Florida and/or Southern Georgia Handgun Training

[JohnnyL]

I am interested in planning out a training road map that involves various levels of handgun training over the next two years. With a limited budget, I would rather focus my dollars on the training/ammo and not airfare/hotels. Because of this, I am limited to schools/trainers in Florida and maybe southern Georgia at max range.

I did a quick search on the forums here for handgun training and have a few options but I don't know if those people are just more web savvy or are good schools.

I was hoping those of you in FL or who have trained here could recommend some good schools/trainers to look into once this Covid-19 lock down ends. I am primarily focused on home defense and other situational defense training, not necessarily competitive shooting; though I am sure some of those classes would also make me a better marksman overall.

I see events come through periodically and will also look at those.

Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[JohnnyL]

Sorry I had too many tabs open as I was searching the forums prior to posting. I thought I was posting this in the Regional Training forum and now I don't see a way to delete it and move it over there. Sorry if I put this in the wrong place.

[RJ]

Welcome to p-f. What is your previous training background and experience? Where in FL are you located?

I completed a two day Combative Pistol Course with Mr. Tom Givens of Rangemaster at a range in Ruskin FL in March.

https://rangemaster.com/training/combative-pistol/

I highly recommend the course for anyone just getting started in defensive pistol use. It is not for the absolute beginner; if you have any questions about the prerequisites to make the most out of the class, you can always ask.

[RJ]

Mr. Lee Weems is located in Georgia, and although I have not trained with him, I have been in a class where he was the assistant instructor.

I would take one of his classes without hesitation. Mr. Weems operates First Person Safety:

https://firstpersonsafety.com/

[jlw]

As RJ stated, I am in GA. I'm up in the Athens area, but I have done classes in the Macon and Americus area, and I am trying to work out more stuff in the southern part of the state, particularly the Valdosta area.

Modern Outdoor Adventures (https://www.modernoutdooradventures.com/) in Tifton is hosting some classes. (Check their Facebook page for events)

the Southeastern Training Group (http://www.southeasterntraininggroup.com/) is in Alma.

Also, check here for some course announcements (https://www.gulfcoastgunforum.com/forums/training-tactics.31/).

[JohnnyL]

What is your previous training background and experience? Where in FL are you located?

My experience has been:
- Rifle / bow hunting growing up in PA
- Target shooting in PA with some of my father/grandfather's handguns for fun with them
- Very limited firearms training in the military (I joked about my training or rather lack of in Navy boot camp)
- Handgun work on local ranges here just working on things I have picked up on the internet.
- CCW safety course

I am in the Tampa Bay area

Thanks for the information guys, I really appreciate the info

[TheHuntforRedGlocktober]

I'm also in the greater Tampa Bay area. I would highly suggest Varg Freeborn https://www.violenceofmind.com/ who is up in central Florida. While his 2020 schedule isn't posted, he typically does private instruction which I've found to be very helpful, especially with pistol.

Marc Pezella https://www.advanceddefensiveconcepts.com/ is a bit further south in Sarasota but also does private instruction. He tends to stay local but is a great option as well.

I have also trained with Kyle Defoor https://defoor-proformance-shooting.myshopify.com/ and Bill Rapier https://www.amtacshooting.com/. They are more "big-name" instructors so their classes are more expensive, but they are also very informative and worthwhile. Kyle will typically come to Ancient City in St. Augustine and Bill is usually at Core Shooting Solutions (I think it's Altus now?) up in Baker, FL. Both sell out way in advance, so it'w worth watching their websites and social media to see if any openings come up.

Let me know if I can help with any more info.

[Wendell]

You might be interested in joining GALEFI (https://www.galefi.org/membership-new-renewal/).

[RJ]

My experience has been:
- Rifle / bow hunting growing up in PA
- Target shooting in PA with some of my father/grandfather's handguns for fun with them
- Very limited firearms training in the military (I joked about my training or rather lack of in Navy boot camp)
- Handgun work on local ranges here just working on things I have picked up on the internet.
- CCW safety course

I am in the Tampa Bay area

Thanks for the information guys, I really appreciate the info

Well cool. I live not far from Tampa Airport.

