What ever is old is new again.
I took my Black Badge the first time in the winter of 1992 at the old Trillium Sports range in Gormley. Every Saturday evening for 8 weeks, 10 of us gathered at closing time and ran drills until the wee small hours.
The master instructor was Brian McGee, who still stands out as a fantastic coach and instructor. Luke to his Obi-Wan was a friend of mine from highschool, the notoiously private individual we lovingly refer to as Mr. Clean. I believe this was Mr. Clean's first course as instructor of record, and for a newbie, he did damned fine back in the day.
This weekend, after a 8 year absence from the sport, I once again took the BB. Once again, Mr. Clean was the instructor, along with BMW who I met for the first time.
The years have seen a few changes.
Back in the day, Weaver was king. Today, Weaver is fallback if the wheels fall off the cart.
Back in the day, 1911 in .45 was king. Today they seem to be reserved for demonstrating immediate action drills. OK, maybe not 100% fair, but this course they made up less than 50% of the guns and 75% of the jams.
Back in 1992, Desert Storm I was in full bloom, and everyone was #####ing about the cost and availablity of ammo. In 2008 Desert Storm II is in housekeeping mode, and we're #####ing about the cost and availability of ammo.
Back in the day, many cows died to keep us in belts and holsters. In 2008 Kydex and Nylon rule.
In 1992, cast lead .45 swc were high tech. In 2008, jacketed or electroplate seem to rule.
In this class, the talent seems to have improved. More of the class seemed to make time and accuracy on the first pass.
I took my Black Badge the first time in the winter of 1992 at the old Trillium Sports range in Gormley. Every Saturday evening for 8 weeks, 10 of us gathered at closing time and ran drills until the wee small hours.
The master instructor was Brian McGee, who still stands out as a fantastic coach and instructor. Luke to his Obi-Wan was a friend of mine from highschool, the notoiously private individual we lovingly refer to as Mr. Clean. I believe this was Mr. Clean's first course as instructor of record, and for a newbie, he did damned fine back in the day.
This weekend, after a 8 year absence from the sport, I once again took the BB. Once again, Mr. Clean was the instructor, along with BMW who I met for the first time.
The years have seen a few changes.
Back in the day, Weaver was king. Today, Weaver is fallback if the wheels fall off the cart.
Back in the day, 1911 in .45 was king. Today they seem to be reserved for demonstrating immediate action drills. OK, maybe not 100% fair, but this course they made up less than 50% of the guns and 75% of the jams.
Back in 1992, Desert Storm I was in full bloom, and everyone was #####ing about the cost and availablity of ammo. In 2008 Desert Storm II is in housekeeping mode, and we're #####ing about the cost and availability of ammo.
Back in the day, many cows died to keep us in belts and holsters. In 2008 Kydex and Nylon rule.
In 1992, cast lead .45 swc were high tech. In 2008, jacketed or electroplate seem to rule.
In this class, the talent seems to have improved. More of the class seemed to make time and accuracy on the first pass.
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I think I gave him, and everyone else a few grey hair that weekend!
