Gunsite or Frontsite?

R

ranburr

New member
From a purely financial perspective, Frontsite is the clear winner. Which school is superior from a quality of training standpoint?
 
Have never been to Gunsite, but Front Sight is top notch training and is well worth the cost, plus you can buy a membership that will allow you to continue your training at a substantial discount.

I drive 3 to 4 days to get there, so if you are within adjoining states to Nevada, it is a no-brainer - Front Sight

James
 
Front Sight has been having legal and financial problems, I believe stemming from allegations of fraud. Look into this topic on your own before making your decision.
 
I have done two Gunsite classes and they both were excellent! One handgun, and one carbine. Both classes were in Indiana, offered by an authorized Gunsite trainer. The handgun class was life changing for me. I have never been to Front Site, so I cannot compare.
 
Fronsight has *survived* barage after barage of rediculous lawsuits levied by very unscrupulous people- that should tell you something. As for their instructors/corriculum, it is all top-notch. I'm pretty sure that one of their claims is that they have trained more people then all other schools combined. I'm absolutely sure that 99.999% of their students are stark raving satisfied. I've taken over 20 courses at Frontsight & I'm not bored with them one bit.

I've never been to Gunsite, so I can't say more about them then that they are probably very good also- I've never heard from a dissatisfied student from there either.

I'd say try the one that is closest/easiest/cheapest for you to attend & go from there. I really don't think you would be disappointed or feel cheated with either.
 
Most (not all) Front Sight courses are 1-2 days. With the rare exception, Gunsite's are five. For the most part you'll get more for your money instruction wise with five days as compared to one or two.

How long can you take off work? Is the extra days in a motel a consideration? is the extra 300 miles distance a factor.

I've never been to Front Sight and comments differ from person to person. One friend said he thought the training was world-class. Yet another was disappointed and described the training as "smoke and mirrors."

Denny
 
I think more correctly stated Front Sight offers a variety of classes in both 2- and 4-day formats. Obviously you cover a lot more material in a 4-day class rather than the 2-day version. For example, the 2-day handgun class goes through many of the shooting fundamentals. The 4-day handgun class continues to refine your shooting and introduces the complications of concealed carry and night shooting. Here is a link to a review posted by one of the students: http://www.nevadacarry.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=42 It discusses a variety of things but does touch on the difference between the 2-day and 4-day classes that he attended.

The 1-day classes are typically scheduled so they can be taken in addition to a 2-day or 4-day class. The one day classes include things like CCW (train and apply for carry permits from several states) and Armorer's courses (Glock, 1911, etc.) So, for example, you can go to Front Sight and take a 4-day handgun classes followed by a 1-day CCW classes to get your CCW requirements completed and paperwork filed.

I have heard people consistently comment on how much material is covered in Front Sight's 4-day classes. The days are full. Some say more is covered in a 4-day class at Front Sight than a 5-day class at other schools. I have not attended a 5-day class so I can't compare. The best I can tell, both offer high quality training (as well as many other shooting schools).
 
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LOL, the uninformed again. 8 million was NOT paid out, it was only "allocated" to repay the investments of those who wished to file a claim. As far as I know, only 3 claims were made (the three people who filed the rediculous suit, after sucking up 100 times the value of their investments). The lawsuit was crap, we all wiped with it & flushed it where it belonged. That *does* tell me something :D
 
fastforty said:
As far as I know, only 3 claims were made (the three people who filed the rediculous suit, after sucking up 100 times the value of their investments).
Click to expand...
Let me get this straight: you are suggesting that even though the entire 4200 member class of the lawsuit (unless they exclude themselves) will have to live by the terms of the settlement whether they file a claim or not, only 3 have opted to file a claim. So everyone else has either excluded themselves, or turned up their nose at "free money?"
And, since one of the lead plaintiffs paid $175,000 for his membership, you think he has "sucked up" over $17,500,000 worth of value? At $3,000 per week long course, training continuously, that would take over 112 years.
Meanwhile, the settlements for just the 3 lead plantiffs and the attorney's fees comes to over a million dollars, even if no one else files a claim.
But don't take my word for it...
http://www.frontsightlitigation.com/documents/FNST1_First_Amended_Settlement.pdf

Call it a victory if you will.
 
I'm not going to argue with someone who really has no clue about the matter. The fact is, all of the members could have gotten full return of everything they "invested" with nothing more then a signature. None did, case closed. It's because they all know that they got way more out of it then it cost them. Chances are, I may only be able to make one or two more trips to Front Sight in my lifetime. I could have signed the paper, got a big fat check in the mail & just paid tuition if I'm ever able to make it out there again. I (along with all of the other very satisfied members) didn't, because we are honest & have morals and conscience. The organization stuck together & got the three clowns off of their back for good.

The only neighsayers are those who are jealous of Front Sight's overwhelming success. Grow up already. Don't expect me to address the topic again, I know a brick wall when I see one & I have far better things to do then to bang my head on one, however sad it is for you to have your misguided opinion.

Back on topic, I think Gunsite is in all likelyhood a very good school, even though I have never been there or personally known anyone who has- & I'm not jealous of their success.
 
fastforty said:
I could have signed the paper, got a big fat check in the mail & just paid tuition if I'm ever able to make it out there again.
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You don't have to give up your membership to get paid from the settlement.

From the settlement:
Class Members retain their existing Front Sight memberships at their current levels and benefits, with the exception that Platinum Members relinquish any and all rights to the one-acre home sites set forth in their respective memberships.
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The term "Class Members" includes everyone who doesn't exclude themselves from the settlement, whether they file a claim or not. Any Platinum member that didn't exclude themselves from the settlement or file a claim, just lost their claim on their home sites without any compensation. You may be right in your assertions, but I know based on reading the settlement that your assertions don't make a lot of sense. It's clear from some of your statements that you don't understand some of the provisions of the settlement.

You were the one that brought up the issue of the "barage (sic) of rediculous (sic) lawsuits levied by very unscrupulous people" as if the fact that Front Sight has survived these lawsuits is somehow an endorsement of the quality of their training.
Surviving the lawsuits has little to do with the training; bringing them up is not a good selling point for Front Sight.
 
Guys, all I care about is the level of the training. I don't care about the rest. In fact, I don't know anyone in business who hasn't been sued.
 
I'm a little wary of Frontsight's business model. They offer $2,000 courses for $100 if you buy a cert, or free if you link to them on your web site. It sounds like they just want to get you in the door so they can push the membership.

As far as covering more in four days that other schools cover in five, I've taken one-day courses that covered more than five-day courses! We just covered them really, really fast.

I can tell you Gunsite offers excellent training.
 
I've been to Front Sight, and I have no complaints. They exceeded my expectations greatly. I found the instructors to be well qualified and extremely helpful. There is very little downtime, since there are supplemental lectures in between practice drills.

I do not feel that I was a victim of any fraud, but I still got the notice in the mail that was inviting me to join in the class action suit. I have not joined in that suit; I read over the allegations, and I find them to be frivolous at best. Having worked at a law firm, I've seen cases like this before. It happens to virtually any business entity. Cases like that are literally a dime a dozen.

I have a life membership at Front Sight, which will allow me to take virtually any course there at no cost. And I have absolutely no regrets about that decision (except for, of course, the fact that I don't live closer).

I have not been to Gunsite, but I do have a few of their training videos. If their facility is anything like their videos, then they offer excellent training as well.
 
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