Pistol Course
 

Hey guys,

I signed up for this site a while ago after I bought the Get Selected for Special Forces book (brilliant, by the way). I then promptly forgot about it as I was gearing up for Basic.

Anyway, I'm planning a trip to Canada and the States at the end of the year and as I haven't had the opportunity to do anything like it here down under, I was looking to do a basic tactical pistol course in the land of Freedom and Firearms.

There's a lot of websites out there full of advertising ("our instructors have sixteen million years of combined experience", etc) but I was hoping someone out there could give me some recomendations.

I'll be in NYC, Boston, Washington D.C, San Francisco and L.A between the 14th of Dec and the 3rd of Jan. I doubt I could devote more than one or two days for the course.

Thanks in advance,

Fry.

Fry:

None of those places are firearms friendly, and there are not a lot of ranges in or around the major cities, with the exception of the South and Southwest.

If you were headed to Phoenix, Memphis, or Las Vegas, it would be very easy to get some firearms training, to include renting a machinegun and blasting a few rounds.

Of those cities you are visiting, your best bet is going to be Northern Virginia, near DC, or outside the LA area.

You can Google "firearms training" and those cities to check for trainers and their schedules. Problem will likely be getting a beginner's class during the period you are there.

Good luck.

TR

TR,

Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely try to get out of the main cities on occasion and check out likely places but the short timetable and the proximity to public hols such as Christmas and New Year will probably conspire against me.

A shame, since I'll probably not get another chance like this in a while.

Thanks again for the useful advice.

Fry.

While I haven't had any first hand experience with him, a good friend of mine and his entire SWAT team had a class with Bill Murphy and liked it very much. Bill used to be (may still be) the director of training for surefire and I wouldn't be suprised if some of the guys here have worked with him at one point or another. His school is located outside of LA.

ftatv.com/

Bill is not and never has been the Director of the SFI, as far as I know. He is strictly a contract employee of SureFire. He is a full-time LEO with Huntington Beach PD.

He (FTA) works off a small portion of the Rauhagge range at Corona.

TR

I've witnessed Bill's training first hand and in depth.

In my professional opinion there is nothing in Mr. Murphy's training that I would call tactical or offensive in nature, simply LEO defensive weapons training, period.

Team Sergeant

That was what I was told. If I am wrong then I apologize for giving out bad info.


I mentioned his school becuase the original poster was looking for a civilian shooting school in the LA area (amongst others).

To be completely honest, I just want a day where I can get some hands on experience using pistols and be taught things that aren't completely useless (and have a bit of fun) - I'm not particularly after the best-of-the-best kickass training. I'm certainly not ready for that.

Fry

I was refering to your fiends SWAT evaluation concerning Mr. Murphy's proficiency with handguns & tactics.

Hearsay doesn't cut it on here.

TS

If you found this site I'm sure your internet search abilities will lead you to a number of them in some of the areas you are headed.

There are a fair number of "civilian" weapons trainers out there to choose from. Might I suggest you do more reading on this board. This might be a good place to start.

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ead.php?t=9451

In this country there are no weapons "standards" besides safety standards. That said anyone that is "currently" an NRA instructor is a good place to start. When most start teaching weapons (handgun, rifle, shotgun etc) "tactics" be wary, most have no idea what they're talking about.

Just find an NRA instructor that can teach you to shoot straight.

TS

In L.A., this one is near the airport and has NRA instructors:


http://www.laxrange.com/indexn.html

Pat

That place looks familiar....

I did a quick look and went to the "Training" page.....

What do you think was the first thing that caught my eye?:rolleyes:

Could it be the black skintight Ninja suit that is becoming so popular on American Shooting Ranges? ;)

Black Water and Front Sight.
 

As a civillian I attended Black Waters Tactical Pistol course I and II. It's expensive, and both course are a week long course, just not a weekend. Housing costs are extra, on campus and off campus. Meals are included with the Black Water housing, but only the breakfast and a rather non nurtritional lunch.

As pistol courses go, Black Water's tactical courses are better suited to the tactical operator. Little if any self defense instruction in the arena of concealed carry is covered. If you like wearing a safariland 6004 with duty belt, and your Surefire torch with mag pouches and combat boots, this is your course, but if like me your seeking more of an urban self defense approach to the use of a firearm, then dont wast your money on Black Water.

Top notch instuctors all, except for one in particular, and you'll get a week long instuction on target identification, discriminatin, and engagement. Accuracy shooting is also most of your instruction with stable targets, moving targets and multiple threat engagement. Not exactly what I wanted or need, but none the less a good work up for a pistol enthusiast.

The yoga analogy?