AAR Costa Ludas Pistol Employment
02 05/31/12-06/2/12 Portland Oregon
I've known Chris Costa for a few years now and this isn't my first class with him.  So far it's been one of the best classes I've attended.  Both for fun and atmosphere but also for the types of things I learned that I just don't see other people doing.

My background: I started shooting in 2003.  In 2004 I joined the USMC and spent 4 years in the infantry as an 0311. I did two deployments in Iraq and one MEU.  I Started working at Gun Gallery in 2008 and since then have taken several classes to include Magpul Dynamics, EAG Tactical, Telluric Group, and Reston Group.

Day 1:  We started off with intro's and, of course, discussions of safety.  Then we went over the fundamentals of Marksmanship.  Of course these were gone over in detail especially the importance of grip and trigger control.  Costa has changed his stance a bit from a few years ago and is a little less squared off than he used to be with his legs.  However the upper torso still remains squared for an Isosceles style grip.  If you haven't been to a class like this the hand placement can be a bit strange for some folks rotating their left wrist forward and using a high thumbs forward grip. But is so far the best grip I've used to help mitigate recoil.  I've seen so many people that get a pistol almost 90 degrees up when shooting because they aren't holding the gun properly.  

We Started the drills with a cardboard target with 6 orange dots and 6 blue dots.  When we first started doing the drills I was shooting as fast as I could to still make hits on the dots.  After being told to slow down I realized we were just worrying about the smallest group possible and started to go for that one ragged hole type of group.  We then started doing drills where we switched dots shooting center, left, right in sequence etc.  

Costa Went over how to properly draw your pistol as well.  I've seen many people do some really funky stuff on the draw that costs them a lot of time.  He didn't reinvent the wheel on this one but I'm constantly surprised by the amount of people that still improperly draw the pistol

Here you see Costa demonstrating a proper draw.  After getting a high firm grip with good purchase he draws the pistol straight up to centerline of the chest.  


MDH-5866 by Highway0311, on Flickr

The hands meet in the center.  Eyes are focused on the threat.  


MDH-5867 by Highway0311, on Flickr

Extend out and fire.


MDH-5868 by Highway0311, on Flickr

Notice there is very little muzzle flip because of proper grip.


MDH-5870 by Highway0311, on Flickr

We also went over how to shoot from prone with a pistol.  Many people never consider shooting prone with a pistol.  Since it is generally considered to be a close contact weapon 25-50 yards and in.  Most people believe they will never get into any type of prone position with a pistol.  However as Jeff Cooper once said "You can't make and appointment with emergency"  In other words you really don't know what you'll be faced with when or where or what the conditions will be.  So it's best to train for any possible eventuality within reason.  Costa went over how to lay flat with the pistol and get as low as possible, How to roll slightly off to the side, and how to stack your grip from the Prone.  

Pistol Prone

MDH-5554 by Highway0311, on Flickr


Day 2:  We started off with some accuracy shooting all the way back to 25 and 50 yards.  There was a good bit of focus on accuracy in this class.  More so than the other classes I had attended with Costa.  

We also did something in this class I had not done before.  We taped up our sights.  Costa explained that often times people get too wrapped up in their sights and end up forgetting to concentrate on their trigger pull.  It was interesting to see some of the groups actually tighten up.  And often people were making good hits out to 20 yards or so.  
Taped up sights.

MDH-5772 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Many students actually saw tighter groups and were often still right on target with taped up sights.

MDH-5853 by Highway0311, on Flickr
We also did some stuff from Supine.  Which is an interesting and tricky position.  It's not super difficult to shoot a pistol from supine but it's also not difficult to sweep yourself.  Being in this position and drawing a pistol to shoot takes a great amount of care and awareness.  We also went over how to get up from supine to kneeling and then standing.

MDH-6408 by Highway0311, on Flickr

MDH-6411 by Highway0311, on Flickr

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Drawing with the legs out of the way to, of course, avoid shooting yourself.

MDH-6429 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Reload after getting up from supine.

MDH-6434 by Highway0311, on Flickr
We also went over how to get into and out of urban prone.

MDH-6561 by Highway0311, on Flickr

MDH-6555 by Highway0311, on Flickr

We then started working on one handed shooting and manipulations.  How to properly hold the gun while shooting one handed as well as how to draw one handed either right handed or left handed.   After a few repitions of that we learned how to reload and clear malfunctions one handed with both left and right hands.  Why?  There are a multitude of reasons that we may not be able to use a hand.  The obvious, we get impacted in some way and no longer have use of that appendage.  Also the less thought of and more likely reason, because we got hurt in our daily lives and just can't use that arm that we broke while walking through our house because the kids forgot to clean up their damn toys again.  This portion was to me some of the most valuable parts of the class.  Becuase I just haven't seen anyone else do it.  I don't think Dave Sevigny or Todd Jarett is going to teach you this and many tactical instructors also shy away from this stuff as well.
Lock the slide to the rear.

MDH-6664 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Strip the mag using the holster.

MDH-6668 by Highway0311, on Flickr

MDH-6671 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Attempt to rack the slide until the round comes out.

MDH-6678 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Holster the pistol, and seat the new mag

MDH-6682 by Highway0311, on Flickr

MDH-6684 by Highway0311, on Flickr
You must be very mindful with these drills not to sweep the legs. (which he is not sweeping himself here.)

MDH-6685 by Highway0311, on Flickr
And finally fire.

