HiTS 1 Day Basic Pistol Class June 11, 2016
Additional information about this class can be found in the following thread:
https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....s-June-11-2016
Instructors:
Wayne Dobbs and Darryl Bolke
Wayne and Darryl are both retired police officers with very impressive resumes. They are both still active in the firearms industry and active on Pistol-Forum. I encourage you to take the time to read their old posts.
Background:
I attended this class with my 16 year old daughter. She has been shooting with me a couple of times each year for around a decade and has probably shot 500 rounds through her Glock 19 before this class. She has also been hunting with me and killed her first deer 6 years ago. I have hunted all of my life, but started shooting pistols regularly a few years ago.
Earlier this year, I attended a HiTS First Responder class. Wayne and Darryl helped my shooting by motivating me to take a more disciplined approach to my practices and expect more out of myself. Wayne mentioned that he is shooting better now than he has at any other time in his life. That was a big encouragement to me. I bought a timer and smaller targets. I use their drills. I hold myself accountable for every shot. My shooting has measurably improved.
More importantly, however, HiTS First Responder changed my attitude about firearm safety. My approach to safety, like shooting, is more disciplined and I expect more out of myself. I use their methods. I use the methods they teach that were developed by Jeff Cooper and others. I hold myself accountable for every action I take with my firearms. I hold myself accountable for everything that is covered by the muzzle of my pistol. My entire approach to safety has changed.
The safety aspect is the main reason I brought my daughter to the class. She has seen how much damage a bullet can do to an animal. I wanted her to learn that we can virtually eliminate the possibility of accidently inflicting that type of damage on an unintended target if we strictly follow some basic gun handling rules. I wanted her to see that two men who have been around firearms most of their lives still take a proactive approach to safety. If anyone could possibly have enough experience to disregard gun safety, it would be Wayne and Darryl. Instead, safety is at the forefront of everything they do and teach in class. I hoped my daughter would leave the class safer. Anything she learned regarding shooting skills would be a bonus.
I planned to bring a few of my daughter's friends to class, but the scheduling did not work.
Students:
We had a really good mix of students in this class. Ages ranged from retired to teenager. Experience level ranged from a professional gunsmith/avid shooter to no experience with a firearm. About half of the students were female. There were several father/child pairings and a couple husband/wife pairings.
At least four of the students are members of Pistol-Forum. I hope they add to this AAR and make corrections as needed. One of the Pistol-Forum members provided drinks and other refreshments for all of us. Thanks!
Equipment:
I brought my Beretta 92G, HK P2000 DA/SA, and HK P2000 4.1 LEM. My daughter brought her Glock 19.
Glocks seem to be the most popular among other students. I also saw various size revolvers, a Smith and Wesson Shield, at least one Sig P229, and a couple of .22 LR autoloaders.
One enjoyable part of the class was that several students tried each other's pistols for a few of the drills. Darryl knew I was interested in a USP 45, so he brought his old duty USP 45 and let me shoot it. Nice pistol. It was easy to see that Darryl takes good care of his firearms. I also got to take a good look at his P30SK 4.1 LEM. My P2000 4.1 LEM got passed around a bit and spent the afternoon with a different student. I have had trouble shooting my LEM trigger well. Wayne shot it and proved to me that the pistol works just fine.....
Classroom:
The day started in the classroom. It is a neat, clean, comfortable, modern, air conditioned facility. Darryl and Wayne introduced themselves and asked each of us to tell them why we attended the class. Answers varied, but nearly every person mentioned the desire to learn how to handle a firearm safely. One person came because of a birthday gift and one couple attended the class to learn how to handle the firearms they recently inherited.
During the next hour, Wayne and Darryl gave an extensive safety briefing based primarily on Jeff Cooper's four rules of gun safety. They had real, personal examples of each rule. My daughter was particularly impressed when Wayne was explaining rule two and said he didn't even like to point blue guns at people.
Range:
After we were finished in the classroom, we headed out to the range. Two of the less experienced shooters near me were not sure how to safely get their pistols out of the bag and move up to the shooting line. It was not a big deal and the only time I saw any confusion at all during the day. Plenty of people were around to help, and there were no safety issues.
Wayne explained some fundamentals including grip, stance, and sight picture. Then, each person was given one-on-one instruction by either Darryl or Wayne before we started shooting.
The firing line was arranged with tables between the shooting stations. All of the drills began with the pistol at the low ready position. A holster was not needed for this class. The drills were well-organized and designed to build on the previous drill. We started at the three yard line. The first drill was dry-practice. The next drill was one round at a time, the next two rounds, then a drill of three rounds at a time.
We shot the same basic drills at the five yard line, then shot one-round drills at seven and ten yards.
All of the drills were broken into six round segments so that the revolver shooters had a chance to reload.
We used about 200 rounds of ammunition. I think that was the perfect amount.
Remarks:
When my daughter and I got home, my wife asked what we learned that day. My daughter listed the four safety rules from memory and told a story about each rule. I was surprised. Mission accomplished. She also got some good personal help with her grip from Wayne and a some solid encouragement from Darryl.
I would like to return with my wife and older daughter. My son is in the Coast Guard and plans to attend First Responder if he is on leave when a class is offered.
I highly recommend this class for new shooters. I also recommend it for experienced shooters who have never had methodical instruction covering safety or shooting fundamentals. There is a lot of information presented, but the course flows well and both teachers know how to teach. I also recommend this course for parents or mentors that need a good grasp of the fundamentals so they can be a good example to those around them.
If you send any new shooters to this class, I recommend that you show them a few basic procedures on their firearm before they attend class. It would be helpful if they could load/unload a magazine and lock the slide back without using an empty magazine. It would also save some time in the beginning if they showed up with their magazines fully loaded. None of these are critical, it would just make it easier.
The youngest generation of shooters has a hard time understanding a world where one mistake is fatal and final. We can't forget that they are naïve and inexperienced just like we were at that age. They are being raised in a school system where failed tests can be retaken over and over until passed. They play video games where make-believe lives can be restarted by pushing a button. We need to continually overemphasize safety to the youngest shooters among us. The best way I know to do that is provide a good example at home. The next best way is send them to good training such as the HiTS Basic Pistol course. The cost of neglecting safety is unimaginable.
Please add any information I missed or ask any questions you have.
Keith
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