Update: Bowie Tactical P30S w/ Delta Point

Ran the Bowie Tactical / HK  P30S again @IDPA today in Ames, IA with the emitter taped over to get better acquainted with the irons, I could have shot Open Div. in USPSA today, but want to get better with the more familiar sights before really diving into the red dot...well that and I just felt like shooting with the guys in Ames.

I'm having trouble tracking the front sight, need to paint it and may possibly have a tritium vial installed in it. On a good note I was running some hotter ammunition and did not have any failures of any sort. Previously I was having some random failure to feed issues. Not sure if was from the refinished slide which seems to be a little tighter than pre-coating or if the added mass of the Deltapoint had anything to do with it, all I know was that I had no issues while running Winchester Ranger T NATO ammo today. After a couple hundred more I'll try some standard velocity 124gr FMJ and some 115gr FMJ and see what kind of results I have.

On a P30 only note, the slim slide stop lever assy. I installed has fixed my failure to lock open on empty issue.

Had some decent Bill Drill runs @ 10 (4.13), 7(3.53), and 5 yards(2.42), was down 2 for the stage, forget n which strings but think I dropped 1ea on the closer targets.


Head shots with the irons took a little more work. Still need to get to the in-door range and properly sight in the Delta Point.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the gun, I'm still shooting the 1911 better, but it will take some time to get used to something different.

On another topic, Suarez International is holding some Red Dot Equipped Pistol specific training classes,

in October, unfortunately I won't be able to partake this time around but will be looking for these offerings in the future.

AAR: Suarez Intl. Point Shooting Progressions - April 21-22 w/ Roger Phillips and Greg Nichols

Suarez Intl. Point Shooting Progressions

April 21-22, 2012

Big Springs Range – Searsboro, Iowa

Roger Phillips and Greg Nichols

~Preface~

First and foremost, I will say that I am writing this with the intent to post it at multiple venues and that some comments may be made to certain groups of individuals and not the member base of any one particular forum etc. Also, please excuse any typos or errors, while I usually go through great lengths to use proper spelling and grammar, I've been writing most of this with my 4 month old daughter on my lap and it's been kind of hard to type...

It seems that whenever I see a review of a Suarez Intl. Course posted outside of Warrior Talk, Gabe Suarez’s forum and meeting place for his students, customers, and colleagues; that some will take to condemning the organization for elements of Gabe’s past.

I do not care about Gabe’s past, it was in the past and that is it. If you have some beef about Suarez as an individual, I would ask that you not air your issues where this class review is being discussed as it’s not really about Gabe Suarez.

I did not take this course because of Gabe Suarez, I enrolled in this class mainly because of Roger Phillips. I’ve been reading Roger’s writings for years at DefensiveCarry.com and have always found his pieces, well written, technically and tactically proficient, valid and quite informational. To this day, every time I shoot a shot looking for maximum accuracy (yes that does mean using sights), I do so using information that I obtained from Roger and his writings.

I have wanted to take this course for years, particularly under the instruction of Roger, for many reasons I was never able to make it to this class until this month, I have taken a few training classes with other instructors but I've still wanted to take this class.

The final straw driving me to this class was when I was attending a course at the Tactical Defense Institute of Ohio (TDI) one of the instructors, Greg Elfritz made mention of a study on movement and other factors and how they altered the results of modeled gun fights using AirSoft Force on Force training. Near the end of this study, the following can be found.

"This clearly identifies a need for additional training and highlights the critical importance of making yourself a moving target during a gunfight. If highly trained shooters hit their opponents’ torsos with only eleven percent of rounds fired, imagine how much worse the average street thug with no training and minimal experience will perform under similar conditions!"

"I’ll simply say that we as trainers need to do some more work. We need to find a better solution to allow our students to hit their targets with a greater percentage of rounds during the stressful, fast-evolving nature of a gunfight. Whatever that solution is, be it training in point shooting techniques, an enhanced sighted shooting curriculum, or stress-inoculating scenario-based training, it is our collective responsibility as trainers to find it."

While some of the material from the Point Shooting Progressions Course, hereafter referred to as PSP had been covered in those classes other classes, PSP is just the class to fill the gaps referenced above from Greg’s article and I highly recommend it. I have no qualms referring friends, family, and my own students to Suarez International (SI) and after reading this after action review (AAR) in its entirety, neither should you. 

~Day 1~

The class was hosted by Suarez Intl. Staff Instructor, Greg Nichols. While Roger did a majority of teaching the course, Greg did his fair share of giving feedback to the students and word is that he is doing quite well inside the SI Organization. I have a feeling I'll be seeing more of him in the future and have some friends and prior students looking to take the Defensive Pistol Skills Class with Greg this June. I will be eagerly awaiting more feedback from this class.

It will surprise a lot of readers to learn that this class, which is often thought of as the “must have” of point shooting classes did not start off with a sacrifice along the lines of sights being sawed off from pistols and thrown into the trash, after all the paper work was filled out, mags were loaded, eyes and ears in place; we started with…

…An exercise in accurate shooting. That’s right, the first shots in POINT SHOOTING CLASS were shot using our sights in a “One hole drill” where the goal is to try and shoot five (5) shots into as tight a group as possible with a single hole being the desired result. Range was only about three (3) yards and the “target” was a small piece of blue tape no bigger than the fingernail of my little finger. This is just to see if anyone is having any issues regarding the fundamentals of shooting a pistol.