Trident Concepts Level 2 Combative Pistol AAR 3/18-20/2016
Instructor: Jeff Gonzales
Location: Falcon Tactical, Eagle Lake Texas
Dates: March 18-20, 2016
First off two disclaimers if you will, 1. This will be a long AAR, I took more notes over three days than any other class. So grab a drink and possibly a snack. 2. I did not pass his 80% standards, just putting that out there so everyone knows which side of the line I fall on.
From Tri-Cons website, “The Combative Pistol, Level Two (CP2) is an intermediate 3-day course focused on hammering out the rough edges to the modern gunfighter. It will instruct the pistol’s core fighting skills by using full range sessions and high repetitions to continue forging correct technique. The course will progress to more challenging drills that will increase the student’s shooting speed and combat marksmanship. Graded evolutions throughout the course provide instant feedback to the student on skill development, technique deficiencies and overall ability. The linear progressive training exercises refines the combative fundamentals in order to progress to more advanced courses.”
As I go through this review, I’m going to try and give my thoughts on what went well and didn’t for me and the class, as well as provide info I think will be helpful to future students. I will not be giving away any of Jeff’s tips / lessons, first that is his material, and second, things could be taken out of context and I have no desire to distribute bad info.
Day 1.
We started the day with a skills diagnostic to see where the class was at from a skills standpoint. Overall the class performed well and we moved onto the fundamentals of building a good stance and grip. Jeff places a lot of importance on a “Crush grip” with a lot of use on the pinky finger of the dominant hand. He also taught us about how he tensions his back and arms to create a more dominant grip. I like the concept, but in practice I found it distracting, so I dropped it after a few drills. I plan to revisit this on my own time and spend some rounds seeing if I can make it work. After working some marksmanship principles, we moved to ready positions and drawing from the holster. Throughout the day we worked on what Jeff calls Training Modifiers, you can either decrease time, decrease the size of the target, or increase distance. Each of these serves to add stress to the shooter and force a focus on the fundamentals executed well and consistency. We ended the day with a discussion on threat neutralization. The philosophy is that the more rounds on target, the more disruption to the target. This was a great lecture and I plan to quote it when people ask me. We broke for the day around 1830 after range clean up and a debrief. Weather was great in the morning, but it got pretty hot in the afternoon.
Day 2.
We started day 2 with a cold diagnostic drill, this is something I like doing in my own practice and appreciated to have some validation. We moved onto malfunction clearance, and Jeff’s reasons for taking a non-diagnostic approach to malfunctions. Reloads came next and are pretty straight forward. At this point Jeff lets the class know that after this we are responsible for all the knowledge he has given out. So for example, in most of the scored evolutions later on, you were disqualified if the gun ran dry. So tac loads and then emergency/combat reloads become important, (even if you run dry, you are expected to finish the drill). We did work a bit on lateral and forward movement, I found that walking forward while shooting went better than expected, even though I rarely practice, small victories. On both Day 1 and 2, we would step back each iteration and then end that lesson with a 10yd “pop quiz”. I like this learning format as it forces you to really focus on what was being taught. We ended the day with a shoot off at 25 yards on a steel plate. Accuracy trumped speed, every time. Weather was spring like, so high 40s in the morning, and warmed up to maybe 60 by the time we broke for the day.
Day 3.
We went through multiple accuracy drills, target transitions, and best first sight picture drills, other events included multiple threats scenarios. I use scenarios very lightly because it is hard to train for realistically. The lecture that accompanied this part was great and brought some new stuff to light for me. We then spent some time working strong hand only. I had worked this area quite a bit going into class, and then failed to perform in class, so shame on me. Moving into drills, Jeff put us through an elective stress test, 10 pushups, get up draw and fire a chest shot at 10 yards, repeat four times for a total of 50 pushups and 5 rounds. Fastest clean time wins. We ran a modified version of the El Prez. I surprised my self by running it in 10.8 with 3 misses, earning a score of 19, and then running it again in 10.4 with 1 miss earning a 7. I had never run a true El Prez before the warm up round we did in class. So overall I was pleased with how I did. I was happy with my work on target transitions and I felt really good about tracking my sights. I could still cut a bunch of time on the reload, and the draw. The last drill of the day was our final scored evolution, I shot this drill pretty well, with only 1 shot outside the line. We cleaned the range, went through a final debrief and headed out. Weather was the same as Day 2.
