Defensive Long Gun Essentials class experience.

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to take KR Training's Defensive Long Gun Essentials class.  This was my first formal class shooting my rifle.  I had only shot my rifle once before this class with a guy nice enough to hang out with my after one of my pistol classes to show me how to load and fire it.  Still I was very unfamiliar and uncomfortable handling and operating it when I arrived for this class.

Since I've taken several pistol classes there now and am getting into advanced coursework, one of the instructors mistakenly thought I was also experienced with a rifle and so he was holding me to a standard of someone with some rifle experience. After he barked orders at me a few times (he only did this because he thought I knew this stuff already and wanted to instill a sense of urgency in me since this was a defensive-geared class and I was falling behind) and I failed to comply repeatedly while the rest of the firing line waited, I finally just barked right back at him that I clearing didn't know how to do what he was telling me to do.  He immediately regrouped and helped/instructed me through the process I needed to learn. He totally apologized later stating he didn't realize I was a total beginner with a rifle.  It was super nice of him to stop and tell me that and I really appreciated it and it made me feel like they had taken the kid gloves off with me and that felt so awesome to think that I might actually be treated just like the guys. KR Training from my observation takes a softer approach when interacting with their female students which most gals probably really appreciate.  Me on the other hand, I just wanna be treated like one of the guys so having him take me out of my comfort zone like that was really very flattering for me personally.  

After that instruction I didn't hold up the class again (well, until my EOTech scope came flying off and the guy next to me on the line told the instructor and that stopped things again but I just tucked the scope into my duty pants pocket and flipped up the iron sights and I was good to go.  Halfway through the 3 hour class, my iron sights started coming lose too but I had a screw driver in my range bag and was able to tighten it back down. I learned from another student that I needed to invest in blue Loctite to lock the threads when tightening down anything on my rifle rails.  Lesson learned.  Luckily my EOTech wasn't broken either or that would have been a mighty expensive lesson.

My class was nearly half women which I imagine is pretty rare, and I wasn't the only novice; although, there were several students there that appeared to be quite familiar with their rifles/shotguns.  Oh, yes, this class allows you to bring whatever long gun you want (shotgun or rifle/pistol caliber carbine) so we had to wait while the shotties were reloaded but that was the only delay and frankly it was nice to be able to rest my arms while they did that. Another thing I learned is that you really need a sling for carbine classes because your arms and shoulders get a real workout holding that big ol' rifle in low ready through out a 4 hour class.  

Another thing I learned is that my fancy electronic pistol ear protection does not work for rifle target practice. I ended up having to put foam plugs in my ear canals because the butt of my gun kept kicking the thick earmuff off my rifle-side ear which would have been pretty painful if it happened while the gun was still going BANG! I have a pair of low profile lower-cost electronic muffs but I didn't bring them because I've been leaving them in my nightstand with my personal defense gun and honestly didn't realize there was a difference.  This wasn't something covered in my basic long gun class taught at the AG&AG conference unfortunately, but then again neither was the Loctite requirement on my rail-mounted rifle accessories.  

The class focuses on fast response, technique, and accuracy for relatively close quarter encounters (5yds to 20yds) with a long gun. Makes sense for a defensive class as you're not likely going to have a lot of 100+ yard defensive encounters (or even hear of them) as a civilian. I hadn't zeroed my sights or scope yet (I still don't know how to do that unfortunately) but even so I didn't have a problem hitting my targets quite accurately once I was taught the concept of holdover. Basically your long guns bullet trajectory is not a straight line (it arcs) but the line of sight targeting of your sights/scope is a straight line, so your target picture will only be right-on using the cross-hairs at two distances and the rest of the time you'll be too high or too low. If you know the distance at which your sights are zeroed and know roughly the distance of your target, you can adjust where you aim using your reticle to accurately place the intended shot at other distances.   

