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The class was run by Chris who owns Proactive Defense which operates out of Quail Creek. Earlier I had spoken to Chris about taking his Carbine classes so I got on the mail list and then earlier this week I got an email about this class. Sounded fun but somewhat above my skill level. I exchanged a few emails with Chris and he said come on out and that they'd work with me.
Before going in to this I’d like to point out that Chris and his assistants ran a very safe program. Strict observance of range safety was enforced at all times. They always made sure the weapons were handled in a safe manner and that there were no lone gunmen running around putting us in danger.
The class was a real eye opener for me. This class focused on handgun work but they also did a quick intro to the carbine because many of the attendees had no experience with them. It was very basic stuff like ready position (hard guard), how to properly hold a carbine and how to use the red dot. For me the cool part was getting to unload a mag as fast as I could. On the range they don't like you to shoot faster than once every 2 seconds. Easy way to unload your wallet too.
The real education for me started afterward. Having just got a handgun and only shot a handgun twice I'm so green I need to be mowed. They had a more experienced student work with me on how to properly hold the gun, chamber a round, use the sights and other basic skills. Afterward that we went to the classroom for the first eye opener.
Chris ran a force on force drill using a 'toy' gun that shot Velcro balls that would stick to a special vest. The focus was self-defense and what was being demonstrated is that it is harder to hit a target up close when it is moving than you'd think. The first drill Chris would point the gun at you and then you would dodge to the side, He only managed to get hits twice in my ground. The next drill you shot back while moving. Chris got hit a few times in this and occasionally managed to deliver a shot or two back.
Point is: don't just stand there and take it! Be French and run away! Then be an American and shot back.
As an aside: during these exercises I discovered that my ribs aren’t as healed from my motorcycle accident up as I thought. It hurts to breathe and my wife is making fun of me for moving around like an old man. Just need to go out and yell at the kids for getting on my lawn.
The next exercise was also sort of a demo. Chris went outside the classroom and then entered again. He would either enter with his gun out or with it put away. If the gun was out you shot him. If it was put away you didn’t. In this case he demonstrated why the military and police refer to doors as funnels of death. You simply cannot miss if your opponent is in a door way. All their options are removed.
The take away is that if you are armed and somebody has broken in to your house, stay put, call 911 and then draw the fucker to you through a door. As they come through the door unload on their ass. Do not go hunting them. You don’t know where they are and you have to go through a door to get to them.
After all that fun we went up to the tactical range again for the low light shooting drill. Because of my absence of experience I did not carry my pistol loaded, I just put the loaded magazine in my back pocket and loaded when we got on the line. It was past 7 by this point so it was dark which works perfect for doing flash light work. He taught us how to hold a handgun and a flashlight together. The two methods that were most popular were “The Harry” and the “Syringe” methods.
“The Harry” is where you have your wrists crossed, the gun in one hand and the flashlight in the other. The backs of your hands should be pressed together. The other method has you hold the flashlight like a cigar (or Syringe) and hold the gun somewhat like normal. The Harry worked best for me. The Harry also will work for a big mag light like the police carry. I don’t think the Syringe method would work like that.
Anyway, one hell of an introduction to working a handgun and a serious self-defense eye opener. I’m going to do my CHL class there in October and will do some of their other classes later. I’d like to learn to do the other stuff like speed loading, doing a tactical reload, drawing from the holster, safely deal with weapon malfunctions and other basic stuff. I’d also like my wife to take some of these classes. I don’t think she’d have any trouble in them.
BTW – I also discovered that I prefer to shoot the pistol left handed, but I can do it just as well from the right. I can also switch sides on the rifle if I want. Guess that would be useful if I needed to shoot around an obstacle.
Before going in to this I’d like to point out that Chris and his assistants ran a very safe program. Strict observance of range safety was enforced at all times. They always made sure the weapons were handled in a safe manner and that there were no lone gunmen running around putting us in danger.
The class was a real eye opener for me. This class focused on handgun work but they also did a quick intro to the carbine because many of the attendees had no experience with them. It was very basic stuff like ready position (hard guard), how to properly hold a carbine and how to use the red dot. For me the cool part was getting to unload a mag as fast as I could. On the range they don't like you to shoot faster than once every 2 seconds. Easy way to unload your wallet too.
The real education for me started afterward. Having just got a handgun and only shot a handgun twice I'm so green I need to be mowed. They had a more experienced student work with me on how to properly hold the gun, chamber a round, use the sights and other basic skills. Afterward that we went to the classroom for the first eye opener.
Chris ran a force on force drill using a 'toy' gun that shot Velcro balls that would stick to a special vest. The focus was self-defense and what was being demonstrated is that it is harder to hit a target up close when it is moving than you'd think. The first drill Chris would point the gun at you and then you would dodge to the side, He only managed to get hits twice in my ground. The next drill you shot back while moving. Chris got hit a few times in this and occasionally managed to deliver a shot or two back.
Point is: don't just stand there and take it! Be French and run away! Then be an American and shot back.
As an aside: during these exercises I discovered that my ribs aren’t as healed from my motorcycle accident up as I thought. It hurts to breathe and my wife is making fun of me for moving around like an old man. Just need to go out and yell at the kids for getting on my lawn.
The next exercise was also sort of a demo. Chris went outside the classroom and then entered again. He would either enter with his gun out or with it put away. If the gun was out you shot him. If it was put away you didn’t. In this case he demonstrated why the military and police refer to doors as funnels of death. You simply cannot miss if your opponent is in a door way. All their options are removed.
The take away is that if you are armed and somebody has broken in to your house, stay put, call 911 and then draw the fucker to you through a door. As they come through the door unload on their ass. Do not go hunting them. You don’t know where they are and you have to go through a door to get to them.
After all that fun we went up to the tactical range again for the low light shooting drill. Because of my absence of experience I did not carry my pistol loaded, I just put the loaded magazine in my back pocket and loaded when we got on the line. It was past 7 by this point so it was dark which works perfect for doing flash light work. He taught us how to hold a handgun and a flashlight together. The two methods that were most popular were “The Harry” and the “Syringe” methods.
“The Harry” is where you have your wrists crossed, the gun in one hand and the flashlight in the other. The backs of your hands should be pressed together. The other method has you hold the flashlight like a cigar (or Syringe) and hold the gun somewhat like normal. The Harry worked best for me. The Harry also will work for a big mag light like the police carry. I don’t think the Syringe method would work like that.
Anyway, one hell of an introduction to working a handgun and a serious self-defense eye opener. I’m going to do my CHL class there in October and will do some of their other classes later. I’d like to learn to do the other stuff like speed loading, doing a tactical reload, drawing from the holster, safely deal with weapon malfunctions and other basic stuff. I’d also like my wife to take some of these classes. I don’t think she’d have any trouble in them.
BTW – I also discovered that I prefer to shoot the pistol left handed, but I can do it just as well from the right. I can also switch sides on the rifle if I want. Guess that would be useful if I needed to shoot around an obstacle.
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