Back From 'Front Sight'

[blume357]

Oh Boy, what an adventure....

I got back last night from Pahrump Nevada after attending Front Sights 4 day defensive handgun course....

To start out.... "you don't know what you don't know until you know it".. Number of years back I took an 8 hour NRA handgun course to get my CWP here in S.C. and I've said it before I learned more about proper gun handling and such in that 8 hours than in the previous 40 years of shooting.....

Front Sight's 4 day defensive handgun course... is so much beyond this it is impossible for me to explain..... I had to unlearn much of what I thought was the way to shoot a handgun.... The instructors are top of the line... there is no yelling, just intense coaching. The system they teach and the way they teach it is impossible to explain here but it keeps you and everyone else in the class safe while you improve dramatically. I spent the first two and a half days feeling like the clumsiest klutz in the world... and then somehow things smoothed out...

One interesting part... once you get on Front Sight's radar you are bombarded with promotions to spend money with them and up your membership... emails and phone calls.... way over the top for my taste.... the owner does a little too much self promotion with all this too... now with that said.... I expected to be hit up for $$s sometime during this course.... not one bit of it... yes they had some promotion of products right after lunch for high end hearing protection and gun safes but nothing even close to high pressure.

Even though, if you find a friend, many of the classes can be free.... but it ain't cheap to go for sure.... air travel... car rental... hotel cost... food .... ammo... (I shot 650 rounds of 9mm).... yikes...

Regardless of all that.... This was way above my expectations... I'm going back and do it again next year.

 

[Mike J]

Thanks Blume. I was wondering if we were going to get an after action report. I have taken one class locally & want to go back for another but I would imagine what you got to do was in a whole other league.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Glad to hear the report. Looking forward to going for a class myself. I can drive to LV in one (long) day. just got to pick a time. How was the weather? I heard they don't have a lot of classes in the summer do to heat. What did you learn that you thought was the most important?

 

[blume357]

I'm not a fan of 'Authority' and was worried about TSA and having to be a sheep for several hours... I had not flown for 5 years or more.... but the reality was it was not a problem.... I'll make suggestions later about that.

The weather: it was cold first thing in the morning, like mid 30's but once the sun got up it warmed up fast, mid 50's to 60, and was comfortable until the sun went down. (Awesome Sunsets over the Sierras) then it got cold again. So, layers are important.

Out of what I learned: that you need to practice the 5 steps of drawing A LOT and get it down to the point it is an unconscious reaction. Also that the double action pull on a P95 is really hard.
Also, I really do pack too much stuff.

 

[m657]

thanks for the encouraging report

cost of class???

 

[blume357]

Seems the way you check in a weapon now is you tell the check in attendant you are declaring a weapon..(don't show anything). I left my case unlocked up to this point but I'm not sure it is even necessary .... going out the person asked me a number of questions... that were simple to answer... hard case... any ammo... how much? I had the two padlocks in the case and the lady really did not need me to open it but I had to to get the locks.. .then I locked the case and she said wait for 10 minutes to see if TSA calls me.. no call... coming home I kept the two locks in my pocket and just opened my suit case and put the two locks on the case and enclosed the red tag that says the guns are unloaded... same tag going out.... I did not even lock my suit case coming back... Odd thing was both both me and the guy flying with me back to Atlanta were pre approved for an expedited security check .... still have to go through the metal detector and have your carry on prayed but don't have to take your belt or shoes off or pull a laptop out of your bag if you have one....

 

[Mike J]

Seems the way you check in a weapon now is you tell the check in attendant you are declaring a weapon... I left my case unlocked up to this point but I'm not sure it is even necessary .... going out the person asked me a number of questions... that were simple to answer... hard case... any ammo... how much? I had the two padlocks in the case and the lady really did not need me to open it but I had to to get the locks.. .then I locked the case and she said wait for 10 minutes to see if TSA calls me.. no call... coming home I kept the two locks in my pocket and just opened my suit case and put the two locks on the case and enclosed the red tag that says the guns are unloaded... same tag going out.... I did not even lock my suit case coming back... Odd thing was both both me and the guy flying with me back to Atlanta were pre approved for an expedited security check .... still have to go through the metal detector and have your carry on prayed but don't have to take your belt or shoes off or pull a laptop out of your bag if you have one....