Gear
I ran my Sig P229 with Trijicon HD sights (which were pretty common sights in class), and a Surefire X300U, holster was an ALS on an SOE belt with Micro belt pad. Mag pouches used were a double Esstac Kiwi backed up by a Tenspeed double pistol pouch. All mounted on RCS Moduloaders with pancake wings. I like running a duty belt instead of threading things through my pants belt. Its faster and allows for more versatility in pants choice. I just use my cargo pockets as dump pouches. I did have one malfunction on the gun at the end of day 2, the gun failed to fully go back into battery. It could have been a pretty dirty gun, (did not clean before class), a mag filled with fine range sand, or a underpowered round on the previous shot. I bumped the slide into battery and all was well. I wiped the contact surfaces and relubed the gun at the end of day and had no further issues. Ammo was PMC 115gr. I did notice that my Peltors Sport Tacs seem to be going out, but for 80 bucks and two years, I’m not upset. I was looking for an excuse to upgrade to Sordins anyway. Oakley eyepro, but looking to upgrade to Rudys after listening to feed back here, transitional lenses would have been nice to have. None of the issues detracted from my learning so I’m pleased that my gear choices are GTG. Total round count was a tad over 2200. As far as clothing, bring good gear, if you are driving there is no excuse to not have good gear and lots of it. I prefer Arcteryx, but you do you.
Tips / Takeaways
- The gear list calls for 3 mags, but I would take a minimum of 8 with 12 being preferred. My reasoning is that if you are using 15 round mags, it is common to need 4 each time you walk to the line, by having 8 or 12, you can do fast load outs and then spend time hydrating and listening on the short breaks and then top off mags on the long breaks. This also allows you to bring an empty mag to the line in addition to a full load out,
- We had 3 Glocks crap the bed in class, two 34s from different students, and a 19 from one of those same students. One shooter started having trigger problems on both guns at almost the same time. Apparently the trigger pull became very heavy and he had difficulty breaking the shot. The other 34 started having light strike issues. All three guns had aftermarket parts involved. Matt Shockey would know more if you are looking for specifics. These were the only gear issues I noticed in class. Everyone else was using Glocks, except for one shooter with a VP9.
- Bring extra ammo, we went well over 2000 rounds, you could hit 2500 if you are a good shooter and get to move forward in the pass / fail drills and you shoot the max number of optional rounds.
- Even when its cloudy you can get sun burnt, or dehydrated, prevent both through prior planning and actions throughout the day.
- You are held responsible for every round you fire, not every round plays into your final score, but it is looked at. Be prepared for honest but helpful feedback.
- Being more consistent is better than being awesome a few times and less so on others. It is better to be consistent and improve consistently.
- If attending at Eagle Lake, Matt and Nolan are top notch hosts and Nolan is an excellent cook. Being able to literally walk off the front porch to the range is awesome.
- Listen to commands – the biggest thing is to not police up your gear before Jeff calls the line cold.
- Fast misses don’t earn you anything.
- You really should stay on site, Saturday night I had drinks and cigars with Jeff, Matt, and Paul G. It was awesome, I got to be a cool guy for like 45 minutes.
- My physical fitness has slipped off, It cost me in the stress test and I have already taken steps to remedy that. I performed poorly and have no excuse.
- I ended the class with a 76, which was better than I expected going into the class, however I feel like I could have passed had I not DQed on a head shot at 10yards. Every round matters.
- I had some sight alignment issues on the subdued circle of the silhouette, I think this is because I normally shoot B8s so I need to diversify.
- I do intend to take this class after some practice and pass the standards.
