This will be my AAR for Controlled Chaos Arms Tactical Pistol 1 course which I took on May 25/26 2013. Bottom line up front - this is a terrific pistol course, and I learned even more my second time through. I recommend it without hesitation to anyone who carries a concealed pistol on a daily basis or anyone who shoots IDPA/IPSC/etc.
I have taken eight non-CCA pistol courses in the past three years, and practice marksmanship at my local range about twice per month. I’ve never been to a pistol competition, but I think it looks like fun. I enjoy shooting, carry concealed daily, and enjoy taking training courses.
The instructor for CCA’s pistol courses is a police officer from the Des Moines, Iowa area, and is on his department’s tactical team. Not only does he train regularly with his team, he also trains on his own time and dime with other schools. He understands that there is no “end” to training or improving one’s skill set. It is a continuous journey for all of us. He is absolutely competent, a patriot, and beneath his warrior surface, a gentleman.
Upon arriving on day 1, we were greeted with thunderstorms. It continued to rain throughout the weekend, but thankfully there was no immediate lightning in our area, so we trained in the rain. This was a good test of our rain gear. It was also a good test of our mental discipline. It’s easy to explore our limitations on the range when it’s warm and sunny, but when it’s cold and wet, it’s hard enough to just maintain a beginner level of competence. Nonetheless, man cards were earned, and hopefully the weather gods will bless those of us who soldiered on with pleasant range days in the near future.
CCA’s tactical pistol 1 course is primarily a skill building course, with a fair amount of tactics and mindset interspersed throughout the weekend. Marksmanship drills comprise the bulk of the weekend, and both accuracy and speed are emphasized. Moreover, some of the drills incorporate sprinting and quick lateral movement, which deteriorate our ability to make hits.
The marksmanship drills varied in nature. We started by shooting from five yards at a one inch piece of tape, and tried to keep a magazine in one hole. At the other extreme, we set up a standard IDPA steel silhouette and walked back from 40 yards, 50 yards, etc, all the way back to about 100 yards. Keeping 10 shots in one inch at five yards, and getting a hit on steel at 100 yards, are both hard. In both cases, the front sight takes up most of the target. Nonetheless, they are good drills to force us to concentrate on perfect sight alignment and trigger control, as well as keeping a crystal clear focus on the front sight.
Shooting a pistol at 100 yards is something I’ve only done at the CCA range in Iowa. While it is statistically not the distance any of us will likely ever have to shoot a threat, it is reassuring to know that it is possible. I’m reminded of the IHOP active shooter from a couple years ago. There was a citizen with a concealed pistol who saw the shooter walking outside on the sidewalk, but did not fire because he didn’t think he would be able to make a hit. I don’t know if I could hit a moving person at that distance either, but I’m glad to know it is not impossible.
The speed drills also varied in nature. They were all done under timed pressure, and incorporated drawing from concealment and getting hits on steel from various distances. We also incorporated several steel targets at various distances from the shooter and from each other. Some of the drills had us engage all three, and others incorporated quick lateral movement. Some drills even had regular target stands with hostage targets which partially obscured the steels.
This was the second time I’ve taken CCA’s tactical pistol 1 course. There was only one other student besides myself at this class, and he was also in last year’s tactical pistol 1 class. As such, we had a little extra time to incorporate some extra drills. Two of the new drills we did this year came from Pat McNamara. We did his Grid of Fire and his 50/30/20 drill, except we did it from 75/50/25 yards. Here are a couple URLs for YouTube if you want to see Pat run them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqwCxlMkQ9Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSV99E57VgE I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend down at CCA. While I will continue to train with as many different companies and instructors as I can, they have definitely earned a permanent place in my training schedule. They have a tactical pistol 2 course scheduled in November, and I will definitely be in attendance.
