Rangemaster Tactical Conference March 16-18, 2018 at Direct Action Resource Center in Little Rock, AR
Friday: Got to the hotel early Friday morning after driving all night. Good thing Coach was along to keep me awake. Got a short night of sleep and headed out after some decent hotel breakfast. Arrived at the compound at around 7:30 am and got registered. After getting our credentials we took a tour and got our bearings. I headed off to the Distance Pistol class with Marty Hayes. It was full when I arrived, fortunately they announced they would be adding a class the following day. I watched for a while and then went off and did some socializing until the next block of instruction. At 10:00 am I attended Church Security with Steve Moses. It was a good presentation but definitely seemed more suitable for bigger churches than what I am a member of. Still good information though as I get asked a lot about this subject. Lunch was next. I had brought my own but there was also a lunch truck on site with a pretty good selection. After lunch it was on to Animated targets with John Holschen. This class was full as well but they were doing a second one immediately following the first so I hung out and watched the first and participated in the second. It was very interesting. I was happy with the way the instructor could use a simple target to in your mind simulate the movement of a person. I really liked this block. There were two other blocks going on at the same time that I would have liked to attend as well, but fortunately for most people, there is only one of me. That was it for instruction for the day. Coach and Randy Harris and I went to downtown Little Rock on the river to get something to eat. That was a very fun time when a homeless person decided to come to our table and join us. Coach and I blamed Randy, although in truth the guy seemed fascinated with Coach.
Saturday: Up first was What Really Matters with Wayne Dobbs, with what was becoming a theme it was full. We watched for a while and then went over to heckle Randy while he shot the match. We must have done too good of a job because he screwed the pooch. Then so did Coach, and then so did I. What was disappointing about this was that it was actually a pretty easy course of fire that 38 of the 185 men shooting cleaned. We should have and all come close, but all messed up in some way. No shoot offs for us. After that failure it was on to the rescheduled Long Distance pistol. This was enjoyable class though I was a bit disappointed to be on a thousand yard range and only shoot at 50 yards on reduced size steel. Lunch was next. I had forgot my lunch that morning so I got some pulled pork from the truck. It was pretty good. After lunch it was on to Historical Handgun with Karl Rehn. That was a very interesting class even if I took exception with a few of his "facts". Well presented and full of detail almost anyone who is into this sort of thing would have found it enjoyable. Last class of the day for me was Evolution of AIWB with Spencer Keepers. Supper for St. Patricks Day was at some steak house (Logan?) where we took in some local culture and Coach ate a monster cut of prime rib.
Sunday: We were determined to get to the range early enough for Coach to get a spot in Gabe Whites block of instruction. That meant getting there at about 6:15 am. We weren't the first ones in line but Coach did get in. I watched until it was time to start helping Randy set up for his Point Blank Pistol Skills class. That started at 10:00 am. Even though we pointed out this wasn't a class for beginners, we still had quite a few in it. Considering this was probably the most dynamic class of the weekend, it was a pleasure to have extra help on the line in the form of Lee Weems and Adam Gochenour. We also had help from the Rangemaster RSO Scott Stewart. With all of the information Randy had to share in such a compressed time frame, the extra help was appreciated. I think the block went pretty well and I know the women on my end enjoyed it as they were squealing with excitement. After class we cleaned up the range and with what looked like impending rain, Coach and I decided to head on for home. I was glad we did as it was about 3:00 am when I arrived at home, very tired and sleepy.
This is a great thing that Tom Givens puts on and I wish everyone in our community had a chance to attend at least once.
Friday: Got to the hotel early Friday morning after driving all night. Good thing Coach was along to keep me awake. Got a short night of sleep and headed out after some decent hotel breakfast. Arrived at the compound at around 7:30 am and got registered. After getting our credentials we took a tour and got our bearings. I headed off to the Distance Pistol class with Marty Hayes. It was full when I arrived, fortunately they announced they would be adding a class the following day. I watched for a while and then went off and did some socializing until the next block of instruction. At 10:00 am I attended Church Security with Steve Moses. It was a good presentation but definitely seemed more suitable for bigger churches than what I am a member of. Still good information though as I get asked a lot about this subject. Lunch was next. I had brought my own but there was also a lunch truck on site with a pretty good selection. After lunch it was on to Animated targets with John Holschen. This class was full as well but they were doing a second one immediately following the first so I hung out and watched the first and participated in the second. It was very interesting. I was happy with the way the instructor could use a simple target to in your mind simulate the movement of a person. I really liked this block. There were two other blocks going on at the same time that I would have liked to attend as well, but fortunately for most people, there is only one of me. That was it for instruction for the day. Coach and Randy Harris and I went to downtown Little Rock on the river to get something to eat. That was a very fun time when a homeless person decided to come to our table and join us. Coach and I blamed Randy, although in truth the guy seemed fascinated with Coach.
Saturday: Up first was What Really Matters with Wayne Dobbs, with what was becoming a theme it was full. We watched for a while and then went over to heckle Randy while he shot the match. We must have done too good of a job because he screwed the pooch. Then so did Coach, and then so did I. What was disappointing about this was that it was actually a pretty easy course of fire that 38 of the 185 men shooting cleaned. We should have and all come close, but all messed up in some way. No shoot offs for us. After that failure it was on to the rescheduled Long Distance pistol. This was enjoyable class though I was a bit disappointed to be on a thousand yard range and only shoot at 50 yards on reduced size steel. Lunch was next. I had forgot my lunch that morning so I got some pulled pork from the truck. It was pretty good. After lunch it was on to Historical Handgun with Karl Rehn. That was a very interesting class even if I took exception with a few of his "facts". Well presented and full of detail almost anyone who is into this sort of thing would have found it enjoyable. Last class of the day for me was Evolution of AIWB with Spencer Keepers. Supper for St. Patricks Day was at some steak house (Logan?) where we took in some local culture and Coach ate a monster cut of prime rib.
Sunday: We were determined to get to the range early enough for Coach to get a spot in Gabe Whites block of instruction. That meant getting there at about 6:15 am. We weren't the first ones in line but Coach did get in. I watched until it was time to start helping Randy set up for his Point Blank Pistol Skills class. That started at 10:00 am. Even though we pointed out this wasn't a class for beginners, we still had quite a few in it. Considering this was probably the most dynamic class of the weekend, it was a pleasure to have extra help on the line in the form of Lee Weems and Adam Gochenour. We also had help from the Rangemaster RSO Scott Stewart. With all of the information Randy had to share in such a compressed time frame, the extra help was appreciated. I think the block went pretty well and I know the women on my end enjoyed it as they were squealing with excitement. After class we cleaned up the range and with what looked like impending rain, Coach and I decided to head on for home. I was glad we did as it was about 3:00 am when I arrived at home, very tired and sleepy.
This is a great thing that Tom Givens puts on and I wish everyone in our community had a chance to attend at least once.