4 Attachment(s)
Red Dot Pistol Fundamentals - May 25-26 - McCloud, Oklahoma
Just got home from Scott Jedlinski's 2-day Red Dot Pistol Fundamentals course. Took a bit of time to unwind and put my feet up to rest for a bit. I've been running a red dot sight (RDS) on a Glock 17 for my RnG pistol, I liked it so much that I had a RDS installed on my Glock 19 EDC pistol. It took a while to get accustomed to shooting with the RDS, but once I had several hundred reps, I was getting pretty good with it. My aging eyes were having more and more trouble picking up and focusing on the front sight. A fellow named Bill Blowers had been recommending RDS for pistols and, after chatting with him a few times, I bought a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro and had it mounted by the folks at ATEI (https://ateiguns.com/).
I was feeling pretty good with it when I noticed that Scott Jedlinski was coming to MeadHall Range near McCloud, Oklahoma to put on his Red Dot Pistol Fundamentals course. I had read good things about this course, so I got signed up. His company is called Modern Samurai Project and his website is http://www.modernsamuraiproject.com/home.html
Scott (or Jedi, as he is known) has developed a very popular niche in the firearms training world. He has gathered quite a following as the RDS gains in popularity. He is considered by many to be a subject matter expert on all things red dot with respect to its use on the pistol. Scott is a master class USPSA shooter and the 15th recipient to be awarded the F.A.S.T. coin from Todd Louis Green. He readily points out that he has no LEO or military experience and emphasizes that his course is a technical shooting course and not a tactics course.
I traveled to the Meadhall Range near McCloud and met with Bill Armstrong, the owner/operator of the range (more on him later). Scott started the course with introductions and a safety briefing. Next we moved on to discussing the various dot sights and the advantages and disadvantages of each one. Needless to say, Scott was very familiar with all the various red dot sights and has consulted with some sight manufacturers.
We moved down to the range to check our zero's. Scott talked about the various distances for zeroing the RDS and the advantages and disadvantages of each one. The students (18 in this course) were divided in to 2 relays and we began to work on our zeros. For this course Scott suggested the 10 yard zero. We shot from 10 yards at 1" squares. We spent some time on this as Scott emphasized the importance of getting a good zero put on the pistol.
Once zeroed, we moved on to several drills designed to get the shooter used to switching to target based focus (instead of front sight focused). I'm not going to go into the drills (if you want them explained, take the course!), but will point out that each drill reinforced an aspect of red dot pistol shooting.
We moved on to the draw stroke and how the presentation of the RDS equipped pistol differed from traditional iron sights. One of the most difficult aspects of transitioning to the RDS is finding the dot. Many new shooters to the RDS find themselves "fishing" for the dot at the end of their presentation. We went through several drills designed to get the students through the fishing part so that at the end of the presentation from the holster, the red dot was squarely centered between the shooter's eye and the target.
Scott teaches a "violent" movement to the pistol to the point where the pistol starts its travel to the target. This is violent movement is highlighted as a way to get the shooter to use speed when needed, then slow down when prepping the trigger and aquiring the dot. Scott teaches a "90/10" presentation method where the student goes as fast as possible to the 90% part of this draw, then slows the final 10% to prep the trigger, acquire the dot and break the shot.
Throughout the course, certain drills were timed and students competed against each other for prizes. This placed a bit of stress on the shooter and is a good tool to gauge a student's grasp of the drill. The author was able to win one such iteration involving shooting a B/C zone IPSC target at 25 yards from the draw. This particular drill shot man vs. man (or woman) in tournament style, with winner progressing through the "bracket". I was able to get a couple hits on the steel in around 1.5 seconds from the draw!
The course mixed raw speed with shooting accurately. For speed drills, students were urged to get the gun up to the target to see just what needs to be seen to get the hits. Students were cautioned not to get the dot to the center of the center of the center of the target, but just to get the dot where it needed to be to get an acceptable hit.
For accuracy drills, students shot small 1" square or 2" dots at various distances. Tracking the dot during the recoil cycle was mandatory, along with prepping the trigger and breaking the shot prior to the dot getting to the center of the target, with momentum of the downward movement of the pistol allowing for center hits.
