Class Review: AAR: ONSIGHT FIREARMS TRAINING Defensive Pistol Accuracy and Accountability, Salem CT 1-16,17 2021

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ONSIGHT FIREARMS TRAINING
www.oftllc.us
Defensive Pistol Accuracy and Accountability
January 16 & 17, 2021​

Instructor: Ben DeWalt
Location: ACADEMI Northeast, Salem CT
Weather: Indoor Range
Round Count: 300ish
Class size: 12 students

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I took this one day class twice, once on Saturday the 16th and again on Sunday the 17th. This review will be a summary of both classes. Both classes were taught in slightly different ways, but had the same result:

• Teach the student how to use the pistol as a tool to place the bullet exactly in the spot of the target.
• Give the student the confidence to place the bullet exactly where you want it each time.
• Have some fun, meet new friends and enjoy yourself.

The classes taught the fundamentals, drawing from the holster, proper grip, putting the sights exactly where they needed to be, trigger press, and follow-through all before the lunch break. After lunch different drills were done from the class the day before. We worked on the same skills, but with different approaches.

We spent a lot of time working the correct grip, with detailed explanations of where each hand and each finger should be placed on and around the pistol. Ben worked with each student and explained why his grip technique worked. He demonstrated how the human body acted and reacted to gripping the pistol in many ways, how to use your body effectively to get a really good and firm grip on the pistol so it won’t move, before, during, and after the shot had been initiated. He used his 16+ years of martial arts knowledge and experience to articulate and demonstrate the benefits of his grip technique. He showed and demonstrated how the placement of your head, your arms, and each finger affects the strength of your grip. His understanding of how the human body works is impressive!

We worked from 25 yards away with a B8 target, to three yards shooting into one-inch square boxes working our sight over bore offset…..and every distance in between. All-day we were changing the distances and switching out target types and shapes. For some reason my brain did not like square targets, I did well shooting into a circle, whether it be a one inch, two-inch, or larger. Switch the target out to a one or two-inch square target and I would be on the line or 1/8” outside the target area…. WTF BRAIN?

This class was more about understanding your pistol, where to place your sight on the target to get the shot where you needed it to be. If the shot did not go where it needed to be, Ben and the shooter would try to understand why it did not happen, what went wrong? And most importantly, how to correct the process for the next shot.

Before each drill, Ben would explain it, demo the entire drill, and explain it again. I like that teaching approach. I like to hear the instructions and then see it being done correctly. There was absolutely NO ego. We analyzed our target misses as possibly killed good guys by accident. Ben made you really think about what happened on each shot, the real world has consequences. Don’t be a good guy active shooter!

Ben held each student just a little higher than current their individual skill. We had a range of skills in the class and Ben found the right way to get each student to push their skill a little past their comfort zone so each of us was learning. He did it in a professional, kind, patient way treating each student with respect and no one was made to feel embarrassed or humiliated on the line. Not all instructors are like that. Ben is a professional teacher and he has the experience, confidence, and competence to know how to get more out of you than you think. Good job Ben!

The standout drill for me was learning about our offset with the square drill. It was kind of a modified “dot” drill where there two rows of ten one-inch squares and a two-inch circle. We were at about five yards and we were to shoot one bullet into each square and a full magazine into the circle. It was more challenging than it should have been.

I really like Ben. He is super knowledgeable, skillful, funny, humble, and sometimes appropriately inappropriate. As the day goes on his jokes go downhill. He is a down to earth dude, that is easy to talk to fun to be around. I think Ben DeWalt and OnSight Firearms Training is one of the best training companies, absolutely take his class if you have the opportunity.

A few things stood out to me from this class. I have been to quite a few classes over the years and each class has its own personality, the mojo within the class was really good, there were only humble students wanting to get better while having a good time. There were no egos, no wiz-bangers showing off.
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