AAR - Pistol Clinic in Thurmont, MD October 1-2, 2022

[kniwolf]

Thurmont Conservation & Sportsman's Club hosted our second event at the club this past weekend with 9 shooters joining us for a weekend of pistol marksmanship instruction and history!

Temperatures were in the mid 50's and it was mostly rain all weekend long due to remnants of Hurricane Ian.  Thankfully, we had enough canopies to cover the firing line, the equipment line, and some spaces in between which kept students (and instructors) relatively dry. 

Saturday kicked off with the Red Coat target which showed that this class definitely had some skill, but also had some room for improvement. We started with instruction and drills to build core skills - stance, grip, 6 steps to firing a shot, and trigger control. As groups improved significantly, we started adding smooth reloads, controlled pairs, target transitions, one-handed shooting, and rapid fire.  We then broke up the instruction, demos, and shooting with a fantastic First Strike by BBQ_Bandit and his Second Strike at lunch.

With significant progress shown by all students, we put up our first PQTs of the weekend. Tom L led the charge with a 218, followed closely by our own Aaron K (Double-A-Ron) with a 215.  Also, Logan R came to this event with a plan (and a new pistol), and it paid off with a 213.  We had a few other students come close on the first day, notably Mike B. with a 181. 

As the rain continued to come down, we shifted gears and put up our final Red Coat of the day. Two students cleaned the target, and in total 3 Maryland Immortal 400 patches were handed out on Saturday.

Sunday started with quick instructional recaps and a fresh Red Coat target.  Rest and recovery proved beneficial for the class, as we had many students showing improvement over the prior days' redcoats.  One student repeated their performance from the prior day and cleared the target again.  We jumped right into a PQT, forgoing some of the warmup drills due to some prior student feedback.  This proved successful, as we had quite a few requalification's right off the bat, along with a few other students knocking on the Pistoleer™'s door.  Definitely a great way to start off day 2 of the event!

We were able to squeeze in two more PQTs before lunch, broken up by kniwolf's Onion of Self Defense presentation.  The class was attentive throughout and participated quite a bit in the discussion of the Onion, which showed that the concepts were really hitting home.

Another PQT was had, and then it was time to break for Lunch. Off_paper presented an incredible 3rd Strike of the Match!  Students had plenty of follow-up questions about specific aspects of the events; it was great to see them so captivated by the story and engaged!  This was followed up with kniwolf's Hoster Demo & considerations, that also generated a ton of discussion and questions.

After lunch, it was back to the PQT grind.  Folks were showing significant improvement over Saturday's scores (especially Alex I and Eric S).  Thi and Sang P also made very good progress throughout the weekend, especially after some changes to a back strap and a nuanced grip review.

In between PQTs, we ran a big dot/little dot competition, which ended in a tie between Tom L and Aaron K!  Catch-10-22 then laid out the sudden death shoot off challenge, which was a shot for shot Red Coat target, with a COF of  3 hits in all tombstones, and then as many hits as possible in the button.  Both students made it to the button, where Aaron K made it out on top! 

The last red coat of the day fell victim to Logan R, who was able to clean the target and earn his Maryland Immortal 400 patch.

Mike B got so close, with repeat scores of 196, and a few others in the 180s.  Our own Aaron K (Double-A-Ron) consistently requalified, with a 227, 210, 216, and a 220.  Jamie P (a new pistol shooter), proved that she was a natural shooter with consistently scoring incredibly well in stage 5, but mag changes eluded her for most of day 2 (to be fair, Ruger 22/45 mag changes are quite difficult under time).  She pulled off a 207 with completely missing out on the second mag of stage 2.  She persisted as any Pistoleer™ would, and on the final PQT of the day she was able to successfully complete a mag change on stage 2 and achieve a 218!

Logan R. took high score for the weekend, with a 235 (x2!), along with scores of 214, 223, and 233 (all centerfire with a dot).  Tom L (a distinguished rifleman who has a few 250 patches) also proved that he knew well what he was about with scores of 227 and 218 with a rimfire dot, who then switched to a centerfire with irons and requalified with a 213 and a 214.

I can't say how thankful I am for the dedication and attention that the students showed throughout the weekend.  The rain and the colder weather could've put a damper on the whole event, but everyone stayed focused and positive.  The jovial mindset and humorous banter went a long way to make this one of the best Pistol Clinics that I've had the privilege of being a part of.

I highly encourage you all to practice what you learned with both live and dry fire. Working under the pressure of the clock is something that some practice can also overcome. Everyone showed they had what it took!

I also really appreciated the strong instructor presence and participation that made this a safe and successful event.   BBQ_Bandit made this history memorable and wears his new Red Hat well. Off_paper did a phenomenal job with both history and student assistance, and I received many comments from students throughout the day praising him. Catch-10-22 provided strong leadership (as usual), along with providing a good portion of the core instruction AND solid live fire demos, all while suffering the effects of jet lag.  He also fell on his sword and scored most of the targets throughout the weekend.  ProgressNotPerfection was able to come out on Sunday and made her debut as line boss, to which she performed those duties admirably.    Thank you all so much - we couldn't have done it without each and every one of you.

Pictures are available in an online album here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XXrHq2HioFz8MNMcA

Hope to see you on the line at a future event!