Apply What You've Learned

posted on April 4, 2014
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
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

Gotw Influencer X Web
Gotw Influencer X Web

Gun Of The Week: EAA Corp. Girsan Influencer X

We're on the range with an M1911 that is one of the smoothest-shooting versions we’ve shot in recent memory. And best of all? It’s incredibly affordable, to boot. This is the EAA Girsan Influencer X.

The Armed Citizen® Aug. 8, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Hopkins & Allen: The Armsmaking Giant That Didn't Survive

Founded in 1868 in the northeast U.S., Hopkins & Allen grew from a friendly business venture into a prolific maker of affordable guns for brand names such as Merwin & Hulbert and Forehand & Wadsworth.

Burris Optics Celebrates 50 Years Of Fullfield Riflescopes

Firearms and ammunition ballistics have changed greatly over the last half-century, but one of the biggest leaps in performance hit the scene five decades ago, when Burris Optics introduced its Fullfield line of riflesopes.

I Have This Old Gun: Heckler & Koch P7

In the mid-1970s, the German federal police sought a replacement for its existing World War II-era sidearms and put out stringent guidelines for what it wanted in a handgun. The result was the Heckler & Koch P7.

New For 2025: Smith & Wesson Shield X

Smith & Wesson's new Shield X micro-compact handgun combines elements from the company's M&P Shield Plus with some cues from its smaller Bodyguard 2.0 design.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.