The following is my AAR from a recent Pistol 2 course held by Performance On Demand Shooting

1) Provider: Performance On Demand Shooting
2) Owner: Adrian, Mike, Pete
3) Phone / Web: 608-512-8061 / http://www.podshooting.com/
4) E-mail: info@podshooting.com
5) When: July 10, 2015
6) Where: Winnequah Gun Club, Lodi, WI
7) Accommodations: N/A
8) Gear used: Glock 19, Uncle Mike's Kydex paddle holster, Uncle Mike’s Kydex magazine pouches, Bison Design instructor belt, factory Glock 17 and MagPul GL9 magazines, and shooter produced reloads. Also used later in the day were a KT-Mech Defender kydex holster and Inforce APL light.
9) Cost: $110.
10) Did weather adversely affect training: No
11) Instructors’ Competence: Instructors’ skills and ability to apply them exceeded my own, of course.
12) Instructors’ Ethics: Outstanding
13) Safely Conducted: Yes
14) Condition of Equipment: Outstanding
15) Food: N/A
16) Number of overall firearms’ related training classes for myself: Student – 8, Range Assistant/FoF Role Player - 3
17) Certificate issued: Yes
18) Training time: 8 hours
19) Written training plan: Yes Followed: Yes
20) Instructor to student ratio: 3/4
21) Round count: 313
22) Recommended: Yes
23) General comments: Pistol 2 is a follow on to POD’s Pistol 1 and I felt it to be aptly so. Class subjects covered or drilled, some copied directly from the course outline, included a Review of basic pistol marksmanship and accuracy check, Review of reloads and weapon handling, Malfunction reduction, Movement: Shooting while moving versus moving then shooting including Lateral movement, Multiple targets / target transitions, cadence, and more.

Diagnostics and feedback were included throughout which I specifically want. As in P1 I’ll say again that even though I’m very ammunition conservative I’d like to have seen the round count go higher. That is not for the sake of round count, itself, but for the additional critique opportunities from the POD team on any and all of the skills and drills.

I started off with the G17, but I continued to struggle with new, taller sights, indexing them upon presentation and shooting high with them. Within 2 drills I’d switched to Old Reliable, the G19. It served me well throughout the day and I never felt like I was handicapped with the smaller pistol. For at least the last 2 drills I switched to a KT-Mech kydex OWB holster and mounted an Inforce APL light to the G19.
I had one malfunction with the G19 combined with the Magpul magazine – cause unknown. It was either a failure to fully go into battery or a double-feed, but I treated it as a double-feed as that is what it looked like on the clock. I made a mess of recovery, but worked through it and got her done. Adrian said I should have to run a lap for the mess I made out of it, but I’d consider that a reward… Other than that all gear worked very well.

Adrian pointed out I was drawing and executing a Step 3/4 of a 4/5 point draw presentation instead of tipping out of the holster and presenting in a straight line. I’ve known this has been a problem for some time and struggle to correct it, especially at speed. So many things to dry fire… Pete noted that my first shot break should be closer to 1.5 where mine is 1.7. I’ve been stuck around 1.74 for some time. He suggested getting on the sights and breaking the shot as soon as possible at extension. Pete also noticed I was bringing my head and shoulders to the gun instead of bringing the gun up to line of sight. Possibly combining the draw correction, the goal time and the extension/presentation in dry fire I can work to 1.5. I’ll separate the head/shoulder issue for dry fire, also. On the Walk Back B/C Steel drill I made it to 65 or 85 yards, I cannot remember, but 70 is my normal with the G17 so if I say 75 with the G19 that is about average.

As noted above there were only 4 students to 3 instructors in this inaugural P2 class. My appreciation goes to the POD team for holding the class with such a low student number. I very much appreciated the extra attention that a 3/4 instructor/student ratio allowed. Class started on time and break, lunch and time, overall, were well managed.

The class was relatively local and the cost was very reasonable. I thoroughly enjoy the company of Pete, Mike and Adrian and enjoyed spending a day shooting with them. Whether good-naturedly poking fun at each other or, gently, the students they make the classes fun while still being very, very competent at teaching firearm handling skills. They are articulate, are responsive to communications, communicate well when doing so, and present a professional business front.