December 06, 2017
That’s about all we knew of the guy we affectionally call “Primo” today. It was a few years ago at SHOT Show when we first met, and we’ve had an inseparable bond ever since. He’s crazy as shit, stable as nitroglycerin, and has a work ethic that’d rival Heidi Fleiss in her heyday. Clearly, he can peel a drone out of the sky with a shotgun, but these days he’s more focused on training the rest of us to move, shoot, and come out on top in a gunfight.
A few weeks ago, we were able to catch-up with him and spend a couple days together in the Arizona sun. We happened to beat him to the range by a few minutes the first morning. And in true fashion, he rolled-in right behind us doing 75mph down a dirt road, skidded to a stop in the middle of that range, and jumped out of the truck ready to rock. No fancy classroom or chalkboard, just a stick and a few rocks to spell things out in the dirt. We wouldn’t be stationary much while shooting, just long enough to cover a few basics and then things were going to get fun. That’s about all you needed to know, along with not doing anything stupid out there or anything like that.
The man didn’t waste much time with small talk, bullshit stories, or a bunch of needless chatter. We were all there to shoot some pistols and get better at “moving" while doing so. Out of the truck came a pile of steel, up went the targets, and down range went the lead. All in a matter of minutes, we were lined-up and focusing on the fundamentals of proper grip, sight picture, and trigger manipulation. After every drill, each individuals' target was quickly analyzed, discussed, and personally addressed with recommendations before the class moved on to the next. Primo was direct, made things simple, and paid special attention to those of us who needed a bit more help. It didn’t take long and our instructor had his little group of weekend warriors crushing some paper and looking for something more.
One must walk before you run, so that’s precisely what we did. Primo was quick to analyze each of our movements, accuracy on target, and overall manipulation of the weapon while incorporating the moving part. The “walking” was an important precursor to what was coming next… running and gunning. Come on now, that’s what we were there to do, and it didn’t take long to get there. He set-up a multitude of drills, ran every one of them first, and even a couple twice when he wasn’t happy with his own performance. We all learned to move fast, maintain proper cover, and communicate with one another. All while staying on target. That walk turned into a full out run, yet the fundamentals never changed. Our progression was fast, and the lessons that were being delivered stuck in the brain.
Out came the sandbags, dumbbells, safety cones, and a few more targets. Everyone knows that there’s a “stress test” at the end of each course, and it’s something that most were looking forward to. There’s no participation trophy at the end of any Courses of Action class, and Primo makes that quite clear. Finish and you’ll receive the patch of honor. Don’t, and you can go home knowing you tried, pretty simple really. He set it all up, ran through it himself, and established a time to beat. From 125 pound high-school kid to a few men with plenty of gray hair, everyone lined-up one at a time. And before it was over, everyone finished. Pretty legit way to wrap things up, and a testament to the main focus of that drill. Just don’t quit, not ever.
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