Just hours ago I completed my very first formal training class at Southern Exposure with Randy Cain. I felt compelled to write up my experience for two reasons. One, I thought it would be a great thing to help anyone who was like me 4 days ago eager to learn but didn’t know where to start and two, It will help me remember everything I learned if I write it out. This is my first time ever posting a “review” so if its painful to read I apologize. I should start out with a few disclaimers:
1 I have never taken a class prior to this so I can not compare it to any other classes out there.
2 I did not know Randy or Irv from Southern Exposure at all prior to attending this class.
3 I think that covers all the disclaimers
Day 1
Southern Exposure is located in a great secluded quite piece of property in central FL. It was amazing how quiet it was out there when the rounds weren’t flying. We all showed up a little before 8 am and started getting out gear in order. Being my first class I brought way too much shit but I was able to quickly check out what the rest of the dudes were doing and followed suit. The majority of the group brought Glocks with a few 1911s. I brought a Sig 229 .40 cal and caught a rash of shit which I soon came to appreciate. In my defense I usually use a Smith and Wesson M&P 9 but chose to train with the Sig because I am in the process of going into the Coast Guard and that is their current issued weapon. I also was of the school of thought that if I could shoot well with the Sig I would be good to go with any other pistol I own. I have to say my biggest concern before showing up to the class was being shot by some dumb ass on the firing line next to me. I really had no question about my safety practices but you never know what someone else might do.
When I got there and we all lined up for the safety talk and I started to feel better. If you take anything from this post, you should know that Randy and Irv both do not dick around when it comes to keeping things safe and that put me right at ease. Once we were shown how Randy wanted us to load, unload, press check, and holster our weapons, no one was allowed to remove there weapon the entire day for any reason while not stand on the line facing down range. We topped off our mags while leaving the weapons holsters. I thought that was fantastic. We had a full range of novice to expert shooters at the class and the rule applied to everyone. One of the first things we talked about were the 4 safety rules that we all had to memorize.
Here is my attempt at them after 2 beers and a sunburnt brain.
Rule 1 All firearms are always loaded
Rule 2 Never cover anything with your muzzle that you are not willing to destroy
Rule 3 Always keep your finger off the trigger until you have your sites on target (with the intent to shoot)
Rule 4 Always be sure to identify and/or be aware of your target.
Randy, If I’m not saying this right please correct me.
After all the very important and relevant classroom instruction we were brought out to the line to begin shooting. The first thing he instructed us to do was put 3 rounds through the same hole at less than 5 yards away. For most this was pretty hard myself included. after that he began to break down the seven crucial steps needed to accomplish that. As an example which I found the most helpful of all the techniques I’ve ever been told was we were told to fire the pistol only with our dominant hand with only our thumb and “traffic” finger supporting the gun to eliminate the illusion that the weapon would fly out of our hands if we didn’t squeeze the shit out of the grip when we shot. It was a great way to learn that you didn’t have to grip the life out of the gun to keep it under control. When we fired in this most unsecured feeling grip all of our groups tightened up 10 fold. It was a great demonstration of how your grip and anticipation of recoil affect where the bullet hits. Not to get into too much detail we all practiced controlled shots from different distances and worked to overcome our bad habits and tendencies to throw rounds off target with flinching and squishing the weapon. Being that it is miserably hot here in FL right now we had many breaks and discussions in the shade in between drills. We also learned the origin of “window lickers”
Day 2
We started at 830 am and went over the safety rules first thing (2 thumbs up) and had a very humbling lecture of the amount of rounds being fired during the class ( I think it was estimated at 11000 total for the whole class during the 3 days) and how it only takes one to turn everything in to a disaster. Again I welcomed this emphasis on safe firearm handling in the biggest way. We all lined up and unloaded and doubled checked weapon conditions and started drilling on reloads, holster draws, and dry firing. It was a huge help to me to learn the different ways to deal with the logistics of keeping your weapon up and running with tactical reloads, speed reloads, malfunction clearings, and other tactical manipulations of the weapon during a gun fight. We learned some of the different firing positions from prone, kneeling, shooting on the move and more emphasis on maintaining the 7 fundamentals of getting shots on target without getting sloppy. I really appreciated the fact that this was not just a class that encourage hosing down targets with no regard for good shot placement. Granted not all my shots went where I wanted them to go but I was starting to see the flaws in my shooting through many years of bad habits developed prior to this class. Every time I went into autopilot I shot like shit. I had to mentally run through Randy’s advice every time I pressed the trigger to get good hits. I know I have lots of dry firing practice to get to the level of shooting I hope to accomplish in my lifetime and this class totally gave me the foundation to get there.
Day 3 (today)
We started at 830 am and again covered the basic safety rules and did more dry fire practice and holster work. This was the day we got to start putting more rounds down range and really start applying what poor Randy was trying to drill into our stubborn, anticipating the recoil, minds. We learned the different types of “double tap” shooting ( He doesn’t like that phrase) We learned dedicated pairs, controlled pairs, and hammer pairs. We learned how to quickly shoot from a holstered position and how to shoot moving in a lateral direction from the target. One of the biggest accomplishments and most rewarding drills of the class was he had us stand about 15 yards back and put 10 rounds in the tightest groups we could do at our own pace. I was very happy with my shot placement and I can attest if I had to do that drill prior to his instruction the outcome would not have been anywhere close. It helped put faith in the fact that the bullet is going to go exactly where you aim when the bullet leaves the barrel. Barrel length, quality of ammo, wind direction, and all that other bullshit goes out the window at these distances and it is true user error if you can’t keep a tight group. The best part which I failed at miserably but had fun doing was the steel target shooting we did. We formed 2 lines and squared off against each other in a steel plate shoot out. It was so much fun but stressful all the same and I learned a valuable lesson on what a tiny bit of stress does to shot placement. If I was missing these 9 inch plates at 15 yards just because we were racing to knock them down in a hurry imagine how one would shoot in a real life threatening gun fight? It was a huge eye opener for me that I will not take lightly. It shows that in order to overcome any level of stress, your training has to be up to par and far better than what you would hope to accomplish in a real fight for your life. We ended the class with a great lecture on mindset and mental preparation for dealing with such situations. By far again one of very valuable things I walked away from this class with.
In closing I would absolutely insist on anyone who carry’s a firearm for protection or even keeps one in their nightstand for home defense to take a class with Randy Cain at Irv’s Southern Exposure facility. It is a safe, fun, eye opening experience that is worth every penny. I walked away an improved shooter, a safer shooter, and with a very humbling knowledge of my limitations and things that I will improve on given his drills and instruction.