This past weekend I made it to Cleves, Ohio for a Sentinel Concepts red dot pistol class with Steve Fisher.
This is the second red-dot-specific class I've taken this year, the first being Scott Jedlinski of Modern Samurai Project, so I was anxious to see how they compare and contrast with each other. Putting a red dot on my pistol re-awakened the excitement of pistol shooting for me personally so I wanted to seek instruction from those I consider to be well-versed with them. I brought my trusty CZ P-10 C outfitted with a Trijicon RM06 type 2 RMR.
Overview:
Steve starts the class with a discussion on red dots, brands, mounting options, and their resurgence in popularity as of late - noting several times that the red dot on a pistol is nothing that's entirely new. Also noting that there are no red dot classes for carbines, so there shouldn't be a need for a red dot pistol on handguns, but nonetheless he was happy to have us all there.
Classroom time lasted about an hour.From there we hit the range for a safety briefing. He did bring another assistant instructor, Paul, who did a good job policing the line and instructing.
One thing Steve makes apparent quickly is that he is not impressed by sub-second draws, jail-bait splits, or anything that involves you not hitting the target accurately within his constraints. For the bulk of the class we focused entirely on the X and 10 ring of a B8 target, and eventually "relaxed" that out to the 9 ring but only at distances of 15y or so.
Being a one-day class, the topics covered were apt enough for someone who was new to a red dot to make great strides in their proficiency with it, but his experience goes deep enough to where he was also able show several things to seasoned shooters. Presentation, tracking the dot through recoil, finding what a "good enough" sight picture is, transitioning the dot from target to target - all things Steve covered very well. We did up high ready, low ready, 1-2-3 rounds on target, failure drills, and an enhanced failure drill (3 chest, 2 head) focusing on a steady/consistent rhythm. So "pop-pop-pop-pop-pop" for all five shots as opposed to "pop-pop-pop-------pop-pop".
We finished out the day with "The Super Test", which is 10 rounds (30 total) fired from 15, 10, and 5 yards under time for score on a B8.
My thoughts/experience:
Steve is a good instructor. I enjoyed learning from him and he had plenty to teach me not only in method but in mindset especially as it concerns accuracy. Several times throughout the class he was questioned by myself or other students about a method or reasoning and he explained in detail why he's teaching the way he's teaching. There was no "because I said so" or "because this is the way I said we're doing it." Also, something I very much appreciated is he would take regular time to stop and make sure every single student that had a question got them answered - and thoroughly. He really impressed upon me the importance of "changing gears" and upping my own standards for accuracy - something I won't take lightly.
Also, Steve is hilarious.
I would absolutely recommend this class, and I look forward to taking his Critical Handgun Employment at a later date.
