Rogers 3 Day Review

[Cruel Hand Luke]

I spent last week in the mountains of Ellijay Georgia at the Rogers Shooting School (http://www.rogersshootingschool.com/). For those not familiar with the school it is owned and run by Bill Rogers, former FBI agent, inventor ( Safariland  duty holster ALS and SLS and GLS locks, Wilson/Rogers 1911 mags, Rogers Super Stock, etc) and world class shooter who won a metric ton of matches in the 80s and 90s and beyond. In fact I was recently flipping through an old issue of Soldier of Fortune from 1986 looking at an article about the SOF 3 Gun Match and lo and behold but who was 2nd over all? Bill Rogers....yep...that Bill Rogers. 

 

The class normally runs a week starting on Sunday evening and finishing up on Friday afternoon. The class normally runs $1200 for the week and 2500 rounds of ammo. This is quite an investment in time , money , and ammo for most people. But the deal of the century might be the way I did it . I took it as  the 3 day Rogers Reactive Steel Course offered through my friend Ronnie Dodd's company Dodd and Associates (http://www.doddtraining.com/). This class runs Wednesday night through Saturday afternoon . Ronnie is also the chief instructor at Rogers and that is how he is able to offer the 3 day class using the Rogers facilities and the Rogers assistant instructors. During the class I stayed in the Rogers Lodge ( $75 for the class) and Bill Rogers himself made an appearance at the class so it was pretty much as close to the 5 day class experience as the 3 day class could be. Of course there is no free lunch, (well....actually lunch is included in the class) and you cannot fit 5 days into 3 so you will get 4 runs on the test instead of the normal 6 and you will only shoot 1500 rounds for the class instead of the normal 2500 and no Thursday night low light shoot like in the 5 day class. 

 

At Rogers they teach what they call Reactive Shooting. That is shooting within human reaction time. It takes someone .25 of a second to observe and a .25 to respond if there is no other decision making involved. So a simple "see it , point the gun at it and shoot it" would be a half second. The target system used at the school consists of 8" plates that appear and disappear in very short time increments. They range in distance from 7 yards to 9 yards to 10 yards to 15 to 19 yards. One of the first drills we shoot is a shot in one half second at a 7 yard target. We then shoot 2 targets in 1 second, and then 3 targets in 1.5 seconds. The drills don't get any easier either. The practice is all geared toward the test which you shoot each day to determine your score and class ranking. 

 

 Each person shoots about 500 rounds per day. This can seem daunting to some , especially guys shooting heavier caliber guns. Guys who show up with .45s often switch to 9mm in short order. One gentleman in our class shot his 1911 .45 on day one and promptly switched to his 9mm 1911 for the rest of the class. Of course some Mil and LE units that come to class with bigger caliber duty weapons (think SEALs, Delta, Marine Recon and FBI HRT, etc). You see Rogers is not the typical "Firearm safety class" it is a doctorate level test of marksmanship. You either sink or swim . You either acclimate to the speed of the targets and force yourself to see the sights and make the hits or you miss a lot and watch plates disappear. The targets do not care that you are shooting with 2 hands or with one or with your strong or your weak hand. The time frames are all the same. After all, the bad guys won't take it easy on you if you are injured and having to shoot with one hand......

 

There is not much downtime in the class. You are either loading magazines, shooting drills, hydrating, watching the instructors demonstrate drills, or eating lunch. Even during lunch the target system runs so that if you choose to you can hurry up and eat lunch and then get some dry practice in. And every little bit helps while preparing for the test. The instructors are there always offering constructive suggestions, and offering encouragement. And as opposed to some other schools, all the instructors can shoot at a high level. They have to in order to demonstrate the drills. 

 

At the end of each day you shoot the test. It is an 9 stage 125 round course of fire. The first stage is 3 rounds on 3 different targets from the extended low ready position in 1.5 seconds. The 2nd is from the ready engaging 4 plates in near to far order in 2 seconds. And it just gets more difficult from there.  Number 8 can cause nightmares as it is 23 plates in 3 waves all shot weak handed with 2 weak hand only reloads thrown in....all in 23 seconds. Not exactly for the faint of heart. There is a reason that not many people clean the test. In fact only 4 people have ever shot the test with a perfect 125. Bill Rogers, Rob Leatham, Manny Bragg and Gabe White have shot a perfect 125. As mentioned earlier your scores count toward what  certificate you graduate with. Score less than 70 on the test and you do not pass.  Pass the test with 70 points and you get a Basic Certificate. Pass with a 90 and you get an Intermediate certificate. Pass with 110 or more and you graduate Advanced. They say less than 5% pass at the Advanced level and only those 4 guys have ever cleaned it. 

 

Some of my peers in the shooting and training industry who have already been had been waiting for a long time for me to finally make the pilgrimage to Rogers. Unfortunately  classes at Rogers usually fill up and they are not always offered when I am free. I stay busy between my day job, teaching and match shooting. So when the opportunity  hit to do the  the 3 day class in between teaching my own classes and shooting matches I was glad to finally get to attend this class. As to my performance? Well I didn't do as well as I would have liked, but then again, only 4 guys ever have. I ended up graduating Advanced with a 115 score and the coveted red pin for the Top Shooter in the class. 

 

If you get the chance to go to the full 5 day class that would be great, but if time, and money are an issue then take a serious look at the three day class run through Dodd and Associates. You'll be glad you did. 

Edited August 18, 2015 by Cruel Hand Luke

[chances R]

Congrats and thanks for the report.

[Jamie Jackson]

Excellent AAR Randy.

 

Proud of you brother! 115 is an incredible accomplishment.

 

There's a lot of folks within the training community that wouldn't even step up and give it a go.  So... :up:

[MphsTiger1981]

Congratulations. That is very impressive. Thanks for sharing. 

[A.J. Holst]

I think it speaks volumes that a professional trainer seeks out high level opportunities for continuing education.

If you don't challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone how can you improve in anything?

Top shot...congrats!

[miller_man]

Nice write up Randy. I have heard and read a little bit about the Rogers shooting course, thanks for the detailed descriptions of the tests .

 

Some pretty stout time limits!! Congrats on your score and top place finish in your class (Although not surprising at all).

 

I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for something like that yet, but will put it on my bucket list for training.

[k9rb]

Very good AAR, this school has been on my to do list for a longtime......

[jlw]

Ronnie Dodd is good people.

[Cruel Hand Luke]

Of the highest order....