CTT Solutions: Covert Carry
7/30-7/31/2016
Council Bluffs - LHGK
From CTT’s website:
This two (2) day Covert Carry Pistol Course is a course designed for the individual needing immediate access to a covertly carried concealed firearm on his/her person, whether working in a civilian, law enforcement or military capacity.
The CTT-Solutions Covert Carry Course is designed to exercise and refine the skills necessary to access and effectively use a concealed handgun with a high level of speed and efficiency, day or night. Students will be required to use the same gun and holster throughout the entire course. Time will be allotted in the first day to identify the best type, location and wear of holster and associated equipment (suggestions for holsters and ancillary gear will be discussed during the course). The remainder of the course will be dedicated to making the use of the weapon from that configuration rapid, sure and effective. Although courses of fire will go out as far as fifty (50) meters, the bulk will be multiple partially obscured targets with multiple shots per target at three (3) to fifteen (15) meters.
Objectives:
My extent of being a “Gunslinger” is using the pistol from a concealed manner, fancy talk for me saying that I am a civilian who carries a gun for personal protection of myself and others. I wanted to learn the “ins and outs” of effectively concealing and fighting with a concealed pistol.
I believe that like anything else worth doing, carrying a firearm is not as simple as the right holster and belt and throwing a shirt over the top. As some one who is relatively new to carrying, I was excited to learn about this discipline specifically.
Day 1:
We started the day by going over Mike’s philosophy about a concealed handgun, he prefers the term “covert” because simply concealed is not good enough. The phrase, “No one knows you have a gun till they hear it work.” was repeated several times.
Mike is a very humble guy, especially given his resume. He spoke at length about his thoughts on understanding the “why” of things and not just the “how”. As circumstances change, the “why” will let you adapt, when the “how” may not.
Mike acknowledged that this would be a high reps, low round count class. Which at first glance is confusing but was proven true throughout the weekend.
Next we moved on to dry practice working from the holster, then live fire at 7 yards, then dry fire from concealed and finally live fire from concealed. This was done in two relays, due to class size. However, the range was run “hot”, so as soon as your partner was off the line, you were expected to step up and shoot.
This exercise allowed Mike to gage everyone’s ability and safety. From a shooter’s perspective, it also allowed for a nice warm up and mental reset to get into shooting a pistol.
After some pistol work we took a break and heard Mike’s thoughts on clearing covert garments and best reholstering practices when moving cover garments out of the way. Mike’s comment that “Changing one thing changes everything” was well put and a good reminder that its not as simple as sometimes believed.
Mike is big on the timing of the shot, rhythm, and consistent timing between shots. He quickly sketched a diagram on an IPSC target. While I won’t give away material, his method makes a lot of sense when combined with lessons given later in the class.
After a long lunch, (unexpected circumstances), we worked into acceptable grip and sights as well as what Mike believes is optimal on a handgun. The idea that you must grip the handgun a specific amount with each hand or choke the gun was replaced with: grip it well enough to press the trigger cleanly, recover and track the sights.
To end the day we worked first shot draws and timed runs from concealment. Mike went down the line one by one and ran each student through 3 runs of A zone hits at 7 yards. It was stressed to not “stage” the draw and make the rep worth it.
We finished the day about 4 o'clock and 300-350 rounds fired.
Day 1 Notes / Observations:
Weather was mid 70s to 80s, partially cloudy.
The range was well kept, and allowed for plenty of parking to run gear out of cars. Rob, the host provided every accommodation. The only downside would be that the range is a tiny bit small for a 20 shooter class, but not in enough way to be a detriment.
Sadly enough, the airline lost Mike’s checked bag, so he shot all TD1 with borrowed gear. I can’t say it hampered him noticeably. It speaks volumes about him as an instructor.
We shot IPSC targets primarily, which were easy to reface and offered simple scoring areas. we utilized both the A zone and the credit card box on the head. For certain drills we shot an 8” circle on the high center chest.
Day 1 was a great warm up / intro, or if you prefer, the crawl and walk portion of the trifecta.
