JEL458
04-11-11, 02:56
Two weeks ago, I had the great fortune of being able to attend Rob's 2 day class in Chino, CA.
I had previously had the privilege to train under Rob when he was an AI at a Ken Hackathorn class. From that experience, I knew Rob was an incredible pistol and rifle shooter and an excellent instructor. I also had the privilege of training with Rob's son, who is an incredible shooter himself. In subsequent conversations with Rob's son, I became convinced that I really wanted to take Rob's shotgun course.
Enter Grey Group Training. I am very glad to see Grey Group organizing many more of Rob's classes. Thanks to the "Grey Wednesday" special, I got an even better deal on a class that I had already decided was on my must do list.
Please forgive me for any gaps as I am terrible at taking notes at training and I am doing this all from memory. I had to travel for two weeks right after leaving the class, so this isn't as fresh as I would have liked to write it either. I hope others that attended will chime in and fill in any gaps that I might leave. Paul also mentioned photos, so hopefully he can add those as well. As much as possible, I will try to give the information chronologically, but I can't promise it will be so.
TD1 - The class started at 0900 at the Prado Olympic Shooting Park in Chino. The weather was cool and the range was wet due to some rain the previous evening. The class started out with a reunion type of atmosphere as many of us had previously trained together. It is always good to see previous training buddies and to meet new ones.
The class was a pretty even mix of LE and civilians. One or two had never been to any formal training previously.
Several of the students had previously attended the class. One of the students, Tim, had attended the course several times and it showed in his shooting. It was training just to watch him shoot. He was the epitome of "slow is smooth, smooth is fast". His motions looked fluid.
I was shooting my work 14" 870 with a Vang Comp'd barrel. I brought along a spare and it was a good thing that I did. One shooter had a problem with his Benelli right out of the gate, but was able to complete the class with my spare.
Rob introduced himself gave us some of his background and then gave some background on the origins and evolution of the class.
We then hit the range for Rob to do some demonstrations of his Push/Pull method of shooting the shotgun. Rob talked about all of the fundamentals and then demonstrated some traditional shotgun shooting. He then showed us the push/pull method in contrast to the traditional method of pulling the shotgun tightly into the shoulder.
We then moved into shooting with the push/pull method. Rob started us off shooting singles, then progressed to doubles and so on. Rob covered ready postions and then we fired singles and doubles from the different ready positions. Rob demonstrated both in and out of position reloads and then we got to practice them. Rob is a big proponent of being able to load with either hand, and it shows in his manipulations!
TD2 - We started again at 0900. The weather went from warm to cool and then back again. We did quite a bit of shooting on the move and used several drills to help us practice. One of the most challenging was the Boot, Scoot and Shoot drill. It was a fun and difficult drill. I finally gave up and transitioned to my pistol, but missed :o.
Rob demonstrated the CQB technique which is awesome! Using the CQB techinique in conjuction with push/pull opened up a whole other realm of possibilities. After demonstrating it, Rob put us up on the line and we started shooting it.
Packed into the two days was also shotgun setup and accessories, malfunctions, patterning and transitions to secondary weapons.
We ended up TD2 with a class competition. The prize for the top shooter was a $100 TangoDown gift certificate and one of Rob's Safariland belt shot shell holders. The competition was highly enjoyable both to watch and participate in.
It was a GREAT class and I will be attending every other one of these classes that I possibly can. Rob is an excellent instructor and it is truly incredible to watch him run a shotgun. I shot more than 500 rounds of 12 gauge in two days and didn't have a single mark on my shoulder. I also have a technique that will enable me to more easily train with a very versatile and devastating weapon system.
I especially enjoyed the lunches and dinners. It was a fun time of getting together with like-minded individuals.
Rob; thanks for an incredible class and all of your hard work. I look forward to training under you again.
Robert, John, Buck and Tim; it was a pleasure to train with you again.
Mike, Mark, Chen and everyone else; it was a pleasure to meet and train with you. I look forward to doing so again in the near future.
