Another Basic Class In New Castle On May 10th

[esrice]

Morning. See everyone in a couple hours.

 

[Pami]

Group Hug!

Quickie post of a group shot, and then I gotta go do the Mother's Day dinner thing, so I'll get more photos of the training and apres-ski when I get home!

Let's see if I get this correct... L-R:
Matt (pierce195), Ron (roncho), Veronica (Ron's wife), Greg (KimberCarry), Kelly (Kr_Treefrog2), Paul (USPC40), Pami (Pami), Evan (esrice), Lars (W9ZEB), Allen (AllenM), and Landon (thanks for the correction Matt )

The weather was beautiful, nobody got shot (on purpose OR on accident), and we all had a good time (I think).

More later!

Pami

 

[pierce195]

The last guy in the back row is Landon.

 

[Fenway]

Damn those INGO hats look good Pami I'm glad you are in Blue and not pink!

 

[esrice]

Just got home. Had a great time!

Thanks to Matt and Landon for taking the time to have this class. I'd recommend it to anyone, especially those who are just starting out with handguns and have many questions. Matt didn't have to answer too many this time, but he's always looking for someone to ask questions.

It was great to put some faces to names.

PS - If anyone needs a lady's belt we have a spare!

 

[Hiram Abiff]

I'll add a few!

 

[AllenM]

I had a great time, we worked on things I hadn't givin much thought to before. Fun. Thanks Matt and Landon.
My wife will attend next one

 

[Pami]

Cliff Notes

I'd like to echo those thanks to Matt and Landon for putting on a great class! I do have to say that after this class I'm a lot more comfortable with the idea of carrying (either openly or concealed) a loaded firearm. I probably still won't any time in the near future, but if I ever decide I'm going to, it won't bug me *as much* that there is a loaded weapon attached to my hip.

Here's what I wrote down during the class (in more complete sentences than what I actually wrote):

We need to get a copy of Indiana Handgun Law by Bryan Lee Ciyou.

Matt and Landon used a lot of anectodal examples, especially when going over basic firearm safety. While many made us laugh, they really drove home the point that you should keep your finger OFF the trigger. (Paintball, anyone?)

Rule Number One: Guns Are ALWAYS Loaded. Even when you know they're not loaded, they're always loaded. End of discussion.

Single-action pistols have a short/light trigger pull, double-action pistols have a longer trigger pull (because it has to pull back the hammer). For some reason, I keep getting those backwards.

The weaver stance creates a smaller target for the BG, but if you're wearing bullet-resistant body armour, important parts (like your heart, your lungs, etc.) are left exposed.

The isosceles stance gives you better/more peripheral vision, and lets you be more aware of things going on around you. If you get shot in the front, your intestines might fall out, but there's a good chance your heart will still be in one piece.

Sight alignment: the top of the front sight should be even with the top of the rear sight.

Accuracy --> sight alignment + trigger control.

And by the way, Keep your finger OFF the trigger.

Dryfire. Dryfire. Dryfire.
If you're in a gun fight, that is NOT the time to work on your sight alignment. Dryfiring also creates muscle memory, so you're not having to think about what you're doing, you just do it.

Trigger control: When practicing trigger control, keep your finger on the trigger until you feel the reset and don't relax the finger. You want to pin the trigger back, feel the reset, and then pull again from the click. There is no need to loose your finger completely off the trigger and then slam it all the way back again. Slow and steady wins the race. Or at least knows where the trigger reset is.

Weapons for home defense: need a light so you can see your target. How do you know if your target is a BG or your drunken neighbor who thinks he lives in your house, not the one next door?

Big Important Thing: MINDSET. Don't give up.
These ARE deadly weapons. The end result could actually be death. You have to be prepared to accept that if you're going to pull your gun out, you must intend to use it, and using it may mean you might kill someone. Also, if you're involved in a gun fight, you will probably get hit with something (a ricochet, splatter from a bullet, an actual bullet). If you're hit and you're alive enough to know you've been hit, you can still fight back. Don't stop fighting until you're dead. Don't give up.

