looking for basic (and beyond) handgun & rifle courses

[Detritus]

thank you for all your input and advice, we will keep all of it in mind later this year when we hope to get a chance to go forward with all this.

for a number of reasons (including, hopefully, preparations for buying and moving to a house more suited to our long term wants and needs ), we will not be able to "do anything about it" until this fall at the earliest.

again, thank you all, you have been quite helpful and informative.

 

[GoldenBear]

Take a look at Battle Road USA, out by Killeen/Austin.
Battle Road USA

They're a couple of Appleseed instructors that recognize that Appleseed only teaches how to shoot the rifle accurately, but not necessarily how to fight with the rifle (or pistol, or shotgun). The host of the Appleseed podcast is a Battle Road instructor and mentions coming classes in the weekly podcast.

They're a relatively new training company that teaches a quick paced course. I'd contact the instructors and see if you and they think it a good fit.

 

[Detritus]

just wanted to update this and say thanks for all the suggestions etc.
My wife and I will be taking the KR "Basic Pistol 2" course on the 13th. after a reveiw of what is covered in the two classes before this one on their "class guide", neither one of us needs anything preceeding the material in the basic 2 class.
I'l let ya know how it goes

 

[Detritus]

Personal take on the class.

Wife loved it, found it very helpful and informative.

I'll say that I am satisfied with the experience I had, would recommend this class (and KR training) to anyone who feels a need for or wants at least some organized professional training, and will likely be going back again for another class, possibly to include taking the CHL course from them. I learned a few things, did a couple of things I’d never done before.

That said, this particular course (Basic Pistol 2) was not a "smooth fit" for me personally, and other long time shooters may have the same experience I did. This is in no way a reflection on the instructors, the materials, or techniques used.
The reasons for the poor fit of this class to me personally, lie on my side of the table so to speak. And frankly I kind of expected a few of them.

I knew from my prior research that Basic Pistol 2 reads as a class mainly meant to do two things

1. Bridge the training gap between KR's two preceding classes (Beginner pistol and Basic Pistol 1) and their intermediate level courses
2. And possibly more importantly, give their students a better understanding of the fundamentals of Pistol marksmanship prior to taking a CHL course. In fact in a lot of ways BP2 is presented as a review of fundamentals and a basic skills tune up prior to CHL

My perception is that a great proportion of the teaching techniques used are geared toward bringing an inexperienced shooter (that likely has taken the previous two classes) a little further along in skill level while taking some of the "intimidation factor" out of the shooting portion of the Texas CHL course.
I am neither a new shooter, nor am I intimidated by the CHL shooting test. I mainly took this class because it was one that both my wife and myself could enjoy and get at least some new info or technique(s) out of. It most assuredly served that purpose.

Ok to make this shorter and easier to read I’ll list out where I had issue. Again I say this because it was my experience, and I at fault for these issues just as much as and probably more so than the instructors.
In no particular order

• There was at least one point where there was a definite “vocabulary disconnect”. If you tell me that as part of my presentation of my gun to the target, I’m supposed to “get a sight picture” or “Fire as soon as you get a sight picture”, I (as a fairly active shooter who has been using, what at least one of the KR guys kind of dismissively called, “target shooting” techniques for the past 20 years) am going to freaking look at my sights. And “Get a Sight Picture” means I need/am going to SEE my sights. I was scolded during the 3 yard portion of the on-range part of the class for “looking at my sights”…. From what I was able to determine, what they wanted me to do was more akin to a form of instinctive or point shooting, and while their descriptive(s) may have been just fine for newer shooters, It failed me in this instance because they used a term that to me has always meant “Do this action”, and they did not share my definition of the term.
• Student load and class structure worked well overall since they were effectively teaching 12-14 low experiences shooters, and 2-4 “experienced” shooters the same materials in 4 hours. But since most of the instructors’ time on the firing line had to be focused on those with less overall experience, I was left with some unanswered questions on how to fit the new info/techniques not only into my existing technique(s), but how to adapt either myself or the material/technique to my needs/physicality. The shooting grip taught doesn’t translate well for me yet (I wind up with too little of my support hand on the gun, or a finger or thumb in the way of my dominant hand) and I believe that I need more in depth assistance with it or I’m likely to revert to my previous method out of frustration. I’ll be sending an e-mail to Karl seeking advice on this soon.
• Tied in to the above. I felt that for me personally, since I was mostly doing things right and wasn't having major difficulty grasping the basics, what few on-range interactions with instructors, and actual instruction on technique I received tended to be more of the "Your doing this wrong" sort and not much "this is how you fix it". I asume this was due to assumption on the instructors' part, that being more expereinced that if they told me what was wrong that I would already know how to fix it..

All of that said my conclusions are that I enjoyed the class and feel that it has highlighted a need for me to get further, possibly more personalized training, to help me achieve my personal goals RE: firearms proficiency.
I would suggest that experienced shooters thinking about taking a course from them use KR's contact form on their website, so as to maybe be able to find the course that best fits your needs and current experience level.

 

[Luigimoto]

I have taken 4 courses at KR training starting with Basic Pistol 2. It has been an great experience and would encourage you and your wife to keep going. You will find that as you move through the classes even experienced shooters find useful info and new better ways to do things. I see the live fire portion of the classes more like a guided practice where you are taught some of the details but it's up to you to later practice and practice until you adapt those details into your shooting technique. I am sure Karl or any of the other instructors will be more than happy to help answer your questions. As you advance through the sequence beware, when they say come ready to shoot they mean it. You don't want to be the guy called out for having his CHL and not carrying when picked to do a drill first thing in the morning. Yes it was me and I just thought I would have time to get my gear in order before having to go up to the line. It sucked but I learned my lesson.

 

[CriterionTactical]

If you are close to San Antonio give me a holler.

www.criteriontactical.com
Firearms & Tactical - Criterion Tactical, LLC - San Antonio, TX

 

[Jon Payne]

Detritus,
The courses I'm teaching through Suarez International in Houston TX fit what you are looking for. Here is my schedule hope it helps.

 

[Detritus]

Detritus,
The courses I'm teaching through Suarez International in Houston TX fit what you are looking for. Here is my schedule hope it helps.

Ok, i'll go ahead and say it.

Thank you but, No. I wish you good luck with your business, but I'm not a potential client.
Suarez International is one of the training providers that I choose not to associate with.


Back when i first started this thread I did a little looking around and research of my own because of how Polarizing the name "Gabe Suarez" seems to be among gun-folk. what i found is that I am "Not a fan of Suarez" in that my personal veiws on firearms training and related mindset etc, do not in any way mesh with those put forth by Mr Suarez. And by extension i must assume (though i can't be entirely sure) that training provided under the Aegis of his orginization regardless of instructor would be similarly at odds with my own outlook.

I won't go into the details of what I found that turned me off, because some would take that as me saying that no one should choose SI. I make no such statement. In fact i beleive that everyone should do their own reasearch/looking around and make such decisions based on their own needs, personal veiws, etc.

 

[Jon Payne]

Good luck in your endeavors.