Thanks to Paul and the folks at Grey Group for bringing us these excellent classes!
I had previously had the privilege to train under Rob when he was an AI at a Ken Hackathorn class. From that experience, I knew Rob was an incredible pistol and rifle shooter and an excellent instructor. I also had the privilege of training with Rob's son, who is an incredible shooter himself. In subsequent conversations with Rob's son, I became convinced that I really wanted to take Rob's shotgun course.
Enter Grey Group Training. I am very glad to see Grey Group organizing many more of Rob's classes. Thanks to the "Grey Wednesday" special, I got an even better deal on a class that I had already decided was on my must do list.
Please forgive me for any gaps as I am terrible at taking notes at training and I am doing this all from memory. I had to travel for two weeks right after leaving the class, so this isn't as fresh as I would have liked to write it either. I hope others that attended will chime in and fill in any gaps that I might leave. Paul also mentioned photos, so hopefully he can add those as well. As much as possible, I will try to give the information chronologically, but I can't promise it will be so.
TD1 - The class started at 0900 at the Prado Olympic Shooting Park in Chino. The weather was cool and the range was wet due to some rain the previous evening. The class started out with a reunion type of atmosphere as many of us had previously trained together. It is always good to see previous training buddies and to meet new ones.
The class was a pretty even mix of LE and civilians. One or two had never been to any formal training previously.
Several of the students had previously attended the class. One of the students, Tim, had attended the course several times and it showed in his shooting. It was training just to watch him shoot. He was the epitome of "slow is smooth, smooth is fast". His motions looked fluid.
I was shooting my work 14" 870 with a Vang Comp'd barrel. I brought along a spare and it was a good thing that I did. One shooter had a problem with his Benelli right out of the gate, but was able to complete the class with my spare.
Rob introduced himself gave us some of his background and then gave some background on the origins and evolution of the class.
We then hit the range for Rob to do some demonstrations of his Push/Pull method of shooting the shotgun. Rob talked about all of the fundamentals and then demonstrated some traditional shotgun shooting. He then showed us the push/pull method in contrast to the traditional method of pulling the shotgun tightly into the shoulder.
We then moved into shooting with the push/pull method. Rob started us off shooting singles, then progressed to doubles and so on. Rob covered ready postions and then we fired singles and doubles from the different ready positions. Rob demonstrated both in and out of position reloads and then we got to practice them. Rob is a big proponent of being able to load with either hand, and it shows in his manipulations!
TD2 - We started again at 0900. The weather went from warm to cool and then back again. We did quite a bit of shooting on the move and used several drills to help us practice. One of the most challenging was the Boot, Scoot and Shoot drill. It was a fun and difficult drill. I finally gave up and transitioned to my pistol, but missed :o.
Rob demonstrated the CQB technique which is awesome! Using the CQB techinique in conjuction with push/pull opened up a whole other realm of possibilities. After demonstrating it, Rob put us up on the line and we started shooting it.
Packed into the two days was also shotgun setup and accessories, malfunctions, patterning and transitions to secondary weapons.
We ended up TD2 with a class competition. The prize for the top shooter was a $100 TangoDown gift certificate and one of Rob's Safariland belt shot shell holders. The competition was highly enjoyable both to watch and participate in.
It was a GREAT class and I will be attending every other one of these classes that I possibly can. Rob is an excellent instructor and it is truly incredible to watch him run a shotgun. I shot more than 500 rounds of 12 gauge in two days and didn't have a single mark on my shoulder. I also have a technique that will enable me to more easily train with a very versatile and devastating weapon system.
I especially enjoyed the lunches and dinners. It was a fun time of getting together with like-minded individuals.
Rob; thanks for an incredible class and all of your hard work. I look forward to training under you again.
Robert, John, Buck and Tim; it was a pleasure to train with you again.
Mike, Mark, Chen and everyone else; it was a pleasure to meet and train with you. I look forward to doing so again in the near future.
Thanks to Paul and the folks at Grey Group for bringing us these excellent classes!