Editor’s note: This post was written by Ozone. Click here to see the rest of his work. -S_S
“Get some training”, “Train accordingly”,”Train more”, Suck less”. I’m sure we have all heard the countless phrases and sayings about taking a firearms training course. Finally the budget, timing and location all came together this past weekend.(-kinda. The original class date was May 30th…but the RONA.) I was off to central Oklahoma to take Steve Fisher’s Red Dot Handgun course. I was a bit nervous after not having shot my pistol in a couple of months, but carried on regardless.
The course not only met expectations but exceeded them. I came away with not only technical knowledge but one on one coaching, drills to work on, and a shift in mindset. The first things discussed were the different optics, mounting systems, and applications for RDS handguns. The big takeaway is ACRO, RMR, and Holosun are the only sights that can be relied on for life and limb. Also the MOS system is trash. When it came to shooting a RDS Pistol there isn’t any difference really than the old iron sight counterparts. Shooting fundamentals are the same. Grip, recoil management, presentation, and trigger control are all the same. The differences come in zero distance, and back up options. The drills were very revealing and showed each flaw in my control of a pistol. If you hate shooting B8s get ready to hate life. I had only shot a few previous, and not at 25 yards. This is where my shift in mindset came. In IDPA,USPSA, ect the targets are large and forgiving. One “A zone” or two anywhere conditioned me to a level of accuracy that is unacceptable in the real world. The good stuff on a human torso is about a 5×5 circle, coincidently so is the black on a B8 target. Why 25 yards? The average supermarket aisle is 27 yards long.
Zero distance was also discussed. I had a 15 yard zero coming into the class. We quickly realized that was less than ideal. On a handgun a 25 yard zero has the least deviation from zero to fifty yards. The fifteen yard zero at 35 yards was four to five inches high, this would miss all the good stuff or miss completely. Take away is zero at 25 yards.
We see these trainers on youtube, podcasts, and the gram but that is just a snapshot of what their classes are like. Steve was a true professional. I liked his teaching style. He was straight forward, brutally honest, but really wanted his students to get it. The seriousness of the subject matter was often broken up with timely humor or a good story. Yes, he is a big fucking human and makes any pistol look small.
While I’m not going to post my class notes or go into extreme detail over every sentence uttered in class. The drills were straight forward. B8 at 25 slowfire, super 30s, 1live-1dry, one handed variation, and a draw and shoot drill. Everything was designed to isolate different aspects of handgun control.
Bottom line is take this class. You will be better.
Pro-Gun Millennial 