Training Courses BHTC 2 Day Initial/Intermediate Precision Rifle, AAR

[fargo007]

We had a great time shooting with all the students.

19 shooters in the course.

Day 1 saw classroom instruction for the first half of the day, and bad ass heavy rain for the remainder. Students were shown how to use it as a free wind indicator at every distance. ;-)

Next we zeroed up at 100Y and worked on our BRM fundamentals.

Problems were encountered and addressed. It didn't take long to get most of the student body out to at least 800Y on day 1 demonstrating repeated hits and recording good data. Several got out all the way to 1050Y.

The night shoot was a three target engagement involving a fairly wide arc on targets that were at 310, 421, and 610 yards. Target had been hit during daylight, so students had good dope on them. Illuminated with a green laser designator, the students did not have to worry about NV. An illuminated reticle helped, but wasn't entirely necessary. Lots of hits and a cry of "Oh-Paaaaaaah" from the line on every one. What a great time.

The official debriefing took place after that at the clubhouse.

Day 2 started with review of all instructional concepts from day 1 and added some other elements. Range time saw wind from 10-25mph, very gusty and unpredictable. I know it feels frustrating, but this kind of wind is where the learning takes place. This was made even more difficult by recent range work that turned it all into a shale pile. We put a wind flag out there but we know better for next time that we need more.

We finished up with the USMC UKD qual test, which is always fun to shoot, and an excellent test of skill.

If you have some feedback on the course please share it. I know a few have pics, so please post them up.

Thanks again to everyone for shooting with BHTC.

--Fargo007

 

[dcnyli]

Freddy, Mike & Chris all provided an excellent, educational and enjoyable weekend. I was looking forward to this course for a long time, and while the weather wasn't sunshine and rainbows it was actually an asset.

Met some interesting people, and learned tons not just from the classroom instruction, firing line instruction but also my fellow students, truly productive. I was able to shoot farther and more accurately then ever before, got more comfortable and confident in my ability and equipment. The exercises and drills were all relevant and educational, I especially enjoyed utilizing "hold overs" and "command fire". The night shoot was a blast too, lots of "OH PAHHHH", and getting to use illumination was new for me on my scope.

Day 2 was where it all came down, ringing the steel up on top of the range in the morning was really satisfying and then in the afternoon taking the USMC test brought it all together. Worth every minute, the food was great, camaraderie was excellent and if time permits I would 100% take more courses and draft some friends. Its a great experience to be immersed in this pursuit and surrounded by like minded people, this has motivated me to start thinking about trying a competition or two…

I have a personal vendetta against "the little white cracker boy" for messing me up on the test, debating on buying a .50 just to put a hurting on him

 

[branson1369]

I have a customer/friend that attended and if damn game of phone tag ends I look forward to hearing about the class

 

[rdgshooteer]

Black Hat puts on a really good class. The first morning starts off in the class room where all relative information for the course is given out and instructed on. He does a very good job of presenting the information needed for the class without over complicating it if there was questions he made sure to clear it up for everybody.

Once out on the range we were able to start testing our limits and skills. Everyone was paired up to act as a spotter/shooter to call each others hits and misses. Ill admit this was my first time shooting steel and that was really cool being able to see the target and then a few seconds later actually hear the ring of the steel. The nice thing once we were out on the range is if you were ready to move on to the next target you could while others finished up the previous targets.

I feel the weather was a great advantage to the course. I feel I would not have learned as much as I did if it was sunny with no wind. I walked away from the class realizing the next time I wake up and see that it is really wind I need to go to the range and work on getting first round hits in the wind and trying to group at further distances to work on wind holds. I am also reevaluating my current gear set up and looking at things I need to change and things that may be nice to have.

I was also debating if I was going to shoot the comp in May that they are holding there or if I just wanted to go watch and see what goes on. After to talking to a few people I am jumping feet first into the deep end and going over to shoot it.

 

[Monmouth]

Ths is a great class to take and highly recommend it. The instruction is well planned, methodical, and in depth without being over bearing to newer shooters. No need to be intimidated if you don't have the baddest rifle built by xyz or the slickest $cope, as long as Fargo believes your gear will carry you through the class, sign up and and send some lead way down town.

A few things that immediately stand out to me is the knowledge of the instructors and how humble they are. This makes them very approachable with questions (I'm that guy that asks a lot of them) without making you feel inferior or intimidated. Safety is a high priority and felt very safe at all times. Even during the night shoot, knew we were in good hands and this allowed me to focus on learning a new skill. The whole atmosphere encourages you to mingle with others since we learn, shoot, and eat together for two days. Did I mention the food served is restaurant quality and the price paid is a steal?

I hope to attend an intermediate class hosted by BHTC sooner than later and have three friends who want to take this beginner class. As far as now, this formal instruction taught me to go to the range with a purpose to train. Everything from setting up, shooting drills, and focus will not only make range trips more enjoyable but allow me to leave knowing I accomplished a task to further strengthen fundamentals.

The BHTC is an asset to the precision shooting community!

 

[Monmouth]

Freddy, Mike & Chris all provided an excellent, educational and enjoyable weekend. I was looking forward to this course for a long time, and while the weather wasn't sunshine and rainbows it was actually an asset.

