Awerback Course Review

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A buddy of mine who's a part time deputy sheriff in NC recently took Lou Awerback's Shotgun I course.

(He has also had the Handgun I and Tactical Rifle course with Lou)

Anyway, here's the review he posted on another list we're both on:

Mike said:
I took the Awerbuck shotgun class over the weekend. Lou was in typically fine form.

I brought my Scattergun Technologies Rem 870 and it shot well indeed. It was the first time I had shot more than a function test with it. I was using Win Ranger Low recoil slugs. When we zeroed at 25 yds I found it
to be dead on, center X, perfect. The buckshot patterns varied a lot depending on the ammo. I need to do a lot of testing to find what works best in this barrel, oh darn :)

We also burned a lot of cheap birdshot for which I brought lots of my reloads which have been sitting on the shelf for ~5yrs. They worked fine also. The gun only had one hiccup. The extractor tore a gash in the side of the brass lip on a Federal slug. Lou was not happy with this and said it might be old ammo or defective ammo. He told me to deactivate any of this I had left. I only had about 10 rounds of it anyhow.

The first day was all gun handling fundamentals. There is a LOT to do on a pump gun! It really requires three hands to keep it loaded and running. He teaches to always load from the bottom with the action closed. It's just easier to remember and practice one way than to try to factor in all the variables and what if's when under stress. I think he is right YMMV. He does not insist you do it his way but, several class members had to learn for themselves that Lou teaches from experience.

We practiced various drills the second day. Lots of shooting and reloading under some pressure. We shot at steel plates mostly. Then he put some "friendlies" in front and behind of the steel bg's so we had to think "tactically". Then, we had to move laterally to get a "good" shot.

On the third day we put all of this together with a transition to the handgun. We learned how to secure the shotgun, depending on which type of sling you had and go to the sidearm. Great stuff! I kept running out
of hands! Then the drill was, one at a time, to move under Lou's command while shooting and keeping the shotgun loaded. If you ever need some humility try it. The guys with the semi auto guns just emptied their mags a little faster and were in the same "crap! I need to reload!" boat
with the rest of us.

The "final exam" was done is teams of two. He had his two "movers" set up with four friendlies around them. The team had to approach and shoot the designated bg without hitting any paper target. The movers were two
plastic dummies on a pedestal that was manipulated by Lou pulling ropes.

Each team had three seconds to hit the BG. Whew!

I gained a lot of confidence in my shotgun and learned what it can and cannot do. IMHO stay away from buckshot unless you will only be using it indoors. I would rather stay loaded with slugs and have a buck load ready for the few situations that it might be a superior choice.

I learned how to load without looking and mostly as a habit. Load when you are not shooting, even if you can only fit one more in there.

Mike

Regards
John
 
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