Dale Gribble
Can't starve us out; Can't make us run
Charter Member
Supporting Member
Multi-Factor Enabled
Not one to shill for any product or person…if it’s sh*t, I’ll tell you it’s sh*t.
If you have not been to this class, do yourself a favor and sign up. Much to learn, a great chance to run the hell outta your gear/weapon and have a ton of fun in the process. If I remember right, we had 13 or 14 in attendance and a pretty decent mix of rigs, from 9mm to 5.56.
Class started with warm-up stretching/basic exercises (nothing arduous), followed by a safety briefing, the 4 rules and emergency procedures. Safety was stressed from the start of the class at 9:00am and at every point during the class. Safeties were engaged after each string of fire and only disengaged when you were on target and ready to fire. The two instructors were John and James.
Class was divided up into two groups of 6 each, so span was perfect, at a 1:3 ratio for each group. First group ran the drill, then, the next stick ran it…that was pretty much the deal for the entire class, with the exception of the final drill, which was an individual effort, one shooter at a time….more on that later.
***Disclaimer: I believe I have the chronology of the drills right, but if not, someone correct me. When your age starts with the number “5”, stuff like that happens.
First drill was a good warm-up, shooting center mass at a silhoutte target. Drill started at the 25 yard line and moved progressively closer to the target at 15, 10, 7, 5 and 3 yards. Strings were timed…some slow/deliberate and others rapid, with multiple rounds fired in a given time, which started and ended signaled by a whistle blast.
Next drill was mechanical offset…what it is, why it is and how it affects your hits on target, especially at close range.
Started at the 3, then 5, 7, 10 and 15. Held dead center on the black for the top row of targets, got the offset for our weapons, then fired at the 2nd row of targets, at the same distances, with the hold-offs factored in.
***May have the order of these next two drills reversed***
Next drill was what I’ll call the “close enough” drill, shooting at diminishing dot sizes at 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 and 25 yards. One or multiple rounds on different dots, timed. Strings were fired from high or low ready. We also shot from the kneeling position during this drill. Before the drill started, the different carries/positions were explained…high/low port and high/low ready…when you would use those carries/positions and why. Final exercise of this stage was everyone starting at the 25, firing the prescribed number of rounds in the time given, at the dot of your choosing, then moving together, as a group and doing the same at 15, 10, 7, 5 and 3 yards.
Next drill was the “Sesame Street” drill with this target…
Colors, shapes, numbers and even ‘sums’ were called out. Drill was timed just as the first one. This was probably one of my favorite drills of the day, because it forced you to think and shoot…not just shoot.
Last drill of the day was the “clearing drill”. This target…
was set up agaist the berm, with two cardboard targets placed around 10’ from the berm, on either side, simulating a doorway. We learned how to approach, muzzle placement and how to move once we were in the doorway and in view of the target. Cycled through a couple of dry runs, then went one at a time for the live fire, moving from the left side of the doorway to the right. After we all finished that, we practiced on a “corner doorway”, moving right to left…was interesting for righties shooting as lefties and vicey-versey.👍
Class was $65 for two people. Sign up for the emails on TAGs site and you get 15% off…so $55, for a damned good 4 hour class, for two people. Works out to around just shy of $14/hour. I know ranges that charge over that, per hour..and that’s just you shooting…no instruction. Also worth noting some of those ranges are “shoot from bench only”. Not once today did we ever shoot from a bench.
If you want to run your gear and get some invaluable, real-world instruction, this class is right up your alley.
Put it to you this way; I’d pay to go through this exact same class again and in all likelihood, I probably will👍
This was my first class with Trace….won’t be the last.
Thanks, @JBoyette !!!!!
If you have not been to this class, do yourself a favor and sign up. Much to learn, a great chance to run the hell outta your gear/weapon and have a ton of fun in the process. If I remember right, we had 13 or 14 in attendance and a pretty decent mix of rigs, from 9mm to 5.56.
Class started with warm-up stretching/basic exercises (nothing arduous), followed by a safety briefing, the 4 rules and emergency procedures. Safety was stressed from the start of the class at 9:00am and at every point during the class. Safeties were engaged after each string of fire and only disengaged when you were on target and ready to fire. The two instructors were John and James.
Class was divided up into two groups of 6 each, so span was perfect, at a 1:3 ratio for each group. First group ran the drill, then, the next stick ran it…that was pretty much the deal for the entire class, with the exception of the final drill, which was an individual effort, one shooter at a time….more on that later.
***Disclaimer: I believe I have the chronology of the drills right, but if not, someone correct me. When your age starts with the number “5”, stuff like that happens.
First drill was a good warm-up, shooting center mass at a silhoutte target. Drill started at the 25 yard line and moved progressively closer to the target at 15, 10, 7, 5 and 3 yards. Strings were timed…some slow/deliberate and others rapid, with multiple rounds fired in a given time, which started and ended signaled by a whistle blast.
Next drill was mechanical offset…what it is, why it is and how it affects your hits on target, especially at close range.
Started at the 3, then 5, 7, 10 and 15. Held dead center on the black for the top row of targets, got the offset for our weapons, then fired at the 2nd row of targets, at the same distances, with the hold-offs factored in.
***May have the order of these next two drills reversed***
Next drill was what I’ll call the “close enough” drill, shooting at diminishing dot sizes at 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 and 25 yards. One or multiple rounds on different dots, timed. Strings were fired from high or low ready. We also shot from the kneeling position during this drill. Before the drill started, the different carries/positions were explained…high/low port and high/low ready…when you would use those carries/positions and why. Final exercise of this stage was everyone starting at the 25, firing the prescribed number of rounds in the time given, at the dot of your choosing, then moving together, as a group and doing the same at 15, 10, 7, 5 and 3 yards.
Next drill was the “Sesame Street” drill with this target…
Colors, shapes, numbers and even ‘sums’ were called out. Drill was timed just as the first one. This was probably one of my favorite drills of the day, because it forced you to think and shoot…not just shoot.
Last drill of the day was the “clearing drill”. This target…
was set up agaist the berm, with two cardboard targets placed around 10’ from the berm, on either side, simulating a doorway. We learned how to approach, muzzle placement and how to move once we were in the doorway and in view of the target. Cycled through a couple of dry runs, then went one at a time for the live fire, moving from the left side of the doorway to the right. After we all finished that, we practiced on a “corner doorway”, moving right to left…was interesting for righties shooting as lefties and vicey-versey.👍
Class was $65 for two people. Sign up for the emails on TAGs site and you get 15% off…so $55, for a damned good 4 hour class, for two people. Works out to around just shy of $14/hour. I know ranges that charge over that, per hour..and that’s just you shooting…no instruction. Also worth noting some of those ranges are “shoot from bench only”. Not once today did we ever shoot from a bench.
If you want to run your gear and get some invaluable, real-world instruction, this class is right up your alley.
Put it to you this way; I’d pay to go through this exact same class again and in all likelihood, I probably will👍
This was my first class with Trace….won’t be the last.
Thanks, @JBoyette !!!!!
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