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Hi all,
Thought I would share my experience after taking the SCT Handgun/ Carbine class yesterday for anyone interested in reading it. I'll try to sum up 8 hours of training without taking up too much space but also provide enough details to give a good overview of the class.
To begin, prior to this, I had no formal firearms training and am non- military. Just a regular joe (or Mike, in this case) who likes guns and wanted to get more proficient with them. Given that I own both handguns and an AR, this combination class was a perfect choice for me.
The day started a little drizzly and cloudy, but knowing the range was only minutes from my house, my friend and I (who came down from Orange County to take the class) took our time getting ready. We got to the entrance to the range with about 10 minutes to spare, navigated the dirt road in my "Swagger Wagon" (Toyota Sienna) which handled the road fine...... until the last 50 yards- which was a relatively steep incline where the wet road and the Sienna's traction control worked against each other. We made it about 1/3 of the way up and ended rolllllling back down. We both kind of looked at each other and said, "well, I guess we're walking".
We took the short walk up the hill to tell everyone we were here and to see about getting someone who would be willing to load our gear into their vehicle and bring it up the hill. Alex- the range owner (they call him Mr. Softy because of his warm and inviting personality) met us and told us about another road which was more easily passable. We took that road and in no time, we were getting geared up and only missed the first few moments of Jason's (Stone Cobra Tactical) speech.
The class started with a safety briefing and we moved to instruction on how to draw our empty handguns using a 5 point process. All guns were checked that they were empty and no one had ammo on them in any fashion. Then we moved to inserting an empty mag and working on trigger discipline. And afterward loaded our magazines and headed to the targets where we practiced drawing our handguns to different points of the 5 point system and firing at the target about 5 yards away. We also learned malfunction drills- Tap, Rack, Bang and a way to deal with Double Feeds. I've seen some of this through online videos, but it was MUCH different practicing it in a classroom environment with real ammo in the gun.
At the end of this session, we had quite a few holes in our targets. At this point, at 5 yards, Jason told us we should have a pattern about the size of a silver dollar. Mine was more like a $5 dollar bill but I was still enjoying myself. And, looking at Hans' target (another student), I'm pretty sure he was significantly closer than I was or using slugs because he literally had one large hole in his target. Very impressive to say the least.
We then moved to a little challenge portion where two guys would hide behind a wood panel "cover" and fire at steel targets. First one to hit the target twice, change mags, hit the target twice, change mags and hit the target twice, won. IIRC, Josh won this round. I can't say enough about the difference between shooting at cardboard v.s. steel. Something very satisfying about having that auditory "PLINK". From here we moved onto the rifle portion of the class. YES!
We talked a little about slings, a little about California laws and then geared up to move onto the fun stuff. We went through a similar routine as the handguns- EMPTY mags, guns cleared, checked and double checked (after all, Jason was standing in front of a bunch of guys holding AR's pointing at him) and then moved to our targets.
We learned different ways to change mags: Mirror, "L", and one where you hold grab the empty mag with your pinky as it drops out. It was at this point we were able to chamber a round and fire our first shot into the target as Jason yelled "THREAT!". It was quite the experience to hear 13 or so AR's of various types all fire. Right about then, Jason exclaimed, "I f*^& ing LOVE that!". I'd have to agree.
We practiced different firing patterns: Single Shot, Non-Standard response (3-5 shots in quick succession), and one where you put two rounds in the body and one in the head (Failure Drill). We practiced walking and shooting- both forward and backward. We practiced running, turning and firing while approaching a target. We practiced transitioning from our AR's to our hanguns and back. We practiced walking the "Diamond" while Jason yelled out which of the three steel targets to shoot at.
The day ended with a challenge. Two steel targets- one green and one red were set beside a rotating "Star" which had two green, two red and one white steel plate that would fall off when you hit it. The idea was to hit your color of steel target with your rifle twice, transition to your handgun and knock one of your colors off of the star- which would then start to spin because of the difference in weight. Transition back to your rifle, hit the target twice and go back to your handgun to knock your other color. Back to the rifle- on target twice- back to handgun and get that last white plate. First one to knock the white target off wins. The winners shot against each other until the final guys paired off. Chris (hope I got your name right) won in fine fashion.
We stowed our gear, picked up the brass for Alex and met for a final meeting, said our goodbyes and were on our way.
On our way home, my friend and I both agreed we got a lot out of the class, felt more comfortable with our firearms and definitely enjoyed the competition portion of the class the best.
To conclude, Jason was a very good instructor who held a nice balance of professionalism and fun. We were there to learn, but we also enjoyed ourselves. A special thanks to Alex (the range owner) and Bill (CCWUSA) for helping out with the instructing.