We learned how to properly hold and shoot our long guns, how to reload, how to properly present from cover, how to slice the pie with a long gun, why we need to be able to shoot our long guns's using either hand defensively, learned how distance plays a role in pivoting around corners/barriers, had an opportunity to clear the shoot house with a pistol-caliber carbine, learned to shoot from standing and kneeling positions from cover, and learned how to shoot quickly from high-ready and low-ready and when each technique is most effective.  I think we were supposed to learn how to clear a malfunction but I definitely don't feel like that was something I understood coming out of class (but then again getting everything the first time is pretty rare).  

I had a very positive experience yet again at KR Training.  I definitely get the impression that Karl is way more of a pistol guy than a rifle guy since there aren't a lot of rifle classes offered so I'm going to be trying other training outfits in the area to get more hands-on time with rifle work.  Unfortunately, most of the remaining classes I want to take for the first time at KR Training are scheduled while I'm in that other class, vacationing in England, or attending the National Romance Writers of America conference in San Antonio.  I know there will eventually be offered again, but I panic when I think that won't get any holster practice in the meantime.  Most of the local ranges don't allow you to draw from holster, or to rapid fire which are two really critical skills to work on at the range.  I hope I can find a way to get more time doing this before those classes come up again.

Next weekend I have my last big weekend at KR Training scheduled.  I'm taking Handgun Beyond the Basics in the morning and Competitive Pistol 1 in the afternoon.  I so so love my Saturdays learning and shooting at KR Training.  It makes me week at work fly by just looking forward to my time on the range.  

Defensive Pistol 2, AT-2 Force-on-Force Scenarios, and AT-A1 Low Light Shooting

This past weekend I attended 3 back-to-back courses out at KR Training.  Defensive Pistol 2 in the morning, Force-on-Force scenarios in the afternoon, and Low-Light shooting in the evening.

It was by far the longest day I've ever had at the range.  I got up at 6am to get out there by 7:45a.  And I wasn't packed up and to my car until 10:15p.  That's a LONG day!

The DP2 class was similar to the DP1 course, with additional complexity added in, in particular shooting from cover. It looks easy, but learning how to present around a barrier with a firearm while limiting how much of your body is visible to an active shooter is something you need to practice, a lot. KR Training recently built a shoot house in bay 3 so we had a chance to move and shoot clearing the house with paper targets, dummy targets, moving targets, and metal targets while trying to distinguish good guys from bad guys.  We each "manufactured" a double feed and learned how to recognize and clear it.  We also practiced swapping mags. Because I'd performed so dismally in my Simunition class at the AG&AG Conference, I'd practice for 3 straight nights during my dry fire time just dropping mags, grabbing mags from my belt, seating mags and racking the slid.  I actually broke a blood vessel in the heal of my hand the third night from seating a sticky mag too hard too many times and I ended up working with an injured hand on Saturday.  But my mag swaps were noticeably better on the line and Karl singled me out for the first time ever with a "Good!"  Woot!

The AT-2 Force-on-Force scenarios class was all about working through encounters with other people in dynamic (semi-scripted) roll playing with Airsoft guns. We were all outfitted in protective gear which KR Training provided along with the Airsoft guns themselves. Some were indoors and others were out in the shoot house. We learned additional skills like slicing the pie and understanding how angle and distance from the pivot point play roles in what you and the target can see in those situations. This work was very different because there were many variables to take into account and there were many potential outcomes with varying degrees of "successful resolution." In the dynamic scenarios, it was really shocking to find myself not reacting the way I knew I should react. I remember thinking, what the hell are you doing standing here, that dude is pointing a gun at that other guy, why aren't you running away and yet I stood there quite dumbfounded .  It was really eye opening to see how incongruent what I KNEW I'd do and what I ACTUALLY did really were!  This coursework was also really helping in practicing how to evaluate an encounter and to determine the level of threat, the type of threat, the appropriate reaction, and typical traps that you can to learn to avoid. We also had a chance to use improvised weapons and it was amazing to see how doing so could reset the OODA loop and buy you time. It was invaluable, all of it.

