JenTheGeek
Plinker
I completed my first training course today, and it was a really positive experience, so I figured I'd share it with you guys!
I went to Tactical Firearms Training and the course was taught by the owner, Guy Relford. His presentation style was laid back, VERY knowledgeable, and I loved that he is a lawyer and could answer every law-related question with authority.
The first half of the class was all classroom discussion. It was a lot like my crash-course at the range, very safety-centered, and all pretty basic stuff that any pistol owner should know. It really makes me wonder if Indiana shouldn't have some sort of training required for the LTCH, but I won't open that can of worms. I liked the focus on aiming and sights, how to get everything lined up right. To hear it simplified and laid out actually did improve my shooting pretty drastically.
After the classroom overview, we went out to the range to actually shoot.
The only one of mine that strayed outside the gray was fired RIGHT after the instructor said, "You're doing pretty good..." "...until I said that." Heh. Oops.
We weren't in the part of the range open to the public, we were over where the IMPD trains, surrounded by shot up cars and plywood with rusty metal baffles hanging above us. They had five instructors doing 1 on 1 instruction. They had us try different stances, made sure our grips were solid, called where the shots landed so we could adjust. It was quite fun. I enjoyed seeing how patient the instructors were with the students who had never even shot a gun before - they walked us through everything so it was very comfortable and not intimidating.
They were also very strict on safety. I was surprised how, even after going OVER and OVER it soooo many times in the classroom, sometime people just don't get it until it is demonstrated in person. One lady hit a bullseye and then went WAHOOO! and waved her hands, gun and all, in the air. The instructor grabbed her and pointed it back downrange and everyone behind them just went, "Oh. My. God."
We went back to the classroom to thaw out (very cold out there), and went over how to pick out an appropriate gun for what you're wanting to do, what types of things to look for, and a general overview before we took the NRA test.
I'm already trying to figure out what I want to do next as far as training. I'm not sure how "real" I am wanting to be, but I think I like the sound of Guy's 'Basic Defense In The Home' course. I also like the idea of the Comprehensive Indiana Gun Laws course.
I went to Tactical Firearms Training and the course was taught by the owner, Guy Relford. His presentation style was laid back, VERY knowledgeable, and I loved that he is a lawyer and could answer every law-related question with authority.
The first half of the class was all classroom discussion. It was a lot like my crash-course at the range, very safety-centered, and all pretty basic stuff that any pistol owner should know. It really makes me wonder if Indiana shouldn't have some sort of training required for the LTCH, but I won't open that can of worms. I liked the focus on aiming and sights, how to get everything lined up right. To hear it simplified and laid out actually did improve my shooting pretty drastically.
After the classroom overview, we went out to the range to actually shoot.
The only one of mine that strayed outside the gray was fired RIGHT after the instructor said, "You're doing pretty good..." "...until I said that." Heh. Oops.
We weren't in the part of the range open to the public, we were over where the IMPD trains, surrounded by shot up cars and plywood with rusty metal baffles hanging above us. They had five instructors doing 1 on 1 instruction. They had us try different stances, made sure our grips were solid, called where the shots landed so we could adjust. It was quite fun. I enjoyed seeing how patient the instructors were with the students who had never even shot a gun before - they walked us through everything so it was very comfortable and not intimidating.
They were also very strict on safety. I was surprised how, even after going OVER and OVER it soooo many times in the classroom, sometime people just don't get it until it is demonstrated in person. One lady hit a bullseye and then went WAHOOO! and waved her hands, gun and all, in the air. The instructor grabbed her and pointed it back downrange and everyone behind them just went, "Oh. My. God."
We went back to the classroom to thaw out (very cold out there), and went over how to pick out an appropriate gun for what you're wanting to do, what types of things to look for, and a general overview before we took the NRA test.
I'm already trying to figure out what I want to do next as far as training. I'm not sure how "real" I am wanting to be, but I think I like the sound of Guy's 'Basic Defense In The Home' course. I also like the idea of the Comprehensive Indiana Gun Laws course.
