New PSA PRO TEAM Member, Maurice Drummen

Back in the mid 1990’s, I had the opportunity to work with Dutch shooter,  Maurice Drummen, when I was in the early years of my academy. He became a top shooter as well as a good friend of mine . Later, he decided to not shoot competitively for a number of years due to increased workload etc. at his shop. Maurice is a master gunsmith whose family has been in gunsmithing since the 1800’s. He builds custom firearms for all kinds of shooters in Europe and has a thriving business selling reloading components, holsters, guns, gear etc.

In 2010, I had the opportunity to reconnect with Maurice at the SHOT Show while I was doing some work with one of our sponsors, Berry Bullets.  Maurice told me of his desire to become a Senior World Champion in Open Class at the World Championships next year after a long hiatus from shooting. He had been doing well but felt that he needed some serious training if he was going to reach his goals.

We set up a training date and Maurice came over from the Netherlands to train with me here in the Rocky Mountains. While he was here, we had to chance to renew our friendship and talk about everything under the sun that pertains even remotely to shooting.

He brought with him a custom made,  left hand eject, 1911 Open class gun;  built in a high capacity Caspian frame. He put a sideways mounted C-More scope on it to aid ejection . I had a chance to shoot it and it is a really nice gun! Good dot tracking and handling characteristics.

We spent three VERY high intensity days of training. Starting at 7 am and going some evenings until 10 pm. Then we spent two additional days training and going to 2 weekend matches to test and validate the principles, training concepts and skills learned along with the mental training program I shaped for him. We then spent a few more days together as we waited for the Volcano in Iceland to subside so flights could resume. We did additional training, including some fitness training and specialized grip exercises and dry fire program while we waited.

Maurice impressed me with his shooting abilities as well as his great personality and friendship.  I believe that Maurice definitely has what it takes to become not only the top Senior World Champion at the World Shoot next year but also one of the top Open shooters in Europe overall. He is very fast, both in shooting and in movement and is very physically fit as well as being very motivated.

After a consult with the rest of my PSA PRO SHOOTING TEAM, comprised of Kathie Ferguson-Avery, Ara Maljian and Keith Garcia, I decided to invite Maurice to become part of our PSA PRO Team. I believe that he has what it takes to not only be a top flight shooter but is also a good sportsman and representative of the values and ideals we cherish here at The Practical Shooting Academy.

I will have a bio and picture of Maurice up shortly on the website.

For now, WELCOME Maurice Drummen, our newest PSA PRO Team Member!