Cold Drills On Hot Days With Baer Solutions: A Class For Shooters

by David Lane and Patrick McCarthy, Photos by Patrick McCarthy

There are no shortcuts to learning and mastering skills. If you want to cook, you need to get in the kitchen. If you want to play sportsball, you need to get on the field. If you want to shoot, you need to spend time on the range.

In an age where every piece of human information is quickly accessible online, nothing replaces in-person instruction taught by a master in the subject. One such class with one such teacher is Baer Solutions and Drew Estell. 

MEET BAER SOLUTIONS

Drew Estell is the owner and primary trainer of Baer Solutions. Depending on what class you take and where you take it, you will likely meet one of his knowledgeable assistant trainers who come from a wide range of backgrounds.

Estell’s roots grew out of his decade-plus in U.S. Army special operations and are reflected in his style and methods of training. His approach to teaching is professional in every sense. He is there to do a job, and that job is to train you to perform better. Your job is to learn.

While professional and focused, Estell knows how to break up a training explanation by weaving in a good anecdote that serves to drive his point across–which also keeps you engaged throughout a day of education. 

Drew has a passion for training, education, and passing knowledge. Spending two days in class with him, it was obvious that he wanted to teach the students of his class as much as the students wanted to learn.

Something found far too often in the training community is an instructor who has stopped learning at the end of their previous career. Baer Solutions trainers–Estell in particular–don’t fall into this trap.

Throughout both days of the Rifle Level 1 and Level 2 class, Estell often referenced new ideas or methods he had learned from other respected firearm instructors or competition shooters. Again, a complete professional. Not only does he cite his sources, but he can also tell you why a new method is better or how it might integrate with an old method.

COLD START

Lots of courses begin with a “cold” drill intended to test your shooting skill without the advantage of a warmup. I really enjoyed Baer Solutions' approach to this concept.

The weekend’s course began with a drill that was mechanically pretty easy… or at least it should’ve been. Simply, you walked forward at low ready and, when a buzzer sounded, you engaged the A-zone and head box with two rounds each. If you stop moving, engage targets outside the start and stop cones or exceed 4 seconds, you fail.

The difficulty was amplified by the fact that it was truly cold — no friendly small talk with the instructors, just a formal safety brief. Students silently stood in line, facing away from the shooting area until it was their turn to pass or fail. This gave us plenty of time to get into our heads and build up unnecessary stress.

Many students, even experienced shooters, found their hearts pounding or hands shaking by the time they stepped up to the line. Almost everyone failed as a result–I included, with one miss on the head box.

After this drill, we decompressed, had time for small talk and introductions, and spent the day training each underlying element of this test. Eight hours later, we all tried it again. This time, most students passed (I included) and the rest saw big improvements in accuracy and speed.

RIFLE ONE

Before you can run, you need to walk. Before walking, you need to crawl. Rifle One is designed so that every drill builds on the one before; almost all of them use something you just learned to help you in the next drill. For a newer shooter or an old hand, this class was crafted to get everyone on the same page and working from the same place. 

Some drills were more challenging than others, but all of them were useful across all levels of skill. New shooters were able to quickly learn and advance, while experienced shooters were given opportunities to practice and improve perishable skills. 

In the end, Rifle One is more of a starter class. But it’s a great foundation for what day two holds.

RIFLE TWO

Day two starts the same as day one, but with a different cold drill. This time, we incorporated movement with shooting in what seemed a simple drill, but wasn't for most of the class.

After the drill, the class moved into much of the same format as the first day, but with new drills, new lessons and new goals. Every drill built on the ones that came before, this also extends to the entire day as a whole. While Rifle One isn’t required to take Rifle Two, it’s strongly encouraged since the second day does pick up where the first day ended.

Drills in the morning quickly turn to movement and learning how to control your feet, hips and body to effectively move from point A to point B or from cover to cover. More advanced topics like target tracking behind obstacles, target transitions and leaning from behind cover are broken down and spoon-fed so every student understands not only how to do it well, but why it matters.

As a shooter who does a lot of training and a lot of competition, this was extremely valuable. From identifying bad habits to understanding why what I do works and how to make it work better, every new drill taught or reinforced valuable lessons. 

BRING EXTRA AMMO

Almost any shooting class will include a few emails from the instructor about location, expectations, and a packing list to make sure you don’t forget anything important at home. The packing list normally includes an expected round count for the class. And typically that number is around 250-400 rounds per day.  

Baer Solutions recommends 550 rifle and 100 pistol rounds per day. That's 1,100 rounds of rifle ammo across both classes. That might sound like a lot, because it is, but you should bring more.

I used about 1,300 rounds of 5.56 NATO, and that seemed about average across most of the shooters we spoke to. 

The round count is high, but every round was educational and worth it. Instead of doing a drill one, two, maybe three times–almost every drill was completed by every student 8 to 10 times. With 3 or 4 rounds per drill on average, you’ll burn through magazines quickly.

Repeated reps with the same drill help ingrain the information and give more time for the shooter to work out problems. This does increase the overall cost to attend a class, but it’s entirely worth it. If you're going to take the time and spend the expense on a class, it's great to get every ounce out of it.

Special thanks to TrueShot in Mesa, AZ, for providing me with a case of ammo for the class. The Aguila 5.56 NATO they supplied went a long way to cover our ammo needs for the class. If you need some bulk ammo, the Aguila 55gr FMJ shot well for me.

LOOSE ROUNDS

If I had to describe the Baer Solutions class simply, I would tell you that it is a class for shooters. New shooters, experienced shooters, professional or civilian, all can benefit from Drew’s instruction.

If you have a true hunger for instruction and learning to use your weapon better, the Baer Solutions class is excellent. If you want someone in a crew cut to spend the day showing you more drills than you shoot, then stick with the guy in the hunter-orange hat at your local range.

Drew’s class will help anyone become better, but the students who have the right learning mindset and are willing to take advantage of the high-round count under watchful eyes will glean a lot more from the class. 

If you want to learn, I highly recommend you find and attend a Baer Solution class as soon as possible.

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