From a student's / friend's patreon page:
Cougar Mountain Solutions
Pistol Mounted Optics Instructor (hybrid - L/E & normal human)
6/9-11/23
Dallas Pistol Club, Carrollton, TX
Cougar Mountain Solutions PMO Instructor Class
This last weekend I attended the CMS (link) Pistol Mounted Optic class at Dallas Pistol Club presented by longtime LEO and PMO subject matter expert Erick Gelhaus. Disclaimer!!! I do have some bias as Erick is a friend of mine and has been for several years but we are also good enough friends that we can be brutally honest without it being a personal. Because that’s how professionals work together and friends appreciate each other.
A little about my background with PMO’s.
I mounted my first one on a Dan Wesson 44mag in about 1989/1990. I was about 10 but with a father who had a gunshop and my inherent fascination with 44mag it worked out. Fast forward to 2000 I shot a Docter optic on a dovetail mount on a G17 briefly and have since had all manner of PMO’s mounted to handguns. The last one was a Leupold DPP on a Sig M-17. Fantastic setup however it had a number of drawbacks. Namely the auto adjusting “eye” got flame burned by the gasses vented from around the loaded chamber indicator, sub optimal. So contrary to what some people think I have shot all manner of optics for pistols and rifles as well. Starting with the carry-handle Colt optic and even spending a fair amount of time with an Armsen OEG Sight on a semi auto UZI…..color me born a generation too late. Yes that’s an Armsen featured in the greatest movie ever made.
Kicking off, this is an instructor level class. You are expected to know how to shoot and handle a firearm when you get there and we were vetted by Erick just to be allowed to attend the class. This isn’t a marksmanship or gun handling clinic. It’s a how to teach instructors, to teach students, to integrate an optic into their Duty/Defensive Role. It was far from a blast-a-matic timer centric noise orgy, which spoke volumes (pun intended) about the purpose of the course and it’s design. It was a calculated and well presented train the trainer class, a mold the future instructor class. No belts, patches, pins or range pokemon bullshit to chase after, but actual train the trainer instruction.
Friday- Lecture
Erick covered everything I’ve not heard from any other instructor. Maintenance programs and procedures. Maintenaning a red dot is nothing like maintaining a just the firearm. Establishing a procedure for Mounting, Torque, Thread Locker, Battery Changes, types and intervals are all critical. At the institutional level a program management is an Achilles heel of firearms ranges due to overwhelming logistics. Erick addresses all of this as well as policy issues with supporting case law and agency development of everything mentioned. The Lecture was highly interactive which is a presentation style Erick and I share. Erick drew on the students personal experience continually to engage with the class and help the class get a better understanding of integrating the PMO and share ideas and experience. I witnessed Erick take notes several times when students shared something he wanted to record. We set out Friday night for a late throw down at Hard 8 BBQ for some butter blasted Ribeyes and frozen W&C’s along with some well earned sleep.
Saturday- On the range 10:30a-6pm
After a short breakfast taco infused in-briefing (Thanks Den Mother as always) we spent all day on the range. Starting out with lots of dry work all while partnered with another instructor level student. We progressed through a myriad of exercises then on to 1 shot per start position. We learned to let the dot appear rather than try to make it appear. We presented the gun in small variations of positions. Low Ready, one hand, presentation from the holster all in small building blocks. I got partenered with my pal Chuck Haggard of Agile Training and Consulting (link) and we had a great time coaching each other.
At Erick’s direction the class a little bit later than usual to get some limited visibility for lowlight reps with a flashlight. Erick is a low light expert, a Master Kenobi with the modern and lesser lethal Light Saber (flashlight). He covered about every possible search method and shooting technique and how to integrate the red dot into the equation and maximize its use. On top of all the quality reps we were constantly engaged with how to teach what we were doing. Erick frequently engaged the class and had us talk a fellow student through a piece of an exercise. Eureka! an actual instructor course! Seriously folks this is how they’re supposed to be done. We rounded out Saturday with Babes Chicken and a side of sound sleep.
