AAR: OnSight Firearms Training Defensive Pistol. *Written by a 14 yr old girl*
NOTE FROM HER DAD: THIS IS RAW AND UNEDITED BY AN ADULT. THIS IS HOW SHE WROTE HER AAR WITHOUT SEEING MINE.
My AAR:https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....019-Maynard-MA
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AAR- ONSIGHT FIREARMS TRAINING DEFENSIVE PISTOL
Maynard Gun Club MA
November 17, 2019, 8:00-5:30
Weather: Very cold and snowy
Instructor: Ben DeWalt
Gun: Glock 19 with red-dot and tall sights
My father and I attended a firearms pistol training class instructed by Ben DeWalt of OnSight Firearms Training. My dad and I have a rule, what is said and done on the range at a class can never be held or used against each other. Normal home rules were back once we got home from the class. As long as I was not doing anything unsafe to myself or others in the class I could say or do pretty much anything. I would not get into trouble for cussing or saying inappropriate things. At first, the other students did not know how to take it, but after a while, they got used to me being a badass as well as a smartass. I was treated like one of the adults in the class. I liked it.
We started off by introducing ourselves, stating our ages, occupations, and why we were there. I shared that I was a freshman in high school, attending the class to improve my marksmanship skills and be more comfortable shooting my gun and be harder to kill.
We started the day off by focusing on manipulation skills with an unloaded gun, Ben called dryfire. After this, we then practiced our balance, stance and our grip while shooting at challenging small targets at a pretty far distance. My dad said it was about 70 feet from the target. It had been a few months since I shot my gun and my skills were rusty. Ben came over to me and helped me to remember some of the things he had taught me during the summer. After shooting a full magazine of bullets at the target we walked up to see how we did. My target was completely missed, zero holes on the paper or on the cardboard. I was let down until my dad counted his target and realized that I had been shooting at his target, not mine. He had double the amount of holes in his target than he had shot. I was glad that I made that mistake and did hit the target. Ben wrote my name on my target so I would not make that mistake again.
Each drill Ben provided a clear explanation of why we were doing the drill and how having these skills could save our lives. We would listen for “hot words” and we responded to them. Some of the hot words that Ben used were, “Fight, Go, Up, etc.” After these words were said in any context we were reacted and shot the target only when the drill was in session and the line was hot. We had to really listen and think about what he said before we just shot. He tried to get us to shoot by not using the hot words sometimes.
In all the drills we were to use trigger reset, my favorite technique. Ben showed us a couple of different ways to grip the gun when shooting with one hand. Different pressure with fingers. Thumbs upward and downward. These ways that he showed us really were beneficial to me and increased my shooting accuracy. The man shooting next to me name was Brett he was super nice and was giving me tips on how to do things better. He helped me all day and doing the things he said worked great.
Throughout the day we used, many different targets and a lot of practice was done. Ben would come over and talk to us about how we did on the drill, what we thought of it and why some of the holes were where they were. There was one drill that will stick with me for quite a while, it was the last drill of the day. The large target was a series of smaller targets on one page, a girl with a VCA (violent criminal actor) that had taken a girl hostage and the VCA was very close to the girl. We had to run towards the target as fast as we could and only shoot a very small area of the VCA, not hitting the girl. After all day of training and practicing marksmanship, I got two of the targets that were quite difficult, which I was super proud of!
This class really helped me review and relearn the fundamentals of shooting. It was a great class and I had a lot of fun, but it was really cold on the range. Ben is a great teacher. Everyone seemed to like him, have fun and learn a ton of lifesaving skills.
WHAT I LEARNED:
- Stances for shooting. Shoulder over hips
- Balance was more important than stance.
- Gun grip - grip the heck out of it.
- How to shoot from longer distances
- Refresher on trigger reset
- Strategies I can use to improve on marksmanship
- How my arms should be when holding the gun
- Refresher on clearing garments when returning the gun to holster carefully
- How to shoot well with adrenaline under pressure. Steady the gun confirm the sights are where they need to be and slowly press the trigger while watching the dot.
WHAT I LIKED:
- The instructor let us take our time during drills
- Gave in-depth detail on drills
- Gave one-on-one help when needed
- Was patient with group/had great material
- Teaching methods were fantastic
- Other students were so nice and willing to help me do better
- The fire and hot chocolate warming me up
- No one treated me like a kid