Other things I learned:

I should not hold a gun with my left hand. Who knows where that bullet ends up?? (Our basic class went advanced when the targets started dancing. ) Hehe In all seriousness, I need to practice that a LOT, and I'll probably start with my Mosquito since it's a little easier to shoot just to build those muscles up.

Lean IN to the shot...

Umm... lots of other stuff, but that hits the highlights of what I wanted to remember. There was a lot of repetition of things I've learned through the forums here and chatting with other people while at the range (all good stuff to review and have beat into my head). But again, it's hard to condense an 8 hour class into two pages or so.

I really enjoyed this class because it was so relaxed. Good, good info covered, and it really highlighted some things I need to work on the next time I hit the range.

for Matt and Landon!!

 

[esrice]

Jeff thanks for those pics! I'm glad you decided to stop by and visit!

Pami - you took excellent notes! You really summed up the class well.

Mike thanks for sending the hats. They look great!

So today was apparently "H&K Day". I got to shoot:

HK USP Tactical .45
HK USP Compact .40
HK P30 9mm

Plus. . .
Colt SMG 9mm w/3rd. burst

 

[USPc40]

I would also like to say thanks to Matt and Landon. Even though I have owned and shot firearms for many years, this was my first "formal" training class and I must say I learned alot and had a great time. The live fire training was fun, but I think I had the biggest grin on my face after firing the 9mm SMG.Thanks also to Evan (AR w/22lr conversion, G19 w/big dot sight) and Lars (USP45) for letting me fire their weapons. Is it possible that someone may be defecting from Austria to Germany?

 

[Lars]

Matt, Landon, Thanks for having me again
Everyone else, it was great to meet you, and I look forward to shooting with you all again

*now I just want to see the "After class Photos" * :do2:

 

[Pami]

*now I just want to see the "After class Photos" * :do2:

As requested...

You can view the full (well okay, completely selective) gallery by clicking here: http://www.mypami.com/gallery/index.php?archive=25 - PD Traininghttp://www.mypami.com/gallery/?level=album&id=33

But some highlights:

Story time!

Veronica's Awesome Headshot:

Oh dear God, please don't let me kill someone today!

I just like the smoke I caught from this shot Paul (USPC40) fired:

Practicing for the Zombie Invasion:

I'll get captions up on the full gallery in the next day or two.

 

[esrice]

Is it possible that someone may be defecting from Austria to Germany?

Not on my budget. . . lol

 

[esrice]

Pami those pics are great!

Look at Veronica go!!

 

[Pami]

Thanks.

Apparently I missed an ultra-cool photo, so I added it to the gallery:

And my gallery caches images in a smaller size, so just in case it goes away for some reason, here's the original one of Veronica that Evan referenced in the above post:

 

[KimberCarry]

Thank you Matt ans Landon. The class was super and I got alot out of it I had never thought about. I will start putting them in my pratice. Thanks to eveybody there from the form nice meeting all and look forward to seeing you guys again. Matt I can't wait for the advance class.

 

[Roncho]

We just wanted to thank Matt and Landon again for the great class. Veronica and I learned a lot and left with plenty to think about. It was great meeting everyone and seeing what kind of toys everyone had. And thanks again Evan for letting us shoot your AR!

Ron & Veronica

Also thanks to Pami for posting the great pictures!

 

[465guy]

So how did everyones equipment hold up? Any guns go down?

 

[Lars]

So how did everyones equipment hold up? Any guns go down?

I know the HKs ran.
Pami's Sig Ran.
The Khar had some problems with the 7 round mag, but seemed to run with the 6 round mags.
I don't know about the Glocks. I assume they ran.
I think the 1911's ran, but they were on the other end of the line from me.

 

[Pami]

Pami's Sig Ran.

Once the stupid factory mags got seated properly, that is.
"Practicing" FTFs .. *mutter* *grumble* *mutter*

We really need to get new base plates for those two mags I have.