The students next worked on strong hand and weak hand shooting. Drills for this skill were designed to test the students ability to track the dot and compare the difference between a strong 2-handed grip verses the weaker grip of a single hand. We progressed in to shooting on the move forward and laterally. Once again, emphasis was placed on tracking the dot with a hard focus on the target and seeing what needed to be seen to get the hits.
The final drill was a IPSC styled stage that required a combination of most of the skills taught during the course. The stage requires fast close hits, then transitioning to more distant shots which required slowing down and refining the sight picture to get precise hits.
Scott's teaching style was effective and his cirriculum was well thought out. He carefully explained each drill and the why behind it. He also shot each drill, cold; to say he was a good shooter would be an understatement. He was a phenomenal shooter whose times on each of the drill were far below the standard. I think it's critical for an instructor to demonstrate drills; and to maintain credibility, he needs to shoot them very well. Needless to say, Scott delivered!
Many aspects of shooting the pistol with the red dot are the same as with iron sights: grip, sight picture, sight alignment, trigger press and follow through are identical. However, some aspects of shooting the RDS equipped pistol are very different. To get good with the red dot you have to understand those differences, then get enough repetitions so that it becomes subconscious. Taking Scott's Red Dot Pistol Fundamentals course will get you well on the way to mastering the RDS equipped pistol.
There were 18 students in this course. 18 students with a single instructor is too many in my opinion. However, even so, Scott was able to give considerable time to each individual student, watching them shoot timed drills (shot individually) then critiquing the student. With 18 students shooting in 2 relays, this did take quite a bit of time. I did not feel shorted at all and only offer this criticism so that maybe more drills could be added and ran through quickly with say 10-12 students. Scott did stay late after conclusion of the 2nd day to run students through other drills and shoot his standards.
If that front sight is starting to get a little fuzzy, and you're shooting skills are starting to deteriorate (but not from lack of practicing) seriously consider the red dot sight. Trijicon RMR sights are the standard, but there are several other sights every bit as capable. Modern RDS are very rugged and durable, as I have literally beat the crap out of the DeltaPoint Pro that I have mounted on my Glock 17 RnG pistol and it's still going strong! Once you get that sight mounted, get yourself to Scott's Red Dot Pistol course to get tuned up. I've trained with many of the most respected trainers in the industry so I have pretty high standards when it comes to firearms trainers. I can highly recommend Scott, I'm going to add him to my list of trainers that I can recommend without hesitation.
Now, on equipment that I used, I used my EDC Gen 5 Glock 19 with a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro mounted by Doug Holloway at AETI. Milling the slide is the best way of mounting the RDS as it gets the sight a little lower and closer to the bore axis. This pistol now has just over 4,000 rounds through it from various training courses and practice and it has never failed. Glock reliability is unmatched. I carried it in a custom NSR Tactical holster which was attached to me via a "Foundation" belt sold by Ernest Langdon (another instructor I highly recommend). This belt is different from other belts as it's rigid and stiff only where it needs to be and not stiff where it doesn't need to be. This carried the pistol very well, but allows more "seasoned" shooters (those carrying just a little excess) to bend easily and it doesn't bite as bad as some other, stiffer belts. I had a belt in a prototype color. The belt wears very well, even with a heavy load, looks good and will make a good addition to your kit. www.langdontactical.com/the-foundation-belt/
Meadhall range is owned and operated by Bill Armstrong. I've been to better/bigger ranges, but I've never experienced a better run range than this one. Bill is an excellent host. Cold water and hot coffee was available all day, targets (both paper and steel) were readily available, the rest rooms are new and air-conditioned and his wife made chocolate chip brownies for desert!! Little things like straight lines painted on the ground at the various yardages from the targets; a target box for each target that had pasters, sharpies and staplers (with extra staples!) Bill was the consummate host and if you get a chance to take a course at his range, you need to do it! He is sponsoring some of the biggest names in the industry, so keep an eye on his website to see you'll be there. https://meadhallrange.com/
Attachment 38539
Attachment 38540
Attachment 38542
Attachment 38543