Sunday- Range/Test
Most of the day on the range today. The class covered Zeroing today along with some added twists and fire ants. Erick covered positional shooting and several other practical exercises and how to teach them. Unfortunately a small squad of angry Texas fire ants decided to Attack our instructor, we all chose de-escalation and retreated from that spot of grass to preserve ourselves and live to train another day. After a quick break we got back at it and stretched our legs out at distance, shooting offhand on paper at 25 plus yards. This is where I felt the PMO shined, all of them except mine. It developed a serious case of the parallax poopy pants. It was punishingly hot in DFW but not melt glass hot, so something went wrong and the optic will likely be headed back for a replacement.
On to barricades and shooting from cover without shooting cover!
Shortly after this I swapped over to my Staccato P with the ACRO P2. The gun was running like a champ the optic on the prodigy however was done. So I rounded the last few exercises out with the staccato. After a clean up and tear down the class headed back to the classroom to take a 10 question test. I passed the test, in spite of my exhausted disposition I passed! This was a good test because the test, it made sense and it reinforced all the material we had learned through the weekend. Well written and pertinent, it was a solid but not overwhelming as everything was covered in detail during the class. So some bro hugs, some hand shakes and some seriously deep intellectual debriefing. We did over almost a 2 hour long hot wash, every student gave a takeaway and something they thought didn’t fit or didn’t understand. It was as valuable a time as the range time. Erick took notes and we all had a glorious exchange of ideas and learned information. I was seriously impressed with the value of the hot wash and I am going to sustain that in my own courses and even dig a little deeper with the students in the future. It was a fabulous weekend and fabulous class. We ended Sunday full of instructor development, some Korean BBQ and a round of G&T’s (must be a Gunsite thing).
I was challenged, exhausted, educated and knowledgeable afterward. Erick answered every question I had about the PMO and gave me several teaching methods and techniques that I will most certainly use in the future. I highly recommend you take the time to train with Erick Gelhaus, he is one of the finest firearms instructors I’ve ever known and had the pleasure to train with. Here is the gear I used for the class
Cougar Mountain Solutions PMO Instructor Course- Click Here
EDC Belt Co Foundation Belt-Click Here
Springfield Armory Prodigy 4.25
JM Custom Kydex WingClaw 2.0 w DCC Monobloc
JM Custom Kydex Mag pouches
Holosun 509t
Streamlight Pro-Tac 1L
Omusha Denel PMP 124gr Ammunition
BrYan
Cougar Mountain Solutions
Pistol Mounted Optics Instructor (hybrid - L/E & normal human)
6/9-11/23
Dallas Pistol Club, Carrollton, TX
Cougar Mountain Solutions PMO Instructor Class
This last weekend I attended the CMS (link) Pistol Mounted Optic class at Dallas Pistol Club presented by longtime LEO and PMO subject matter expert Erick Gelhaus. Disclaimer!!! I do have some bias as Erick is a friend of mine and has been for several years but we are also good enough friends that we can be brutally honest without it being a personal. Because that’s how professionals work together and friends appreciate each other.
A little about my background with PMO’s.
I mounted my first one on a Dan Wesson 44mag in about 1989/1990. I was about 10 but with a father who had a gunshop and my inherent fascination with 44mag it worked out. Fast forward to 2000 I shot a Docter optic on a dovetail mount on a G17 briefly and have since had all manner of PMO’s mounted to handguns. The last one was a Leupold DPP on a Sig M-17. Fantastic setup however it had a number of drawbacks. Namely the auto adjusting “eye” got flame burned by the gasses vented from around the loaded chamber indicator, sub optimal. So contrary to what some people think I have shot all manner of optics for pistols and rifles as well. Starting with the carry-handle Colt optic and even spending a fair amount of time with an Armsen OEG Sight on a semi auto UZI…..color me born a generation too late. Yes that’s an Armsen featured in the greatest movie ever made.
Kicking off, this is an instructor level class. You are expected to know how to shoot and handle a firearm when you get there and we were vetted by Erick just to be allowed to attend the class. This isn’t a marksmanship or gun handling clinic. It’s a how to teach instructors, to teach students, to integrate an optic into their Duty/Defensive Role. It was far from a blast-a-matic timer centric noise orgy, which spoke volumes (pun intended) about the purpose of the course and it’s design. It was a calculated and well presented train the trainer class, a mold the future instructor class. No belts, patches, pins or range pokemon bullshit to chase after, but actual train the trainer instruction.
Friday- Lecture
Erick covered everything I’ve not heard from any other instructor. Maintenance programs and procedures. Maintenaning a red dot is nothing like maintaining a just the firearm. Establishing a procedure for Mounting, Torque, Thread Locker, Battery Changes, types and intervals are all critical. At the institutional level a program management is an Achilles heel of firearms ranges due to overwhelming logistics. Erick addresses all of this as well as policy issues with supporting case law and agency development of everything mentioned. The Lecture was highly interactive which is a presentation style Erick and I share. Erick drew on the students personal experience continually to engage with the class and help the class get a better understanding of integrating the PMO and share ideas and experience. I witnessed Erick take notes several times when students shared something he wanted to record. We set out Friday night for a late throw down at Hard 8 BBQ for some butter blasted Ribeyes and frozen W&C’s along with some well earned sleep.
Saturday- On the range 10:30a-6pm
After a short breakfast taco infused in-briefing (Thanks Den Mother as always) we spent all day on the range. Starting out with lots of dry work all while partnered with another instructor level student. We progressed through a myriad of exercises then on to 1 shot per start position. We learned to let the dot appear rather than try to make it appear. We presented the gun in small variations of positions. Low Ready, one hand, presentation from the holster all in small building blocks. I got partenered with my pal Chuck Haggard of Agile Training and Consulting (link) and we had a great time coaching each other.
At Erick’s direction the class a little bit later than usual to get some limited visibility for lowlight reps with a flashlight. Erick is a low light expert, a Master Kenobi with the modern and lesser lethal Light Saber (flashlight). He covered about every possible search method and shooting technique and how to integrate the red dot into the equation and maximize its use. On top of all the quality reps we were constantly engaged with how to teach what we were doing. Erick frequently engaged the class and had us talk a fellow student through a piece of an exercise. Eureka! an actual instructor course! Seriously folks this is how they’re supposed to be done. We rounded out Saturday with Babes Chicken and a side of sound sleep.
Sunday- Range/Test
Most of the day on the range today. The class covered Zeroing today along with some added twists and fire ants. Erick covered positional shooting and several other practical exercises and how to teach them. Unfortunately a small squad of angry Texas fire ants decided to Attack our instructor, we all chose de-escalation and retreated from that spot of grass to preserve ourselves and live to train another day. After a quick break we got back at it and stretched our legs out at distance, shooting offhand on paper at 25 plus yards. This is where I felt the PMO shined, all of them except mine. It developed a serious case of the parallax poopy pants. It was punishingly hot in DFW but not melt glass hot, so something went wrong and the optic will likely be headed back for a replacement.
On to barricades and shooting from cover without shooting cover!
Shortly after this I swapped over to my Staccato P with the ACRO P2. The gun was running like a champ the optic on the prodigy however was done. So I rounded the last few exercises out with the staccato. After a clean up and tear down the class headed back to the classroom to take a 10 question test. I passed the test, in spite of my exhausted disposition I passed! This was a good test because the test, it made sense and it reinforced all the material we had learned through the weekend. Well written and pertinent, it was a solid but not overwhelming as everything was covered in detail during the class. So some bro hugs, some hand shakes and some seriously deep intellectual debriefing. We did over almost a 2 hour long hot wash, every student gave a takeaway and something they thought didn’t fit or didn’t understand. It was as valuable a time as the range time. Erick took notes and we all had a glorious exchange of ideas and learned information. I was seriously impressed with the value of the hot wash and I am going to sustain that in my own courses and even dig a little deeper with the students in the future. It was a fabulous weekend and fabulous class. We ended Sunday full of instructor development, some Korean BBQ and a round of G&T’s (must be a Gunsite thing).
I was challenged, exhausted, educated and knowledgeable afterward. Erick answered every question I had about the PMO and gave me several teaching methods and techniques that I will most certainly use in the future. I highly recommend you take the time to train with Erick Gelhaus, he is one of the finest firearms instructors I’ve ever known and had the pleasure to train with. Here is the gear I used for the class
Cougar Mountain Solutions PMO Instructor Course- Click Here
EDC Belt Co Foundation Belt-Click Here
Springfield Armory Prodigy 4.25
JM Custom Kydex WingClaw 2.0 w DCC Monobloc
JM Custom Kydex Mag pouches
Holosun 509t
Streamlight Pro-Tac 1L
Omusha Denel PMP 124gr Ammunition
BrYan