The last class of the year for most of us took place this last weekend. Going into it I was excited to learn more about the 1911/2011 platform but I was also kinda bleh and ready for a little break from shooting so much. I am so glad this class happened when it did. It was one of the best classes I have ever been fortunate enough to be a part of. I don’t think the class is the right description to use, the workshop is more appropriate.

I have had amazing classes with Donovan from Point1 Tactics, Scott from Modern Samurai, Gabe White, and Shane Cardwell. This Class with AJ Zito was amazing and right there with my favorite classes. The delivery of information is not like a normal class. Like I said before, it is more of a workshop. No coaching or instructor mode here, it was more like: hey your buddy is one of the best in the 1911 game, he’s going to hang out and shoot with you and tell you why your gun does what it does, how it does that, why it will do that and what you can do to make it perform better and keep it laid back the entire time. No stress of shooting to perform, aside from your own ego and being able to destroy the ego of a friend with better shooting and trash talk.

I want to do a full synopsis of the class but I do not want people to have spoilers, you need to take this class for yourself. So instead here is what AJ has listed in the class description. Now due to the weather, our format was a little different than this but we really only did not go over the one-handed shooting.

• Safety
• Equipment Considerations (Holsters, maintenance, sighting systems, etc.)
• Effective zero’s
• Embracing and managing recoil
• Trigger press as it relates to performance
• Efficient presentation of the handgun (Draws)
• One-handed shooting
• Efficient methods of reloading the handgun
• Dealing with malfunctions and what caused them
• Assessing your skills

In most classes, I learn a thing or two or head into it with a couple things I want to take home. I also really look forward to shooting standards or for a patch or test. Personally, I shoot better when the pressure is on. A perfect example in this class: I shoot an M&P 99.9 percent of the time. My draw to shot is around .89-95 consistently, my best is around .75ish and if I focus on control and “take my time” I am around 1.15. With my Staccato, this is not the case, the beaver tail, the way it is shaped, the weight, and lots of different factors limit how fast I can actually get that thing out of the holster and get a shot off. I have never been better than 1.3 with 2011. This weekend when it came time to perform in front of the class with everyone watching I was able to do 1.05 clean dead center of the A zone. Not the fastest in class but it was my personal record. It also showed me I can make a couple tweaks and get into the sub-second range for sure.

The shooting is always fun, the best part of the class aside from AJ’s way of teaching was the classroom mechanical portion. We got to learn what makes a 1911 work, why it works the way it does, how to take care of it, how to not break it, and much more. This whole section of the class was something I would pay to take without any shooting involved. The 1911 is complicated but at the same time is not. Taking apart a firearm can be intimidating, even more so when you get to the 2500-dollar-plus world. I consider myself very capable of working on firearms because I enjoy learning how something works and getting my hands on it. I like making a firearm mine, dialing it in to make me shoot better.

I wish you readers could have been in the class, it was so much fun. Tons of great info, tons of great shooting, and tons of people having some sort of lightbulb-on moments where something just clicked. I think every single person in the class came out not just as a better 1911 guy but a better shooter as well. 2 for 1! I look forward to AJ coming around again and also trying to convince my wife I need to take his armorers class.

Stay tuned for some 10 questions with a couple guys from the class!

-Cano

1. What is your prior firearm experience?

This is the 32nd class I have taken, so I would say experienced

2. What firearm/setup were you shooting?

Chambers Custom 2011 WMG-CC

3. What did you hope to learn going into this class?

Better manipulations,  mag changes, and learning some of the technical data on the 2011.

4. What was your biggest takeaway from the class?

The Classroom data was incredible

5. What area did you improve the most?

Understanding the operating system better and the ignition system.

6. Is there anything you thought you would learn but did not?

not really, we covered way more than expected.

7. What did you think of AJ’s teaching style?

I liked his style, he worked with each student individually on their strengths and weakness.

8. What did you think about the mechanical part of the class?

That was my favorite part, the 1911/2011 has always been intimidating to me.

