Last weekend, my wife and I attended Moving Paper Clinic Levels 1 and 2, taught by Pete Rensing from United Shooting Sports Leagues, at Pro Gun near Las Vegas, Nevada. For those that don’t know Pete, he is a USPSA GM and the founder of the United Shooting Sports Leagues.
http://ussleagues.com/league/
I knew Pete from shooting at Pro Gun, but never have had a chance to take a class with him. My wife has been focused on increasing her experience and skills shooting moving paper, so when this class was announced, we both jumped at the opportunity to take it. The Level 1 class started with a classroom session, where we got the theory. The major take away, was that with very little variation, it takes 1.5 seconds from the time you hit an activating popper, to when a moving target appears. That goes for swingers, max traps and clamshells. As to how fast a swinger moves, that is largely a function of the length of the 1x2 slats that hold the paper target, with the shorter the slat the faster the swinger.
Hold the 1.5 seconds for level 2, but the goal of the Level 1 class, was to be able to place two A zone hits on a swinger, Max trap and clamshell. Out at the range, Pete and his two assistant instructors, Jerimy and Mike, had set up five shooting boxes with three different swinger scenarios, a clam shell and Max trap. Working as pairs of two shooters, we sequentially moved through each of the moving targets, building confidence at placing good hits on the moving targets. Throughout the session, Pete had us loaded with just the exact number of rounds we needed for the exercise, making it effectively Virginia count, so if you dropped a shot you were unable to complete the drill. Seems like he and JJ Racaza share the same philosophy on demanding absolute accuracy.
After a lunch break, we continued with the Level 2 class, where the goal was not just to be able to place two accurate hits on the movers, but also to take advantage of the 1.5 seconds between the activating popper and the appearance of the mover, to engage an eight inch steel and place two shots on a demanding paper target. To get there, we worked up by first engaging just the steel, or just the paper, between activation and the moving target. As we accomplished that, we went to activator, small steel, two on paper, and then the mover. We were always loaded with six rounds, so if you missed any shot, you failed the drill.
My wife was giddy at being able to not only confidently place shots on steel, but to be able to place three demanding shots after the activator, and still be waiting for the moving paper. The culmination of the class, was a combined stage with all five stations, again Virginia count, where you shot five poppers, five small steel, five stationary papers, three swingers, a drop turner, a clam shell and a Max trap. Here I am running the “final exam:”
By the end of the day, my wife and I were wupped, having shot more movers in one day than you would encounter in several years of matches, and the instructors were equally tired as they worked non stop coaching and resetting. We give Pete and his guys a 10 for the class and highly recommend it to anyone interested in increasing their knowledge of and skill shooting moving paper. Here is Pete and my wife at day’s end.
Reply With Quote