We didn't learn any ground breaking things, but we learned lots of technique adjustments that would become relevant on Day 2.
One shooter shot the entire course with his weak arm in a sling. He still beat 90% of the shooters with one arm, and an XD pistol. Software almost always beats hardware.
Day 2:
Day 2 was the 80% of class, the two main focuses were one handed manipulations and multiple targets.
Mike served as a Federal Air Marshal instructor for awhile and developed some revolutionary techniques for safe and effective one handed draws and reloads in confined spaces that nicely translate to everywhere else. This portion is so unique to Mike that I will not even attempt to describe it. Take the class, learn to run the gun with whatever hand you have.
We worked multiple drills using strong and weak hand only, either single shots, multiples, reloads, or some combination.
Multiple targets are all about rhythm to Mike, his split times and transition times are identical. Watching him shoot, it became evident that he shoots competition. This is in no way bad, and it will not get you “killed in da streets”, and it certainly helps validate the technique.
We started with targets side by side, and then moved on to steel targets with greater spread in between. Similar to Fisher, Mike teaches to break the head from the gun, pull into a high compressed ready, and push the eyes to the target while the gun follows and then pushes out to the target.
The other big point that Mike teaches is to shift your weight on the knees instead of turing the upper body like a turret. While I see the benefit, I personally have a lot of engrained motion of spinning at the hips from shotgun sports, and due to some injuries, I don’t trust the knees as much as just spinning on the hips. Ultimately, there are multiple ways to do things, and I can appreciate the differences based on experience.
We shot steel at 15-20 yards and went to 25 yards a few times on the IPSCs. When using the IPSCs we primarily shot an 8” circle on high center mass or the A - Zone.
We ended the day with the 15 in 10 drill to determine high shooter. For those not familiar, Mike has Youtube videos of it, but it is 5 rounds at 20, 10, and 5 yards within 10 seconds. I performed poorly, despite shooting relatively well during the class.
Class ended with a debrief, awards for high shooter, and range clean up.
Day 2 Notes / Observations:
Weather was high 70s with clouds and a brief sprinkle of rain.
We had a LOT of reps during day 2 and it was certainly more fast paced than day 1, I enjoyed the faster pace and the higher reps.
The one handed techniques that Mike teaches are really a positive skill set and Mike can explain the benefits of every step. The “why” is always important.
We had more autonomy with the multiple targets drill sets and I took advantage of that to shoot more reps and try different techniques. I certainly appreciate instructors that let students self regulate.
I personally screwed up on the 15 in 10 final evolution. I tried to push speed and paid with poor accuracy. The distances I shoot at with great frequency ate my ass, lesson learned.
Despite the lower round count of approx. 800, each student drew from concealment 300 or more times, reloaded at least 100 times, and drew and reloaded with one hand around 50 times. The high reps and minimal ballistic masturbation, was certainly appreciated.
While I believe everyone should take a concealed fighting class, I would not recommend this class to a beginner shooter, this is a class that requires thinking with a gun. After you have some time with the gun and preferably a general pistol class, then you should definitely sign up.
As just a civilian, and with Mike’s resume, I was surprised how approachable he was. As he will readily tell you, he’s just a dude who did some cool stuff, and in an instant, he was a normal dude again. He always had time for individual questions or telling stories with any student. I think that he spoke with everyone at least once on a personal level. Solid teacher.
The one comment that spoke to me, although said casually, was “Always ask why, you need to know, I have not forgotten what the other side of a gun looks like, the stuff I teach has to work, not just look good.”
Gear:
I shot my P229 with X300U, one with RMR and one with Trijicon HDs, I had only shot an RMR gun once before the class. It certainly showed during class, however it was a great shake out for the setup. I used a NSR Tactical AIWB mag pouch and JM Custom Kydex AIWB holster. I had no issues with gear for the total of 800 or so rounds fired.
However, in class we had a P938 that had mag release issues and a G19 with aftermarket trigger parts that went full auto, stock parts fixed the issue.
