Now that was going to be fun. Or now it was going to get serious. Yes, you can see things from several angles. POMW III is the POMW part where it has to be both parts. It must be fun but at the same time serious as safety must be observed 100%. And how can you do that? You can enjoy your shooting and at the same time be 100% determined to do your best.

All POMW parts are largely the same, but there is a slight difference in POMW III which is called "Hullet".

POMW III 2015 started with range shooting in the large gun house at Hanebjerg shooting center in Hillerød. The day started with dense fog and it was a bit uncertain whether we could see the discs at all. But fortunately the sun came out when we 09:00 could fire the first shot. The shooters were gradually getting the POMW shooting technique in place and the joints began to become more and more obvious as long as 0.22 mm pistols were fired.

After a few rounds with 0.22, it was time to shoot with 9 mm. And even if the participants had tried 9 mm during POMW II, it is still something else during POMW III. Here you shoot for many hours and with many shots, all of which must be good shots. That is the setting comes to the test. Between POMW II and POMW III, the participants had also been told to train dry and train with weights so that they could last a full day with 9mm. The 9mm we shoot with is from the CZ Shadow brand. They are made of steel and have a weight that can be felt after 8 hours of shooting 😊

So it is quite important to get dry trained and get trained with weights so that the muscles are turned to the weight from the gun. Weight training is about building "muscle memory" and not about getting big upper arms. The recoil in a 9 mm is significantly greater than a 0.22 caliber. Therefore, it is also extremely important not to compromise with POMW shooting technique when shooting with 0.22 caliber. If you do that, it creates a bad habit and it has consequences with a 9 mm. One thing is that you might not hit in groups, another is that you lose your attitude and thus also your concentration. This puts safety at risk, which is not good. Even if we shoot in a shooting house with marked lanes and with protection against wind and weather, safety is alpha and omega. If we cannot demonstrate 110% safety in a shooting house, then we cannot shoot outside a shooting house.

Whoa, what is this, do the POMW participants have to shoot outside the shooting house too? Are they going to run around like another military exercise and play robbers and soldiers? No, not at all, just shoot in the hole.  

At Hanebjerg shooting center there is a shooting area which is unique in Denmark in terms of outdoor shooting. The place is called "the hole" and was expanded in 2014 with several areas. In "Hullet" there are no marked lanes. There is no protection against wind and weather and there is no coffee machine. But there is a great opportunity to shoot Terrain shooting and IPSC. And when the weather cooperates, "Hullet" offers a fantastic shooting experience.

The second part of POMW III was to take place in "Hullet" if the safety of the shooting house could be respected. And if the ego of the participants could be set aside so that they could concentrate on the essentials – namely that there is a person behind each weapon and this person's attitude is decisive for the outcome of the person's actions.

POMW III part 2 laid out in the "hole" with the setting up of targets so that range shooting and terrain shooting could be trained in accordance with the relevant law. The weather was fantastic and safety was paramount throughout the course. There were "loading areas" where magazines could be loaded and "safety areas" where the pistols could rest in peace and quiet between shootings. The only time pistols and magazines came together was when they met in front of the firing discs. Shots were fired with continuous charge so that a flow could be created that made the inventor of LEAN pale 😊

When a POMW course starts, all the participants have different challenges and expectations. Some have experience from Tivoli shootings and others have it from several years of military service. But regardless of what experience you have, all the participants have an opinion and expectation about firearms. Just like everyone has an opinion and expectation for the Danish national football team, but let's leave it at that and let's all look forward 😊

A pistol makes noise and a 9mm pistol makes a lot of noise. It has a recoil that can be scary if you can't control it. The first time is not so bad as you have not tried it before, but the second time can give downward pressure in the stomach if you do not have control of your POMW shooting technique and yourself. On this POMW course, we saw all the participants being challenged in several areas.

One had been uncompromising in his training and shooting technique and developed into a fantastic shooter but had difficulty recognizing it himself. Another was terrified of firearms but fought a certain body part out of his pants all the way through and actually became a great shooter as well. And others found it difficult to forget old habits, but when they did, they shot absolutely fantastic.

So basically you can say that no matter what experience you have with firearms and no matter what expectations you have for POMW, it is the person behind the weapon who decides whether the result should be fantastic or whether it should be ok. And why not get a fantastic result out of when but now have the opportunity and get it served on a golden platter.

In the "hole" you also have the opportunity to shoot at approx. +45 meters against steel targets. It always gives a little crunch in the stomach if you can hit at that distance, but once you hear the sound of a steel plate being hit, you are sold. It sounds fantastic and especially when there are several shots in a row that hit. Yes, it's a little bit boyish when you stand there with a gun in your hand and have to shoot at + 45 meters. And I wonder if the POMW participants also thought it was super fun. At least there were smiles on the lips in several places.

So is there a lesson in shooting at steel targets? Yes, if one's focus is on the sound instead of POWM shooting technique, then it is the search for recognition that comes into play and not the search for a real process. Which is the same in many other places in life and shooting is life-affirming because there is a settlement at box 1 when you don't do it correctly or if your attitude is taken on holiday.

After many hours of shooting in the "hole", it was time for the last part of the POMW III course. Two rounds in the shooting house with 30 shots per round and scoring. Now the participants were tired and they had previously gone from 0.22 to 9 mm but not vice versa. Could they stay focused and could they concentrate despite the fatigue?

Yes, it went very well for most of those involved. One or two had to change the gun because they thought it was not firing correctly. But when you saw the same spread on both pistols, we know what's behind it 😊

On behalf of the practical team, a thank you must go to all the POMW I-II and III participants for some great shooting. And a huge thank you must also go to Kimu Sensei for once again standing up for a POMW course and sharing his learning served on a gold platter with bling-bling. Yes, that's what it sounds like when you hit a steel target 😊