Apply What You've Learned

posted on April 4, 2014
artv.jpg

After three days of training and shooting, Day 4 of FTW Ranch's SAAM Precision course (Sportsmans All-Weather All-Terrain Marksmanship) culminates with a practical evaluation and a chance for students to apply what they've learned. The instructors call it a "drive around," and essentially it is an eight- to 10-station course that includes shooting positions and distant targets at points all across the ranch's 12,000 acres.

It's a bit like golf, but with guns. Three- and four-person groups were assigned lanes and, with an instructor/score keeper, began driving from "hole" to "hole". At each shooting position a target was identified and engaged by the students. Shooters had three shots with which to engage each target, and point values were assigned for first-, second- and third-round hits. Obviously a successful first shot was worth more points than a third-shot save. For my group, targets ranged from about 450 yds. to 800 yds. Our instructor also served as a spotter (caddy?) and provided one wind call for each shooter-the call was in miles-per-hour, so shooters had to confirm the call, multiply for distance-to-target, and choose their own holds. The real challenge, and test of our marksmanship, came in determining wind holds and, on unsuccessful shots, observing impacts and making appropriate adjustments to score a follow-on hit.

My colleagues here in the Rifleman offices will be relieved to know that I came out on top in my heat. But the margin of victory was only one point (of 50 possible), and the spread for my four-person group was only two points. I think this is a real testament to the training and instructors at FTW. Everyone who attended the course was a better rifleman (or woman) by the end, and the skill-level gap between relatively new shooters and those with more experience shrank to almost nil. I think that alone qualifies everyone as a winner, and serves as a ringing endorsement for FTW's SAAM Precision training.

Latest

Taurus Tx22 Compact Rifleman Review 1
Taurus Tx22 Compact Rifleman Review 1

Rifleman Review: Taurus TX22 Compact

A downsized version of Taurus USA's TX22 is available, giving folks a smaller, handier version of the full-size TX22 rimfire pistol that's become one of the company's most popular offerings.

New For 2025: Springfield Armory Saint Victor 9 mm Pistol

Recently, Springfield Armory added a large-format pistol variant of its Saint Victor 9 mm carbine, giving enthusiasts a compact PCC that feeds from Colt-pattern magazines.

The Rifleman Report: New Developments

Our official coverage of new products for the current year is set for next month, but we included two substantial new developments in this issue that have the potential to make significant ripples in the firearm business even before then.

Arkansas To Begin Mandatory Gun Safety Lessons In Schools

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law requiring public and open enrollment public charter schools to provide age-appropriate firearm safety instruction beginning during the 2025-2026 school year.

Adams Arms Set To Relaunch

Alexandria Pro-Fab, a contract machine shop based in Minnesota, announced that it has purchased the assets of Adams Arms, along with all of the company’s intellectual property, and it plans to relaunch the company in the second quarter of 2025.

I Have This Old Gun: Bayard Auto Pistol

The Herstal, Belgium, firm of Anciens Etablissements Pieper was apparently expecting big things when, in 1908, it named its new semi-automatic pocket pistol “Bayard.”

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.