As always, any questions please ask.
7/30-7/31/2016
Council Bluffs - LHGK
From CTT’s website:
This two (2) day Covert Carry Pistol Course is a course designed for the individual needing immediate access to a covertly carried concealed firearm on his/her person, whether working in a civilian, law enforcement or military capacity.
The CTT-Solutions Covert Carry Course is designed to exercise and refine the skills necessary to access and effectively use a concealed handgun with a high level of speed and efficiency, day or night. Students will be required to use the same gun and holster throughout the entire course. Time will be allotted in the first day to identify the best type, location and wear of holster and associated equipment (suggestions for holsters and ancillary gear will be discussed during the course). The remainder of the course will be dedicated to making the use of the weapon from that configuration rapid, sure and effective. Although courses of fire will go out as far as fifty (50) meters, the bulk will be multiple partially obscured targets with multiple shots per target at three (3) to fifteen (15) meters.
Objectives:
My extent of being a “Gunslinger” is using the pistol from a concealed manner, fancy talk for me saying that I am a civilian who carries a gun for personal protection of myself and others. I wanted to learn the “ins and outs” of effectively concealing and fighting with a concealed pistol.
I believe that like anything else worth doing, carrying a firearm is not as simple as the right holster and belt and throwing a shirt over the top. As some one who is relatively new to carrying, I was excited to learn about this discipline specifically.
Day 1:
We started the day by going over Mike’s philosophy about a concealed handgun, he prefers the term “covert” because simply concealed is not good enough. The phrase, “No one knows you have a gun till they hear it work.” was repeated several times.
Mike is a very humble guy, especially given his resume. He spoke at length about his thoughts on understanding the “why” of things and not just the “how”. As circumstances change, the “why” will let you adapt, when the “how” may not.
Mike acknowledged that this would be a high reps, low round count class. Which at first glance is confusing but was proven true throughout the weekend.
Next we moved on to dry practice working from the holster, then live fire at 7 yards, then dry fire from concealed and finally live fire from concealed. This was done in two relays, due to class size. However, the range was run “hot”, so as soon as your partner was off the line, you were expected to step up and shoot.
This exercise allowed Mike to gage everyone’s ability and safety. From a shooter’s perspective, it also allowed for a nice warm up and mental reset to get into shooting a pistol.
After some pistol work we took a break and heard Mike’s thoughts on clearing covert garments and best reholstering practices when moving cover garments out of the way. Mike’s comment that “Changing one thing changes everything” was well put and a good reminder that its not as simple as sometimes believed.
Mike is big on the timing of the shot, rhythm, and consistent timing between shots. He quickly sketched a diagram on an IPSC target. While I won’t give away material, his method makes a lot of sense when combined with lessons given later in the class.
After a long lunch, (unexpected circumstances), we worked into acceptable grip and sights as well as what Mike believes is optimal on a handgun. The idea that you must grip the handgun a specific amount with each hand or choke the gun was replaced with: grip it well enough to press the trigger cleanly, recover and track the sights.
To end the day we worked first shot draws and timed runs from concealment. Mike went down the line one by one and ran each student through 3 runs of A zone hits at 7 yards. It was stressed to not “stage” the draw and make the rep worth it.
We finished the day about 4 o'clock and 300-350 rounds fired.
Day 1 Notes / Observations:
Weather was mid 70s to 80s, partially cloudy.
The range was well kept, and allowed for plenty of parking to run gear out of cars. Rob, the host provided every accommodation. The only downside would be that the range is a tiny bit small for a 20 shooter class, but not in enough way to be a detriment.
Sadly enough, the airline lost Mike’s checked bag, so he shot all TD1 with borrowed gear. I can’t say it hampered him noticeably. It speaks volumes about him as an instructor.
We shot IPSC targets primarily, which were easy to reface and offered simple scoring areas. we utilized both the A zone and the credit card box on the head. For certain drills we shot an 8” circle on the high center chest.
Day 1 was a great warm up / intro, or if you prefer, the crawl and walk portion of the trifecta.