- Any questions please ask, I think this is all but I may add more as I think back
Instructor: Jeff Gonzales
Location: Falcon Tactical, Eagle Lake Texas
Dates: March 18-20, 2016
First off two disclaimers if you will, 1. This will be a long AAR, I took more notes over three days than any other class. So grab a drink and possibly a snack. 2. I did not pass his 80% standards, just putting that out there so everyone knows which side of the line I fall on.
From Tri-Cons website, “The Combative Pistol, Level Two (CP2) is an intermediate 3-day course focused on hammering out the rough edges to the modern gunfighter. It will instruct the pistol’s core fighting skills by using full range sessions and high repetitions to continue forging correct technique. The course will progress to more challenging drills that will increase the student’s shooting speed and combat marksmanship. Graded evolutions throughout the course provide instant feedback to the student on skill development, technique deficiencies and overall ability. The linear progressive training exercises refines the combative fundamentals in order to progress to more advanced courses.”
As I go through this review, I’m going to try and give my thoughts on what went well and didn’t for me and the class, as well as provide info I think will be helpful to future students. I will not be giving away any of Jeff’s tips / lessons, first that is his material, and second, things could be taken out of context and I have no desire to distribute bad info.
Day 1.
We started the day with a skills diagnostic to see where the class was at from a skills standpoint. Overall the class performed well and we moved onto the fundamentals of building a good stance and grip. Jeff places a lot of importance on a “Crush grip” with a lot of use on the pinky finger of the dominant hand. He also taught us about how he tensions his back and arms to create a more dominant grip. I like the concept, but in practice I found it distracting, so I dropped it after a few drills. I plan to revisit this on my own time and spend some rounds seeing if I can make it work. After working some marksmanship principles, we moved to ready positions and drawing from the holster. Throughout the day we worked on what Jeff calls Training Modifiers, you can either decrease time, decrease the size of the target, or increase distance. Each of these serves to add stress to the shooter and force a focus on the fundamentals executed well and consistency. We ended the day with a discussion on threat neutralization. The philosophy is that the more rounds on target, the more disruption to the target. This was a great lecture and I plan to quote it when people ask me. We broke for the day around 1830 after range clean up and a debrief. Weather was great in the morning, but it got pretty hot in the afternoon.
Day 2.
We started day 2 with a cold diagnostic drill, this is something I like doing in my own practice and appreciated to have some validation. We moved onto malfunction clearance, and Jeff’s reasons for taking a non-diagnostic approach to malfunctions. Reloads came next and are pretty straight forward. At this point Jeff lets the class know that after this we are responsible for all the knowledge he has given out. So for example, in most of the scored evolutions later on, you were disqualified if the gun ran dry. So tac loads and then emergency/combat reloads become important, (even if you run dry, you are expected to finish the drill). We did work a bit on lateral and forward movement, I found that walking forward while shooting went better than expected, even though I rarely practice, small victories. On both Day 1 and 2, we would step back each iteration and then end that lesson with a 10yd “pop quiz”. I like this learning format as it forces you to really focus on what was being taught. We ended the day with a shoot off at 25 yards on a steel plate. Accuracy trumped speed, every time. Weather was spring like, so high 40s in the morning, and warmed up to maybe 60 by the time we broke for the day.
Day 3.
We went through multiple accuracy drills, target transitions, and best first sight picture drills, other events included multiple threats scenarios. I use scenarios very lightly because it is hard to train for realistically. The lecture that accompanied this part was great and brought some new stuff to light for me. We then spent some time working strong hand only. I had worked this area quite a bit going into class, and then failed to perform in class, so shame on me. Moving into drills, Jeff put us through an elective stress test, 10 pushups, get up draw and fire a chest shot at 10 yards, repeat four times for a total of 50 pushups and 5 rounds. Fastest clean time wins. We ran a modified version of the El Prez. I surprised my self by running it in 10.8 with 3 misses, earning a score of 19, and then running it again in 10.4 with 1 miss earning a 7. I had never run a true El Prez before the warm up round we did in class. So overall I was pleased with how I did. I was happy with my work on target transitions and I felt really good about tracking my sights. I could still cut a bunch of time on the reload, and the draw. The last drill of the day was our final scored evolution, I shot this drill pretty well, with only 1 shot outside the line. We cleaned the range, went through a final debrief and headed out. Weather was the same as Day 2.
