Getting an AAR thread started from our two day course on April 15-16.
Group photo:
Day 1 actually started way before students reported to the class, with guided online assignments designed to get them familiar with long range rifle trajectory.
A large part of the class gathered for chow & beverages Thursday night at Cowboy Jack's. It was good to share some camaraderie between staff & shooters, and quite a few hiliarious stories went across the table.
With classroom instruction commencing on day 1, everyone was ready to go. The morning saw formal instruction on exterior ballistics, trajectory, properly adjusting and working with optics, a look at range estimation, elements of good firing position, recording data in their books, and a BRM review. The range was prepared the day before, with a literal Disneyland of steel silhouette targets and other treats ranging out past 1000Y. Most targets were white, but a select few were camo, and tucked into corners making them not easy to find.
Once out to the range, shooters decorated some paper at 100 and 300 Yards, with instructors and line coaches assisting with calls on elevation and windage adjustments to get everyone dialed in with a good zero.
We ran hard and far on day 1 because of impending weather on day 2. It culminated with most students having good elevation data out to at least 750Y, and a new appreciation for the extent of the effects of wind where long range shooting is concerned. Some paper drills were DX'ed in favor of more trigger time and on-range instruction.
Students were broken up into groups to conduct different drills under staff supervision. Long range shooting with Mike, A three target 'stay on the gun' 740Y drill and a defilade target at 725Y with Freddy & Mike R, and reticle holdover work out to 500Y with Chris.
Students were dismissed for dinner, minus any alcohol, and to report back at 2030 for long range night fire. This is not ordinarily part of our basic/intermediate course but the group performed extremely well, and we had the opportunity to do it.
An exercise was created where students engaged targets at 330Y, 420Y, and 511Y with three rounds at each target, which was illuminated with a laser designator attached to a vortex recon 10x with tripod mounting system and accessory rail. Most students were able to hit all three, with some cleaning them up 100%. The instructors and line coaches sent a few after the students were done at 900 and 1006Y. The laser genetics NDS-50 designator worked fantastically even past 1000Y. Breaking night fire down the next day, students had a new appreciation for how difficult it can be. A nice fine reticle is great in the daylight, but at night.... completely different story. Illuminated reticles - helpful on a backlit target for sure, but when it's far too bright it does more harm than good. Just a primer. We would dig into this a lot deeper in an advanced class.
Day 2 saw students firing and recording a cold bore at their choice of target they had confidence they could hit, finishing up their elevation settings all the way to 1000Y, and conducting other drills. Since it was raining, there was a free wind indicator out there at all distances. Some figured that out on their own, but you could see the 'a-ha!' light bulb go on for most when this was pointed out. All of a sudden the hit rate went waaaay up...
Range from shooter PoV. 15 steel sil. targets 24x16, 24x12, and 30x16.5 plus others:
Shooters getting ready:
A line coach working with shooters. Wherever possible we try to teach "from the gun" right alongside the student. Instructors and line coaches also shoot drills to demonstrate:
Instructor experimenting with an improvised position:
BHTC is thankful for the support of:
Our students. We hope you learned a lot and enjoyed yourself in the process. BIG thanks to those who took some pics for us.
NOMAD at Impact Data Books for supplying the students with a quality product tuned specifically to our curriculum.
Jake and Ed at http://OnTargetGunShopOnline.com for helping out with the coaching, and also for providing some demo rifles for the students to enjoy.
More pics coming, and I should have them before the weekend. If you attended, please feel free to post some of your impressions or add more pics.
--Fargo007
Group photo:
Day 1 actually started way before students reported to the class, with guided online assignments designed to get them familiar with long range rifle trajectory.
A large part of the class gathered for chow & beverages Thursday night at Cowboy Jack's. It was good to share some camaraderie between staff & shooters, and quite a few hiliarious stories went across the table.
With classroom instruction commencing on day 1, everyone was ready to go. The morning saw formal instruction on exterior ballistics, trajectory, properly adjusting and working with optics, a look at range estimation, elements of good firing position, recording data in their books, and a BRM review. The range was prepared the day before, with a literal Disneyland of steel silhouette targets and other treats ranging out past 1000Y. Most targets were white, but a select few were camo, and tucked into corners making them not easy to find.
Once out to the range, shooters decorated some paper at 100 and 300 Yards, with instructors and line coaches assisting with calls on elevation and windage adjustments to get everyone dialed in with a good zero.
We ran hard and far on day 1 because of impending weather on day 2. It culminated with most students having good elevation data out to at least 750Y, and a new appreciation for the extent of the effects of wind where long range shooting is concerned. Some paper drills were DX'ed in favor of more trigger time and on-range instruction.
Students were broken up into groups to conduct different drills under staff supervision. Long range shooting with Mike, A three target 'stay on the gun' 740Y drill and a defilade target at 725Y with Freddy & Mike R, and reticle holdover work out to 500Y with Chris.
Students were dismissed for dinner, minus any alcohol, and to report back at 2030 for long range night fire. This is not ordinarily part of our basic/intermediate course but the group performed extremely well, and we had the opportunity to do it.
An exercise was created where students engaged targets at 330Y, 420Y, and 511Y with three rounds at each target, which was illuminated with a laser designator attached to a vortex recon 10x with tripod mounting system and accessory rail. Most students were able to hit all three, with some cleaning them up 100%. The instructors and line coaches sent a few after the students were done at 900 and 1006Y. The laser genetics NDS-50 designator worked fantastically even past 1000Y. Breaking night fire down the next day, students had a new appreciation for how difficult it can be. A nice fine reticle is great in the daylight, but at night.... completely different story. Illuminated reticles - helpful on a backlit target for sure, but when it's far too bright it does more harm than good. Just a primer. We would dig into this a lot deeper in an advanced class.
Day 2 saw students firing and recording a cold bore at their choice of target they had confidence they could hit, finishing up their elevation settings all the way to 1000Y, and conducting other drills. Since it was raining, there was a free wind indicator out there at all distances. Some figured that out on their own, but you could see the 'a-ha!' light bulb go on for most when this was pointed out. All of a sudden the hit rate went waaaay up...
Range from shooter PoV. 15 steel sil. targets 24x16, 24x12, and 30x16.5 plus others:
Shooters getting ready:
A line coach working with shooters. Wherever possible we try to teach "from the gun" right alongside the student. Instructors and line coaches also shoot drills to demonstrate:
Instructor experimenting with an improvised position:
BHTC is thankful for the support of:
Our students. We hope you learned a lot and enjoyed yourself in the process. BIG thanks to those who took some pics for us.
NOMAD at Impact Data Books for supplying the students with a quality product tuned specifically to our curriculum.
Jake and Ed at http://OnTargetGunShopOnline.com for helping out with the coaching, and also for providing some demo rifles for the students to enjoy.
More pics coming, and I should have them before the weekend. If you attended, please feel free to post some of your impressions or add more pics.
--Fargo007
