Front sight is awesome. If you have time and money for ammo and a hotel, you can get first time student certs off eBay for <$200 for a 4 day course. The price is pretty hard to beat, and the training and facility are top notch.

Thunder Ranch and Tactical Response have the best videos IMO. I absolutely hate anything with that Magill guy - I feel like I'm watching a non animated version of a Simpson's-esque spoof. I also found gunsite's videos suprisingly uninteresting given the place's reputation. There shotgun video in particular didn't have anything you won't find in better detail on youtube.

I've got the first 4 days of April to take a class. I can't aford frontsight. Does anybody have a suggestion? There was a prescott outfit that brought classes to Vegas but I can't find their name now. I might even go to Prescott to take classes. Why not.

What is this about 4 day courses at Frontsight for $200? Can you dial me in on that?

Nevermind. ebay. 2 certificates for $310.00. Hmmmmmm
Defensive Handgun
Tactical Shotgun
Practical Rifle

Exactly. I have neither the time nor money to even go shooting locally more than a couple times a year, but that made for an awesome vacation. For anybody in the area that can take a week off work and afford a hotel for a week and a case or two of ammo, it would be crazy not to take advantage of the place.

I attended the March 27th Defensive Shotgun class taught by Defensive Concepts North Carolina, http://www.DefensiveConceptsNC.com at the Trigger Time Range outside of Carthage, NC. For starters, this was a lot of knowledge, time with experienced tactical operators, and shooting time for the money. I had more fun than I’ve had in a single day for a long time. It was a pretty physical course and I’d say that’s the norm for these guys. If you want to work, they’ll give you plenty of chances. If you want to mostly stand around and BS, these probably aren’t the guys you want to hook up with. These guys are serious about what they’re doing and have an impressive list of credentials, check out the web site.

This was a one-day shotgun specific course; the only handgun use was a few no-fire demonstrations by one of the instructors. With the number of drills we ran, adding a handgun would have probably not have worked for most of the participants. We had eleven students with three instructors, so there was a lot of individual instruction.

The course started out pretty basic just to get everybody on the same page with a lengthy safety discussion, shot placement and likely effectiveness, testing buckshot patterns at several distances, and checking your aim with slugs. We spent a lot of time on drills designed to teach loading under pressure, loading on the move while maintaining an “at ready” state, going from shot to slugs and back to shot, etc. Based on memory, it seems like we spent a lot more time shooting on the move than stationary. We did drills moving toward a threat firing on demand while doing tactical reloading, retreating from a threat while firing and reloading, and alternating between standing and kneeling and back using both unsupported and supported kneeling positions.

We did several drills where we moved through a series of barrels and fired at three or four plates in a specified pattern to simulate moving into and out of rooms, between vehicles, etc. and several drills using cover/concealment and firing on a series of steel plates. These were all done with an instructor right at your back tracking with you. There was a lot of hands-on correction to help get into more efficient and less vulnerable shooting positions, but it was all done in a way that didn’t leave you feeling like an idiot.

If you live within reasonable driving distance of a shotgun course these guys are doing and you’re serious about improving your skills and chances of surviving a shooting situation, go. I came away feeling like it is going to take me a lot hours – some with dummy ammo at home and a lot more at the range to really get all I can get out of that course.

I will do this course again for sure and I would love to have the chance to go through their LE shotgun course. Get you gun as lubed up and a slick as you can get it the day before. They list a sling as optional on their equipment list, but showing up without one would be a mistake as everyone else is going to be letting them hang and resting their arms every chance the get. Spend the money and get yourself a set of real tactical knee and elbow pads before you go. I wore TDU pants with knee pad inserts and I will have hard knee and elbow pads before the next class.

I've taken shotgun courses at Gunsite and at Blackwater. I thought the Blackwater course was FAR better.

Hey, m24shooter. Did you end up taking Tom Given's Defensive Shotgun I & II classes in Weatherford TX last weekend? If so, or if anyone else did, what did you think of it and Tom's "charm"?

Anyone know of any HD/tactical courses in the Virginia area? I just got a Remington 870 for Christmas and would like to get some instruction.

Anyone planning on taking the tactical shotgun class at front sight? I'm thinking about the 4 day class soon.

I am looking for a tactical course in North IL, South WI, NW IN area. one or 2 days

Thanks

Magpul is coming to portland in the fall to teach Magpul Dynamics Shooter Aid 2. Any experience out there with this class? I'm considering signing up for it.

Heads up, you Texans:

Tom Givens of Rangemaster is coming to
East Texas Rifle Pistol Club, Longview, Texas, April 1, 2011
One Day Defensive Shotgun, 9am-6pm, Friday only
125 rds birdshot, 50 rds buckshot, 15 slugs

and, your local instructor Karl Rehn is offering:
KR Training, near Austin, Texas, May 22 2011
Defensive Shotgun, Sunday (one day), 9am-6pm
125 rds birdshot, 50 rds buckshot, 15 slugs

Tom's my local instructor and I've taken a bunch of Karl's Force-on-Force classes.
Great investments!

I'm trying to move stuff around to make the Longview class.

The one instruction class that is offered "near the border" of Ill on the WI side is from Defensive Edge.

http://www.thedefensiveedge.com/


I have taken 4 of their classes over the past 10 years and they are all well worth while.

They don't show it on their calendar, but, they do offer classes (like 2 or 3 times) just over in WI. Their 4 day urban tactics class is OUTSTANDING!!!

No, I don't care for the "sully stock" or his $3K AR15s, but, his instructors and classes are very well run and competitively priced.

[No, I do not work for Sully]

I saw them, and put a shotgun class on my wish list, but there was no schedule. how do I find out when is it taking place. Is it in Bristol range? or MCMiller?

RCLRC, typically...

The last shotgun class was cancelled due to lack of interest. SGs just aren't as sexy as carbines.

...and I run a Sully stock on my non-SLR15 franken gun, and have done some work for Greg in the past FTR.

There are at least 4 or 5 of us who have been bugging Sully to do a Tactical Shotgun class, but, he is waiting to see if Fritz is willing to teach it.

I missed the class that Fritz taught for Sully a few years back and I am kicking myself.

Do you have more information on this one?

is there a way to get on a mail list or sorts? if the question is the interest, I am sure I can get at least 2 people - me and a friend of mine who just picked up 930 SPX, and possibly few others