What does a precision shooter do at a defensive shooting competition? Challenge himself! That’s what Christian from Ranger Magazine set out to do, and without further ado he signed up for the Edelweiss Adventure defensive shooting competition. Here is his experience of his “first time” in dynamic shooting.
I won’t hide the fact that I was pretty nervous before the competition. After – at the time – 15 years of shooting experience in the static range, a bit of dry training with the holster and only the odd session in front of steel gongs, taking part in a competition that has three different scenarios and several stages does seem a bit overwhelming. However, Andi Steindl, Managing Director of Edelweiss Adventure, told me beforehand in clear, simple words: “Just try it!” That worked, because after countless competitions I know that competitions are the best training.
That’s what it’s all about
The competition takes place in all three halls of Edelweiss Adventure. The indoor shooting range 1 (RSA1) has a car that is integrated into the scenario. Separate rooms can also be set up using partition walls. In RSA2, walls and barriers are also available for the creation of additional rooms. The scenarios in these two halls are carried out in sharp focus. In RSA3, on the other hand, 360 degrees are used with an Airsoft Glock replica. Some of the rooms are extremely angled, and there could be an “opponent” behind every shelf.
Before the competition, you are given information on the scenarios to be completed. The tasks are precisely defined, as are the targets to be hit: everything that carries a weapon and is within a certain distance must be shot at to avert danger. But beware: not everything that is armed is also an enemy. Many an undercover policeman, who likes to wear his badge inconspicuously on his body, can also be found among the countless cardboard targets. Whether it’s a hairdryer, beer can, bouquet of flowers or Uzi – the sometimes friendly, sometimes grim-looking cardboard colleagues can simply hold anything in their hands and thus define their status as “friend” or “foe”. Edelweiss Adventure offers several major competitions each year. The defense shooting competition is considered the “main competition”. Participants receive a specially created patch. The company Ammotec was also represented, with a special focus on the Beretta range. From pistols to shotguns, everything was on display and could be handled on site.
Out of the station wagon, into the commotion
You start in small groups. Timely attendance is necessary in order not to disrupt operations – and recommended anyway due to the cognitive processing of the scenario. In this competition, the instructors explained what (not) to do in brief before each stage. However, the scenario must already be stored in your head.
After the beep, off we went. In RSA1, you started with an unloaded pistol behind the wheel of a car. So you had to draw your pistol quickly in a confined space, insert the magazine and shoot at targets. As soon as the gun was fired, you had to quickly squeeze through the station wagon and heave yourself out of the trunk. You don’t do that every day either, do you? Once the next magazine was inserted, we continued straight away. Then there was a narrow room that you had to enter with your weapon holstered. There were targets everywhere – sometimes you had to shoot at them, sometimes not. We were constantly scanning and searching for dangers. In the last room and after the last shot had been fired, I initially only saw a “bleeding” colleague in the corner of my eye. However, the instructor quickly warned me with the words “He’s bleeding! You have to help him!” to administer first aid. The tourniquet – which had noticeably been used several times before – was supposed to stop the “bleeding” from the aquarium pump, but it simply wouldn’t stop. In the end, I had the feeling that I had failed because I had automatically turned down the usual few turns of the tourniquet, but had not paid attention to the actual “blood loss”. Another lesson learned, and fortunately in a safe environment.
Rescue mission number 2
RSA2 was no less varied. A “person” had to be found and brought to the first aid kit. On the way to the colleague – a fortunately lightweight but unwieldy dummy – and then to the first aid kit, there were “enemies” to watch out for.
The mental picture that came to mind when reading the scenario didn’t match the actual case at all. You don’t know in advance what the rooms look like. But at least the dummy could be thrown over the shoulders in such a way that there would have been screaming protests in real life, but time was saved in the competition. Goal achieved, goals fought and the conclusion: adaptation is essential!
Plastic bullets and Kalashnikovs
Then it was off to RSA3 – the hall where airsoft guns can be fired in any direction. With a Glock replica, you moved from room to room. The targets stood close together, often concealed by shelves, and you had to get pretty close to determine whether what the nice cardboard colleagues were holding in their hands at waist height was a book or an AK-74. In any case, you couldn’t be fooled by the appearance of the figure, whether masked, grim or amiable looking.
