Yavapai Firearms Academy "Shotgun-Stage II" 8/30-9/1 2013

WayneF

Member
Yavapai Firearms Academy
Tactical Shotgun - Stage II
Instructor: Louis Awerbuck
Location: Alderson, WV


On 30 Aug 2013 to 1 Sep 2013 Louis Awerbuck conducted his Tactical Shotgun Stage II course at Practical Firearms Training in Alderson, WV.

The gauge is the platform that I have trained the least on over the years. I have shot and trained with some great shotgun instructors including Rob Haught, the Magpul Dynamics crew, and Pat Goodale but I have always centered my training around handguns and AR’s.

When this chance to train with Louis came up, I jumped all over it.

My gear for this class was pretty minimal. I used a Mossberg 930 SPX with a Trijicon RMR, Velcro side saddle, shortened stock, single point sling mount, and Magpul sling. My handgun was M&P 9mm/Surefire X300U with time split between a Peters Custom Holsters Spada and a Raven Concealment VG2. I carried a spare magazine in a Comptac holder and had all of it hanging off of an Ares Gear belt. I also brought along a Remington 870 as a backup gun.

Ammo was a combination of various birdshot, Federal Flite Control 00 buck and Federal slugs. I had one failure to fire with a Federal slug. It had a deep hit from the firing pin so I will chalk it up to an ammo failure. It was one of MANY ammo problems experienced throughout the class.

Quality control and issues with all ammunition has been poor lately, shotshells are no different. Issues ranged from inverted primers, deformed hulls, and even some 2 ¾” shells that I found in a sealed box of 3” slugs.

Training day one started out with patterning our buckshot at various distances. Knowing how our specific loads patterned out of our guns would prove to be very important over the next few days.

From there we moved on to multiple drills just to get us warmed up and knock the rust off. These were done on hanging steel plates and at various distances. For those of us with extremely tight patterns we found that inside of 15 yards we were basically firing slugs. That of meant we had to slow down and be more careful with shot placement as compared to the guys with wider patterns.

Things then slowed down a bit and we confirmed zeros with slugs. This was when the first gun related issues started to show up. One student had an aftermarket ghost ring rear sight that did not want to stay in place. Another student with a Saiga had a rear sight that did not want to drift over with a brass punch and gunsmith hammer. A framing hammer was finally able to break it free.

With that out of the way we started a warmup with our handguns in preparation for transition drills. All of the students had previous formal handgun training and there were no real issues to speak of in simply hitting a flat piece of static paper. However, that luxury would soon go away.

We finished off the day with some slug select drills. First up was simply checking that everyone had the manipulations down for their particular weapon type. Most of the class was running a pump gun of one type or another. Two of us were running tube fed semiautos with two other students running Saigas. For the tube fed guns, Louis is a fan of loading the slug through the bottom instead of side loading. He feels that it greatly simplifies things as compared to having two different places to load the gun during different situations. He also covered the multiple ways possible to flub a side load. It all made perfect sense. That wrapped up our first day.

The second day started out with a short warmup to get everybody back into the groove. From there we went back to the hanging steel targets, this time with a slight twist. Louis feels that you need to be able to quickly place an accurate hit on target, that said, unless your threat is standing in front of a ballistic wall we can’t just hose rounds at them without regard for what is going on around it.

This point was driven home with what would appear to be a simple task… On paper. We were brought up on line in teams of five. Our task was to engage all of the hanging steel plates without placing any pellets on the paper targets placed behind them. That meant using lateral movement to work for the angles that we would need.




Next up we would engage the steel again but this time with “no shoots” placed in front of and behind the targets. As Louis explains, the front targets are an easy read. The targets in the background were the ones that were really at risk.



From there we brought out the handguns again. Starting out we simply had to hit all of the paper targets without striking any of the steel. This was complicated by the fact that the targets were placed on a slopped berm. That meant we had to compensate not only for the foreground, background, but also the target stands that were now behind the center of the front targets and the support beams from the steel target platform.



At this point, any rounds in the upper chest or head counted as a suitable hit since we were shooting on flat pieces of paper. That changed with our next drill, we would no longer see a one dimensional piece of paper for the rest of the weekend.

