This past weekend 8,9 JUN 2024 I attended an Appleseed pistolseed event at the Watervliet, MI Rod and Gun Club. This will not be a full report as I am just taking a quick break from getting ready to go North for the Central Lake Pin Shoot. I did however take copious notes so if there are any questions feel free to ask.
There were 9 students start the class on the morning of day 1 while 6 finished. A husband and wife team had other obligations for day 2 and the other lady it is my understanding felt too overwhelmed to continue. She was brand new to the pistol and this was probably a good call on her part . Our Shoot Boss was Kris Rich and he and the other instructors/assistants were all helpful, friendly and gave good presentations. As you may know this is a shooting class but also has lectures on Revolutionary War history. Even with that being the case, I shot 504 rounds on day 2, and I think a little over 200 on day 1. I am happy to say all of these rounds were shot with a purpose not just thrown away.
I took both of my IDPA Sig 320 variations. I was a little concerned about that as I knew this was an accuracy intensive class, but honestly these are my most comfortable guns to shoot. The rest of the class was probably an even mix between rimfire and center-fire.
The communication leading up to the event was very good with the Shoot Boss sending out a couple of emails giving very detailed descriptions of what to bring to class and what to do when you got there. I think this is very helpful, especially for those who haven't attended a class before.
Day 1 started as many do with an introduction and a very good health and safety briefing and medical plan. You had to repeat back a lot of the information including the range rules. That tripped me up a bit as their 4 range rules are not the same as the Cooper rules that most of us are used to. Well, not completely the same. They also talked about what we would be doing and introduced nomenclature.
We then got started by having everyone retrieve their pistols from their vehicles where they had been asked to leave them. No holsters were used for this class though I did use mag pouches. We then proceeded on to learning what was frankly a lot of good information including grip, stance, the steps to firing a good shot and other essentials. In between we did mostly live fire exercises that exampled what was being taught. Throughout the first day I think we shot a couple of their PQT's. It became clear that the curriculum was built around the test but that was ok because the test covers most of what someone looking to become proficient with a pistol needs to master.
After lunch we went over more History. As a History nerd I enjoyed this. Up next was malfunctions, then controlled pairs, and on to reloads and one handed shooting. More history and then we did an untimed PQT and a timed one. We ended the day with their Hits Count drill.
Day 2 started with safety reminders, a review of day 1 and then Hits Count. From there we moved into recoil control, more controlled pairs and some call the dot drills. We then had a lecture on the history of the pistol in America along with some fine specimens of the same brought out by Kris.
For the afternoon more drills supporting the instruction were done and individual attention was given. We ran the PQT a number of more times. By the end of the day, my Left hand was shaking too bad to be of much use. I am left handed. Other stuff happened and we ended the day with hits count.
I have to be honest, I mostly went to this class because a friend was teaching it and I wanted a Pistoleer patch. I was pleasantly surprised. It was fun, well run, informative, and for the most part taught current best practices. It was just what I needed after the last 3 years of just trying to get faster and I would not hesitate to recommend it to a gun owner who is familiar with the pistol but wants to get better.
.
There were 9 students start the class on the morning of day 1 while 6 finished. A husband and wife team had other obligations for day 2 and the other lady it is my understanding felt too overwhelmed to continue. She was brand new to the pistol and this was probably a good call on her part . Our Shoot Boss was Kris Rich and he and the other instructors/assistants were all helpful, friendly and gave good presentations. As you may know this is a shooting class but also has lectures on Revolutionary War history. Even with that being the case, I shot 504 rounds on day 2, and I think a little over 200 on day 1. I am happy to say all of these rounds were shot with a purpose not just thrown away.
I took both of my IDPA Sig 320 variations. I was a little concerned about that as I knew this was an accuracy intensive class, but honestly these are my most comfortable guns to shoot. The rest of the class was probably an even mix between rimfire and center-fire.
The communication leading up to the event was very good with the Shoot Boss sending out a couple of emails giving very detailed descriptions of what to bring to class and what to do when you got there. I think this is very helpful, especially for those who haven't attended a class before.
Day 1 started as many do with an introduction and a very good health and safety briefing and medical plan. You had to repeat back a lot of the information including the range rules. That tripped me up a bit as their 4 range rules are not the same as the Cooper rules that most of us are used to. Well, not completely the same. They also talked about what we would be doing and introduced nomenclature.
We then got started by having everyone retrieve their pistols from their vehicles where they had been asked to leave them. No holsters were used for this class though I did use mag pouches. We then proceeded on to learning what was frankly a lot of good information including grip, stance, the steps to firing a good shot and other essentials. In between we did mostly live fire exercises that exampled what was being taught. Throughout the first day I think we shot a couple of their PQT's. It became clear that the curriculum was built around the test but that was ok because the test covers most of what someone looking to become proficient with a pistol needs to master.
After lunch we went over more History. As a History nerd I enjoyed this. Up next was malfunctions, then controlled pairs, and on to reloads and one handed shooting. More history and then we did an untimed PQT and a timed one. We ended the day with their Hits Count drill.
Day 2 started with safety reminders, a review of day 1 and then Hits Count. From there we moved into recoil control, more controlled pairs and some call the dot drills. We then had a lecture on the history of the pistol in America along with some fine specimens of the same brought out by Kris.
For the afternoon more drills supporting the instruction were done and individual attention was given. We ran the PQT a number of more times. By the end of the day, my Left hand was shaking too bad to be of much use. I am left handed. Other stuff happened and we ended the day with hits count.
I have to be honest, I mostly went to this class because a friend was teaching it and I wanted a Pistoleer patch. I was pleasantly surprised. It was fun, well run, informative, and for the most part taught current best practices. It was just what I needed after the last 3 years of just trying to get faster and I would not hesitate to recommend it to a gun owner who is familiar with the pistol but wants to get better.
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