9. What do you think made this class better than other classes you have taken?

it was great to have all the students on one platform, and all having the same questions and problems

10. What’s next for you?

World Domination, more fitness modeling, maybe an oscar win

Master Class in USPSA. Black Belt Patch holder. 3x Impact Shoot Two winner. Shipping Wizard. Pete is just a jack of all trades. For this edition, we decided to take a look at his range bag and hopefully find something that either Josh Vance stole, or any kind of item to give us an edge on becoming better shooters.

-Cano

Continuing our monthly drill series with the AIM Surplus target, we present to you Version 1.3

Draw from concealment at 7 yards.

1 round into each 2-inch square

perform slide lock reload

4 rounds into the B8 in under 6 seconds.

Sub 6 seconds, send us footage with your clean target, show that you are 7 yards, and show the timer and we will send you something pretty sweet. Could be a shirt, could be a patch, could be an autographed 8×10 of Josh Vance for you to use as a target. Only one way to find out.

Check it out!

-Cano

Tim… Tim likes FDE. He really likes it. When you watch this video you will see just how much he enjoys it. This installment of the what’s in your bag series is a good example of the different types of shooters we have here, not all of us bring the same stuff, and not all of us shoot primarily pistols. Some of us do not even have range bags for pistols, only rifle bags…or in some cases no bag, just whatever you can carry. Enjoy!

Custom Glocks are something that will never go away, and budget Glocks are something that will never go away. Why should they? You take a proven and reliable platform, find a way to make it more affordable, and make changes to cater to a specific crowd. That is a win-win.

Anderson decided to throw their hat in the ring with the KIGER 9c. A Glock 19-size firearm with a solid foundation. SCT frames have been blowing up, you may see this frame on the Kiger and think man that looks like an SCT frame. You are right it is. SCT made the frame and branded them with Anderson’s logos and name. Everything else is Anderson. The barrel is really nice and the only knock I have against it is that it is not an optic cut. It has a clean design with front and rear serrations. It is just missing the optic cut.

The frame is great and custom enough to please the majority, another cool part being that you still have plenty to work with if you wanted to customize it even more. Deeper undercut, shave some spots down, and get it laser engraved and stippled at Aim Surplus. Plenty of real estate to work with!

Check them out before they are gone!

-Cano

What happens when you take a 20-dollar optic and toss it on a $50k full auto mp5? Turns out, not much. They stayed on, didn’t break, and seemed to hold zero but who can hold a small group with full auto mag dumps? I thought for sure the beating of the shotgun would make the optic not work or even fly off but to all of our surprise, it held steady.

Check it out:

Normally you go to work and repeat the cycle Monday through Friday. At AIM, some of us are fortunate enough that we get to do cooler stuff. Sometimes it’s Monday through Saturday but Saturday we are at a night vision demo shooting night vision. Today, we needed to film the next installment of our AIM drills. We also have a full auto MP5 that we want to start using to do cool stuff.

Stay tuned for the new drill and some fun MP5 content.

-Cano

We talk about going to the range and running drills and training hard. That’s always fun sure. Do you know what is just as fun? Mag Dumps and shooting to shoot. Relieve some stress. That is precisely what I and world-famous Josh Vance did this weekend. For once, in I don’t know how long, we did not put up drills to run or set up stages. We loaded up mags, and just dumped them. It was fun and much-needed after a long week. We ran MP5s, Staccatos, MPX’s, Flux braces and a 365xl. Tossed cans on anything that would hold them, and just had fun. It was a welcomed change of pace.

We also may have put on a costume and done a Halloween photoshoot. That is for a different time though.

Hit the range and go have fun. It can be training and doing drills sure but, go mag dump and let your inner Rambo out to feast!

-Cano

To continue our what is in your bag series, I decided to knock mine out real quick as I was switching to a new bag. I thought about going with a Vertx bag and decided I don’t need to spend that much money and realized the Savior Equipment range bags were almost the perfect size. I could use a little more space for mags but that’s not a huge issue. Check it out: https://youtu.be/_fMQslRlwQY

-Cano