Guys -
I wanted to take a few moments to give a review of a one on one precision rifle class I had with John Boyette (Owner/Instructor of the Trace Armory Group). This is long over due as it's been a few weeks since the class but life gets busy.
If you haven't met John before he's a great guy. He's very knowledgeable in many disciplines, energetic, personable and a competent instructor. I did a lot of research for instructors in the area and found John offered exactly what I wanted and was pretty close to me.
Quick info on me. I'm just a regular guy that likes to shoot. The only formal training I've ever had was a couple of pistol courses designed for civilians. I shot my first match at the July Juniper Swamp Tactical match. Awesome match and while it was my first match and was very humbling, it was also encouraging. I've since shot another match and I can tell you everyone that shows up to these matches are good people. So I was "humbled" at the JST match and the next day I took the Advanced Mildot/MOA reticle class. http://www.tracearmory.com/advanced-mil-dot.html This is where I got my first taste of how John teaches. I found John to be a great instructor that broke down complex tasks into simple building blocks. This approach works very well. It's like the talk, walk run and works wonders for simpletons like me.
I contacted John about some 1 on 1 training. His rates are VERY reasonable. Check 'em out : http://www.tracearmory.com/training-costs.html To be quite honest, it was worth the couple extra bucks to have 1:1 training with John. I got a huge proverbial bang for my buck.
I met up with John at his range and we spent the morning in the classroom and the afternoon on the range applying what I learned in the morning.
We covered:
Safety Brief and range overview
Overview of the rifle and this really helped John get a feel for where I was with my knowledge
Discussed proper maintenance/cleaning
Checked my equipment out
Checked the fit of the rifle/scope to my body
How to deploy the rifle
Prone position
Building my cheek weld (worth a LOT)
Target acquisition
Natural Point of Aim
Recoil management (A genius way of checking this)
Using a rear bag
Putting it all together to go from standing to prone
Standing position
Kneeling position
Sitting positions
Transitions to/from each position
What I call sling school (a lot of things clicked here)
Alternate positions
Review of the 'Advanced Mildot/MOA reticle class' (basically answered the questions after I practiced what I was taught)
Using a mildot master
Ballistics of my round
Bullet flight
Mechanical offset
Discussed picking a 'zero'
Parallax adjustment and why it's important
Using a data book (an entire class in itself)
How to 'practice'
Then it was time for lunch. I had a good time grabbing a quick bite to each with John. It wasn't an awkward lunch. It was like hanging out with one of my friends. He's a shooter and swapped stories but if I had questions, they were answered. John was constantly asking me "what have you learned so far" which kept me on top of what I learned and reinforced it. Such an excellent idea.
Now it was time to hit the range and apply what I had learned. The range session was outstanding. I applied all of the fundamentals we covered in the morning. John of course corrected me and made sure I understood everything I was doing right and wrong.
We confirmed my zero (which had shifted, damnit!) but once we know where I was, we used the reticle to tell us how much to move and dial etc. I made my call and John confirmed. It wasn't "hey do this" it was a "I see this in my reticle" and I made the adjustments. That's important to me because this wasn't "do this, do that" it was more of an "apply what you've learned" and immediate instructor feedback. I felt like I had a solid understanding of what to do and why vs. just following orders.
Each shot I filled out my data book for where I called the shot, where it hit and what I did right or wrong. You have to be honest with yourself and plot things correctly. Learning this process was really important to me. My range sessions before were no where near this useful. Now I had the right skills to practice.
We gathered dope out to 300yds for my rifle and my load. We did this in a unique way. We confirmed my zero at 100yds. So we shot 6 rounds and plotted each in my databook. We alternated between shooting at 100yds and 200yds. So 1 @ 100, 1 @ 200 and then alternating each shot at each line. I plotted each shot each time. Then we went and saw the targets. I have to say, I was humbled with my shooting. John adjusted a few things I was doing, reminded me of the fundamentals and what he saw me doing. We repeated this process and when it was all said and done, I had some stupid tight groups. These weren't fired 3 back to back, they were alternating between the lines (100,200,300).
At the end, I had an incredible amount of confidence in my ability to hit the targets, drop into a good position, know when I jacked up my position and how to rebuild it, adjust between all yard lines and was shooting 1/4 - 1/3 MOA groups like I had never done before.
We then practiced alternate positions, shooting from barricades, using my sling (very helpful). I was shooting a bolt gun and John had his AR10. I'm interested in shooting a gasser and he gave me a quick run down of how the system worked, how it differs from a bolt gun and how to drive it differently. I shot his rifle and used his ammo (thanks John) and now I have another rifle on the list
Here's the one target my dog hasn't managed to eat yet:
So, this is what we did during a 1:1 training class. I was worn the heck out afterwards. I learned so much. We had a 30-45 min conversation after we packed up. We talked through everything I learned and reviewed. John answered any questions I had (and believe me, I'm not shy on asking questions). I think I shot about 40 rounds during the afternoon.
This training class was highly effective for me. It was 1:1 instruction tailored to my specific needs (both what I knew I wanted and what John clearly knew I needed) and an absolutely bargain price. My review definitely doesn't do this training justice. It was an outstanding class that produced results, ingrained confidence and most importantly made me a better shooter. I just don't see how this could be beat. If you're interested in top notch instruction in the NC area, you really owe it to yourself to give John a call or send him an email. I plan to look to John and the Trace Armory Group for my future training.
Let me know if you have any questions.
