spacecoast
February 2, 2011, 08:55 PM
This past weekend I had the opportunity to take a 6-hour tactical shotgun/pistol training class offered by Executive Solutions in South Florida. The lead instructor is a British army veteran who has been training individuals worldwide for over 20 years.
I had previously taken an Advanced Defensive Handgun course from this same instructor, and some of the basic exercises were similar - shooting while moving forward/backward and side-to-side (crab-walking right to left), shooting from standing and from one knee/two knee positions. We added safely getting into and shooting from the prone position - shooting 12 gauge slugs from your stomach is a pretty eye opening experience.
We also learned and practiced reloading techniques, and how to transition from the shotgun to the pistol, either dropping the shotgun if your sling design permitted (for two-handed pistol) or otherwise dropping the shotgun to your side in one hand and shooting your pistol one-handed.
Topics included in the course included a discussion of sling design - single, dual and triple mounts, and the advantages/disadvantages of each (triple is actually the most versatile but nobody had this kind of sling). For all-day carrying, a dual-point sling is preferred because it offers the most carry options and the best opportunity to get the shotgun out of your way. I found that with my Remington 870 slung over my left shoulder with the barrel pointed down (the "Rhodesian" carry), it was extremely easy to grab the forestock, unsling and bring the gun up quickly to my right shoulder.
I learned a lot in the class about my shotgun and about other designs. To make my old wood-stocked 870 more "tactical", I had added a cheap plastic mag extension for a total of 7+1 capacity, along with a barrel/extension clamp that included a sling swivel. Unfortunately, the barrel clamp loosened after a couple of dozen rounds and needed to be reinstalled. With the clamp tightened more, so it wouldn't loosen, there was a binding effect on the plastic mag extension and the magazine would sometimes fail to feed all its rounds. The feed problem would clear up if the clamp was loosened a bit. The lesson learned was that a steel mag extension works best. I also found that the design of the old 870 is prone to jam when loading rounds if you don't push the shell all the way into the magazine past the little pin which holds the rounds in place. If you don't push far enough, the shell can slide forward under the "flap" that covers the opening to the magazine and the pump jams up. This condition required taking the gun apart on several occasions to free things up. Good lessons learned.
I also learned that semi-auto shotguns, at least the ones brought to the course, do not work well with "practice" birdshot rounds or even with standard 2-3/4" 00 buckshot. There was quite a scramble in the morning to find slug or military-grade buckshot ammo to cause the guns to cycle correctly, and a lot of frustration on the part of the three shooters who brought them. The instructor came up with a couple of extra pump shotguns and we got through the rest of the day.
All together, I shot a total of about 120 birdshot rounds, and about 20 rounds each of buckshot and rifled slugs. It was my first time shooting slugs and I was impressed at their accuracy even in the hands of a novice with an 18" barrel and a simple bead sight. My shoulder wasn't as sore as I expected through all that shooting. I had several months ago replaced the old hard rubber buttpad on my 40 year old Remington with a Limb Saver pad that probably saved a lot of wear and tear on my shoulder.
We ended the day with some pretty cool scenarios involving moving around barrels and shooting multiple targets. When our shotgun ran out of ammo on the first stage, we "heard" someone screaming for help and ran at top speed to another shooting area, where we magically discovered another shotgun waiting for us, but empty. After loading as quickly as possible, we had to move and knock down five bowling pins with the five rounds we had just loaded. Pretty fun stuff, and also harder than it sounds.
I had previously taken an Advanced Defensive Handgun course from this same instructor, and some of the basic exercises were similar - shooting while moving forward/backward and side-to-side (crab-walking right to left), shooting from standing and from one knee/two knee positions. We added safely getting into and shooting from the prone position - shooting 12 gauge slugs from your stomach is a pretty eye opening experience.
We also learned and practiced reloading techniques, and how to transition from the shotgun to the pistol, either dropping the shotgun if your sling design permitted (for two-handed pistol) or otherwise dropping the shotgun to your side in one hand and shooting your pistol one-handed.
Topics included in the course included a discussion of sling design - single, dual and triple mounts, and the advantages/disadvantages of each (triple is actually the most versatile but nobody had this kind of sling). For all-day carrying, a dual-point sling is preferred because it offers the most carry options and the best opportunity to get the shotgun out of your way. I found that with my Remington 870 slung over my left shoulder with the barrel pointed down (the "Rhodesian" carry), it was extremely easy to grab the forestock, unsling and bring the gun up quickly to my right shoulder.
I learned a lot in the class about my shotgun and about other designs. To make my old wood-stocked 870 more "tactical", I had added a cheap plastic mag extension for a total of 7+1 capacity, along with a barrel/extension clamp that included a sling swivel. Unfortunately, the barrel clamp loosened after a couple of dozen rounds and needed to be reinstalled. With the clamp tightened more, so it wouldn't loosen, there was a binding effect on the plastic mag extension and the magazine would sometimes fail to feed all its rounds. The feed problem would clear up if the clamp was loosened a bit. The lesson learned was that a steel mag extension works best. I also found that the design of the old 870 is prone to jam when loading rounds if you don't push the shell all the way into the magazine past the little pin which holds the rounds in place. If you don't push far enough, the shell can slide forward under the "flap" that covers the opening to the magazine and the pump jams up. This condition required taking the gun apart on several occasions to free things up. Good lessons learned.
I also learned that semi-auto shotguns, at least the ones brought to the course, do not work well with "practice" birdshot rounds or even with standard 2-3/4" 00 buckshot. There was quite a scramble in the morning to find slug or military-grade buckshot ammo to cause the guns to cycle correctly, and a lot of frustration on the part of the three shooters who brought them. The instructor came up with a couple of extra pump shotguns and we got through the rest of the day.
All together, I shot a total of about 120 birdshot rounds, and about 20 rounds each of buckshot and rifled slugs. It was my first time shooting slugs and I was impressed at their accuracy even in the hands of a novice with an 18" barrel and a simple bead sight. My shoulder wasn't as sore as I expected through all that shooting. I had several months ago replaced the old hard rubber buttpad on my 40 year old Remington with a Limb Saver pad that probably saved a lot of wear and tear on my shoulder.
We ended the day with some pretty cool scenarios involving moving around barrels and shooting multiple targets. When our shotgun ran out of ammo on the first stage, we "heard" someone screaming for help and ran at top speed to another shooting area, where we magically discovered another shotgun waiting for us, but empty. After loading as quickly as possible, we had to move and knock down five bowling pins with the five rounds we had just loaded. Pretty fun stuff, and also harder than it sounds.