My wife and I attended ACT's Defensive Pistol class at Riley Conservation Club yesterday.
My experience: Intermediate. Some pistol training, appleseed, FNS, intro to USPSA stuff. tend to be long winded in AAR's
My wife's experience: Annette is a beginner, having shot at some FNS events. Interested in carrying.
I had previously taken their separate DP101 & DP 201 classes. This class combines the two into a single day of instruction. My wife has recently begun the journey to carry, and we had been looking for a beginner training class for her. When I saw this class pop up, I signed both of us up.
The bonus in all of this, is you get the full gamut of two days instruction, at essentially half the time and half the cost (when compared to having previously run through both courses separately as I had).
Morning:
The drills were the same (for the most part) as my previous experience with ACT with a few minor discrepancies.
After a very brief classroom instruction that lasted maybe 20 minutes, we went to work on the range. All of the fundamentals were covered starting with drawing the firearm, fundamentals of aiming/shooting, movement, and malfunction clearing/reloads.
The morning was chilly, which gave me an opportunity to work with heavy clothing from concealment, and I learned quite a bit about my carry style. We had broken up into two groups of about 7 students each, with one group shooting strings, while the other group reloaded and (if given time) watched the other group shoot, picking up additional instruction along the way.
Riley is a great range, and we had use of 3 pistol bays for the day. This turned out to be helpful for the staff, as they could pull students aside to work with them individually as needed, in one of the empty bays, while class instruction continued. In very short time, they would rejoin the class, having sorted out whatever issues or problems they were having. We were prepped and working on the Henk Drill before breaking for Lunch. ACT provided lunch for everyone & featured the usual hotdogs, snacks & plenty of water. This helps to keep everyone at the range (no stragglers coming back late), and offers us all a chance to socialize a bit, and of course is less crap to pack.
The weather had warmed up by now, and for the rest of the afternoon, most had stripped off the sweatshirts or coats.
The Henk Drill:
[video=youtube;aGkZ3Vj1x5k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGkZ3Vj1x5k[/video]
Video by iChokePeople
As usual, the more I train & practice, the more I learn and want to fail (so that I can find a way to improve). Even the simplest things strike me sometimes, and many overhead my saying very obvious things throughout the day. Such as "As I get closer it's much easier to score hits", "Well that sucked, I need to slow down", etc. Oftentimes I talk myself through the problem I am having, breaking it down for my very simple mind
Afternoon:
Returning to the range, we worked individually on the Henk Drill (each of us running through it twice), and of course got lot's of feedback on how we could each improve. Many (myself included) had issues with movement during reloads & malfunction clearances. We also worked on drawing and shooting from seated positions. This was new material to me, which I found very useful.
Moving to another bay, we put everything together to run a box drill that involved 4 'pillars' for cover, and a single target. The goal, was to move around all 4 barrels while engaging the target. Again, we ran through this drill twice each, picking up feedback along the way. The most common issue here seemed to be wanting to get too close to cover, thus offering more of one's self as a target when trying to engage.
The Box Drill:
[video=youtube;oP0aCm_jNLQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP0aCm_jNLQ[/video]
Video by iChokePeople
One small thing that really got me, was on the box drill. It was pointed out that shooting from the weak side around cover would reveal less of your body, so one could transition to weak side shooting as permissible. I shoot weak handed often spending 10 rounds of practice each shooting session. What I had never bothered to do, was use my strong hand as support. I quickly discovered I had ALWAYS shot one handed from the weak side. I actually had to spend like 3 seconds figuring out how to get my strong hand supporting my weak hand lol.
Finally we moved to the third bay, where we each ran through the figure 8 drill twice. This drill was setup differently from my previous experience, and I prefer this one over the former.
Several 8" round steel targets were setup, painted different colors, others with numbers. Intermixed was a myriad of silhouettes, representing innocent bystanders. One double stacked barrels for high cover, and another single barrel for low cover was set out from the targets. As one walked in a figure eight around the barrels, a target would be called out. We were to find cover, and engage the target(s). In some cases, multiple targets existed of one color. ie there were two red targets. But there were also two numbers, written in red.
