Building a Training "To Do" List

Training Training and Tactics
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This thread is geared towards gun owners that are wondering which training classes they should take first.

The class recommendations are 100% geared towards firearms. At some point, you will need to take knife and hand to hand fighting along with medical training (to be well rounded), but that is not going to be covered in this thread.

Order of Training:

Assuming that you have your CCW, attending a basic pistol class should be first. The reason for this is because THIS is the weapon you will most likely have on you if something bad happens.

After the basic pistol class, practice what you are taught. Try and find a training/accountability partner. Someone that will hold you to a schedule and keep you “honest” about what you are practicing. Meaning that we tend to practice things that we do well. This does not help you fix your weaknesses.

Once you have spent some time on the above, seek out an advanced pistol class. This will push you further and show you where you need more work. Like above, practice what you have learned.

Side note. When seeking out basic and advanced pistol classes, look for instructors that are “fanatical” about accuracy. The reason being for why you want to really work on accuracy is because under stress, groups usually double or triple! So if you cannot shoot 6" groups at say 10yds on the flat range, you are more than likely going to throw rounds off target under stress.
Don’t worry about speed at this point either. It will come naturally as you practice and no one will ever have to tell you to shoot faster in a life or death situation. :wink:

Now that all the fundamentals are out of the way, look for some “tactics” based classes. I would seek out these two types of classes above all others. They are no light/low light and DEFENSIVE room clearing AKA Home Defense classes. The reason is because 80% of crime happens at night and more than likely, it will be in your home or some building. So knowing how to properly use a hand held or weapon mounted light is critical. Having the ability to properly clear rooms is also going to be very important.
Once the above training is done, practice clearing your own home in all lighting conditions. Understand where you have advantages and where you do not.

With the above completed, move to your long gun (AR/Shotgun) training. Follow the steps listed above for pistol (basic/advanced/low light/room clearing).

*Note about using a shotgun for home defense. They are much harder to use in a stressful situation than many think. Because of their length, they require special tactics in order to shorten their length.
Pump operated guns are very susceptible to short stroking (when the shooter is surprised). So if you choose this weapon (especially in a pump form), do not ignore training on it just because you “duck hunt.”

Good luck with your training journey!

C4

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Thank you for posting this. This gives me some direction of where to start out

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I would have to add that if you take enough classes you will run into conflicting schools of thought. Some things should remain constant & some won’t, its up to you to decide what works for you. You might take a class & disagree with 99% of what that particular instructor said but that 1% might be what saves your bacon some day.

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What I recommend is that once you find a quality instructor, you follow through with that instructor. For instance, if you take a Hackathorn basic pistol class, take his advanced class.

After that is done and you have practiced what you have learned, you can look for another point of view.

I have done the above and chosen the parts that I felt best applied to ME and my circumstance and ditched the rest.

C4

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You are welcome and hope it makes sense.

i get questions all the time about which class to take first and why so I decided to do a thread about it.

Truth be told, when I started training, I did it backwards. I attended countless carbine schools and ignored pistol training. This was an error on my part and because of this mistake, I am very good with an AR and only above average with a pistol.

Learn from my mistake.

C4

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I was just saying that its not a bad thing to get all the training you can, yes it should be structured. Ive had a several different instructors basic through advanced classes & it helps to get the whole picture from one source at a time. I very much respect Hackathorn but I dont agree with him 100%. I dont think I’ve agreed 100% with any instructor but for the duration of their class I will try it their way because it might work better for you if you try it.

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Thanks for this.

While I am in the Army and do have a deployment, I wasn’t a door kicker, I was a gunner for a convoy security element. I know crew-serves and was pretty proficient.

I know enough about my skills in personal weapons to know I’m not near good enough. When I first got into firearms, I bought what was cheap, Taurus, they’ve been reliable but a sampling of 4 firearms is no real indicator. I’m in the process of moving my two compacts so I can buy a G19.

My rifle is a commemorative deployment rifle, I know it’s not considered an acceptable platform, but it’s what I have and what I will use until I can afford something better, more than likely a BCM.

Sadly Iowa doesn’t have too many firearms trainers, I am going to take a couple local classes and when I’m done with college and making more consistent money try to travel and take a class every year or so. Those are long term goals, and maybe not “ok” with some here, but I’m confident in being able to protect those I love now, but I know I can be better!

Again thanks for this write-up, I started out pretty poorly in my firearms decisions but I’m working to remedy that, it’s just slow on a college budget.

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Not bad at all. What I am saying is to follow through with ONE firearm (specifically the one that you carry the most).

C4

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Good for you. Make a plan and stick with it.

A lot of the basic fundamentals (draw stroke, dry fire, mag changes, etc) can be practiced for free in the comfort of your own home!

C4

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A pox upon you for not posting this when I first joined here! Would have saved me a lot of reading…:stuck_out_tongue:

On topic-
What are your thoughts on combo classes- ie, multi-day handgun/carbine. Or back to back handgun and carbine

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I apologize for letting you down. :smiley:

If you have the time/money to do combo classes or back to back classes, then have at it. All training is good training (even if you only learn ONE THING, it was worth it).

I am just trying to get people to prioritize their training list to the weapon that they will most likely use to defend themselves with.

This thread is also for those people that think they only need ONE class to be “awesome.” This just isn’t the case.

C4

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I have been incredibly blessed in that my introduction to the art of fighting with a pistol was at the hands of the OP and doubly blessed that he introduced me to Mr. Hackathorn who I’ve had the privilege to train under on several occasions.

I can attest that a teacher fanatical about accuracy -while incredibly difficult to measure up to- puts the emphasis where it needs to be. But what I found even more beneficial was that, thanks in no small part to pure dumb luck, I latched onto a couple of instructors who taught in a style that works for me and makes it easy for me to learn.

I’ve been around the my-way-or-the-highway type who like to bark orders and, while that certainly works for some students, it’s just not my learning style. Besides, Grant and Ken can skewer you just as easily with a smirk, head shake and a raised eyebrow when you screw up as any drill instructor with a megaphone. I think it’s incredibly important you find a style of instruction that makes you want to continue learning, whatever that style may be. Once you find it, you make it a priority to get as much of it as often as you can.

I also believe that too often, people take classes based on what’s popular rather than focusing on what their needs actually are. I have no illusions that Cleveland SWAT has me on speed-dial for backup if they get in a jam. Instead, I took a look around at my potential problems to solve and decided that I’d be better served with handguns and a pistol-caliber carbine rather than an AR so I attend handgun classes and those that allow PCCs. I didn’t try to make a popular solution fit my problem. I think too often people look at various class offerings as a solution and try to make it fit whatever setting they’re in. Granted, running around in full-kit with an AR for three days is a riot but how relevant is that to my situation if training is supposed to be more than just a good time?

-'bridge

13

Thank you.

This should be printed as a banner ad in BOLD. I know a few people who think they are some kind of firearms guru but shoot a handgun worse than some novices I know. And of course they are the first to criticize others because they don’t have their feet in the correct place when shooting a rifle.