Gear
I ran my Sig P229 with Trijicon HD sights (which were pretty common sights in class), and a Surefire X300U, holster was an ALS on an SOE belt with Micro belt pad. Mag pouches used were a double Esstac Kiwi backed up by a Tenspeed double pistol pouch. All mounted on RCS Moduloaders with pancake wings. I like running a duty belt instead of threading things through my pants belt. Its faster and allows for more versatility in pants choice. I just use my cargo pockets as dump pouches. I did have one malfunction on the gun at the end of day 2, the gun failed to fully go back into battery. It could have been a pretty dirty gun, (did not clean before class), a mag filled with fine range sand, or a underpowered round on the previous shot. I bumped the slide into battery and all was well. I wiped the contact surfaces and relubed the gun at the end of day and had no further issues. Ammo was PMC 115gr. I did notice that my Peltors Sport Tacs seem to be going out, but for 80 bucks and two years, I’m not upset. I was looking for an excuse to upgrade to Sordins anyway. Oakley eyepro, but looking to upgrade to Rudys after listening to feed back here, transitional lenses would have been nice to have. None of the issues detracted from my learning so I’m pleased that my gear choices are GTG. Total round count was a tad over 2200. As far as clothing, bring good gear, if you are driving there is no excuse to not have good gear and lots of it. I prefer Arcteryx, but you do you.
Tips / Takeaways
- The gear list calls for 3 mags, but I would take a minimum of 8 with 12 being preferred. My reasoning is that if you are using 15 round mags, it is common to need 4 each time you walk to the line, by having 8 or 12, you can do fast load outs and then spend time hydrating and listening on the short breaks and then top off mags on the long breaks. This also allows you to bring an empty mag to the line in addition to a full load out,
- We had 3 Glocks crap the bed in class, two 34s from different students, and a 19 from one of those same students. One shooter started having trigger problems on both guns at almost the same time. Apparently the trigger pull became very heavy and he had difficulty breaking the shot. The other 34 started having light strike issues. All three guns had aftermarket parts involved. Matt Shockey would know more if you are looking for specifics. These were the only gear issues I noticed in class. Everyone else was using Glocks, except for one shooter with a VP9.
- Bring extra ammo, we went well over 2000 rounds, you could hit 2500 if you are a good shooter and get to move forward in the pass / fail drills and you shoot the max number of optional rounds.
- Even when its cloudy you can get sun burnt, or dehydrated, prevent both through prior planning and actions throughout the day.
- You are held responsible for every round you fire, not every round plays into your final score, but it is looked at. Be prepared for honest but helpful feedback.
- Being more consistent is better than being awesome a few times and less so on others. It is better to be consistent and improve consistently.
- If attending at Eagle Lake, Matt and Nolan are top notch hosts and Nolan is an excellent cook. Being able to literally walk off the front porch to the range is awesome.
- Listen to commands – the biggest thing is to not police up your gear before Jeff calls the line cold.
- Fast misses don’t earn you anything.
- You really should stay on site, Saturday night I had drinks and cigars with Jeff, Matt, and Paul G. It was awesome, I got to be a cool guy for like 45 minutes.
- My physical fitness has slipped off, It cost me in the stress test and I have already taken steps to remedy that. I performed poorly and have no excuse.
- I ended the class with a 76, which was better than I expected going into the class, however I feel like I could have passed had I not DQed on a head shot at 10yards. Every round matters.
- I had some sight alignment issues on the subdued circle of the silhouette, I think this is because I normally shoot B8s so I need to diversify.
- I do intend to take this class after some practice and pass the standards.
- Any questions please ask, I think this is all but I may add more as I think back