You mentioned competitive shooting in passing, perhaps not as a primary interest, but: in case you did want to try it, the Wyoming Antelope Club in Pinellas County offers a monthly "Introduction to Action Pistol" course for around $20, on Saturdays. It takes approximately a morning, and consists of a couple good hours of instruction/classroom work followed by an outdoor session involving two shooting stage experiences, somewhat like a real match. (This class is USPSA focused, but the basic premise is shooting under pressure.) You can bring your current gun and holster; the whole experience is very well run and safe. With the CV situation and all I am not sure of the current schedule but the web site is below if you want to follow up:

https://www.pinellasoutdoorshootingrange.com/

I hope you hang around. p-f is a good place for both experienced and inexperienced shooters; I am much more of the latter, but I've learned quite a lot here. Good luck!

[RJ]

Step by Step Gun Training is another local option, perhaps, but a bit further south of Tampa:

https://stepbystepguntraining.com/

I have taken a class with Jeff, he is a good guy.

[jlw]

You might be interested in joining GALEFI (https://www.galefi.org/membership-new-renewal/).

I served for two terms on the board of directors for GALEFI. It rarely did any training outside of metro Atlanta. They occasionally did a class in the Albany area.

Hopefully the above has changed.

[HopetonBrown]

I would drive 80 minutes to Frostproof and take a class with Shannon Smith. He's a former Army Ranger and current USPSA Grand Master.

http://www.shannonsmithshooting.com/

[RJ]

Also: paging Les Pepperoni

[PearTree]

My vote goes to southern exposure in Lakeland or universal shooting academy in frost proof. Southern exposure regularly hosts randy cain, tactical handgun 101 is a highly regarded class. Shannon Smith at universal is also squared away, former army ranger who is also an m or gm in uspsa.

[1Rangemaster]

Some good suggestions on folks with good reputations, e.g., Randy Cain. My personal experience with Lee Weems of First Person Safety has been very positive. I can recommend his classes without reservation. If you can travel just a bit further, the Rogers School is north of Atlanta(Ellijay, GA) and is one of the top schools around(can be a soul crusher, though).
Respectfully, at your stated level, a class with Lee Weems could be a great start. It’s hard to go wrong with what folks here recommend.
Best of luck in your journey

[JohnnyL]

Thanks all this is great feedback! Can't wait to be able to get out in society again and schedule some of these

[Sal Picante]

I was hoping those of you in FL or who have trained here could recommend some good schools/trainers to look into once this Covid-19 lock down ends.


I'm in Sarasota - hit me up here if you ever have questions or want to shoot a match.

Joe Farewell (dunno his company name) does training in near Lakeland (competition/3-gun focused)
Ben Aubin of Redbeard Combatives does a bunch of combatives training (Fort Meade)
John Dufresne (Kinteic Consulting) comes to Sarasota once in a while to do a sims/utm-based shoot house course geared at the solo defender.



I am primarily focused on home defense and other situational defense training, not necessarily competitive shooting


Can you be more specific with what you want to learn?

[Hambo]

There is a range in Homestead that has hosted Ernest Langdon, and one in Okeechobee where Givens and others have taught.

[David S.]

Forgive me for boosting my own site.

Firearms Training Hub: Area 6 (https://firearmstraininghub.com/area6/) for the Southeast. There's currently a map error that we're working on. With a little patience you should be able to navigate around it, click on pins and see what's going on.

Randy Cain (http://guntactics.com)would be top of my list if I lived in SW FL.

[BehindBlueI's]

Sorry I had too many tabs open as I was searching the forums prior to posting. I thought I was posting this in the Regional Training forum and now I don't see a way to delete it and move it over there. Sorry if I put this in the wrong place.

I went ahead and moved your thread. Note the "announcements" sub-sections are for listing specific classes that are currently available.

If you find you've accidentally posted something or somewhere you didn't mean to, just hit the "report post" button and we can help sort it out for you.

[Robinson]

I'll add another plug for Lee Weems -- his Defensive Pistol class would be a great way to get some serious training -- it's challenging, fun, not overly stressful. Very relevant to concealed carry and general defensive use of a handgun.