The previous time I ran through this class, all targets were cardboard silhouettes, and time was spent seeing if hits were scored. As the day wore on, more existing holes made it difficult to tell if hits were being scored.
In this class, the steel targets offered immediate feedback, and as John politely pointed out "There is no cheating" with the steel.
The Figure 8 Drill:
[video=youtube;l0sh_LaKwUY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0sh_LaKwUY[/video]
Video by iChokePeople
You'd think, my being an artist, that I could have put two and two together to attack 'purple' much quicker than I did. Also, moonwalking in boots and on gravel is more difficult than it appears.
Personal Viewpoints:
Great day. It seemed really fast paced, almost too much for a beginner, as they'd be drinking from a firehose. Pulling students aside to help with accuracy or issues was a bonus here, as it offered them a chance to slow down & refine/address whatever problems they were having. We had a solid group, most of which had been through this training before.
Working with the safety on my M&P compact is not as difficult as I had thought it might be, but it does take some practice. The mag's don't drop as easily as my full size, and I need to strip them out to insure they'll drop every time. My unholstering with heavy garments/multiple layers still needs lot of practice.
Annette's Viewpoints:
My wife & I discussed the day during our drive home. She was very pleased with how the day went, and how cordial everyone was. I had previously told her that in every class I had taken there were usually 2-3 women in attendance. Much to our surprise, she was the only woman in this class. She admitted to feeling very out of place during the morning's meetup.
But I think it was the 2nd string we were shooting, when she turned to me and smiled saying "I like John. He is a VERY good teacher". Coming from a public school math teacher, I think that was saying a lot. She said she felt a little bit encroaching, when she'd overheard a 'locker room' joke or comment made, when everyone would suddenly remember a woman was present and clam up. She didn't feel offended by any stretch (as we're pretty hillbilly). She simply wished she knew everyone better, so that they would have felt more comfortable with the jokes. I managed a couple good & crude "That's what she said" jokes to make her feel right at home
Annette on the Henk Drill:
[video=youtube;5OmT1Ns-2sI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OmT1Ns-2sI[/video]
Video by iChokePeople
Overall she was very comfortable with everyone, and did not feel intimidated despite having little experience. The encouragement and instruction received by both Teachers, and students alike were encouraging and helpful.
She hopes that any woman thinking about taking an ACT class, would sign up for it without hesitation. I continually hear praises of how helpful and cordial INGO'ers are whenever she attends events with me.
Once we hit the Henk drill (and remaining drills for the day) I could see she was getting out of her comfort zone. She hadn't realized it yet, that this is needed. But, even with the option of backing out and skipping the drills, she still went through each one twice.
The best for me, was watching her on the last drill... the figure eight. She really didn't want to do this one, and when it came time for it, she failed horribly. The lc9s she chose (and we went through quite a few guns to find one that she was comfortable with) was too small and too light for her to score hits on the steel rounds.
Immediately afterwards, she was determined that she wanted to try again, but this time with my full size m&p. Having left mine in the car (backup), Chezuki offered to let her shoot his M&P pro decked out in an apex competition kit. Granger worked with her a bit on another range to quickly settle into the gun, and she came back to the drill, this time bound and determined to beat the snot out of that steel. And she did! Often scoring hits on her first shot with each press of the trigger.
To see her a bit scared, & unsure of her ability one moment, and then do a complete 180 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' the next, was just awesome and inspiring to me.
An Aside: She is still mixed on carrying the lc9s. A single stack is certainly needed for her small hands. And her primary criteria is a small compact size so as to conceal carry. We'd discussed the smaller sight radius, more recoil, etc in a small platform countless times before this class. But I think she finally saw it for herself. She did fair at 7-10 yards, and will continue to practice to see if she can improve her aim and handling with the lc9s before she plunges into a larger
or heavier firearm. With more time and practice, I feel she may come around, we'll get to purchase another handgun, and I'll get the lc9s as a backup
Critiques:
John, Joe & Granger always have a chat at the end of their classes, offering a chance for students to give feedback on likes and dislikes. Everyone had positive things to say, and I think matched my thoughts very well.
