AAR - Low Speed High Drag Marksmanship Workship - 21 Aug 2010
A month or two back, a couple friends and I were discussing guns and training in general. Having our CCWs, homes and young families, we decided that we wanted to get more serious about being able to use our firearms proficiently.
At just about the same time, Jay Cunningham’s new company Low Speed High Drag, LLC became a reality. Knowing Jay from his work on M4Carbine.net and other forums, we decided to put the new company to the test. After a few e-mails to work out schedules and course content, Jay agreed to bring his Marksmanship Workshop to our private range this past weekend.
The day began at 9:30 with some range setup and general introductions. Jay had us briefly detail our previous training experiences and our expectations for the day. Over the next 15-20 minutes, we created an emergency plan and discussed general range safety. The 4 rules of firearm safety were discussed as well. Although all of us had between 15 and 35 years of firearms experience, I appreciated that the safety briefing was first on the course curriculum.
After the obligatory waiver signing, Jay explained the first portion of the day would be under cold range rules. Then we went to work, sort of. We were each asked to shoot several strings from 7yds into a 4” dot target. We later learned there were multiple reasons for this exercise. The most obvious purpose was to observe our general weapon handling skills as well as our marksmanship abilities. Jay later admitted the purpose was as much to reduce our anxiety to get to pulling the trigger.
With the evaluation completed, we discussed grip, stance and sight alignment, with Jay taking the time to explain his rationale for teaching one method over another. Ready positions were discussed briefly. For the majority of the day, we used a high-ready position. This is one topic I wish I had explored further just because there are such strong feelings for and against the use of both the high and low ready positions. Holster work and trigger control were next followed by a series of dry-fire exercises that mirrored Jay’s daily dry-fire routine (Read more here: http://www.thekatar.net/?p=50). The last topic before lunch was reloading. This focused on reloading from slide-lock and administrative reloads. Tactical reloads were mentioned but not covered in any significant detail during this course. This section was emphasized with some ball and dummy drills.
After a brief working lunch we revisited some of the morning’s topics, touched on the topic of breath control and went right into some “wet fire” drills. Using simple targets with 4 2” circles, we followed a sequence similar to our dry-fire exercise, albeit with 5 reps instead of 25. To liven things up, for the rest of the day each miss during a drill garnered 5 remedial dry fires.
Our first competition of the day was a walk-back drill using a brand new Action Target 6” Static plate. This was a simple, from-the-ready test. I think we all made it to 10 or 13 yards before everyone fell out. We switched to “hot range” rules about this time, just in time for another set of reload drills. The additional stress of the shot timer made the drill more challenging, and fun. It’s amazing what it did to people’s heads, despite the lengthy par times.
Malfunction clearance was the next topic. Type I and type II malfunctions were explained and the process for clearing each was demonstrated and practiced several times using dummy rounds. “Smack–roll–rack” was the phrase used to describe the type I clearance process. Type II malfunctions were reproduced using dummy rounds. Little did I know both of these skills would be used again before the end of the day.
As a light rain started, we moved to a new set of drills. These used negative targets with random shot counts. After a short break, we did a second set of similar drills but now with a 3x5 index card stapled to the head section of the target. We did several combinations of shots to the head and body from the holster with a reload mixed in. Again, the shot timer got into people’s heads. During this sequence I had my first malfunction. This was a simple FTF due to a poorly seated magazine – most likely due to a poor administrative reload. I surprised myself by quickly doing the “smack–roll-rack” and getting back to the drill. I had started feeling a bit fatigued by this time, which showed in a degradation of my marksmanship.
The rain was getting heavier, so we took a brief break to revisit some of the earlier topics. With no indication the rain was going to let up, we went back to it and had our second walk-back competition. This time it was done from the holster. It was during this competition that I had a type II malfunction. With a little coaching, I was able to clear the malfunction, stab in a new magazine and put a clean shot onto the steel. We did slightly better this time, maxing out at 17 yards.
To conclude the training, we each completed a Dot Torture drill from the 3yd line with the added aspect of par times of some of the strings. My fatigue was in full swing by this time, having been awake since 4:00am. I gave a good showing but put way too many holes in the wrong number. I think everyone else felt similarly as their targets were equally ugly.
Overall, the day was worth every penny. Jay maintained the pace well and there was a good flow to material covered. Each skill presented built upon the previous, typically culminating in a brief review and a live-fire test where the skills would be combined. Jay also did a great job of keeping the course on the agenda but fluid enough to accommodate our skill levels and numerous questions. His common sense approach to the skills presented was much appreciated. As would be appropriate for a course of this level, the day was blissfully free of industry jargon and acronyms. While the majority day was anything but a sales pitch, Jay did occasionally take the opportunity to market his other course offerings. He did this in the form of very brief, and appropriate, teasers of skills that would be learned in subsequent classes. I say this was appropriate because it established that the skills taught that day were the basis for future skills. Attention to safety was prominent throughout the day with Jay quickly correcting anyone that even slightly covered themself at any point.
Lessons learned: Dry fire. Dry fire. Dry fire. I need better gear for future training. Buy a shot timer. Don’t wear sneakers if there is a chance of rain. Canopies are a good idea, rain or shine. Some extra upper body strength and stamina would go a long way. If I am going to continue to carry a Glock, being left handed, I need to work on manipulating the slide more efficiently. An extended slide stop may be in my near future.
I am sure I missed something or got some details wrong, but overall we are looking forward to seeing Jay again in the near future for his Accuracy With Speed Workshop.
"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." - Winston Churchill, 1903.
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Originally Posted by Vinh
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