Great report, thanks.

Jonathan covered the class in excellent detail, no need for redundancy from me, so I'll touch on a few points about the class in general and my experience in particular.

Jonathan brought the class to my attention in late january and I was able to secure the last two slots in the class for myself and a coworker/shooting buddy.

Until I attended this class, I had had no formal rifle instruction beyond,"the bullets come out this end, line up the sights and go to work." I have had some pistol instruction and I have been shooting for a number of years in various disciplines including ,"Tactical 3-gun".

My intentions going into the course were to gain a better understainding in the basic use of the rifle from essentially contact range to 2-300 yds.

Paul Howe, what needs to be said here that hasn't been? Upon hearing of the class, I spoke with several well respected members of this board and heard nothing but good things about the instructor and signed up as soon as I was able.

This particular course of instruction was somewhat basic, beginning with zeroing of the weapon using iron sights and optics (if equipped).

The standards Jonathan mentioned were addressed throughout the course and there requirements were discussed, as well as their relevance to real life.

Our instructors were mostly helpful and well spoken and included lots of Law Enforcement personalities (understatement of the year), and several foreign nationals.

At one point in the course, the standard IPSC type cardboard targets were obscured with T-shirts to illustrate that humans don't have scoring zones and an appropriate sight picture needs to be acheived that is not scoring zone dependant, and allows you to put effective rounds on target. I feel that this exercise was a good one and could be quite eye opening for anyone used to shooting clearly marked paper targets.

The Scrambler that Jonathan mentioned was a good course of fire that stressed improvised shooting positions that took the shooter out of their comfort zone with rifle and pistol. Ranges were from 25 yds with pistol to 300 yds with rifle including at least one 100yd pistol shot. Targets were full size steel IPSC man, approx. 9x12 "a zone plates, and a few 5 inch or so discs.

I am lucky in the regard that I have several private ranges available on which I can practice ridiculous handgun shooting, and 100 yd shots are not out of the ordinary, though they always demand focus and adherance to basic pistol marksmanship

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The Scrambler also stressed movement with another shooter, I shot the course with a close friend and shooting partner that I am very familiar with and trust very much, I believe that this course (especially movement with a hot weapon) would have been significantly more challenging and un-nerving if I had an unfamiliar partner.

Our Instructor from Bulgaria was a colorful individual to say the least. He did not have a high opinion of his neighbor countries at all and was quite vocal on this topic. He helped to fine tune small things that may have gone un-noticed to the shooters themselves, but made a difference in results.

Basically, I would recommend this facility and Howe in general to anyone who would like to further their skill at arms. I understand that his mindset lectures are also quite good and will attempt to attend one in the future.

Air.177, jatx,

what pistols were most of the folks using to make the 100 yards shot?
Did you notice any correlation among skill, shooter, and hardware?

thanks

The ones they were carrying;)

I did see a bunch of glocks, at least one Beretta 92, a sig or 2, an XD, and at least one 1911

I honestly didn't watch many folks run the course, so I don't know who hit/missed and with what. As you will surely read elsewhere, it's the man, not the machine that gets the hits.

There were a couple of Police officers who were using their issued equipment, in the configuration they use it everyday who were pretty decent shooters and had their gear pretty well squared away. I didn't notice any Blatantly goofy or excessively showy rigs really, most of the folks there used what they would be expected to use. Once again, I was busy sorting out my own self, so I wasn't watching what the guys to my right were fighting with.

HTH

I remember seeing lots of Glocks, one USP Expert, and a couple of 1911's (including mine). Rifles ranged from 20 inchers with iron sights like Blake's to an 8.5 inch with an Eotech being used by an SF doc. The choice seemed to have no bearing on the quality of hits.

I used a very simple rig for the course and it worked well. It was a SORD MFF base with TT three mag shingle, admin pouch for pen and paper, and a white light with pouch. I never needed more than three mags for any course of fire, and had more loaded and waiting behind the firing line if I needed them. I took six rifle mags and six pistol mags down with me.

Most people were using some sort of chest rig, although all of the SWAT guys were using plate carriers and I saw one full-blown CIRAS (in multicam, no less :D ). My understanding is that the plate carriers were for active shooter situations where they could just throw it on over soft armor and live off of what was on the vest.

I was using a belt holster for my 1911, and that is something I'm going to change before the next class. During transition drills, my hand falls naturally to my thigh, so I'm going to try a drop holster.

Also, the Alta Superflex knee pads deserve a big thumbs up. A couple of us had them and they are great. Very little slippage, though I am still going to put some shoe goo on the straps.

Thanks for the great reviews guys. A few days ago I signed up for his Tactical 1 rifle class he is putting on in October in Illinois. His web site and book are worth checking out too.

Great review. Thanks guys.

Solid, professional AARs. Thanks guys. Sounds like learning and having a good time went well together. Peregrino

You got me all excited...LEO only. :(

Normal people find it difficult to own the required weapons in Illinois. :boohoo Sort of like the other "people's republics". My father lives in the lower half of the state - God alone knows why :confused: . He certainly spends enough time cursing Chicago politicians. Peregrino

Great reviews, gents. Thanks!

Or you could travel to Nacogdoches with a copy of your CCW permit.:D

TR

While I'll never get a SBR or can in IL, and I had to turn down an MG-34 that an old gent tried to give me, :boohoo but everything else is good to go. Cook County, specifically Chicago, is the exclusion zone (except for felons, who apparently were grandfathered an exception around the law).

Chicago politicians...what can I say. I'm schizo on Daly -- while I'm in total disagreement with his 2nd Amendment stance he's been great for the city as a whole. He's taken on the teacher's unions and turned around the schools, is very business friendly, and won't buy on to the Wal-Mart bashing. The governor's a total ass; it's a tradition here.

Cruel...