The AT-A1 Low-Light Shooting class is where we learned about the various ways to hold a flashlight with a handgun, how to use a flashlight in a way that made you less of an easy target to an active shooter, and also incorporated the use of cover and moving around barriers and even laying under barriers.  I'd never shot from a prone position before.  It takes some getting used to.  We also had a chance to clear the shoot house at night. At the end, I was so tired I had a hard time keeping disciplined to aiming well and pressing my shots instead of slapping the trigger.  In fact, my very biggest issue is definitely trigger management. I need to take time at the range and just work on this.  It really is the biggest thing between being a mediocre shooter and a good shooter.  The disparity of my dry fire work from my live fire work is growing because I'm not getting to the range to practice firing as much as I do dry firing.  Practice should be 5 to 1 I think they said.  But I'm not 50 and never doing the 1 until I take another KR Training class.

I'm really bummed because the courses I want to take next are all scheduled when I'm taking classes elsewhere, am vacationing in England, or attending the national writer's conference in San Antonio.  I'm a bit panicked that I won't be going to the range every other weekend so I may actually have to force myself to go out to a local range and do drills on my own like I'm supposed to be doing.  Dry fire is only going to take me so far.

My MAG-20 Experience

Invariably, when you bring up the topic of conceal carry or handguns training in general in social circles, the conversation circles around to the topic of "So what are you supposed to do in this situation or that situation?"  What if a guy with a vicious dog is running at you snarling? What if there is a guy in your backyard breaking into your shed?  What if some guy starts beating on your car window in a mall parking lot? What if your attacker is unarmed? What if there are more than one of them? What if? What if. what if.

Yes, it is important to think of scenarios and how you'd react to them, especially if you have your conceal carry permit.  But for me until a few weekends ago, the decision making for those situations was very abstract, nebulous and largely undefined.  And I'm not just talking in terms of what was floating around in my head on the subject but also in terms of the information shared with me by others, even firearm instructors. Whether spoken with vibrato and/or out of ignorance, the information I received outside of my MAG-20 class related to this subject was largely wrong. Dead wrong.

Coming out of Massad Ayoob's MAG-20 course, "A two-day, 20-hour immersion course in rules of engagement for armed law-abiding private citizens, emphasizing legal issues, tactical issues, and aftermath management.", I strongly believe that anyone with the constitution to conceal carry should at a bare minimum take this class.

This wasn't a class on the mechanics of firearm safety; although, that was certainly touched upon.  This wasn't a class on technique either which was also addressed,.  This class was, primarily and most importantly. about the psychology of shooting in self-defense, the mindset, the decision making, the criteria by which those decisions are evaluated, and navigating the very real and present dangers to yourself and your loved ones after you've acted to protect yourself and/or others. 

It's a topic rarely addressed. This is likely due to a number of reasons including: the diversity in the related laws established from state to state across this nation, the diversity in how various courts interpret those laws from one case to the next, a general lack of certainty/personal knowledge on the topic by those in a position to communicate it en masse, and the general social climate surrounding firearms today paired with concern of liability by inadvertently providing legal advice. However, it is understood by me, especially after taking this class, that it is ESSENTIAL that this be addressed in depth by ALL law-abiding people who carry a firearm for personal protection before they find themselves in an encounter requiring force. To not educate yourself is irresponsible.

While I cannot go into the details of what was specifically taught in this course, due to its proprietary nature, I can tell you that it has completely changed how I view personal self-defense.  It took me from a place of uncertainty where I was ill-equipped to protect myself effectively from a psychological perspective and moved me into a mindset of preparedness.  Ahead of me I have a LOT of classes to take and a lot of training to master to be where I now know I need to be if I intend to be both mentally and physically ready the way Massad Ayoob teaches.