I worked on a mechanical renovation at the Atlanta Airport last year. I hated when we worked in the TSA area. You would have to go through their security to get in there. Then if you had to go out for any reason (break, lunch, or to get more tools or materials) you had to go back through it all again every time.

 

[blume357]

Try the same at the White House... two security checks and they make you wait while somewhere down the line your ID get's reviewed, again and again.

 

[contender]

Good quality training can help anybody. One of the biggest hurdles is breaking old, ingrained habits that are wrong. I never had any formal training in handguns, (even the Army wasn't much there,) and as such, I was "self taught" and over the ages I did many things wrong. Plus, my focus when shooting SA handguns was influenced by TV westerns. So,,,,,,, hip shooting, or point shooting was something I did a lot of. And, as such, my focus was not on the front sight, but the target. When I got into USPSA in the 1990's, I learned QUICKLY how wrong I was, and how I'd developed a bad habit of not focusing on my front sight. Robbie Leatham & Todd Jarrett were two of the best friends I could have asked for in how they taught me things. I was a newbie to serious action handgunning, and they both helped me a lot. From the early 80's my handgun hunting was done with a scoped handgun, and as such, it was different when I went to iron sights & had to make harder shots at greater distances. Give me a course of fire that's in close, easy, and designed to be quick,,, heck, I can blister it as I revert to instinct shooting. But, put up a challenging shot or distance shots, and I have to make myself work with the front sight & it's HARD to not revert to my old bad habits.
My point is that no matter how old you are, nor what your abilities are,, anybody can benefit from a school where they get good proper training,,,, ESPECIALLY before they develop bad habits.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Great post Contender. I think we all struggle with doing it correctly. Starts with raising your handgun to the correct level. I spend a lot of time just practicing that. Seeing the front sight is the beginning of hitting.

 

[blume357]

I think it was someone here (this is the only internet gun forum I visit) that once suggested that if you are going to carry a gun for protection you should take training at least every year. I let that kind of slide off for a while but after this trip to Front Sight I think I am hooked for a while at least... part of it is the need to stay in tune, part of it is just the challenge of getting better.... but the bottom line is, except for my wallet... it sure can't hurt. My wife actually figured out the other night... don't ask me how... just about how much I spent this time for this class..... here it is I'm not afraid to tell it... just under 3 grand... by my figures $2,880.
Some of that is for gun accessories I will keep and just about a grand is for the lifetime membership. Reminds me.... NRA I think still has the $500 life time membership deal, I promised myself I would probably do that too.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

I suggested taking a class once a year. That along with Insurance being available in case (God forbid) you have to shoot someone. The insurance is to handle the attorney etc. The yearly class shows that you take this very seriously, and are a responsible gun owner. There is an attorney here that offers the insurance, but so does the U.S. Concealed Carry Association. I haven't checked into that one. The attorney that I had available in Alaska was on the board for NRA. It's just a good practise.

 

[blume357]

On the plus side, you'll save at least $1,000 next year. :wink:

Actually more than that...... if I travel with my P95s again...... but, you know I'm already thinking about a semi-auto that fires single action on the first shot like a 1911 or a striker fired that has an easier 'first shot' trigger pull...

most of the first shots (double taps) there were to 'center mass' and so the P95's double action first shot trigger pull was not really a problem.... but on the shooting test you had to make some single head shots from 15 & 21 ft with it... not easy for me, especially when you have less than 2 & 3 seconds to do it. and a 'head' shot at front sight is an area 3 x 4.5".