in action and the individual skills we brought to the class dictated how we interacted on the student/teacher level. High winds made communication at distance all but impossible. We would basically group up in the center of the range to discuss/demonstrate details and then get back on line to practice what had just been taught. We spent the morning going over stance, grip, sight picture, trigger manipulation, mechanics of the draw/presentation, assessing the scene post shoot, one handed and off handed shooting etc. Part way through the morning an assistant instructor and DEA agent who we'll call Bill showed up and stepped right in to assist with observing and coaching. There was plenty of "real world" experience shared with each bit of instruction and I for one really appreciated being able to put our practices into that kind of context. We eventually broke into pairs to do a ball and dummy drill which was cool. The standard LAV practice of placing a shell casing atop the slide while dry firing to flag trigger snatch was simply not an option for us. The wind was gusting easily into the 30mph range by now and low dark clouds were on the way. Before breaking for lunch we did a walkback drill which was a humbling experience. I embarrassingly missed 3 times at 25 yards, and Chris was right there to point out some critical mistakes I was making without even knowing it. Kinda lost my appetite for lunch at that point but it was cool to watch folks making hits at 50+ yards in a stiff breeze!

After lunch we started off with a discussion on concealed carry and the legalities of being involved in a defensive shooting. Several of us realized that it had been years since we had looked at the AZ statutes. Chris and Bill again shared some real world advise and this talk was a good reminder that one must be constantly mindful of all those details, especially if you carry daily. At this point my memory blurs as to the exact sequence of events. We shot on paper until the rain started to fall for real, (and sideways at that), and our targets got soaked and blew apart in the wind. At one point there was a temperature drop of at least 10 degrees that happened literally in seconds. Some steel reactive targets were brought out and we shot some competitive drills which added a time stress element to the fundamentals we were trying to effectively apply. Amazing how even the rush of a little friendly competition can cause one to fall away from the basic core skills. Another drill had 2 competitors running 25 yards up to the 25 yard line, drawing and then shooting 2 hits with regular grip, 2 hits with strong hand only and then 2 hits off side hand only on a 12x12 steel target. Running around was good to warm things up and I was pleased to be making 25 yard hits a bit more readily than during the walkback drill I flailed before lunch. We did several malfunction clearance drills that afternoon which were great to practice. We then ended the day with some timed faster shooting on cardboard, which I *think* was 10 shots each in 10 seconds at 20 yds, 5 seconds at 10 yards, and 3 seconds at 5 yards. The goal here was for all hits to land within about a 8x20" centermass area. Speeding up turned me into a trigger snatch machine and I literally missed the entire centermass area on the first 2 strings! Ouch!! A fellow M4C member Cecil was shooting next to me and with his excellent advise I was able to get all shots in the last string to group in the centermass, even though it took a second too long do it. Thanks again Cecil!

One thing I learned from this class is that training with an experienced instructor is the best $$ you can invest in your shooting! Chris was able to point out mistakes I had adopted and the improvement was immediate, (at least until I neglected to adhere once more to solid basics). My big thing was lifting my head to see hits which I do as a result of shooting paper all the time. The head lift had really become part of my follow through and was effectively killing it. I was not keeping my eye on the sights and driving the gun into the next shot. I also learned that snatching the trigger is a real problem for me when the speed of follow up shots is increased. I need a lot of practice and really wished that we were training again the next day so I could keep working on this stuff!

Constructive criticism can be hard for me to post but I think it is valuable to share as well. This was Chris' first time instructing a civilian class and overall he really did a great job with it. That said, I think the combination of big class size, crappy weather challenges and no real range host to deal with the range logistics/setup etc made for a truly difficult scenario to run efficiently and still accomplish varied individual instruction on a student to student basis. There were a couple of times, during the afternoon competitive drills for example, where I wished I was practicing/shooting more and watching less. Once or twice a plastic bag tumbled by in the wind and I was tempted to just draw and squeeze off on the thing. :moil: Please know that I definitely feel I got my moneys worth from this class!! I would sign up to train with Chris again anytime and in fact I just did! Another thing, this course was very affordably priced which made a difference as I had to drive 200 miles each way to attend and may not have been able to pull it off otherwise. Anyway, not trying to harsh anyone's shred or anything with this. Just thought I would pass along my honest impressions if it may help Chris and Bill in any way with their future ventures.

The gear used for the class was a '07 Dan Wesson CBOB 1911 in 45acp, Wilson and Chip McCormick 8 and 10 round mags and WWB and Remington UMC 230 gr fmj ammo. Used an ICE/Eagle battle belt as it was likely to be worn over rain gear. My belt holds a Safariland holster, HSGI pouch with a Leatherman Blast, Maxpedition RolyPoly dump pouch and an Eagle Industries shingle that stacks 2 AR mag pouches and 4 1911 mag pouches with kydex inserts. The belt worked great for this class and I was able to efficiently carry all the mags needed for each drill. I did however experience a number of failure to feeds with my CBOB, which was significant as this is often my carry gun! I think the blowing dust stuck to it's oiled surfaces and also got into my mags which were routinely dropped to the ground during reloads. The CBOB has very tight tolerances and the failures occurred when it started to dry out a bit lube wise. Either way, I am ordering a new set of springs and have since cleaned all of my mags and inspected their spring tension. Won't be carrying this pistol again until I put a couple hundred rounds through without another ftf, (it had over 1k rds through without a failure before this class).