We didn't learn any ground breaking things, but we learned lots of technique adjustments that would become relevant on Day 2.
One shooter shot the entire course with his weak arm in a sling. He still beat 90% of the shooters with one arm, and an XD pistol. Software almost always beats hardware.
Day 2:
Day 2 was the 80% of class, the two main focuses were one handed manipulations and multiple targets.
Mike served as a Federal Air Marshal instructor for awhile and developed some revolutionary techniques for safe and effective one handed draws and reloads in confined spaces that nicely translate to everywhere else. This portion is so unique to Mike that I will not even attempt to describe it. Take the class, learn to run the gun with whatever hand you have.
We worked multiple drills using strong and weak hand only, either single shots, multiples, reloads, or some combination.
Multiple targets are all about rhythm to Mike, his split times and transition times are identical. Watching him shoot, it became evident that he shoots competition. This is in no way bad, and it will not get you “killed in da streets”, and it certainly helps validate the technique.
We started with targets side by side, and then moved on to steel targets with greater spread in between. Similar to Fisher, Mike teaches to break the head from the gun, pull into a high compressed ready, and push the eyes to the target while the gun follows and then pushes out to the target.
The other big point that Mike teaches is to shift your weight on the knees instead of turing the upper body like a turret. While I see the benefit, I personally have a lot of engrained motion of spinning at the hips from shotgun sports, and due to some injuries, I don’t trust the knees as much as just spinning on the hips. Ultimately, there are multiple ways to do things, and I can appreciate the differences based on experience.
We shot steel at 15-20 yards and went to 25 yards a few times on the IPSCs. When using the IPSCs we primarily shot an 8” circle on high center mass or the A - Zone.
We ended the day with the 15 in 10 drill to determine high shooter. For those not familiar, Mike has Youtube videos of it, but it is 5 rounds at 20, 10, and 5 yards within 10 seconds. I performed poorly, despite shooting relatively well during the class.
Class ended with a debrief, awards for high shooter, and range clean up.
Day 2 Notes / Observations:
Weather was high 70s with clouds and a brief sprinkle of rain.
We had a LOT of reps during day 2 and it was certainly more fast paced than day 1, I enjoyed the faster pace and the higher reps.
The one handed techniques that Mike teaches are really a positive skill set and Mike can explain the benefits of every step. The “why” is always important.
We had more autonomy with the multiple targets drill sets and I took advantage of that to shoot more reps and try different techniques. I certainly appreciate instructors that let students self regulate.
I personally screwed up on the 15 in 10 final evolution. I tried to push speed and paid with poor accuracy. The distances I shoot at with great frequency ate my ass, lesson learned.
Despite the lower round count of approx. 800, each student drew from concealment 300 or more times, reloaded at least 100 times, and drew and reloaded with one hand around 50 times. The high reps and minimal ballistic masturbation, was certainly appreciated.
While I believe everyone should take a concealed fighting class, I would not recommend this class to a beginner shooter, this is a class that requires thinking with a gun. After you have some time with the gun and preferably a general pistol class, then you should definitely sign up.
As just a civilian, and with Mike’s resume, I was surprised how approachable he was. As he will readily tell you, he’s just a dude who did some cool stuff, and in an instant, he was a normal dude again. He always had time for individual questions or telling stories with any student. I think that he spoke with everyone at least once on a personal level. Solid teacher.
The one comment that spoke to me, although said casually, was “Always ask why, you need to know, I have not forgotten what the other side of a gun looks like, the stuff I teach has to work, not just look good.”
Gear:
I shot my P229 with X300U, one with RMR and one with Trijicon HDs, I had only shot an RMR gun once before the class. It certainly showed during class, however it was a great shake out for the setup. I used a NSR Tactical AIWB mag pouch and JM Custom Kydex AIWB holster. I had no issues with gear for the total of 800 or so rounds fired.
However, in class we had a P938 that had mag release issues and a G19 with aftermarket trigger parts that went full auto, stock parts fixed the issue.
As always, any questions please ask.
