2015 ORA CQB Clinics

Thanks to Tim, Dave and the ORA for putting on the clinics this year. What luxury! Coffee and donuts, even a patio heater for Clinic 2.

Thanks to Pat Harrison for his excellent pistol instruction and also thanks to the experienced competitors for helping us newbies out.

I did all 3 clinics and I highly recommend them to anyone interested in CQB. Tons of fun and top notch training.
 
Clinic 2 at least (the only one I was able to attend) was excellent as always. The instructor is an accomplished competitive pistol shooter who has a knack for breaking down the fundamental elements for proper grip, stance and trigger manipulation to make accurate hits on demand.

It's a fantastic learning venue for those new to pistol shooting or those who are perhaps shaking off the winter rust. I personally recommend it.
 
Thanks to everyone who came out. It's always great to see at each clinic how folks have progressed from the clinic before and on Clinic 3 how everything comes together. Tim and Pat are fonts of knowledge and skilled at passing it on.
 
The ORA offers a series of CQB Clinics. The three days consists of specific rifle and pistol drills over two days with a final day devoted to practicing actual CQB stages. On the third day the newbies discovered that many of the drills were actually stages of a CQB match.

The initial drills are fundamentals of good pistol and carbine handling. Pat H. conducted the pistol training. His track record as a top level ISIC competitor established his credentials, but more importantly, he is a skilled teacher. Some top level shooters can’t teach others how they do it.

Each of us was there to address our own unique shortcomings. In my case, my carbine scores are generally pretty good, but I lose a lot of points on the pistol shoots. Several of the drills were perfect for my shortcomings.

First, I learned that I have to use the pad of my trigger finger, not the knuckle joint. When shooting quickly, using the joint caused shots to go wide to the left.

Speed is important for the pistol shoots. I usually don’t get to shoot my second pistol mag. Therefore the draw has to be smooth. The problem I have had was that when I pull the pistol I have to re-adjust my grip on the gun. I discovered I could get a good grip immediately by jamming my hand down on the gun in the holster.

The two hand grip requires the strong hand to wrap around the grip, applying for and aft pressure on the gun. The weak hand palm is on the exposed grip opposite the strong hand, applying compression to the two sides of the grip. Both thumbs are along the side of the frame, pointing forward. If there is not enough room for the palm of your weak hand, go up one size in adjustable back strap.

Pat had us shoot a group, taking all the time we wanted to shoot a perfect shot. Then he had us fire a shot with a quarter second of hearing a buzzer. In my case (and some others, too) the buzzer group was better. Apparently our brain gets in the way of shooting well. The significance of this is that I was wasting time trying to get a perfect first shot off. This wasted time plus made the shot worse than if I shot quickly.

The drills required us to draw pistols, sling rifles and reload both. One of the results was attention to our kit. Spare magazines have to come to and easily and our kit cannot get in the way. Most leg holsters were much too low. Many mags were too awkward to reach.

Most of us were much too slow in reloading our carbines. Tim said we should practice at home until we can reload and fire the next shot in 3 seconds.

Tim was a goldmine of tips. In addition to his shooting experience, he has been watching competitors for years and knows all the tricks. Particularly what works and what does not. Over the years I have tried a number of little tricks (contrary to his teaching) and eventually have come to the conclusion he was right.

In every CQB shoot I have at least once had an incidence where a mag was not properly seated and then either failed to feed or fell out of the gun. In every case, the unseated mag was inserted in a gun with a closed action, so the compression of the column of rounds makes it more difficult for the mag to latch. The only time we load mags into a closed action is at the start of a match. All the reloads occur with the action locked open. Tim confirmed that this problem can be solved by locking the carbine action open before the “Load” command. That way the mag will latch easily.
 
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These clnics are the best (un)kept secret. Full of information. What makes it truly work is the classroom to hands on to range practice. If you missed this year's, set yourself a reminder for next year.
 
What is going on with Service shoots for the ORA this year? It's April and I can't find a schedule anywhere.
 
SteelCap said:
These clnics are the best (un)kept secret. Full of information. What makes it truly work is the classroom to hands on to range practice. If you missed this year's, set yourself a reminder for next year.
Click to expand...

Hey Gin...your IN-BOX is full. Trying to message you. :)
 
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