In closing I would recommend ChrisL as an instructor without reservation and I hope others from this class will chime in with their experiences as well. If you take nothing else from this first timer's missive take this: go get some good training!! Cheers all and thanks again for the training op Chris- jeffP

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pennzoil
03-06-11, 13:47
Good AAR! I posted one for the class elsewhere but forgot to put one up here. Also you'll see me again as I'm in next class also.


ChrisL VSM Basic Pistol - 2/19/11

My History:

The last formal training was in the US Coast Guard when working in AMIO and drug interdiction which had sub par training in my eyes at the time but may of changed now. Ever since getting out of USCG I've only shoot recreationally. First civilian class/AAR so be gentle, and in my eyes really first class really overall.

Trainer/Class Info:
Trainer was ChrisL he is active LE in Arizona and has attend classes from a variety of known trainers. He also had his friend from DEA help run the class. The class tuition was $125 and was held at the Casa Grande Police Range. Chris called the bad weather and told us awhile ago in class email to prepare for the worst weather wise.

Class:
The class ran from 0830 to 1800 with approximately 500 rds shot. Chris started us off with a safety brief, student introductions, and Chris explained it was his first class teaching civilians. We had 13 students with varying backgrounds from a lot of professional training to first class but seemed like the majority had taken some training classes recently.


Worked the first half the day around seeing where we were at and improving our accuracy on target from 15yds in. Chris had a approach of building us up 1 skill at a time till we had the whole picture. He would do a drill to work on one skill this would include huddling us up to explain what we were to do, why he like the method of doing it that way, answer questions about what we were going to do and then we would execute the drill. Just before lunch we did the walk back drill. This first part of the day was windy/dusty and the target stand next to me that wasn't being used that day in the class snapped due to the wind.

Wind
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/8136/windm.jpg
Dust rolling in from Distance on break
http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/5776/dust.jpg
Rain
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2866/waterba.jpg

After lunch Chris went over his insights into self defense shootings and some about what has happened locally crime/shootings. I found this interesting as I hike, hunt and live around this area so I learned allot in this portion. After lunch the rain came and we did some drills, man on man competitions and then wrapped up the class as the rain stopped.


Conclusion:
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The class was a bargain at $125 in my eyes even though the weather was bad most the day. Chris was right on at diagnosing my issues and it doesn't take long to realize he's passionate about helping people learn to shoot better. Chris also talked about other quality classes/trainers he recommended (LAV of course) which I liked as says something about the person.

Half the class was 1911's and other half was Glock's with one SIG. I shot in my normal clothes/CCW gear and still like my set up after the class. Glock 19 RTF2, Comp-Tac CTAC IWB holster, CCC magazine pouch and had 4 double feeds with 4 different magazines which was the most malfunctions in the class that I noticed.

I was centered on learning so didn't really concentrate on much other then that so may of missed a few things.

Double feeds were on me: I opened up the 4 magazines with the double feeds and they were caked with dirt. I practice in the desert and just drop these in the dirt all the time never really clean them as I haven't had an issue in the past. Once it started raining I think this went to sludge and then dried cement like when I broke the magazines down to clean later that week.

eHuss82
03-06-11, 14:14
Thanks for the info guys, I have been looking forward to seeing an AAR on this class. I live in Mesa and had just found the listing for the class after it had been filled. I have not had any formal training other than a CCW class so I was looking forward to some insight from participants in this class and your reviews were very helpful.

Has there been a posting for another upcoming class with ChrisL? I have been looking around watching for one but have not seen one.

Thanks again!

Eric

snappy
03-06-11, 15:25
Eric, pm sent.

ChrisL
03-06-11, 18:14
Guys

Thanks for the honest reviews. Including the criticisms. It makes for better classes and those issues are already being dealt with.

Unfortunately I could not control the weather that day and that put a huge damper on the class.....figured that one of the few days in Arizona when a major storm blows in would that weekend....:mad:.

As mentioned the other issues are being dealt with. The student class was great and everyone was safe which makes things run smooth.

I look forward to working with you guys again.

LHS
03-06-11, 22:49
I've trained with Chris on a few occasions, and he's always been good to go. Glad to hear this one went well Chris! Best of luck with the VSM stuff down in CG.

Cecil Burch
03-07-11, 14:36
Really good AARs!

I agree that it was a great class, and real bang for the buck. ChrisL is a terrific instructor. It seems like every time I started back to my old trigger snatch habit, he was right there to gently nudge me back on to the right path.

The weather did suck, and was totally out of ChrisL's control. I am sure he would have liked to have gotten more group shooting in during the worst of the storm, but even considering that, we got a lot of trigger time.

I feel fortunate that these opportunities are available locally. I will be at the next one for sure.


A fellow M4C member Cecil was shooting next to me and with his excellent advise I was able to get all shots in the last string to group in the centermass, even though it took a second too long do it. Thanks again Cecil!

Di nada dude! I was only able to help because I have been in that same boat and I am still working on it. It was good shooting with you.