I just completed the 2 day Defensive Shotgun class held at the Sigarms Academy in Epping NH, taught by Scott Kenneson. I recently purchased a Benelli M1 Super 90, and figured this class would give me the opportunity to put a lot of rounds thru the gun, and see what works and what doesnt.
Our class consisted of 10 shooters, 3 of which were police officers from PA, the rest were people with varying levels of experience, including one guy who never fired a shotgun until the day before the class. All of the guns except mine were pumps( I also had the only 1911 in the group) mainly Mossberg 500 & 590s. There were a couple of 870s and 1 Benelli Nova. One of the 870 began to have problems at the end of day 2 , otherwise all the guns ran without problems.
Day 1 began with the usual administration issues and safety briefing, then we moved into a lecture on the different types of shotguns, the pluses and minuses of each, as well as a discussion about the various manufacturers. Also included in the mornings lectures was the different types of loading, and when to you use each one, the different methods of carry, and the different types of ammo.
After the classroom session we went outside to the range. First we patterned the guns with both bird shot, and buck shot, the we moved back to the 50 yard line and shot slugs to determine a POI. After lunch the day moved pretty fast, we shot mainly bird shot for the remainder of day 1, we shot multiple targets, we shot on the move and we worked some on transition to the pistol. It was emphasized that if the shotgun had a problem inside of 25 yards, we were immediately to transition to the handgun, and not try to fix the shotgun until the threat had been dealt with. Scott noticed some problems with the pistol shooting, so back to the 50yd line we went for some remedial pistol work. when everyone was hitting the steel plate COM we went back to the shotgun. We fired approximately 75 rounds of bird shot and 100 rounds of handgun on the first day.
Day 2 we started in the classroom for a brief lecture on the various shooting positions we would be using, the it was back out to the range. We shot mostly slugs, over 100, during the course of the day. We shot prone, roll over prone, we shot while lying on our sides, kneeling and squatting. we shot failure drills from behind barricades, and we shot while moving as a group. we did a box drill, where 5 students moved around a course running for the 25ys line to about the 7 yard line. When the instructor yelled "GUN" the group had to turn towards the targets and engage whatever was in front of you. The trick to this drill was you had to select the right ammo for the distance. buck shot from the 7 yd line or slugs from the 25 yard line. It was up to the student to ensure that the shot gun was kept loaded, and to select load the right ammo. Loading a shot while moving is not an easy feat, and trying to select load a slug while moving is a bitch.
With the exception of the first few shots to pattern the guns, all shooting was done on steel. Banging steel with 12g slugs at 25 yards makes a nice ring.
A few words about the facility. Sig academy is a modern, clean facility, with several classrooms, a small lounge with coffee and drinks, a pro shop with all kinds of gear. There is an indoor range with both paper and steel, and the 75 yd outdoor range which has steel, both static and reactive, paper, and a shoot house. We ran several of our drills with all 10 students on the line at once, but we ran most of them split into 2 groups.
Scott Kenneson, our instructor was great. He treated the students like adults. He demonstrated every drill, and on some of the more uncomfortable ones such as shooting almost flat on your back with the shotgun across your chest, he would also shoot the drill with each relay all the while yelling " I love this shit". During breaks he would bring out cool toys to show us, such as the new Sig 250 which is a modular handgun. The trigger group is the only part that is serialized and is designed to be easily swapped between a variety of different frames. We also saw the Sig 552 and we got to shoot a suppressed Sig 556.
I found this class to be very helpful, it showed how to use the shotgun effectively, I have a new respect for the slug load, and I know that my gear set up works. There is going to be a defensive 3 gun class coming in the near future, and I hope to be able to attend.
Our class consisted of 10 shooters, 3 of which were police officers from PA, the rest were people with varying levels of experience, including one guy who never fired a shotgun until the day before the class. All of the guns except mine were pumps( I also had the only 1911 in the group) mainly Mossberg 500 & 590s. There were a couple of 870s and 1 Benelli Nova. One of the 870 began to have problems at the end of day 2 , otherwise all the guns ran without problems.
Day 1 began with the usual administration issues and safety briefing, then we moved into a lecture on the different types of shotguns, the pluses and minuses of each, as well as a discussion about the various manufacturers. Also included in the mornings lectures was the different types of loading, and when to you use each one, the different methods of carry, and the different types of ammo.
After the classroom session we went outside to the range. First we patterned the guns with both bird shot, and buck shot, the we moved back to the 50 yard line and shot slugs to determine a POI. After lunch the day moved pretty fast, we shot mainly bird shot for the remainder of day 1, we shot multiple targets, we shot on the move and we worked some on transition to the pistol. It was emphasized that if the shotgun had a problem inside of 25 yards, we were immediately to transition to the handgun, and not try to fix the shotgun until the threat had been dealt with. Scott noticed some problems with the pistol shooting, so back to the 50yd line we went for some remedial pistol work. when everyone was hitting the steel plate COM we went back to the shotgun. We fired approximately 75 rounds of bird shot and 100 rounds of handgun on the first day.
Day 2 we started in the classroom for a brief lecture on the various shooting positions we would be using, the it was back out to the range. We shot mostly slugs, over 100, during the course of the day. We shot prone, roll over prone, we shot while lying on our sides, kneeling and squatting. we shot failure drills from behind barricades, and we shot while moving as a group. we did a box drill, where 5 students moved around a course running for the 25ys line to about the 7 yard line. When the instructor yelled "GUN" the group had to turn towards the targets and engage whatever was in front of you. The trick to this drill was you had to select the right ammo for the distance. buck shot from the 7 yd line or slugs from the 25 yard line. It was up to the student to ensure that the shot gun was kept loaded, and to select load the right ammo. Loading a shot while moving is not an easy feat, and trying to select load a slug while moving is a bitch.
With the exception of the first few shots to pattern the guns, all shooting was done on steel. Banging steel with 12g slugs at 25 yards makes a nice ring.
A few words about the facility. Sig academy is a modern, clean facility, with several classrooms, a small lounge with coffee and drinks, a pro shop with all kinds of gear. There is an indoor range with both paper and steel, and the 75 yd outdoor range which has steel, both static and reactive, paper, and a shoot house. We ran several of our drills with all 10 students on the line at once, but we ran most of them split into 2 groups.
Scott Kenneson, our instructor was great. He treated the students like adults. He demonstrated every drill, and on some of the more uncomfortable ones such as shooting almost flat on your back with the shotgun across your chest, he would also shoot the drill with each relay all the while yelling " I love this shit". During breaks he would bring out cool toys to show us, such as the new Sig 250 which is a modular handgun. The trigger group is the only part that is serialized and is designed to be easily swapped between a variety of different frames. We also saw the Sig 552 and we got to shoot a suppressed Sig 556.
I found this class to be very helpful, it showed how to use the shotgun effectively, I have a new respect for the slug load, and I know that my gear set up works. There is going to be a defensive 3 gun class coming in the near future, and I hope to be able to attend.