I want to be safe just like everyone else does. After taking this class, I feel I've been given the tools to act as safely as possible in our dangerous world. Having that peace of mind is something you can't put a price on. Take Massad's class if you have the opportunity and you'll know exactly what I mean.

Formal Basic Pistol Training

Last Saturday, I attended my first formal pistol training.  I figured after going to the range four times with my friend, Becca, and subsequently going to a CHL class, that I should probably get some formal training before I developed any bad habits.  My hubby did the online research on local handgun training and registered me for a Basic Pistol 2 class at KR Training.

I'd felt pretty self-conscious at my CHL class back in October because of the way they treated us girls on the range.  Where the instructors were really friendly and talkative to the guys taking the class, they basically ignored us girls socially. While no one was inappropriate or mean, I certainly didn't feel welcome or encouraged to ask questions or take more classes.

Since I knew I wanted more instruction prior to sending in my application, I never sent in my paperwork to get my license.  I just didn't want to subject myself to the same treatment as my CHL class, so I basically stalled out and forgot about it.  Luckily Jason took the lead in finding another range for me to try out.  I'm guessing he knew how hesitant I actually was, not wanting to be treated like an outcast again on the range, so he signed me up and THEN told me about it.  Once I'm committed to something, I follow through.  He knows me well.

I wasn't sure I was qualified to skip Basic Pistol 1 but Jason said that since I got a score of 249 on my CHL range test after not having fired my gun in nearly 10 months, that he thought I was fine skipping to the Basic 2 class. I read everything I could on the KR Training website, learned about the A Girl & a Gun conference from that site, signed up for AG&AG membership, registered for the AG&AG Conference, read everything I could find on the AG&AG website, learned about IDPA and USPSA classifications from the AG&AG conference tracks, resulting in my signing up for IDPA and USPSA and NRA memberships as well.  At this point I was starting to grasp just how much I didn't know, and felt a little like I'd just grabbed the bull by the tip of his tail.  Still, I was committed, and once I'm committed, I follow through.  So I showed up one week later for my first formal pistol class.

The range (A-Zone Range) is about an hour outside Austin. My instructor was Karl Rehn (the "K.R." in KR Training).  There were 14 people in my class, and we were split up into groups of 7 for target/range work. There was a good mix of skill levels, gender, age, etc. among our student body.  The classroom portions were well thought out, formal enough to make sure all the information was covered and informal enough where you felt comfortable asking a question midstream if you needed clarification.  There were several assistant instructors that assisted in the classroom and range exercises. Every single representative I encountered at KR Training interacted with me and they all were friendly, extremely knowledgeable, safety conscious, passionate about firearms and equally passionate about teaching their knowledge to their students. They weren't dry boring classroom sessions either. I had fun learning even before we hit the range.

When we got to the range, safety was paramount.  Everything was organized, the instructors were easy to hear even with ear protection on, the exercises were very structured and administered with a great instructor:student ratio.  There was always someone right there when I had a question or concern or when I was doing something wrong. Corrections (every student made an error at some point or another) were done appropriately and with professionalism. In the Defensive Pistol class, where things were more stressful on the students, the stress was intentionally imposed on the students in an attempt to simulate (to a much lesser degree) the real-world stress of a defensive shooting scenario and the variability of such an encounter. The stress helped demonstrate to each student just how difficult a defensive shooting incident might be and what we need to learn, know and practice to be prepared and effective.

I came away from that day at A-Zone Range so happy, exhausted mentally and physically, with way WAY more knowledge than I expected to get in a single day, with a solid understanding of what I was doing wrong, how to correct those things, and a bunch of new skills and drills to practice, and with more confidence and passion for target-shooting my handgun at the range. KR Training truly exceeded my expectations all the way around. Not only did I learn a lot and have a great time, but they encouraged me to take more classes and made me feel welcome and valued as one of their students.

I am so thankful to Jason for finding this training for me and for the encouragement he continues to show for my joy of target shooting and firearms.  I'm hoping to take a basic rifle class next of course at KR Training.