Facility: Mt Carroll, IL is formerly, "The Site", which became Blackwater Training, etc... Jim Kauber now manages/runs the facility. As such, various instructors/classes roll through the facility.
There is lodging a bit removed from the range, catered, etc. Very clean. I like staying there - nice to just drive 5 minutes from the range, grill a steak, chug some beers, etc.
Mt Carroll is also in the middle of nowhere. Stay at the lodge...
People: ~12-15 people of various skill levels, mostly intermediate.
Gear: 3-4 Berettas, a few Carry Optics guys, a variety of guns. Got to finger-bang a CZ PM-10 or whatever it is. I ran my carry 92G from the Keepers holster (1/2 through the day I tucked my shirt in to stop gouging my stomach.)
I shot my DSA AR with an Aimpoint. Damn: comps make a huge different on the AR's! So easy to shoot Frank's setup with his own design of a muzzle device.
Impressions: I had high expectations for the class, mostly due to Frank's reputation and his videos (which I watched before the class). The format was 1 day with rifle, 1 day with pistol. With this many people, it pretty much guarantees a bunch of "line work".
The portion on the rifle centered around grip, building the position from standing, being able to provide solid points of contact for the rifle. There were some insights here, but nothing that I'd call earth shattering. Frank tried to give us a lot of information, but since the course was fairly unstructured, there wasn't much of a curriculum or a format that he could riff off of.
The portion with the pistol centered a lot on the grip again and how to visually drive the gun while targeting. After the presentation, it pretty much opened up as a "self-guided practice session".
Now, at this point, people are probably saying that "Pepperoni is a writing another hit-piece!" or something, but, that's not quite it...
I've shot a lot, I can practice on a range until I'm blue in the face, etc. When I take a class I'm really looking for a some insights and challenges and I suspect that I've outgrown what can be offered in a general-format class at this point. (even though I still think I'm a shitty rifle shooter...) I wouldn't want another person to attend, after a hefty bill for gas/lodging/ammo/tuition and be underwhelmed.
Talking to Frank about some of his beliefs on vision/processing speed/etc. was fascinating, but the discussions were exceedingly short because he had to managed the rest of the class. I wish I would've saved that $$ and spent it on some good 1-on-1 time with him in Alabama or something.
Some things I didn't like:
- I harp on most classes about written notes: I really like having written notes/handout since it allows me to look back on topics and think them through again.
- The unstructured nature of the class and presentation was touch to stomach... People tune out REALLY fast when standing around.
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