James:
I’m writing in response to the woman who has enrolled in the Front Sight “Get a gun” [training, gun and gear] deal.
My wife and I (and our two kids) all went to Front Sight in June. I have always been a prepper wannabe. bought several firearms and all kinds of holsters and web gear. My wife really wasn’t interested in firearms.The Front Sight instructors were great. They really took extra time with my wife. She is very proficient now, we practice once a week “dry practice” in the basement when the kids are at school. then about every third week we go out into the wilderness and set up a couple of targets. I have a [Springfield Armory] XD45 and love it. She uses a XD9 and loves it. All of my other pistols are not really appealing to me anymore.
Be sure you buy a roll of Front Sight [gray paper pistol] targets while you are there. They really help you bring back to remembrance things they taught you. Don’t skip any of the sessions, be sure to go to the night shoot as well. There is so much information, and after you leave you won’t really have a chance to try it again.
BTW, my kids loved [the Safety and Youth Achievement course], and are begging to go back. We have a 6 year old boy and an 11 year old girl,)
Have fun. – Brad
James,
Regarding your reader who asked about dry practice and how often she should shoot: Shooting is important, but “dry practice” is almost magical. Done properly (Dr. Piazza’s manual is a perfect example), dry practice will keep you up to speed and even improve your shooting skills – all without firing a round. While I agree that you should shoot as often as is practical, remember that many people think you have to shoot tens of thousands of rounds yearly and go to the range weekly to keep up on your skills. Not so. While I don’t recommend it, I’ve gone 3-to-4 months without firing a single shot on more than one occasion. But when I finally got to the range, I did just as well or better than before because I kept up on my dry practice. Dry practice builds and maintains muscle memory, and reinforces good trigger control. Of course the old adage still applies: “Perfect practice makes perfect.” It sure isn’t as cool to “click” when you could be shooting real bullets, but if you’re limited on time or budget, it is a valuable substitute. Remember that even if you’re Joe millionaire, you should do more dry practice than live-fire. Shooting at the range is simply verification that your dry practice is being done correctly. – PPPP
Hi Jim-
The Front Sight pistol manual clearly states a preference for dry-firing practice. The rationale is that 1: you need to practice daily, if at all possible; 2: live-firing may produce bad habits before good habits can be ingrained. The manual emphasizes that “perfect practice” makes perfect. I think very few ranges allow the kind of “draw to the ready”, “point in” and “fire” anyway. If one did, I would never go there–who knows what clowns may be there with you.
By the way, with a decent CO2 pistol and holster, you can practice all the procedures, plus fire at a target in your garage or basement.
Added thought: at our latest visit to Front Sight we met a doctor and his wife who bought Certificates on eBay. I checked and they’re going for about $300. That’s a bargain! I guess that some First Family folks don’t care to share their certificates with family, friends or local police. (Which would be a wonderful idea!).
We stayed at the Saddle West RV park for $20 per night with full hookups and very clean restrooms. This Casino also gave us $5 vouchers for breakfast for each day of our stay. We had very nice breakfasts for only a dollar or two more. They also gave Brunch vouchers, but of course, we weren’t there to use them.
Do you remember the “hostage shoot-off”? You go one-on-one with another member of the group and whoever puts down the hostage-taker and two other bad guys first, eliminates the other shooter. The surviving shooters continue facing off till only one is left. A 16 year-old girl won that one on another range down from us. We had a couple of grizzly rambo types in our group, plus several older women (50 -65). In our group a rambo-type with cut-off t-shirt and tattoos, was beaten in the shoot-off by one of the women! As you were, we were once again astounded by the confidence and proficiency that resulted from the thorough, patient instructors.
We were there with about 400 others, the 2nd biggest group they’ve trained. But there’s plenty of room for more. – Bob B.