Tactical Shotgun with Rob Haught.

[tackdrivr]

Day one.

Rob hails from West Virginia where he works as a LEO. He struck me as personable and professional. He put forth a markedly different approach than I'm used to regarding the tactical shotgun, and that's the good news.

The corner stone of Robs methodology is what he call the push pull method. The support side hand pushes forward towards the shotgun's muzzle and this technique dramatically reduces recoil. We fired a number of single and multiple shot strings to learn the technique. It really works great!


We fired responses to the left, right, and rear. Later in the day we shot the responses on the move. Rob's response rear is a toe spin in both directions. Simply rotate quickly on the ball of one foot. To tell you the truth it's one of the few response rears that I've seen that actually makes sense to me.


Rob's emergency reload (ejection port load) was to rotate the shotgun ejection port up and then throw a round into the chamber coming over the top. I was a little skeptical at first, but after a few reps it was clearly faster that going underneath. An open mind and the willingness to try new techniques can yield some impressive results.

I've never seen anyone run a pump gun like Rob. He's a truly amazing shooter. He fired off a few doubles that were so fast I didn't even see the action move. Very impressive.

Day two.

We started off the morning with a review of the first days material. Rob has a series of school drills that serve as a skills tune up and it only requires one box of bird shot.

1. Five single shots.
2. Five controlled pairs.
3. Five emergency reloads.
4. Five rounds from the CQB position.

The CQB position rotates the shotgun ejection port up. The butt stock is placed on top of the shoulder, which shortens up the overall length. Once the receiver is about an inch below the chin you press the shot. We were hitting from 10 yards using this technique. To clarify this point the gun is in the horizontal position when fired. (ejection port facing up). We worked movement drills from the CQB position and then broke for lunch.

The afternoon session consisted of individual movement drills, shot set ups. the school drills with buck shot, and a slug shoot off.

I was trying to remember the last time I did any serious shotgun training and I couldn't remember. I think it's been over a year. It's been way too long. I went in real rusty, but feel pretty well tuned up now. This is what I've been looking for. A lot of the classes I've taken have been the same ole same ole to an extent. This one offers a completely different perspective and I soaked it up like a sponge. That's not to say I'll adopt everything that's being put out, but it's very interesting and it's making me think, and reevaluate a few things. Some new tricks for the tool bag.


There were several guys from the Sure Fire suppressor division taking the class and we ended the day with a demo of their new suppressors for the M4 carbine. Very impressive.

Many thanks to Gun Site instructor Tim Lau for putting this program together. This was one of the better classes that I've taken. Many innovative techniques were put forth in an easy to remember format.

Good stuff!

Fred Darling