Patrick McNamara (PatMac) is one of a group of trainers that came from the Special Operations community in the 2000’s and used youTube and social media to market their courses. His youtube channel is here
https://www.youtube.com/@patmcnamara/videos
This video on pistol fundamentals is listed as his most popular video
I have to admit that I watch very few gun related videos on youTube or social media. I can read faster than I can listen or watch so I prefer blogs and books to podcasts and videos. This puts me out of sync with a younger generation of gun owners who only consume gun-related content that is audio or video. And I’ve never had any interest in classes where I needed a chest rig, battle belt, plate carrier or other milSim/SWAT cosplay gear. That means I didn’t know much about PatMac when I read his book.
The review on Primer Peak is more typical of perspective of a shooter who was influenced by the Operator Trainers. In the review he notes that it was the “first firearms training book I read”, likely after years of watching videos online.
Much like our own Strategies and Standards for Defensive Pistol Skills book, it’s a collection of thoughts on gun- and training-related topics. The ideal audience for this book is someone at the intermediate level that will benefit from the advice in the book….if they put that advice into action in their own training. It will have maximum value to a military person in charge of running training for their team or unit. The assumption is that the reader is mostly carrying a rifle, with a pistol as their ‘secondary’, which means it’s most relevant to military and SWAT personnel, and has appeal to recreational gun owners who enjoy practical rifle training. The book has limited value to a person mostly interested in concealed carry defensive pistol.
Highlights
His discussion of the four safety rules (or is it three? or two?) is blunt and clear. No excuses, no exceptions, pay attention all the time with great discipline in your gun handling.
His background as a pistol shooter includes both bullseye (50 yard one handed B8 shooting) and USPSA. The Operator Trainers brought the B8 and 25/50 yard shooting back into common use in the defensive pistol curriculum, but in more relevant context than classic NRA bullseye.
He does include a copy of the dreaded pie chart target, credited to the Army Marksmanship Unit. This is the first time I’ve seen any instructor actually recommend it as a source of good information. The history of the pie chart target is here.
Quite a bit of his commentary is about how others run training, good and bad, including examples of bad information presented in classes. In the book he describes himself more as a coach than an instructor – and there is a difference. A coach spends more time paying attention to each student, given them specific guidance. An instructor can be someone running a firing line of dozens of people, simply calling out drills and blowing a whistle. The drills may progress in difficulty or work different skills, and students can learn from that type of course — but they won’t get as much from that as they would from actual coaching. Lone trainers running large classes make a lot of money, but may not be providing best value for the student’s investment of time, ammo and tuition.
The second half of the book is a collection of drills, mostly rifle-oriented, presented in different formats. Some are drawn up like USPSA stages, others are text instructions. Many of the drills involve a lot of set up, with walls, barricades, and steel targets – the sort of resources a special operations team or SWAT team or 3-gun competition club would have. Some are simpler drills that would still require a dedicated bay where the shooter can move. Very few are simple exercises that could be shot in a lane at an indoor range.
At my range I set up and ran two drills from his book that required minimal props and a dedicated bay. The instagram video below shows my runs.
Overall I found myself agreeing with most of his commentary on training philosophy. If I had a group of people that could assist with setting up the more complex drills, and more interest in rifle, those sections of the book would be very useful in rifle skill development.
The book is still available from Amazon although I couldn’t find a way to order a copy direct from his website.