All in all, quite a challenge, and without a single sharp shot! Once again, there were many aha effects.
And how did it end?
First of all, the good news: The experience of one and a half decades of training with shooting sports equipment was automatically and correctly recalled by the body, even in the stressful and largely unknown situation. There were no safety deficiencies identified either by ourselves or by the instructors. The finger was “long” when it was supposed to be, and the muzzle always pointed in the right direction.
There was nothing overwhelming about the hits and yet, even if they were few, they were embarrassing. The fact that there can be misses at just a few meters is almost inexplicable for static shooters, but not unusual in the rush and overall stress, as conversations with fellow sufferers after the competition revealed. So I count that as half a success. Less pleasing, however, was the question time in my brain during the stages, because no answers presented themselves so quickly: Do I walk into an unknown room with my weapon in my personal safety area, close to my chest, or do I carry it ready for immediate use and outstretched, analogous to my gaze? Is the blood-smeared doll with the victim’s knife and head in its hand a Halloween joke or an actual “danger”? And why the heck are these cardboard disks not responding to my call? The analyst in me wanted to know exactly – and that’s exactly what costs points in a competition, let’s not even talk about the consequences in an emergency. An innocent “person”, who was holding a harmless object instead of – as I thought – a submachine gun, even had to take shots from the airsoft pistol. However, most of the points fell by the wayside where they were actually served to me: when hitting actual “perpetrators”. After much deliberation, I walked past the above-mentioned blood-smeared Halloween figure – hard to believe. My brain dismissed it as “completely unrealistic”. So the analyst went beyond the clear target set before the competition – and lost. Overall, it was enough for 63rd place out of 106 – what can you say? Perhaps acceptable with virtually zero previous experience in the dynamic area, but otherwise below my personal pain threshold, which is half of the participants. And another incentive.
Learning tasks
The biggest challenges for me personally were therefore, on the one hand, moving correctly with a weapon in a defensive situation outside of my usual and trained movement patterns within my own four walls. This also includes recoil control and taking aim quickly on the move. You simply have to train this. On the other hand, aiming was very difficult. The other person was just a static target, but almost always had something in their hand pointing in my direction. Recognizing whether it is a danger or not in a hurry and in conditions that are not always good is a great challenge – and a matter of practice.
Conclusion
After all the harsh self-criticism and the string of annoying experiences: Would I still recommend this competition to other beginners in defensive shooting? Absolutely, as long as they are confident with the weapon. This is not a subjective criterion, but can be based on very clear points. So if you have just started shooting, you will probably start by taking courses so that you can benefit more from a competition that demands several skills at the same time: moving, perception, shooting, hitting – always with the highest level of safety. Those who have been competing for some time but have never or rarely shot on the move could, for example, have a truly trained eye assess their status and then work specifically on any deficiencies. As always, it is important to pay attention to safe handling first, everything else is shooting technique.
Was the competition also “fun”? “Can we even speak of “fun” in such a case? Everyone has to answer that question for themselves. My personal answer is: it is a kind of “joy”, namely learning. If you reflect self-critically and combine the – incidentally very helpful! – feedback from the instructors with the points evaluation, some interesting questions emerge. What worked really well, what didn’t? What can be done to improve perception? How can shots be fired with maximum control even on the move? One answer: only training can help. In line with my self-imposed directive, I also tackled this soon after the competition. It is important to get to know different didactic approaches and to retain and consolidate the best lessons for your own situation and objectives. And yes, that’s fun too. In the Ranger Magazine, we will therefore continue to report on further experiences from competitions and courses. Ranger tips: Beginners should not only take a little time to prepare on site, but also identify themselves as beginners to the instructors of the respective stage. The instructors won’t help you cheat, but they will take some of the pressure off. They are also willing to give you feedback so that you leave the competition having learned something. And: don’t worry too much about the “perfect equipment”. Take what suits you and what you feel comfortable with.
The number of shots per stage is limited. You can get by very well with minimal equipment. If the spare magazines are in your trouser pocket and not in a quick-draw mag pouch, that will also be enough – provided the magazines can be drawn safely and quickly.