This change started with our handguns. Our task was to engage a three dimensional target in the chest and face. The idea was to stop thinking about punching holes in paper and try to visualize the anatomy of a threat and look for “deep meat”.



The targets were then placed off angle to us and some were even horizontal. The targets were also moved each repetition to ensure we were not looking straight on at the target. To complicate things further we were told to shoot while moving a few steps in each direction so our desired target area would change as we were moving.

 

WayneF

Member
This progressed into transitions between the gauges and pistols. For that we went back on to the swinging steel with paper targets in the foreground and background. We would engage the steel with shot and then transition to pistol rounds on paper. Once again, we were instructed not to hit the paper with shot or steel with pistol rounds. The paper targets were once again shaped so that we had to ensure we were getting effective hits.

Next up was slug select drills where we would engage steel with shot and then transition to slugs on paper.

We wrapped up the day with some shooting on the move. While shooting on the move is pretty easy when firing at a line of static paper it became much more complicated when having to take into account the target’s foreground and background. This drill was ran multiple times with shotguns and handguns. The constant was that even though we started at 25 yards or so, most students were not breaking their shot until close to the 15 yard line. Louis said that 15 yards is the average that he sees a good shooter being able to make a shot on the move in these conditions, different than the standard drills ran at much further distances.

TD3 made static targets a distant memory. Louis has a very simple yet effective moving target on wheels that creates jerking and erratic movement. While I have engaged a lot of latterly moving targets in various courses, they were all moving at a steady pace and direction.

To bring the point home we were brought up one at a time and told to engage the target with a single shot to the head. Once again we were using a shaped target, which meant our point of aim had to change depending on our position relative to the target. This was an eye opener for many.

Next up was a team drill. One shooter would engage the target in the body until the other could connect with a good head shot. The same drill was then ran with slugs. This is where the red dot really seemed to be an advantage for me. I was able to simply place the dot on the head of the moving target instead of trying to align iron sights with it.

Once we got the hang of it, the difficulty level was again raised. Our two person teams would now engage the same moving target in front of three rows of no-shoots. We were allowed to move forward and latterly but had to ensure a hit with a slug without striking any of the targets behind it.

Our final live fire drills would incorporate a system that involved a moving hostile target with a varying number of stationary and moving no-shoots. First up a single shooter would engage the hostile target with a head shot while not hitting a single moving no-shoot with no time limit involved.

We then paired back up with a partner. We would have three seconds for both shooters to move into a position where they could land a solid head shot while not striking the three no-shoots behind it. Sometimes there simply isn’t a shot there to be made. This was a different concept to think about since we are at a range with a 12 gauge hammers and we attempt to look at everything like a nail.







After multiple runs we broke for lunch. We then spent the second half of the day working through the shoothouse in three man teams. These were dry drills and were primarily focused on use of cover, communication and above all else, watching each other’s back. The key point driven home during all of the team drills were the mindset that your purpose was to support and protect the rest of the team and likewise that was their job as well.

This wrapped up the course. The learning points in this class did not only come from running drills. The theories, mindset, and real world examples given by Louis were just as important. Such as the differences between reacting to an auditory and visual stimuli and how it relates to things such as the Tueller Drill.



Louis told us on the first day that most of the students were already very good shooters and there wasn’t much he could do to improve upon that. His goal was to work on the mental side of things and how to relate those skills to reality.

In the end, this course was less about shooting and more about thinking and problem solving. I for one, greatly appreciate that. Shooting is shooting. Sight alignment, trigger manipulation, and follow through. This class forced us to use those skills as a means to solve a problem.

I cannot recommend this course enough. It was not a high round count, shoot ‘em up course. It did however have some of the most challenging problems I have ever encountered in a training environment. If you have the opportunity to attend this or any other of Louis’ classes, you owe it to yourself to do so.

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Nice. I took his Stage I Shotgun, but never had the chance for a Stage II after that. He didn't hold the Stage II class often. He told me he had enough trouble filling Stage I Shotgun. That's too bad.
 

WayneF

Member
Louis would come out and use our facility a couple times a year for classes.

I was lucky enough to be used as a "minder" for a few of them. I am very grateful for the opportunity to train under him.
 
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