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View Full Version : AAR: AFHF Indianapolis, October 20-21, 2012



Tamara
10-31-2012, 07:24 AM
This fall's AFHF was my third class with Todd here in Indy.

My goal was to... well, mostly it was to not be Todd's "Special Needs" pupil again. Learning something would be awesome, too.

Class got off to a prompt start on Saturday morning, and the initial round of shooting tests was reassuring. (I'm sure I'm not the only person who, during the opening strings of fire in a class with strangers, is surreptitiously glancing around to see if That Guy has enrolled in this class.)

My first FAST drill of the day, although painfully slow, was shot clean and only a half-second off my best time with a 1911 back in 2010. Considering that I'd only been using the M&P for a little over a year now, this was encouraging.

Due to a couple of late cancellations, the class was fairly small, which meant that students benefited from a little more one-on-one instruction than is normally possible. The smaller class turned out to have an added benefit in that Todd was dealing with a bout of laryngitis, so thank goodness for not having to shout to be heard by the students in the back rows...

Todd remarked on how much my shooting had improved since last time, saying that it was obvious that I'd been practicing, and then proceeded to show me all the jillion and one bad habits I had that were keeping me painfully slow, such as reaching for the gun at a pace that could be measured with a sundial and a reload technique that was almost, but not entirely, exactly unlike what I should have been doing, even if we didn't take into account trying to stuff a handful of my cover garment into the gun as well.

No Chili's at the end of Day One, in the interest of Todd having some vocal cords left for TD2.

TD2 started out cool, and we did Dot Torture and worked on low-percentage targets in the morning; with the air temp in the high forties and low fifties, I was feeling pretty clever about my choice of thermal underwear. After lunch the temp crawled into the low seventies and we started doing SOTM stuff, and suddenly I didn't feel so bright anymore.

All in all, I was very pleased with the class and came away feeling pretty good about my progress. Last year I was having so many problems just hitting the target with what was, at the time, an unfamiliar pistol that I was unable to make use of a lot of the instruction I was receiving. This year I was upset when I missed, rather than surprised when I hit, and that allowed me to concentrate more on minutiae like reload technique and suchlike.

We closed out the weekend by going to Longhorn steak house which was a Totally Awesome Idea and whoever suggested it was a flippin' genius. And modest, too.

(Not to clutter up a software type post with gun nerd hardware-type stuff, but I truly believe I owe a lot of my shooting improvement to having a front sight that I can find rapidly, in this case, an orange Ameriglo I-Dot Pro. Recommend. Also, I disrecommend my holster, a Blade-Tech OWB with the most infuriating adjustable one-size-fits-most belt loop thing in Christendom. Further, the Amish dude that made my belt and the people at Blade-Tech have different opinions on what constitutes 'an inch and a half'...)

Apologies for any errors in this AAR, as I ain't much on fancy book larnin'. Thanks to JohnN for hosting the class and Todd for coming out and helping make me a better shooter.

Sparks2112
10-31-2012, 08:08 AM
I am still bummed I didn't make this class. :-/

jetfire
10-31-2012, 02:54 PM
What kind of Blade-Tech OWB? The regular kydex one with the belt attachment or a different one?

Tamara
10-31-2012, 08:31 PM
What kind of Blade-Tech OWB? The regular kydex one with the belt attachment or a different one?

I guess it's the regular one. The number of off-the-shelf holsters that fit an M&P with a CTC Lightguard is limited.

About to start trying out a custom from Dark Star Gear...

NETim
10-31-2012, 08:59 PM
'Tis good to feel progress.

jetfire
11-01-2012, 06:48 AM
I guess it's the regular one. The number of off-the-shelf holsters that fit an M&P with a CTC Lightguard is limited.

About to start trying out a custom from Dark Star Gear...

Interesting. I have piles of Blade-Techs with the belt attachment, and they're all money on my 1.5 inch belts.

If you're still carrying the gun behind the hip, I have a Galco Summer Special sitting around for the M&P with Lightguard that you can have if you want.

NETim
11-01-2012, 07:45 AM
I take it

1128

wasn't there either?

Tamara
11-01-2012, 11:59 AM
Interesting. I have piles of Blade-Techs with the belt attachment, and they're all money on my 1.5 inch belts.

If you're still carrying the gun behind the hip, I have a Galco Summer Special sitting around for the M&P with Lightguard that you can have if you want.

I'm not saying it wasn't the Amish guy who had the defective ruler. :D

And hellz, yeah, if you're willing to part with that Summer Comfort, I'd be all about it. PM me and we'll haggle.

bbqbologna
11-08-2012, 09:26 PM
Mean't to chime in on this AAR sooner. I, too, was in this class. It was a pleasure meeting Todd, Tamara, John Nelson, and some of the other people I see posting on this forum. I'd like to thank Todd for his instruction, insights and general awesomeness. And despite being sick, he was a total pro. I'd also like to thank John Nelson for hosting everything. It was the first class I've taken with Todd, and won't be my last.

My add to Tam's post? With Todd sounding like Don Corleone, and the moody film noire shadows painting the range, the class had a nice Godfather vibe going on ...

Mjolnir
11-09-2012, 06:00 AM
Nice write up, Tam.

Wish I could have been there.