I had a great experience over the past two days when I participated in a NRA based CCW training session. We spent about four hours going over the “book” part of the program last night. It was based on the NRA publication, Pistol Shooting. It was taught by a local police detective named Alan Gray. He was a Marine Corps small arms instructor and special ops member before joining the local police department some time ago. He now trains the SWAT members as well as some other elite groups. He did a great job by imparting many lessons learned in addition to the information in the text. He also helped us understand the practical consequences of CCW and drawing a pistol if ever necessary. I aced my exam!
Then today we hit the outdoor range for the hands-on aspects. There was just one other student, a nice young man in college, and me so we received lots of personalized attention. We spent five hours and 400 rounds of ammo doing way more than I ever expected when I signed up. As usual, the XD-9 performed flawlessly.
Safety was a major theme along with range etiquette. However, we shot from a few yards out to 20 yards, from nearly any position you can imagine, while moving, from behind cover and even with our eyes closed for one drill. We shot at paper targets as well as steel ones. It was a great experience and a ton of fun. More importantly, I learned a lot of practical lessons on safety and also managed to significantly improve my trigger control. I also out shot the college kid despite my 52 year old eyes and lack of Nintendo expertise.
This course definitely exceeded my expectations. This was the best $125 investment I’ve made in quite some time. If you can find something similar near you, by all means join in the fun and learn while you’re doing so.
Then today we hit the outdoor range for the hands-on aspects. There was just one other student, a nice young man in college, and me so we received lots of personalized attention. We spent five hours and 400 rounds of ammo doing way more than I ever expected when I signed up. As usual, the XD-9 performed flawlessly.
Safety was a major theme along with range etiquette. However, we shot from a few yards out to 20 yards, from nearly any position you can imagine, while moving, from behind cover and even with our eyes closed for one drill. We shot at paper targets as well as steel ones. It was a great experience and a ton of fun. More importantly, I learned a lot of practical lessons on safety and also managed to significantly improve my trigger control. I also out shot the college kid despite my 52 year old eyes and lack of Nintendo expertise.
This course definitely exceeded my expectations. This was the best $125 investment I’ve made in quite some time. If you can find something similar near you, by all means join in the fun and learn while you’re doing so.