Discussing the day with Annette further, I can only think of a few small things that could be modified, catering solely to newish shooters.
I never thought I would say this, but I missed some of the classroom instruction. The first time through, this took up a large portion of the day, resulting in less range time. I realize it is difficult to make everyone happy, but I also think some of the classroom instruction about what to do AFTER one has been involved in a shooting is pertinent, and should be re-introduced into the class. Some things about blood pressure coming back to someone who's horizontal, and being the first to call 911 was mentioned off the cuff throughout the day. Most of us got it, because we had sat through the instruction before. But I think a cliff's notes version added to the morning would be helpful to new shooters.
Less time was spent refining accuracy in the morning. Again, most of us having been through it before, realize we can take the knowledge and drills home with us to work on accuracy and speed on our own time. New shooters however, might get frustrated, not quite putting two and two together to realize this. They might be expecting to come home a better shooter (generally speaking, being a more accurate shooter), not realizing they have all the tools in their brand new toolbox to work on that. I do realize that pulling students aside to work on accuracy and such may have helped those struggling. They would have more input in this area.
But the day is so fast paced, I am not sure how you add those things without stripping something away. My thoughts are to possibly remove the box drill, and handle use of cover in the figure 8 drill. As the box drill seemed to be the only lull in the progression of training throughout the day. or possibly extend the day by an hour, but I am no expert in assembling classes.
But the bottom line is, my wife having very little experience in defensive pistol shooting, managed to get through the day with few questions. She learned an awful lot, and discussed doing many of the drills on our range to try to improve. So maybe I am over thinking things, and what you've managed to teach a noob is just what she needed!
Job well done. I give this class a 9 out of 10
We will definitely be back for more!
P.S. Special thanks to iChokePeople for the video!!!
My experience: Intermediate. Some pistol training, appleseed, FNS, intro to USPSA stuff. tend to be long winded in AAR's
My wife's experience: Annette is a beginner, having shot at some FNS events. Interested in carrying.
I had previously taken their separate DP101 & DP 201 classes. This class combines the two into a single day of instruction. My wife has recently begun the journey to carry, and we had been looking for a beginner training class for her. When I saw this class pop up, I signed both of us up.
The bonus in all of this, is you get the full gamut of two days instruction, at essentially half the time and half the cost (when compared to having previously run through both courses separately as I had).
Morning:
The drills were the same (for the most part) as my previous experience with ACT with a few minor discrepancies.
After a very brief classroom instruction that lasted maybe 20 minutes, we went to work on the range. All of the fundamentals were covered starting with drawing the firearm, fundamentals of aiming/shooting, movement, and malfunction clearing/reloads.
The morning was chilly, which gave me an opportunity to work with heavy clothing from concealment, and I learned quite a bit about my carry style. We had broken up into two groups of about 7 students each, with one group shooting strings, while the other group reloaded and (if given time) watched the other group shoot, picking up additional instruction along the way.
Riley is a great range, and we had use of 3 pistol bays for the day. This turned out to be helpful for the staff, as they could pull students aside to work with them individually as needed, in one of the empty bays, while class instruction continued. In very short time, they would rejoin the class, having sorted out whatever issues or problems they were having. We were prepped and working on the Henk Drill before breaking for Lunch. ACT provided lunch for everyone & featured the usual hotdogs, snacks & plenty of water. This helps to keep everyone at the range (no stragglers coming back late), and offers us all a chance to socialize a bit, and of course is less crap to pack.
The weather had warmed up by now, and for the rest of the afternoon, most had stripped off the sweatshirts or coats.
