TTS Progressive Pistolcraft 1&2 Combo AAR

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TTS Progressive Pistolcraft 1&2 Combo AAR

Postby GNCAaron on Sat May 28, 2016 11:37 pm

Greetings fellow MNguntalk members,

I recently took TTS's Progressive Pistolcraft 1 and 2 combination course, located down at the Ahlman's gun range in Morristown, MN. What follows will be a brief overview of the curriculum, some things I learned, and my overall impression of the class. Bottom line up front: The class was outstanding, and I'd recommend Craig as a trainer to anyone who carries a handgun daily.

I met Craig Burris, the owner of TTS, last year at a Robert Vogel pistol class. Craig was one of the top performers at the class. Craig not only practices extensively on his own time, but also understands the importance of seeking out wisdom from others.

I've taken a bit of training down at the Ahlman's range, and it is a great place to shoot. Craig ran a thorough pistol class, and even with over 15 students, he kept a productive pace over the duration. I've taken quite a bit of handgun training, and some classes have been somewhat broad and general, while others have been quite narrow and focused. I don't think one is better than the other, both styles are important for the student of the gun. Craig's pistolcraft 1&2 was more of the former, and he exposed us to a great deal of handgun skills, tactics, and techniques.

Some of the things that were covered in class included:
-Marksmanship fundamentals - stance, grip, sights, trigger control and reset
-Drawing the pistol, with and without movement
-Recoil control
-Reloads
-Malfunction clearance
-Strong hand only shooting
-Strong hand only reloading (nice to see, this is often overlooked)
-Shooting while moving (a fair amount of it, which is always welcome)
-Shooting around cover (VTAC barricade)
-Drawing and firing from retention
-Multiple target drills

Both days of class were packed with drills and instruction from Craig. He was always quick to demonstrate a drill himself, which I applaud. As is often the case in a broad-view pistol class, some students were very new, some were quite advanced, and most fell in-between. Craig was able to help everyone improve, regardless of our skill level. And while new students often improve the most over two days, even experienced shooters should always appreciate a weekend at the range, focusing on fundamentals, trying to get faster and more accurate, and picking up thoughts and ideas from the instructor and other advanced students.

I suppose I'd consider myself somewhat of an advanced handgun shooter. I've taken quite a bit of training from all sorts of people, and everything we covered in class I had seen before. But, I don't consider that a negative in the slightest. While most of the things I learned over the weekend came from my efforts to push the gun faster and more accurately - such as focusing on maintaining a rock-solid grip when shooting fast, getting a perfect draw from concealment every time, and always maintaining perfect trigger control during the shot - Craig saw that I was squared away, and pushed me to improve. He understands that many of these skills are really just goals without an end point; we can always continue to improve, even if we've done something many times before.

Overall, I enjoyed the class a great deal. Craig exposed us to a vast amount of information relevant to a person who carries a pistol daily. One of the goals of any firearms training class is learning from an experienced instructor what we should practice on our own when we leave, and Craig definitely gave us plenty of things to do at home on our own range. I'd recommend training with him, and look forward to doing so again.
GNCAaron
 
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Location: Chaska, MN

Re: TTS Progressive Pistolcraft 1&2 Combo AAR

Postby marquette26 on Sun May 29, 2016 6:43 am

I would have to agree with you. Very solid training and well worth the time and money. My only disagreement is your statement "Craig saw that I was squared away" You were more than squared away, more like I could cover a 10 round drill with one paster type of squared away.
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marquette26
 
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Location: Dodge Center, MN


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