MDH-6689 by Highway0311, on Flickr
One of the things about all this is that in the worst of situations you can't simply give up.  You must learn the techniques that will give you the opportunity to continue to fight even when things are at their worst.  You must have the mindset that you will continue to fight until you physically can no longer go on.  
Me shooting one handed with my M&P9

MDH-6745 by Highway0311, on Flickr

Day 3: We did more one handed manipulations this time out to farther ranges.  We also varied the types of hits.  IE two to the body one to the head etc.
We also went over how to draw your gun in tight environments and how to maneuver around in crowded areas without muzzle sweeping others.  Things like how to turn without taking big sweeping steps.  And staying in your own space.
After doing a bit of this and getting good with it we started doing this one handed, both left and right.  We practiced starting facing range right, then left, then uprange.  How and when to draw left handed, right handed, and both hands.  
Later we discussed how to run with the pistol and discussed the pro's and con's of muzzle up and muzzle down.  We started back at about the 200 yard line and ran all the way up to about the 15 or 20.  Then shot a string.  Then when everyone was set from the 15 to the 5 and again fired another string.  The benefit on this is two fold because you also got to see the difference in accuracy once you started to raise your heartrate and got your lungs breathing heave breaths.
We also learned ways to get up from a face down position.  While either facing the target or facing away from the target.  How to quickly get to a knee and start laying rounds down on the target.  Again this could be a great benefit to a CWP holder.  Sometimes it's best to comply initially and wait for the right moment to get up and start making a move.  Not to mention a multitude of other scenario's
We went over shooting from supine and drawing one handed and left handed.  and also how to reload from this position.  Shooting supine left handed or "Reaction Side" is a whole different ball game from standard supine.  
We also went over Off line of attack.  Side stepping or stepping rearward or forward. While drawing and or shooting.
One of the last drills we did before the final Course of Fire type of thing we did at the end of class was one that Costa Adapted and maybe slightly changed from "Super" Dave Harrington.  Face the target shoot two rounds with two hands, then two rounds with "Weapon Hand" (Or Right hand for me) only, then draw with weapon hand transfer pistol to reaction hand and fire two rounds, THEN draw reaction hand and fire two rounds. Now face range right and keep your feet in place, Now face up range while keeping feet in place, Now face range left also while keeping feet in place.  Then we did the whole thing again from the Kneeling which gives you even less mobility to turn.  This cause some very difficult shooting positions.  You had to watch your muzzle very carefully while turning.  Then you had to compartmentalize things like shooting one handed while still mainting a proper sight picture and trigger pull.  This can be difficult to say the least.  
The final drill was set up to be run at your own pace one at  a time shooting in different positions and through different obstacles.  
You started by climbing up an obstacle with a steep angle and some grip tape to help keep you up and shooting over the top you shot the two targets in front of you.

MDH-7538 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Then jumping down, you shot from diffirent heights around a vtac like barricade with steps down on the side.  

MDH-7541 by Highway0311, on Flickr

MDH-7546 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Moving to the next obstacle urban prone.  

MDH-7554 by Highway0311, on Flickr

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Next came a port where you would start with low cover and pop up to shoot the targets in front of you.

MDH-7569 by Highway0311, on Flickr

MDH-7570 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Next came a doorway which you would open while watching your muzzle and then engage the person behind the door.

MDH-7585 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Next Prone underneat another low obstacle with a small port.

MDH-7412 by Highway0311, on Flickr
 Then another Vtac like barricade with ports in it that you would shoot through while paying close attention to NOT shoot the barricade.  

MDH-7621 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Then the final large window which you would start low and pop up and lay waste to the last target.

MDH-7645 by Highway0311, on Flickr

MDH-7665 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Overall after this class I now feel like anything that's thrown at me if I have a pistol and at least one free hand I'll be able to deal with the situation.  I feel better prepared for any possible threat or complication that might come my way.  
I was dissapointed in Oregon's laws stopping me from carrying a gun.  This was around the same time a dude went into a Starbucks in Seatle and shot a bunch of people up.  
I was pretty surprised at the only Ruger I can recall seeing at a class like this.  The SR9 held up very well and I don't recall the shooter having any problems with it.

MDH-6004-2 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Also we had Rob Potter from Nighthawk accompanied by his wife and a few other friends who also carried Nighthawks.  Again I don't recall any problems with these.

MDH-6176-2 by Highway0311, on Flickr

MDH-6022-2 by Highway0311, on Flickr
Although we did see I think one or two sigs go down.  Also someone had a problem with their glock but I was able to get it back up and running pretty quickly.  IIRC it was something installed improperly or a very old part that finally broke.  also a fair share of M&P's none of which did I see have any problems.  
Also I was pleasantly surprised with Oregon's shooters.  I don't recall anyone in the class the really didn't belong there.  Almost every other class I've been to there was at least one or two people that needed more training before they came to the advanced class.  I've even been to classes where the person had never shot their gun before.  Not the case here.  Most of the shooters were locked on and were safe as well as good shots.  
Costa is one of the most energetic and best teachers I've been around.  He's also just fun to hang out with.  Me and Sam had a great time joking around and cutting up a bit in the class.  As long as you know when to shut up and be serious you usually have a lot of fun at these classes.  Overall I highly recommend this class for anyone that has a fairly high degree of shooting ability and wants to learn something more than fundamentals or even the basic turn and shoot drills.  This class did that but quickly went way beyond.  I also DON'T recommend this class if you don't seriously have your stuff together.  This is not a beginner class nor is it for anyone that doesn't have an intimate knowledge of their weapons systems and or does not have the fundamentals down to a pretty high level.  You will waste your money and that of those around you by slowing the class down.  Also it takes awhile before you will be able to fully grasp what is going on with some of these drills.

Awesome shots of bullets in flight.



Great write-up, thanks!