MDFI - Low Light Handgun Class

On Friday Duffy and I headed to Albion, Michigan, for MDFI's Low Light Handgun class.

We got to the range at about 4:00, and checked in, getting there a half hour early.

Traffic and construction on I-94 caught a few of the participants so it was a bit after 5:00 before the introduction and safety briefing started.

We had a very detailed safety brief and objective of the course brief, by Trek, the head instructor, and Shane the assistant instructor.  The thoroughness was welcome, considering we would be shooting in darkness.  

Then on to the qualifier.

Overall it's pretty easy, with 6 second time limits for each component of the drill, shooting at 7 yards.
5 shots from compressed ready
4 shots from the holster
1 round speed reload 2 rounds
1 round with an empty magazine, reload from slide lock, 1 round.

This is pretty simple, but it was complicated by the sun being right above and behind the targets and shining right in our eyes, and between my shooting glasses and the glass of the red dot, just seeing the target was difficult as the glare was blinding. 

You needed 12 in the inner rectangle for the advanced score.  I put all 14 in the rectangle.  Not bad for not being able to see the target.

Everyone passed the qualification.

We then did some shooting drills and warm ups as the sun began to set.

Next, was a discussion and demonstration and practice of handheld flashlight techniques and then weapon-mounted flashlight techniques and why and when to use each, including how to do a safe 360 degree scan of the area after engaging a target without muzzling anyone else or yourself for that matter.

Handheld techniques were the FBI, the modified FBI, the syringe, the neck index, temple index and the Harries techniques. 

We also covered purposes for using the lights, and how to do weapons malfunction clearances in the dark. 

We practiced all those in the twilight.

Then it started getting dark.

Everyone put on red glowsticks, one in front and one in back.

Targets then became pretty much invisible in the dark.

We ran the flashlight drills, both handheld and weapon mounted, and then we loaded up magazines with a mix of live rounds and fired casings and did malfunction clearance drills in the dark.

Then we did some shooting from cover and how to use the flashlights and not have the light flashback and blind you as you did it. Then from cover with simulated moving targets.  Adding to the fun were some strobe pyrotechnics and smoke that unexpectedly were added to make it a bit more stressful which was also a lot of fun.

We next worked on countering other people's lights and being able to see and identify them even when they were shining a light towards us, this was pretty useful.  I had a new Modlite as a hand-held and yes, it will punch through a Surefire light to identify a target holding it.  You can also throw the light beam at their feet and then see the target, which is a useful technique.

The final exercise was a blind run through a photo-realistic set of targets from behind cover.  - with a light from the targets pointing towards you. You had to identify with your light and not shoot the friendlies but engage the threats and quickly. 

 Overall I did very well, unlike someone else who shot the innocent old man holding a cane perfectly in the A zone.  But, I and every other single one of the 16 people in the class shot a target in a yellow windbreaker pointing a gun in our direction.

Unfortunately, on his belt, obscured by the glare of the light by the target with the target lined up just for that purpose was a very small badge on his belt.  Crap.  Nobody saw it during the drill, only in the debrief,  everyone focused on the weapon pointed towards us and didn't see the badge in the glare and shot.

Certainly a good primer on getting as much info on a possible threat as possible. 

We shot in the dark until midnight. 

It got rather cold, and I was shooting from concealment from appendix with mags also concealed, under a jacket and a hoody sweatshirt which made draws interesting.  Most other class attendees wore OWB ALS rigs which let them keep their jackets zipped up.  Good experience but next time I'm going to put on some polypropelyne under my shirt.

A few of the attendees had night vision rigs, and the instructors did as well and those were phenomenal.    The head instructor let everyone try his set out and it was amazing.  We had the assistant instructor about 20 yards away and he completely disappeared into the darkness. With the night vision , You literally could see him clearly in the dark and how many fingers he was holding up.    Spendy as all heck, but man, that's some impressive stuff.

Then on to a debrief. Everyone at the class shot well, there were no safety issues and we all learned a lot.

There's not a lot of opportunity for night shooting and night shooting classes so this was a very educational and eye-opening experience. I'd certainly recommend taking a night shooting class to any firearms owner, and MDFI offers a truly excellent one that is very professionally done, very organized and offers excellent skill development.