Following up on the recent review of the SIRT training pistol:
At the NRA Practice Session last night, we had two SIRT pistols on hand. The night’s topic was Use of Cover and thanks to the SIRTs we were able to set up a force on force drill that allowed each student to see how little changes in position and approach affected exposure from behind cover. Little green dots of light make it very clear whether it’s your elbow or your heart that’s exposed and being shot at. For many of them, it was the first time they ever had a first hand look at how use of cover actually worked.
The SIRTs also allowed us to demonstrate some of the dangers involved in slowly pieing corners, always popping out from the same point of cover, etc.
(I meant to get videotape of all this, but logistically it didn’t work out… sorry)
At the end of class we also did a walkback drill on a 40% IPSC steel from Action Target. Out of 15 shooters, two scored hits all the way back to the 50yd line. They were the two shooters who own SIRT trainers…
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
Definitely scoring at least one of these!
Last night really hammered home the benefit of owning two if you’re going to use them for teaching.
The cover drill we did was extremely basic. Student #1 stands behind a barricade. Student #2 is downrange ~10yd with no cover, playing “target” for Student #1. The guy at the barricade comes out from cover and gets a good center hit on the guy playing target. While holding that position, #2 then shows him how much of his body is being exposed.
You could achieve the same fundamental thing without the lasers — I’ve done it in classes many times before — but there’s a visceral difference between having someone shout out “left shoulder” and actually seeing that a bullet would have ripped through your aorta.
Could those SIRT owners hit the 50yd before they bought them?
Dude! If I knew the SIRT’s were prizes, I would have attended!!
Last night was good training with a solid group of shooters. Everyone was happy to help each other with feedback in a safe, laid back, non-competitive environment (…at least it was non-competitive ’till the walk-back drill!)
As far as the SIRT FoF simulation, I think it would have been beneficial to have two turns (if time allowed). A 2nd round would have allowed us to see the variety of body positions shooters used as we each went on the first run. Then we’d be able to adjust our own position based on what we saw and use the 2nd run to judge the changes effectiveness.
That was my first time attending one of your events and I’d be happy to attend another. Thanks for putting it together, Todd.
Hey Todd what safety glasses for laser safety are you using in the FOF with those class 3a 5mw lasers on the SIRT?
I’m having trouble finding ones that will cover both the 532nm (green) and 650nm (red).