Modern Samurai Project 2 day Red Dot Pistol AAR

November 2019 | Clayton Webb

Modern Samurai Project 2 day Red Dot Pistol

Scott Jedlinski is a different type of instructor and this is a different type of class. It’s a fairly low round count, probably 600 rounds but felt like a thousand. When told we were shooting in relays, I inwardly groaned, but his style and pacing made in work. I was also a little worried about one instructor for 14 students, but that was unfounded too. Every student got individual attention, from the worst (there was no bad shooters) to the best. If you are that guy with the earned pins and coins, you won’t get the “good job” as he’s walking past to work with someone not at your level.

Basically, Scott introduces the drill, short lecture, demo (he will demo every single thing he asks of us), then relay one will go to work. Jedi walks the line working with teach student in turn, individualizing the broader lesson. Frequently he will call the line cold and involve the entire class if he thinks that students issue is more widely relevant. Then relay two gets it’s turn. When not shooting you’re giving feedback to your relay partner, or following the individual teaching that others are recieving. I think this style encouraged a comraderie among the students. I felt like a fellow teammate when watching others achieve breakthroughs and do things they may have thought impossible the day before. There are drills, but I wouldn’t call this a drill class. You’re given the tools to smoke the drills and the ability to self diagnose. One example is the entire line shooting a 2.5 second bill drill simultaneously.

“Do less, get more” could be the motto of the class. Learning how to use proprioceptive indexes and body mechanics to increase efficiency and eliminate unnecessary movement is eye opening. “Sooner, not faster”, just because you are doing a lot of quick movement doesn’t mean you’re actually faster. There’s more, a few I read when researching the class, but the teaching helped bring the understanding that’s needed.

You will get better with the red dot. You will be faster on the draw, presentation, and be quicker tracking the dot than when you arrived, no matter the skill level you come to class with. I was with an amazing group of shooters and every single person left better.

After the basics of tracking the dot on single targets and transitions we worked on shooting multiple targets while moving. The final exam is a USPSA style stage. Everyone shoots it once, then Scott shows us how to plan and “game” the stage. As a new competitive shooter, I got more than expected from this portion of the class. We then run it again for real. While I didn’t win the Phlster holster given to the top score, I managed 4th.

Talking with another instructor that was attending the class, he said there’s only about five thousand gun owners in the country that attend training beyond what’s mandated by the state. If he’s right, it’s a shame. The tuition was basically equivalent to two cases of 9mm. There’s zero chance that you could learn or discover on your own over those 2k rounds what you can learn in good class.

The class is highly recommended if you’ve joined or are considering joining the Master race. I’ll be training with Scott again.