Old Dog, meet new tricks!

So I went to northern Virginia to ToddG's "Aim Fast Hit Fast" class last weekend. I have very little experience with the "high speed low drag" crowd. In fact this was the forth Firearm class I have attended and NRA nor the NCDOJ CCH Instructor class was anything like this! 

Unpack (click to enbiggen as usual)!

ToddG is an excellent instructor. He does not chant "Tacticool" buzz phrases. He is a thinking persons instructor. He tells you WHY he does it this way and then demonstrates it. He is a consummate operator and more importantly to me instructor with a Handgun.   

Lord knows I must have burned up a lot of his patience! He was always there to offer tips, critiques, and "hey don't do that again, OK"?  He DOES want all of his students to do well and it showed. Range safety was paramount and the range facility rivaled USTC. 

I had zero practice at presentation from concealment at speed with a timer on me. I had plenty when I left!

Simply put if you want to be better with all aspects of running a Handgun, Todd's class is worth the time, effort and energy.  I was firmly pushed out of my comfort zone and that is what I need to continue to learn. I was so frustrated with my performance after the first day I thought briefly about not even showing up the next day. I'm not IDPA or IPSEC, everyone is younger than me, just pack it in and go home.

Instead of going to class dinner on the first night I went back to the room to practice the pressout and other techniques. It probably did not help my standing with other classmates to not attend. No matter. I did have words of encouragement that night from several people. That meant a lot. The most important came from B. I went back!

Sunday I was somewhat redeemed. When shooting the steel plates head to head with other students with three targets strong hand only and three weak hand I prevailed. Old dudes can keep up! 

After the end of class Todd asked if anyone wanted to stay and shoot more. I stayed. Even after class, he had competitions already devised to keep up shooting, still offering pointers to students. It is very obvious this man has a passion for what he does. I will show back up to vex him again like a moth to the flame. 

On another note the S&W M&P Pro Series with my reloads had no malfunctions. Good on me and good on S&W! We did have a Glock throw up on a reload during class but it was the reload, not the pistol.  

We shot until dark and again he asked if anyone wanted to go to dinner. I had to decline as I was headed to "Banjo Country" to meet someone the next day.

After a little ride I arrived in lagniappe's lair country. Hole up and meet Murphy's Law over breakfast. I jump in his ride for a trip to a gunsmith and the range. WARNING! If you are a victim passenger in a motor vehicle with him, use the "Oh Jesus" handrail on the passenger side. You will need it! We arrive at the range. I would not have been able to make it there in my ride. So we go at it. ML details the events from there here.  

So I am careening around Banjo Country.  I am out manned and out gunned. My Blackberry is going "wait, what?" trying to get location updates. This is the first Blogger I have met in meat space. NO banjo music in the background and the conversation is great. ML took a great deal of time and effort for us to go shoot. I relax. Here he is on his M-60:

ML is a class act all around. It was a pleasure to meet him and I will return to Lagniappe's lair as soon as I can. The "secret weapon" was covered in awesome sauce! The other hardware was just as impressive as the man owning it. I cannot say enough about ending my weekend with ML. IT was a perfect ending.