Met some interesting people, and learned tons not just from the classroom instruction, firing line instruction but also my fellow students, truly productive. I was able to shoot farther and more accurately then ever before, got more comfortable and confident in my ability and equipment. The exercises and drills were all relevant and educational, I especially enjoyed utilizing "hold overs" and "command fire". The night shoot was a blast too, lots of "OH PAHHHH", and getting to use illumination was new for me on my scope.

Day 2 was where it all came down, ringing the steel up on top of the range in the morning was really satisfying and then in the afternoon taking the USMC test brought it all together. Worth every minute, the food was great, camaraderie was excellent and if time permits I would 100% take more courses and draft some friends. Its a great experience to be immersed in this pursuit and surrounded by like minded people, this has motivated me to start thinking about trying a competition or two…

I have a personal vendetta against "the little white cracker boy" for messing me up on the test, debating on buying a .50 just to put a hurting on him

Awh man, I have a .50 and seriously thought about bringing it to sight in but didn't want to be "that guy" who brought one and annoyed everyone. Lucky for Little White Cracker Boy I didn't, haha, but if we meet up again, too bad on him. I have a feeling Fargo will say "if you shoot it with a .50, you just bought that target".

 

[fargo007]

Wow, thanks guys. I am pretty sure Willi has some pics. I will reach out to him.

Yeah, the LWCB laughs at a lot of people. I don't know why he was always called that. He just is.

Don't be afraid to jump into a competition. You guys are trained and have the skills and that's a place to put them to use and by doing so, keep them clean and sharp.

I point out that the registration for the Mason Dixon Series match at NHRPC on 4/27 is now open. See the thread here:

Mason Dixon Sniper Series 2014 Match #1 Registration

That will be a great match for sure and I am signed up and competing myself - as far as my .223 DMR will take me. ;-)

I would be happy to take a couple knoobs under the wing.

I have also requested use of the NHRPC range for a movers practice match in May. will post and put registration up when it is approved.

--Fargo007

 

[CheStadium]

Here's another happy student.

I went into the class with no long range experience at all. By the end of the first afternoon I was ringing steel at 800 yds.

The classroom instruction was just right. Freddy explained the theory in easy to understand terms. Pay attention closely to this, as I picked up something seemingly minor about where to put your thumb that immediately tightened up my 100 yd groups by .15 mils (see what I did there?)

On the firing line, things went really well but got a little tricky past 500 yds. By watching others shoot and making use of windage information that was passed down the line we were able to score hits to 800 yds. The task loading and time pressure pushed everyone to work pretty hard for their hits and data. If you were resting between shots, Mike always had several suggestions for things you should be doing.

The night shoot was cool beyond words. I need one of those lasers. I was waiting for floating pigs to appear. The debriefing afterwards was excellent. It really was a great bunch of people.

Saturday brought serious wind. After our final drills, we had time to do some shooting on our own and gather good data. The group of people I was around spotted for each other and played a few skill games.

The test on Saturday afternoon was fast paced and challenging. The wind is a tricky thing to deal with. It might take some experience to get good at reading it.

BHTC is an excellent value. Freddy, Mike and Chris earned every penny. The meals provided by the club were excellent. I would do the whole thing again in a heartbeat.

 

[CheStadium]

One more thing - I might have to buy a Serbu just to teach LWCB a lesson.

 

[dcnyli]

Pay attention closely to this, as I picked up something seemingly minor about where to put your thumb that immediately tightened up my 100 yd groups by .15 mils (see what I did there?)

hahaha, yes!!!

 

[rdgshooteer]

I'm sensing a lot of butt hurt towards the lwcb. What did he ever do to deserve this fate. Lol

 

[Baranyk]

Another grateful student here.

If anyone has ever thought, "Maybe I should take a class?", but put it off due to time, money, etc...

Do it. Take this class. You can find the time and money. Put off another gun for a month or two. This class will throw you into a whole new tier of shooting. Absolutely amazing. Zero regrets of any kind.

I'm sensing a lot of butt hurt towards the lwcb. What did he ever do to deserve this fate. Lol

He jumped left/right during my UKD test. He's gotta go, man.

 

[dcnyli]

view from just before the USMC test... LWCB is hiding off to the right

 

[crosswindz]

I want to reiterate everyone's thoughts on how great this class was... I don't know anywhere else you can get this much value and level of quality instruction for the amount charged, and I take a lot of classes from different training outfits! I actually thought that the wind was a blessing - this is good experience and practice in conditions that are much more common out west than the east coast.

This is my 2nd time I took this class - I took it last year and it was so good that I had to take it again. I am now looking forward to BHTC's DMR and advance precision rifle classes! Thanks again Freddy, Mike and Chris -- and thanks to the gourmet chefs who cooked the 5-star meals!

 

[Jäger Wilhelm]

I had a great time at the class and learned alot from Freddy, Chris, and Mike. Precision long range shooting is rather new to me, and I decided I needed a new shooting challenge, so this was a great way to start! I will certainly take any additional courses and try my hand at some competition (after much more practice) this year as well. The range and support facilities at the MCSA certainly added to the quality instruction we recieved. To mirror some other comments I read, it is great to be taught by such "approachable" skilled instructors.

Here are a few photos......

Willi

 

[Jäger Wilhelm]

A few more....