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

Kimber Kds9c Rifleman Review 1
Kimber Kds9c Rifleman Review 1

Rifleman Review: Kimber KDS9c

Kimber's KDS9c is one of only a few double-stack, M1911-style handguns on the market that are expressly designed for concealed carry in mind.

New For 2025: CVA Optima V3

CVA's mid-point Optima muzzleloader got a refresh in 2025, and this third-generation model offers a number of additional features while still remaining affordable.

From Paper Cartridge To PMAG: 250 Years Of U.S. Infantry Ammunition

Any survey of military firearms isn’t complete without also discussing the development of ammunition across this past quarter-millennium. From a conceptual standpoint, very little has changed.

Review: IWI Carmel

Initially introduced in 2019 to the international military market in a select-fire format, the IWI Carmel is a modular, durable and thoroughly modern sporting rifle.

Ruger Reaches New Milestone In Support Of Youth Shooting Sports

Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. became the first Blue Diamond level sponsor of the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF) in 2024 by supporting the youth shooting sports program with more than $75,000 a year.

KelTec’s PR57: Thinking Outside The (Detachable) Box

KelTec has brought the stripper clip back with the thoroughly unconventional PR57—a carry pistol with an uncommon chambering, an unusual action and no box magazine.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.