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Posted: 9/22/2014 9:47:39 PM EDT
Lighthorse Tactical Intermediate Handgun – Max Pistol (www.lighthorsetactical.com)

Instructors: John Baggett/Curt Carpenter

Date: 22 SEPT 14

Round Count: ~300 Handgun

Duration: 8 hours

Location: Double Tap Training Grounds Calera, AL (www.doubletapal.com)

BLUF: If you want to pick up some skills shooting your pistol with both accuracy and speed, this is an excellent class to do so. Unlike most classes that Lighthorse offers, this course has a bit more of a competition focus and less of a true “tactical” focus. A well maintained modern firearm (should) function reliably and as such the course is designed to allow shooters to find out how fast they can shoot accurately.  

First Block: The day started with intros, safety, and range rules - pretty standard stuff. The class was mostly composed of civilians with two LEOs and one .mil mixed in. We then moved on to a drill called “Fast Paws” designed to build up your draw speed to the point where everyone was able to draw from the holster to a firing position in under a second. Fast presentation of your blaster was the foundation of the class, and this block of instruction set everyone up for success.  

Second Block: The next block began with a baseline of how fast we could fire a six shot string into a standard paper plate from seven yards. Every shooter was timed, and this time was to be compared to our time later on during the day. Once our starting time was recorded, we moved on to decreasing our split times on the six shot strings. We began with one second splits, then half second, then quarter second. Throughout this exercise, everyone discovered that they could shoot faster and more accurately than they had originally believed – they just needed to be pushed.

Third Block: Next up were more speed drills, all for time. The standards got higher and the targets got smaller, all forcing you to push your limits/find where they are. If your shots started to fall outside of the target area, it’s time to pull in the reins and slow down. For reference, most of the drills ran up to this point were from the seven yard line, but this was about to change.  

Fourth Block: The next drill up was the “shifter” drill. There was a half scale IPSC placed at the seven yard line, the 15 yard line, and a full scale IPSC placed at the 25. You fired four rounds on each target, for time of course. The idea was to use to one, half, and quarter second splits learned earlier while engaging the targets at the seven, 15 and 25 yard line. Everyone ran through this drill a few times, then it was on to a variation of it, except this time reloading was involved. Again, everyone got a few runs at this drill as well.  

Fifth Block: Next was shooting on the move. We moved over to the paper plates again to work on good technique for shooting on the move. On the command of “MOVE” you began walking forward, with your pistol in the low ready, and fired four rounds on the “THREAT” command. Once everyone was comfortable with this, shooting on the move was combined with the shifter drill. Using the same target setup as the shifter, you walked from the starting line to the target at the seven, firing four rounds into the target. You then reloaded on the move, and fired four rounds as you moved towards the target at the 15 yard line, and repeated the same process for the target on the 25 yard line.  

Sixth Block: Last up was the out test. You were required to run to the shooting box, put four rounds on an IPSC target, then put two hits on eight different pieces of steel. You had a certain number of rounds and a certain amount of time to finish the course. This was a good test as you got your heart rate up on the sprint, then had to immediately focus to put the hits on the IPSC target. Once the required number of hits were on the IPSC, you had to transition to the steel which was where you needed to shoot quickly to make up the time required to pass.  

Summary: I’m sure most of us spend our time practicing the things we are already good at rather than working on skills outside our comfort zone, and this class is an outstanding opportunity to find where your limits are in regards to your ability to shoot as fast possible while still maintaining an acceptable level of accuracy. Whether you are a game shooter or someone who is using a firearm to defend their home, putting accurate rounds on target as fast as possible translates across all disciplines of shooting and is something that everyone should work on. John and Curt did an excellent job making everyone push their limits, whether it was their second or 22nd class. Max Pistol is another outstanding class from LHT – take the class, your time and money will be well spent.

Gear: Sig Sauer TACOPs 1911 with TLR-1 in a DSG Arms Alpha kydex holster and a DSG Arms double mag pouch with a DSG Arms 1.5” belt supporting it all.
Link Posted: 9/22/2014 10:06:41 PM EDT
[#1]
Great write up. I attended this class as well and also had a great time. I got a chance to meet a lot of nice people and great shooters. Lighthorse  is money well spent and Curt has yet to disappoint.
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