I wanted to take a few moments to give a review of a one on one precision rifle class I had with John Boyette (Owner/Instructor of the Trace Armory Group). This is long over due as it's been a few weeks since the class but life gets busy.
If you haven't met John before he's a great guy. He's very knowledgeable in many disciplines, energetic, personable and a competent instructor. I did a lot of research for instructors in the area and found John offered exactly what I wanted and was pretty close to me.
Quick info on me. I'm just a regular guy that likes to shoot. The only formal training I've ever had was a couple of pistol courses designed for civilians. I shot my first match at the July Juniper Swamp Tactical match. Awesome match and while it was my first match and was very humbling, it was also encouraging. I've since shot another match and I can tell you everyone that shows up to these matches are good people. So I was "humbled" at the JST match and the next day I took the Advanced Mildot/MOA reticle class. http://www.tracearmory.com/advanced-mil-dot.html This is where I got my first taste of how John teaches. I found John to be a great instructor that broke down complex tasks into simple building blocks. This approach works very well. It's like the talk, walk run and works wonders for simpletons like me.
I contacted John about some 1 on 1 training. His rates are VERY reasonable. Check 'em out : http://www.tracearmory.com/training-costs.html To be quite honest, it was worth the couple extra bucks to have 1:1 training with John. I got a huge proverbial bang for my buck.
I met up with John at his range and we spent the morning in the classroom and the afternoon on the range applying what I learned in the morning.
We covered:
Safety Brief and range overview
Overview of the rifle and this really helped John get a feel for where I was with my knowledge
Discussed proper maintenance/cleaning
Checked my equipment out
Checked the fit of the rifle/scope to my body
How to deploy the rifle
Prone position
Building my cheek weld (worth a LOT)
Target acquisition
Natural Point of Aim
Recoil management (A genius way of checking this)
Using a rear bag
Putting it all together to go from standing to prone
Standing position
Kneeling position
Sitting positions
Transitions to/from each position
What I call sling school (a lot of things clicked here)
Alternate positions
Review of the 'Advanced Mildot/MOA reticle class' (basically answered the questions after I practiced what I was taught)
Using a mildot master
Ballistics of my round
Bullet flight
Mechanical offset
Discussed picking a 'zero'
Parallax adjustment and why it's important
Using a data book (an entire class in itself)
How to 'practice'
Then it was time for lunch. I had a good time grabbing a quick bite to each with John. It wasn't an awkward lunch. It was like hanging out with one of my friends. He's a shooter and swapped stories but if I had questions, they were answered. John was constantly asking me "what have you learned so far" which kept me on top of what I learned and reinforced it. Such an excellent idea.
Now it was time to hit the range and apply what I had learned. The range session was outstanding. I applied all of the fundamentals we covered in the morning. John of course corrected me and made sure I understood everything I was doing right and wrong.
We confirmed my zero (which had shifted, damnit!) but once we know where I was, we used the reticle to tell us how much to move and dial etc. I made my call and John confirmed. It wasn't "hey do this" it was a "I see this in my reticle" and I made the adjustments. That's important to me because this wasn't "do this, do that" it was more of an "apply what you've learned" and immediate instructor feedback. I felt like I had a solid understanding of what to do and why vs. just following orders.
Each shot I filled out my data book for where I called the shot, where it hit and what I did right or wrong. You have to be honest with yourself and plot things correctly. Learning this process was really important to me. My range sessions before were no where near this useful. Now I had the right skills to practice.
We gathered dope out to 300yds for my rifle and my load. We did this in a unique way. We confirmed my zero at 100yds. So we shot 6 rounds and plotted each in my databook. We alternated between shooting at 100yds and 200yds. So 1 @ 100, 1 @ 200 and then alternating each shot at each line. I plotted each shot each time. Then we went and saw the targets. I have to say, I was humbled with my shooting. John adjusted a few things I was doing, reminded me of the fundamentals and what he saw me doing. We repeated this process and when it was all said and done, I had some stupid tight groups. These weren't fired 3 back to back, they were alternating between the lines (100,200,300).
At the end, I had an incredible amount of confidence in my ability to hit the targets, drop into a good position, know when I jacked up my position and how to rebuild it, adjust between all yard lines and was shooting 1/4 - 1/3 MOA groups like I had never done before.
We then practiced alternate positions, shooting from barricades, using my sling (very helpful). I was shooting a bolt gun and John had his AR10. I'm interested in shooting a gasser and he gave me a quick run down of how the system worked, how it differs from a bolt gun and how to drive it differently. I shot his rifle and used his ammo (thanks John) and now I have another rifle on the list
Here's the one target my dog hasn't managed to eat yet:
So, this is what we did during a 1:1 training class. I was worn the heck out afterwards. I learned so much. We had a 30-45 min conversation after we packed up. We talked through everything I learned and reviewed. John answered any questions I had (and believe me, I'm not shy on asking questions). I think I shot about 40 rounds during the afternoon.
This training class was highly effective for me. It was 1:1 instruction tailored to my specific needs (both what I knew I wanted and what John clearly knew I needed) and an absolutely bargain price. My review definitely doesn't do this training justice. It was an outstanding class that produced results, ingrained confidence and most importantly made me a better shooter. I just don't see how this could be beat. If you're interested in top notch instruction in the NC area, you really owe it to yourself to give John a call or send him an email. I plan to look to John and the Trace Armory Group for my future training.
Let me know if you have any questions.