The Henk Drill:
[video=youtube;aGkZ3Vj1x5k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGkZ3Vj1x5k[/video]
Video by iChokePeople
As usual, the more I train & practice, the more I learn and want to fail (so that I can find a way to improve). Even the simplest things strike me sometimes, and many overhead my saying very obvious things throughout the day. Such as "As I get closer it's much easier to score hits", "Well that sucked, I need to slow down", etc. Oftentimes I talk myself through the problem I am having, breaking it down for my very simple mind
Afternoon:
Returning to the range, we worked individually on the Henk Drill (each of us running through it twice), and of course got lot's of feedback on how we could each improve. Many (myself included) had issues with movement during reloads & malfunction clearances. We also worked on drawing and shooting from seated positions. This was new material to me, which I found very useful.
Moving to another bay, we put everything together to run a box drill that involved 4 'pillars' for cover, and a single target. The goal, was to move around all 4 barrels while engaging the target. Again, we ran through this drill twice each, picking up feedback along the way. The most common issue here seemed to be wanting to get too close to cover, thus offering more of one's self as a target when trying to engage.
The Box Drill:
[video=youtube;oP0aCm_jNLQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP0aCm_jNLQ[/video]
Video by iChokePeople
One small thing that really got me, was on the box drill. It was pointed out that shooting from the weak side around cover would reveal less of your body, so one could transition to weak side shooting as permissible. I shoot weak handed often spending 10 rounds of practice each shooting session. What I had never bothered to do, was use my strong hand as support. I quickly discovered I had ALWAYS shot one handed from the weak side. I actually had to spend like 3 seconds figuring out how to get my strong hand supporting my weak hand lol.
Finally we moved to the third bay, where we each ran through the figure 8 drill twice. This drill was setup differently from my previous experience, and I prefer this one over the former.
Several 8" round steel targets were setup, painted different colors, others with numbers. Intermixed was a myriad of silhouettes, representing innocent bystanders. One double stacked barrels for high cover, and another single barrel for low cover was set out from the targets. As one walked in a figure eight around the barrels, a target would be called out. We were to find cover, and engage the target(s). In some cases, multiple targets existed of one color. ie there were two red targets. But there were also two numbers, written in red.
The previous time I ran through this class, all targets were cardboard silhouettes, and time was spent seeing if hits were scored. As the day wore on, more existing holes made it difficult to tell if hits were being scored.
In this class, the steel targets offered immediate feedback, and as John politely pointed out "There is no cheating" with the steel.
The Figure 8 Drill:
[video=youtube;l0sh_LaKwUY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0sh_LaKwUY[/video]
Video by iChokePeople
You'd think, my being an artist, that I could have put two and two together to attack 'purple' much quicker than I did. Also, moonwalking in boots and on gravel is more difficult than it appears.
Personal Viewpoints:
Great day. It seemed really fast paced, almost too much for a beginner, as they'd be drinking from a firehose. Pulling students aside to help with accuracy or issues was a bonus here, as it offered them a chance to slow down & refine/address whatever problems they were having. We had a solid group, most of which had been through this training before.
Working with the safety on my M&P compact is not as difficult as I had thought it might be, but it does take some practice. The mag's don't drop as easily as my full size, and I need to strip them out to insure they'll drop every time. My unholstering with heavy garments/multiple layers still needs lot of practice.
Annette's Viewpoints:
My wife & I discussed the day during our drive home. She was very pleased with how the day went, and how cordial everyone was. I had previously told her that in every class I had taken there were usually 2-3 women in attendance. Much to our surprise, she was the only woman in this class. She admitted to feeling very out of place during the morning's meetup.
But I think it was the 2nd string we were shooting, when she turned to me and smiled saying "I like John. He is a VERY good teacher". Coming from a public school math teacher, I think that was saying a lot. She said she felt a little bit encroaching, when she'd overheard a 'locker room' joke or comment made, when everyone would suddenly remember a woman was present and clam up. She didn't feel offended by any stretch (as we're pretty hillbilly). She simply wished she knew everyone better, so that they would have felt more comfortable with the jokes. I managed a couple good & crude "That's what she said" jokes to make her feel right at home
Annette on the Henk Drill:
[video=youtube;5OmT1Ns-2sI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OmT1Ns-2sI[/video]
Video by iChokePeople
Overall she was very comfortable with everyone, and did not feel intimidated despite having little experience. The encouragement and instruction received by both Teachers, and students alike were encouraging and helpful.
