Justin Dyal’s “Intermediate” Handgun Class

I just got back from my last planned class of the year, thanks to Justin Dyal and Wayne Dobbs. This is the second year I have taken this class, both times at the excellent Dallas Pistol Club. Wayne has hosted Justin for the last two years and is planning on another class next year. One other student was a repeat from last year, and all the students this year were excellent shooters. Here is a link to last years class. The intermediate in the title is in quotes, as Justin’s classes are closer to advanced than intermediate. Nonetheless, as long as you have a really good understanding of the basics of hitting, you should get a lot out of his classes.

The class itself was similar to last year’s but was definitely not the same. We did some new drills and explored some new ideas that Justin has been playing around with. The Friday night lecture was also similar but incorporated new material and was very well received. If you don’t know the difference between a competition guy and a master, just save us all some grief and go east to the beach. And if that sentence is gibberish to you, then you need to get to a Dialed In class.

I had a rough week right before the class and went into it pretty sleep-deprived. A new hotel room that wouldn’t get cold enough did not help matters and on both days of class, I was fighting to stand up and pay attention. On Saturday I dropped a few shots I should not have so on Sunday I focused as hard as I could to overcome my foggy eyes and foggy mental state and managed to shoot a bit better. Obviously, none of us want to shoot at a lower level than normal, but this was a very valuable experience. I may not have performed as well as I would have liked, but having to force myself into an acceptable performance was a valuable mental training experience.

Justin, known for his drill-making ability, introduced a couple of new cognitive load drills. Some students preferred one over the other, but it seemed that everyone got something out of them. I used one of them at an instructor’s school I was teaching at this week and it was well received. Another drill I really liked was the “Texas Showdown”. It’s not actually called that, but since the class was in Texas… It is a pretty straightforward drill that involves movement and accurate shooting and it is a lot of fun. Parts of it can be used with any skill level, or you can put the whole thing together for a good time.

The picture at the top of the page is unlikely to be seen at most schools. Justin had a block on shooting from a rest for maximum accuracy. Many shooters do not know how to effectively zero their guns, either because of a lack of shooting skill, or not understanding how to wring the most out of the gun. Using a tripod and bag, Justin went over some of the principles of making accurate shots from a rest. I do most of my zeroing from prone, but not everyone can for a variety of reasons. A tripod rest is not as stable as prone, but it can be easier to use and with a little practice, it will give you enough accuracy to zero your gun. Past masters like Brian Enos used to talk about shooting groups from a rest as a part of their practice. It’s hard to shoot well fast when you can’t shoot well slow. Most shooters I see are limited by their accuracy, so this block really resonated with me.

Speaking of accuracy, I shot Blaser aluminum case ammo for this class, courtesy of Ammoman.com. I’m told that the aluminum case uses a higher-quality bullet than the brass case. In this case, the ammo shot very accurately from my LTT P30L. I had brought some of my Federal match ammo because Justin had told us that we needed some “no excuse” ammo for some of the drills. After shooting the Blaser off the bag at 25 yards, I decided that it was accurate enough for anything we were going to do and simply shot it for the entire class. I was not let down in any way and would happily shoot that aluminum case for everything other than Action Pistol. The group below is the Blaser at 25 yards. The gun is zero’d for my match ammo, but even with the zero slightly off, it was more than acceptable.

For the last few months, I have been storing my ammo (briefly but repeatedly) in a magazine extension from Solum Tool. I have not used it in competition yet, but in my practice and classes, it has worked perfectly. A little easier to put on than some others, I nonetheless managed to scratch one of them right away. It has withstood drops on all surfaces, though I do try to limit drops on concrete or steel. I consider it to be as good as any other extension I have used and intend to run it in matches shortly.

Please bear in mind that for duty use, I recommend actual repeatable testing of everything. In my case, nothing bad will happen if it fails, so I’m happy to use it, sans formal testing. I have a plus 5, plus 3, and plus 0 version and all of them are nicely made and easy to use. The plus 3 is on a P2000 mag, giving me a nice boost in capacity for that gun.

Finally, and even with my cognitive disabilities during this excellent class, I managed to win a drill or two and received a coveted “10 card” from Justin. A slow awkward clap accompanied the presentation of the card, truly an honor among honors. As you can see from the card, Par 4 was the drill for that one.

Finally, a video that shows a different movement drill but also includes a picture of a famous industry person that I’ve had the pleasure of shooting next to now for two years in a row.

I’m pretty sure I’ve written this before, but if you have a chance to train with Justin, take it. His class is unique and really does have something for everyone. If you are trying to break through a plateau, or just learn more about training and performance, you will benefit from a Dialed In class.