Thought I would share my experience after taking the SCT Handgun/ Carbine class yesterday for anyone interested in reading it. I'll try to sum up 8 hours of training without taking up too much space but also provide enough details to give a good overview of the class.
To begin, prior to this, I had no formal firearms training and am non- military. Just a regular joe (or Mike, in this case) who likes guns and wanted to get more proficient with them. Given that I own both handguns and an AR, this combination class was a perfect choice for me.
The day started a little drizzly and cloudy, but knowing the range was only minutes from my house, my friend and I (who came down from Orange County to take the class) took our time getting ready. We got to the entrance to the range with about 10 minutes to spare, navigated the dirt road in my "Swagger Wagon" (Toyota Sienna) which handled the road fine...... until the last 50 yards- which was a relatively steep incline where the wet road and the Sienna's traction control worked against each other. We made it about 1/3 of the way up and ended rolllllling back down. We both kind of looked at each other and said, "well, I guess we're walking".
We took the short walk up the hill to tell everyone we were here and to see about getting someone who would be willing to load our gear into their vehicle and bring it up the hill. Alex- the range owner (they call him Mr. Softy because of his warm and inviting personality) met us and told us about another road which was more easily passable. We took that road and in no time, we were getting geared up and only missed the first few moments of Jason's (Stone Cobra Tactical) speech.
The class started with a safety briefing and we moved to instruction on how to draw our empty handguns using a 5 point process. All guns were checked that they were empty and no one had ammo on them in any fashion. Then we moved to inserting an empty mag and working on trigger discipline. And afterward loaded our magazines and headed to the targets where we practiced drawing our handguns to different points of the 5 point system and firing at the target about 5 yards away. We also learned malfunction drills- Tap, Rack, Bang and a way to deal with Double Feeds. I've seen some of this through online videos, but it was MUCH different practicing it in a classroom environment with real ammo in the gun.
At the end of this session, we had quite a few holes in our targets. At this point, at 5 yards, Jason told us we should have a pattern about the size of a silver dollar. Mine was more like a $5 dollar bill but I was still enjoying myself. And, looking at Hans' target (another student), I'm pretty sure he was significantly closer than I was or using slugs because he literally had one large hole in his target. Very impressive to say the least.
We then moved to a little challenge portion where two guys would hide behind a wood panel "cover" and fire at steel targets. First one to hit the target twice, change mags, hit the target twice, change mags and hit the target twice, won. IIRC, Josh won this round. I can't say enough about the difference between shooting at cardboard v.s. steel. Something very satisfying about having that auditory "PLINK". From here we moved onto the rifle portion of the class. YES!
We talked a little about slings, a little about California laws and then geared up to move onto the fun stuff. We went through a similar routine as the handguns- EMPTY mags, guns cleared, checked and double checked (after all, Jason was standing in front of a bunch of guys holding AR's pointing at him) and then moved to our targets.
We learned different ways to change mags: Mirror, "L", and one where you hold grab the empty mag with your pinky as it drops out. It was at this point we were able to chamber a round and fire our first shot into the target as Jason yelled "THREAT!". It was quite the experience to hear 13 or so AR's of various types all fire. Right about then, Jason exclaimed, "I f*^& ing LOVE that!". I'd have to agree.
We practiced different firing patterns: Single Shot, Non-Standard response (3-5 shots in quick succession), and one where you put two rounds in the body and one in the head (Failure Drill). We practiced walking and shooting- both forward and backward. We practiced running, turning and firing while approaching a target. We practiced transitioning from our AR's to our hanguns and back. We practiced walking the "Diamond" while Jason yelled out which of the three steel targets to shoot at.
The day ended with a challenge. Two steel targets- one green and one red were set beside a rotating "Star" which had two green, two red and one white steel plate that would fall off when you hit it. The idea was to hit your color of steel target with your rifle twice, transition to your handgun and knock one of your colors off of the star- which would then start to spin because of the difference in weight. Transition back to your rifle, hit the target twice and go back to your handgun to knock your other color. Back to the rifle- on target twice- back to handgun and get that last white plate. First one to knock the white target off wins. The winners shot against each other until the final guys paired off. Chris (hope I got your name right) won in fine fashion.
We stowed our gear, picked up the brass for Alex and met for a final meeting, said our goodbyes and were on our way.
On our way home, my friend and I both agreed we got a lot out of the class, felt more comfortable with our firearms and definitely enjoyed the competition portion of the class the best.
To conclude, Jason was a very good instructor who held a nice balance of professionalism and fun. We were there to learn, but we also enjoyed ourselves. A special thanks to Alex (the range owner) and Bill (CCWUSA) for helping out with the instructing.
I also was pleased to learn by watching all of the other participants, and appreciate everyone doing such a great job safety-wise. Looked to me like everyone did great and had fun. 
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