Notes From The Range

Two days of training with John McPhee of SOB Tactical are in the books. One day pistol; one day carbine.

John McPhee, aka “Shrek,” aka “Sheriff of Baghdad” (hence SOB Tactical) is a 20-year commando who operated at the very tip of the spear in very bad places. His techniques and protocols are developed out of the experience of a lot of gunfights (plus master-class competitive shooting), mated with a deep study of the neuroscience and body mechanics of sending projectiles downrange quickly and accurately.  He uses video diagnostics to break down what the shooter is doing — which is enlightening and humbling.

I won’t go too deep into the technical details here — they won’t translate. Suffice it to say that there were modifications to stance, grip and presentation. McPhee’s mantra “Stay uncomfortable and you will improve” was operative.

The modification to stance felt natural and clicked immediately. The modification to the grip of my support hand on the pistol took a minute, but when it was married to presentation, it started to feel natural pretty quickly, too.

I am one of those students who needs to grasp the why behind something, and McPhee is really good at getting to that quickly and in an accessible matter — integrated with the “technique” and not separated from it. He noted that Einstein said the key to learning is to make the unnoticeable noticeable (which is where the video diagnostics and the coach’s experienced eye come in). Then, it’s a matter of explaining it to a fifth grader. McPhee has all of this dialed.

One element that amounted to a revelation is that my understanding of eye-dominance, which I’ve understood a certain way since I trained on the shotgun at Pachmayr more than 30 years ago, is not correct. We’re almost all “eye-neutral” as McPhee explained (and demonstrated). That means the left eye is trying to get on the sight too, and your eyes can end up fighting with each other, and cause micro head movements. This is particularly pronounced for those who use red dots on the pistol, which I don’t, but it applies across the board.

There’s a fix, but it feels weird initially.

I discovered that I tend to bring my head down to the gun instead of just bringing the gun up to the eye cone. That can make me hunt for the sights on follow-up shots, push the muzzle downward, and drop rounds low. That’s true for both pistol and carbine.

With the carbine, simply mounting the gun slightly higher than I am accustomed to corrected that tendency.

With the pistol, it’s going to require more awareness and being filmed, because it’s not something I’m aware of as I’m doing it. It will show itself on the target, though (more on that below).

A key technique is what McPhee has taken to calling the “super push” — pushing out toward the target with the shooting shoulder to attain the maximum lockout and stability. It applies to both pistol and carbine. It feels exaggerated at first. The proof of its efficacy is apparent on the target — you start stacking multiple rounds because you are not re-acquiring the sights. They’re there.

The training is conducted at very short range — three-inch stickers on tiny silhouette cardboard targets at three yards. That surprised me a bit, but the benefit became apparent immediately as McPhee demonstrated how the shooter can diagnose flaws readily by looking at the way a group prints on the target — cluster left/right=eye alignment; left-right stringing=“wobble” caused by insufficient super push; 45-degree stringing=grip. Everything you are doing right or wrong prints right in front of your face.

Of course, adding in speed opens things up, and any flaws are magnified as you add distance.

The good news is that I adapted to the modifications rapidly and shot well. Groups tightened quickly and got faster. Now it’s a matter of getting in the reps to groove new habits.

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The practical value of this training is apparent — I can already see improvement in my shooting. More than that though, it is vital for men — especially as we get older — to get out of the comfort zone, to seek improvement even in (especially in) skills at which we are already proficient. Complacency kills, sometimes literally, but spiritually always.

Hats off to Craig Rullman for making this happen — and here’s to building on it next year.

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I got out at dawn each day to lock down our space on our range at Zimmerman Butte. The day before our session, the USFS touched off a 64-acre prescribed burn right next to the range, so we had to deal with residual smoke, which kinda sucked.

I did a light FP Biathlon before the rest of the crew arrived. McPhee saw the kettlebells when he pulled in and asked what I was doing. He lit up when I explained the lifting/shooting drill. He gets it.