She hopes that any woman thinking about taking an ACT class, would sign up for it without hesitation. I continually hear praises of how helpful and cordial INGO'ers are whenever she attends events with me.
Once we hit the Henk drill (and remaining drills for the day) I could see she was getting out of her comfort zone. She hadn't realized it yet, that this is needed. But, even with the option of backing out and skipping the drills, she still went through each one twice.
The best for me, was watching her on the last drill... the figure eight. She really didn't want to do this one, and when it came time for it, she failed horribly. The lc9s she chose (and we went through quite a few guns to find one that she was comfortable with) was too small and too light for her to score hits on the steel rounds.
Immediately afterwards, she was determined that she wanted to try again, but this time with my full size m&p. Having left mine in the car (backup), Chezuki offered to let her shoot his M&P pro decked out in an apex competition kit. Granger worked with her a bit on another range to quickly settle into the gun, and she came back to the drill, this time bound and determined to beat the snot out of that steel. And she did! Often scoring hits on her first shot with each press of the trigger.
To see her a bit scared, & unsure of her ability one moment, and then do a complete 180 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' the next, was just awesome and inspiring to me.
An Aside: She is still mixed on carrying the lc9s. A single stack is certainly needed for her small hands. And her primary criteria is a small compact size so as to conceal carry. We'd discussed the smaller sight radius, more recoil, etc in a small platform countless times before this class. But I think she finally saw it for herself. She did fair at 7-10 yards, and will continue to practice to see if she can improve her aim and handling with the lc9s before she plunges into a larger
or heavier firearm. With more time and practice, I feel she may come around, we'll get to purchase another handgun, and I'll get the lc9s as a backup
Critiques:
John, Joe & Granger always have a chat at the end of their classes, offering a chance for students to give feedback on likes and dislikes. Everyone had positive things to say, and I think matched my thoughts very well.
Discussing the day with Annette further, I can only think of a few small things that could be modified, catering solely to newish shooters.
I never thought I would say this, but I missed some of the classroom instruction. The first time through, this took up a large portion of the day, resulting in less range time. I realize it is difficult to make everyone happy, but I also think some of the classroom instruction about what to do AFTER one has been involved in a shooting is pertinent, and should be re-introduced into the class. Some things about blood pressure coming back to someone who's horizontal, and being the first to call 911 was mentioned off the cuff throughout the day. Most of us got it, because we had sat through the instruction before. But I think a cliff's notes version added to the morning would be helpful to new shooters.
Less time was spent refining accuracy in the morning. Again, most of us having been through it before, realize we can take the knowledge and drills home with us to work on accuracy and speed on our own time. New shooters however, might get frustrated, not quite putting two and two together to realize this. They might be expecting to come home a better shooter (generally speaking, being a more accurate shooter), not realizing they have all the tools in their brand new toolbox to work on that. I do realize that pulling students aside to work on accuracy and such may have helped those struggling. They would have more input in this area.
But the day is so fast paced, I am not sure how you add those things without stripping something away. My thoughts are to possibly remove the box drill, and handle use of cover in the figure 8 drill. As the box drill seemed to be the only lull in the progression of training throughout the day. or possibly extend the day by an hour, but I am no expert in assembling classes.
But the bottom line is, my wife having very little experience in defensive pistol shooting, managed to get through the day with few questions. She learned an awful lot, and discussed doing many of the drills on our range to try to improve. So maybe I am over thinking things, and what you've managed to teach a noob is just what she needed!
Job well done. I give this class a 9 out of 10
We will definitely be back for more!
P.S. Special thanks to iChokePeople for the video!!!
Last edited: