AAR Ernest Langdon Tactical Pistol Skills
July 15/16 2017 Garden Prairie IL
From LTT’s website
Topics that will be covered:
Combat Mindset
Training for performance under stress
Grip & Stance
Draw Stroke & Concealed Draw
Reloads, Emergency and Tactical
Clearing Malfunctions
Multiple Target Engagement
Turn and Shoot Techniques
Shooting Positions & Use of cover
Shooting while moving
One handed shooting
One handed malfunction clearing (fighting while wounded)
Students will need:
High quality Semi Auto Handgun
4 Magazines
Holster, Magazine Pouch for at least two magazines
Sturdy belt suitable for Holster and Magazine pouches
1000 rounds of reliable ammunition
Eye and Ear Protection
Rain Gear
Objectives
I’ve wanted to take a class from Langdon for while. His take on the DA/SA gun is somewhat unique in the industry, as is his mixed .mil and competitive background. In keeping with my goals and daily life, I shot the course from concealment.
Day 1
Day 1 was set to begin at 0830, myself and travel partner arrived around 0745 and helped to prepare the range. Once all students had arrived we moved to the classroom to begin the lecture portion of the class.
The lecture started with a brief overview of Ernest and his background, while he spent much of his early career in the military, he did so in a roll that led him to quickly developing skills with a pistol. Additionally, he spent a number of years shooting competitively at a high level. As such his class is influenced by both. With this, it was stressed that this was a shooting performance course, how to shoot and not who to shoot.
Langdon approaches teaching as if he is teaching new instructors, because, at some level, all shooters will be instructors. An instructor has to know the why, can this technique work for this student, why do we do things this way, what else could we be doing to improve. Included in the emphasis of the why, is that performance is not the end all metric of a technique. Given that most techniques are only validated on a square range, just because someone can do something faster than you, does not mean that you should adopt this technique.
A point that really stuck with me during this portion was that the verbiage we will use is important because of the thing we are discussing. A challenge that instructors face, is using verbal descriptions to describe shooting at speed which is a non verbal event.
The goal of the class as described was to increase our performance under stress. Langdon believes that performance under stress comes from three areas; Awareness, Warrior mindset, and subconscious ability.
Awareness, awareness was described using Coopers color code, using examples of events, Langdon described how certain actions will bump you through the various colors.
Warrior Mindset, this one was summed up simply, understand and be prepared of the consequences of carrying a gun. Consequences mental, civil, and legal.
Subconscious Ability, given that a gunfight will be a stressful event, prepare to perform at a subconscious level. Taking skill enhancement classes serve to increase the ability that you can operate under stress, they do this in specific ways and are not the end state of skill development.
Langdon broke each of these areas down in great detail, but if you want to get further detail, take the course.
We briefly discussed the guns themselves and why Langdon prefers the double action trigger system. He has valid points in this area, and it stems from what we are being honest with ourselves about what we do with a handgun.
The second portion of the lecture discussed shooting fundamentals.
Stance, we covered the history of the modern shooting stance and the reasons that certain variations have become popular. Langdon has some specific pieces of the stance that he finds aid the shooter in rapid hits on target.
Grip, the grip is perhaps overlooked, but is important because of how it manages gun movement during the trigger press, and then manages and recovers recoil. The biggest take away from the grip discussion was how the grip that “feels right” is only based on your experience and is not indicative of a good grip.
Trigger, Langdon covered this topic from both a DA/SA perspective and Striker fired guns. He has specific techniques for managing a trigger press. Again, take the class.
Following a medical brief and hydration break, we moved the class to the range.
We used two specific targets throughout the course. The first had an array of 2” dots, 4” circles, and 2 B8s. The second is the iconic FAST/ Q bottle. Langdon explained the use of the 2” dots at close range as a benefit to the shooter and instructor. It allows easier shot diagnosis, and for an efficient use of range time.
The first live fire drill was based around the trigger press and then trigger reset. Reset under recoil or before the sights have returned to the target is the only effective way to shoot at speed. Langdon has several drills that demonstrate this and then show students how's to develop this technique.
We covered several other topics, using both dry fire and live fire to explain and validate techniques.
Day 1 Notes
Day 2
Day 2 began with a brief dry and then live fire of the topics covered the day before. Once everyone was good and warmed up, we shot the FAST test. This is a well known drill and in my mind is not skill building but is an excellent diagnostic/metric.
Through out the day we covered topics such as transitions, one handed shooting, shooting on the move and shooting around barricades. Again each step was validated with various drills of increasing tempo and rounds fired.
Several times throughout the day we would move to the class room to explain skills, then shoot them for live fire, and then finally shoot a scored drill that technique. Throughout the course we shot The Test, 5 yard round up, X drill, and Close speed 9. All of these are readily found on the web and I won't explain them in depth here.
This portion was purposefully left brief to avoid divulging course material. Each topic was covered in depth and with all questions answered.
The course concluded with range clean up and a debrief of the course.
Day 2 Notes
Gear
I shot the entire course with a Sig P229 with X300u and RMR 06. I used JM Custom kydex and a Mean Gene belt. Additionally I used a small dump pouch to manage ammo on the line. All gear performed well and I wouldn't change any going forward.
Other students had a mix of pistols, the widest variety I've seen in a course, no major issues there either.
Any questions please ask.
