Never A Victim
Marksman
Defensive Shotun-Rangemaster 08/05/2016
This is my review of Defensive Shotgun taught by Tom Givens of Rangemaster. This course was held in Nappanee, Indiana on 08/05/2016, and was a one-day, 8-hour course.
This was my first introduction to training with a defensive shotgun and my first time training with Tom Givens. Both were long overdue. For this course, I was running my Remington 870 with an XS Big Dot front sight, SOE single point sling, and Magpul stock and forend. For ammo, I was using Sellier and Bellot 00 Buck and Winchester AA #9 birdshot. I had no gear failures during this course. The only shotgun to go down in the whole class was a semi automatic shotgun.
The day started out with a short lecture on this history, lethality, and considerations for ammunition selection. We soon hit the range and first we worked on building the muscle memory of racking the action (for those of us running pump shotguns) immediately after the shot broke. Another drill was used to emphasize port or emergency reloading, and we finished out the afternoon with a five-person team drill called “rolling thunder.” After lunch we switched to buckshot ammunition and started with some pattern work. Patterning your shotgun is a concept that was new to me. Tom explained it that every shotgun needs to be paired with buckshot that works best with its barrel and just because two Remington 870 shotguns are identical, doesn’t mean that they will pattern buckshot the same.
I learned a lot from this course, more than I expected. I felt myself becoming more familiar and confident with my shotgun. Shotgun fights are won and lost with the manipulation of the shotgun, more than the actual shooting part of the fight. Getting my shotgun out to the range at least a few times a year to work on manipulations alone will be very beneficial. I also learned just how critical it is to test your buckshot ammunition. The Sellier and Bellot buckshot I was using was total and complete garbage. Further than seven yards, my pattern opened up to the point of nearly missing the target. Tom explained the science behind a consistent buckshot pattern, and the Sellier and Bellot buckshot I was using was anything but consistent. At 15 yards and beyond, my pattern was so spread out I was putting a few pellets completely off of the target.
I would absolutely recommend training with Tom Givens. His real world experiences and down-to-the-point explanations really connected with me. Getting training with your shotgun is just as important as getting training with your rifle or pistol-yet most people never learn the correct way to run a shotgun. This can be a very effective tool, if you learn how to use it.
Take this course.
This is my review of Defensive Shotgun taught by Tom Givens of Rangemaster. This course was held in Nappanee, Indiana on 08/05/2016, and was a one-day, 8-hour course.
This was my first introduction to training with a defensive shotgun and my first time training with Tom Givens. Both were long overdue. For this course, I was running my Remington 870 with an XS Big Dot front sight, SOE single point sling, and Magpul stock and forend. For ammo, I was using Sellier and Bellot 00 Buck and Winchester AA #9 birdshot. I had no gear failures during this course. The only shotgun to go down in the whole class was a semi automatic shotgun.
The day started out with a short lecture on this history, lethality, and considerations for ammunition selection. We soon hit the range and first we worked on building the muscle memory of racking the action (for those of us running pump shotguns) immediately after the shot broke. Another drill was used to emphasize port or emergency reloading, and we finished out the afternoon with a five-person team drill called “rolling thunder.” After lunch we switched to buckshot ammunition and started with some pattern work. Patterning your shotgun is a concept that was new to me. Tom explained it that every shotgun needs to be paired with buckshot that works best with its barrel and just because two Remington 870 shotguns are identical, doesn’t mean that they will pattern buckshot the same.
I learned a lot from this course, more than I expected. I felt myself becoming more familiar and confident with my shotgun. Shotgun fights are won and lost with the manipulation of the shotgun, more than the actual shooting part of the fight. Getting my shotgun out to the range at least a few times a year to work on manipulations alone will be very beneficial. I also learned just how critical it is to test your buckshot ammunition. The Sellier and Bellot buckshot I was using was total and complete garbage. Further than seven yards, my pattern opened up to the point of nearly missing the target. Tom explained the science behind a consistent buckshot pattern, and the Sellier and Bellot buckshot I was using was anything but consistent. At 15 yards and beyond, my pattern was so spread out I was putting a few pellets completely off of the target.
I would absolutely recommend training with Tom Givens. His real world experiences and down-to-the-point explanations really connected with me. Getting training with your shotgun is just as important as getting training with your rifle or pistol-yet most people never learn the correct way to run a shotgun. This can be a very effective tool, if you learn how to use it.
Take this course.