Wanted: "West of the Mississippi" 2017 Foundational Pistol Class

Objective

My wife and I travel in the summers across the country in an RV. For 2017, we plan to spend four to six months slowly sightseeing across the Rockies to the Pacific Northwest, returning East through Idaho / Montana / North and South Dakota.

One of my objectives for the trip is to take a good foundational defensive pistol class, somewhere along the road.

Unfortunately, to date, I have not had any luck in finding instructors who schedule classes quite that far in advance.

Desired Class Objectives

Here is what I am trying to achieve:

Good, solid introductory pistol training, applicable to defensive use (i.e. draw from concealment; rapid accurate multiple shots on target). Skills and drills I can use subsequent to the class. An assessment of my stance, grip, draw and press, correcting any fundamental issues.

Enhancing my accuracy at close, medium and far distances. Handling of malfunctions. A scored metric assessing my ability before, and after the class. Mindset, as well as the legal implications of a self-defense shooting, would be a plus, but is not necessary.

Constraints

My constraints are that it not take place prior to 1 May, and not after the end of August. Earlier (May/June) would be ideal, and preferable to later (July/August) It can be basically anywhere in the broadly "West/Northwest", i.e. west of the Mississippi and/or north of Texas, extending all the way to Washington State.

I have a budget of $450 and can allocate up to two days. I am ok with either a private lesson, or typical multiple participant class; although I think my budget will only cover a pre-planned class.

My Background

I have a FL CWHL and have completed two intro to Action Pistol Class weekends, as well as shot 1 Steel and 1 USPSA local match. I attended Rangemaster Conference 2016 in Memphis, taking Paul Sharp's recoil clinic, Nyeti's fighting pistol class and John Murphy's segment. I also have worked with Mr. White in Clackamas at a private session for 2 hours working on draws as well as skills. I have completed an 8 hour civilian TCCC-based first aid class at my local range. I have a VP9 for games and a P30SK LEM for a carry pistol. I have shot about 6,000 rounds since taking up shooting as a hobby in 2013.

Summary

If you are aware of any upcoming classes along these lines, or recommended instructors, being scheduled in that time frame in 2017, I'd be obliged if you would PM me, or post in the thread.

In the meantime, I will continue to search for classes online, and will post up if I find something suitable.

Thank you!

Rich,

As requested.

Listed in alphabetical order. These are some of the folks on my short list for future classes. Caveat emptor.


Darryl Bolke http://hardwiredtacticalshooting.com/our-instructors/ Teaches how to survive a gunfight both on the street and in the court. Teaches in the Dallas, TX area.

Steve Hendricks www.customtactical.net Emphasis is on use of fundamentals. Montrose, CO.

Larry Mudgett http://www.marksmanshipmatters.com/ Appleseed. Former Gunsite instructor. Teaches in Saratoga Springs, Utah

Karl Rehn http://www.krtraining.com/newinst/karlbio.html Force-on-force. Austin, TX.

Thanks a bunch. ^^^

Coordinate with Legendary Lawman Marshal Chuck Haggard of Agile Training and this forum.

Rich,

Keep an eye on the Operation Specific Training site. That's Bruce Gray's training company. His Practical Fundamentals class is a full immersion journey into the finer points of trigger control. It's not to be missed, if the timing/location works out for you. I did a review of one of his classes this past May here on PF if you'd like some more details. It doesn't look like he has next summer fleshed out in his class calendar yet, but I'd suspect he'll be adding some western classes during that time frame. I'd give them a call. He's based in Oregon.

https://opspectraining.com


As a prior co-worker and friend, I can give Steve Hendricks (mentioned above) a +1. Super solid BTDT dude. He was a member of the Gunsite cadre back in the day and also has a lengthy competitive shooting background (USPSA GM, etc...).


Ron Avery also still lives and teaches in the western slope area. He's doing a bunch of classwork out of Saint George, UT (Tactical Performance Center) these days, but has some Montrose stuff on his schedule over the summer. His company is called The Practical Shooting Academy.

http://www.practicalshootingacademy.com


You wouldn't be going wrong with any of the above.



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Karl Rehn hosts Tom Givens for multiple classes every year. He's near Austin, TX.

All - Thanks for the suggestions and PMs. Much appreciated.

It's probably worthwhile for me to summarize who I'm in contact with so far, to save anyone from mentioning a class/instructor I'm already engaged with:

- Tom Givens/Rangemaster Combative Pistol - I hugely enjoyed the Rangemaster Conference in Memphis this year. Although it was like drinking from a fire hose, I learned a ton and went from like zip to a basic exposure to firearm training. Tom has told me he is always adding classes to the Rangemaster web site, but summer 2017 is not yet populated.

His Combative Pistol class has been recommended to me several times. Two days and $450 is perfect, and I know it would be a big boost in my skill set to participate. This class is probably my leading preference, if I can manage to be in an area where Tom is teaching, somewhere in summer of 2017.

- Karl Rehn - I've received a couple very informative emails from Karl about training options. He is hosting Mas Ayoob's MAG-40 class in time frame I'm considering. All four days might be over my budget, but the two days of MAG-20 might be doable. Although we could reroute to do Texas this year, we did a lot of time in Texas last year and this year. But I might consider this. It certainly appears to be a solid option. Plus, Karl is an EE like me. :cool:

- Chuck Haggard - I am in PM contact with Chuck on options in his home area, possibly in May. I'll get back with him once my plans firm up on our route. (thanks Orionz06!)

- Hardwired Tactical Shooting (Nyeti/Wayne) - I'm looking at options for their First Responder Pistol class for 2017, but the details are not yet posted. Same as before; we may or may not be headed through Texas this year, given the routes we are considering. But is is an option.

- Rogers Shooting School - Although it looks like a great program, the location (GA) and price point don't match up with what I am looking for.

I've also clicked through to the other instructors / web sites above, but as yet haven't identified a class option I currently plan to register, for various reasons.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

Matt Graham typically does one weekend open enrollment class in WA state around May. I found his HG class to be extraordinarily helpful. Disclaimer: he's a friend, so I do have that bias. Still, I left the weekend a demonstrably better shooter than when I arrived, so it panned out well for me.

http://www.grahamtradecraft.com/open...ning-schedule/

(This year's OE combined class was in April, but I seem to remember taking a 2-day HG from him in May a couple years back)

Might also be worth shooting Greg Hamilton at insights an email as well. Greg is a great instructor, IME.

http://www.insightstraining.com

That said, I'm not seeing anything on your short list so far that I wouldn't jump to take myself, if I was there or passing through.

A bit off topic, but it seems you're normally near Lakeland, FL and I can't recommend Randy Cain's Handgun 101 enough for a strong fundamentals class. See his schedule here.

Let me know when you're coming through South Dakota. I don't teach a lot of open enrollment classes but you can come shoot, pick my brain, and I'll buy you a beer later.

Assuming beer is your thing.