July 15/16 2017 Garden Prairie IL
From LTT’s website
Topics that will be covered:
Combat Mindset
Training for performance under stress
Grip & Stance
Draw Stroke & Concealed Draw
Reloads, Emergency and Tactical
Clearing Malfunctions
Multiple Target Engagement
Turn and Shoot Techniques
Shooting Positions & Use of cover
Shooting while moving
One handed shooting
One handed malfunction clearing (fighting while wounded)
Students will need:
High quality Semi Auto Handgun
4 Magazines
Holster, Magazine Pouch for at least two magazines
Sturdy belt suitable for Holster and Magazine pouches
1000 rounds of reliable ammunition
Eye and Ear Protection
Rain Gear
Objectives
I’ve wanted to take a class from Langdon for while. His take on the DA/SA gun is somewhat unique in the industry, as is his mixed .mil and competitive background. In keeping with my goals and daily life, I shot the course from concealment.
Day 1
Day 1 was set to begin at 0830, myself and travel partner arrived around 0745 and helped to prepare the range. Once all students had arrived we moved to the classroom to begin the lecture portion of the class.
The lecture started with a brief overview of Ernest and his background, while he spent much of his early career in the military, he did so in a roll that led him to quickly developing skills with a pistol. Additionally, he spent a number of years shooting competitively at a high level. As such his class is influenced by both. With this, it was stressed that this was a shooting performance course, how to shoot and not who to shoot.
Langdon approaches teaching as if he is teaching new instructors, because, at some level, all shooters will be instructors. An instructor has to know the why, can this technique work for this student, why do we do things this way, what else could we be doing to improve. Included in the emphasis of the why, is that performance is not the end all metric of a technique. Given that most techniques are only validated on a square range, just because someone can do something faster than you, does not mean that you should adopt this technique.
A point that really stuck with me during this portion was that the verbiage we will use is important because of the thing we are discussing. A challenge that instructors face, is using verbal descriptions to describe shooting at speed which is a non verbal event.
The goal of the class as described was to increase our performance under stress. Langdon believes that performance under stress comes from three areas; Awareness, Warrior mindset, and subconscious ability.
Awareness, awareness was described using Coopers color code, using examples of events, Langdon described how certain actions will bump you through the various colors.
Warrior Mindset, this one was summed up simply, understand and be prepared of the consequences of carrying a gun. Consequences mental, civil, and legal.
Subconscious Ability, given that a gunfight will be a stressful event, prepare to perform at a subconscious level. Taking skill enhancement classes serve to increase the ability that you can operate under stress, they do this in specific ways and are not the end state of skill development.
Langdon broke each of these areas down in great detail, but if you want to get further detail, take the course.
We briefly discussed the guns themselves and why Langdon prefers the double action trigger system. He has valid points in this area, and it stems from what we are being honest with ourselves about what we do with a handgun.
The second portion of the lecture discussed shooting fundamentals.
Stance, we covered the history of the modern shooting stance and the reasons that certain variations have become popular. Langdon has some specific pieces of the stance that he finds aid the shooter in rapid hits on target.
Grip, the grip is perhaps overlooked, but is important because of how it manages gun movement during the trigger press, and then manages and recovers recoil. The biggest take away from the grip discussion was how the grip that “feels right” is only based on your experience and is not indicative of a good grip.
Trigger, Langdon covered this topic from both a DA/SA perspective and Striker fired guns. He has specific techniques for managing a trigger press. Again, take the class.
Following a medical brief and hydration break, we moved the class to the range.
We used two specific targets throughout the course. The first had an array of 2” dots, 4” circles, and 2 B8s. The second is the iconic FAST/ Q bottle. Langdon explained the use of the 2” dots at close range as a benefit to the shooter and instructor. It allows easier shot diagnosis, and for an efficient use of range time.
The first live fire drill was based around the trigger press and then trigger reset. Reset under recoil or before the sights have returned to the target is the only effective way to shoot at speed. Langdon has several drills that demonstrate this and then show students how's to develop this technique.
We covered several other topics, using both dry fire and live fire to explain and validate techniques.
Day 1 Notes
- The lecture portion of this class is well worth the price of admission
- The conversation on grip was useful to me since I have been working on modifying my grip for awhile. Langdon also gave me several tips during the live fire.
- Reset under recoil was not a new concept to me, but his description would certainly help me teach others easier.
- The live fire portions were ran in two relays of students, this gave us plenty of space on the line and allowed more attention from Langdon
- Approx 300 rounds fired on Day 1
Day 2
Day 2 began with a brief dry and then live fire of the topics covered the day before. Once everyone was good and warmed up, we shot the FAST test. This is a well known drill and in my mind is not skill building but is an excellent diagnostic/metric.
Through out the day we covered topics such as transitions, one handed shooting, shooting on the move and shooting around barricades. Again each step was validated with various drills of increasing tempo and rounds fired.
Several times throughout the day we would move to the class room to explain skills, then shoot them for live fire, and then finally shoot a scored drill that technique. Throughout the course we shot The Test, 5 yard round up, X drill, and Close speed 9. All of these are readily found on the web and I won't explain them in depth here.
This portion was purposefully left brief to avoid divulging course material. Each topic was covered in depth and with all questions answered.
The course concluded with range clean up and a debrief of the course.
Day 2 Notes
- Day 2 is really the do or die portion of the class, be prepared to shoot and stay hydrated.
- Ernest has several new takes on techniques I had learned before, and well worth adding to my notes
- While we never shot beyond 10 yards in the course, the reduced targets kept things interesting, it's not easy till you can shoot it all clean
- 500 rounds fired
Gear
I shot the entire course with a Sig P229 with X300u and RMR 06. I used JM Custom kydex and a Mean Gene belt. Additionally I used a small dump pouch to manage ammo on the line. All gear performed well and I wouldn't change any going forward.
Other students had a mix of pistols, the widest variety I've seen in a course, no major issues there either.
Any questions please ask.
