Your worst class experience?

[F-Trooper05]

I'm lying in my hotel right now after just finishing TD1 of a three day advanced pistol course. So far the instructor has told us that "all black sights are superior to night sights," and that if he had it his way, "everyone would shoot 1911's." I don't want to give his name out, but he's a former Gunsite instructor with a lot of expirience. He's very "Jeff Cooper" old school, as in we can only shoot in the Weaver stance and we can't use our slide release levers (none of which really bothers me, but I'd prefer it if he gave us a little more freedom to choose what works best for us).

Anyways, I just thought it would be funny to hear what everyone's "worst" or "least useful" gun class has been? feel free to leave out names if you're so inclined.

[gringop]

My worst class experience was not at a bad class. The instruction was superb. But one of the students that I was grouped with was a passive aggressive little shit that drove me and a third student in our group insane. Somehow we all manged to deliver a comprehensible lecture on trigger control (it was an instructor course) that allowed us to pass and for me to get my instructors cert. Beware of getting grouped with psycho students.

The only other problematic class was a tactical shotgun class where the instructor allowed a discussion to degenerate into an hour long "what if" session.

"Well, what if the bad guy had a knife in one hand and a gun in the other hand but the gun only had 2 bullets but the bullets had Anthrax in the hollow points and he was under 21 feet and..."

To be honest, when I pointed out the complaints I had in the post class QC form, this instructor offered me a free repeat of the class in the next year, which I attended and the class was managed very well with no BS "what if" discussions.

So, I don't have any really bad instructor stories but I really like classes that are run tight and the student BS is kept to a minimum. Give me info, give me criticism and keep everything under control.

Gringop

[ffhounddog]

I had two at a Carbine class that drove me crazy from each end of the spectrum. It was a mix bag of SF, soldiers, Marines, Police, civies, and a navy cop.

First the navy cop kept f'ing up and telling the instructor that the Bushmaster gun and Armscor Ammo he had bought was fine the instructor offered to give him a Colt 6940 or a LWRC to used. Well the gun when miced had a .223 chamber not a 5.56 and the Armscor was 5.56 and he was well really f'ed up. He also was wearing his soft armor on the outside and making life hell on the instructors. He asked me to borrow my flashlight since our truck was closest to his car on the last day because he lost a few mags and said sure. 20 mins later after policing our area he drives out back to florida with my Surefire Z2 combat light that I had for 3 f'ing deployments. Bastard I had to settle on a used C2 when I got home but I love that light. Now since then each class i carry a old maglight AA model in my truck to hand out.

Also we had a Kid from 10th group who has not been operational yet. He was all telling everyone that he was the best shooter there bought his girlfriend who is as stuck up as he is and well the first day it was just "In Group we do the and during Q course we did this for two day" on Day three my buddy Commander 1 battalion 5th Group, his friend a Ops officeer with 7th group decided to wear their ODA hats. Why because they did not say a thing about what they did except that they were in the Army. They helped a lot of shooters there and they were quiet. Well they knew I had deployed with 7th group (yes I have a hat too but i am civil affairs) and told me to toss it on and we went to the last day. Well the last day was more enjoyable and he didnt talk much when he had 3 Officers who had been there and the Marines were about to gang beat his ass. Well the 2 from MARSOC the others were in Awwww. I miss that Gunny reminded me of my First Sargent.

Sorry long winded and all I just wish I could make more courses. I might buy ammo and instead of go to the range take more courses. Sounds like a plan to me.

[Jay Cunningham]

I think this thread topic has the potential of being quite interesting and informational, but let's all make sure it doesn't devolve into a bashing thread. So far, so good.

[Rappahannock]

I had a pistol class with a fairly well-known instructor. It turned into a love fest, with a lot of people from an agency who had a lot of classes with this guy. He sat on the tailgate of a truck behind the firing line and yucked it up with them the whole time, leaving the rest of us feeling very much not part of the in group.

There was also a very angry cop in the class whose wife had just left him and was chain-smoking and cursing under his breath the whole time. Very bad juju in the air, and I left after the first day of a two-day course.

I'm sure the instructor was very competent as far as pistol handling, but he was lazy and did not try to level the dynamic of the participants. I would not want to be at a shooting range with the angry cop under any circumstances. It was just all bad.

[Tamara]

I took a course from a well-known competitive shooter that was just chock full of useful information.

I probably would have learned a lot more if I had paid more attention to sunscreen, as I was hanging on my chinstrap on TD 3 with a pretty amazing case of sunburn.

[VolGrad]

I took a 2.5 day "advanced" course last year that had a few students I didn't feel were up to par. One in particular was unsafe enough the instructors made him do some of the drills dry with a blue gun. While that should be commended he shouldn't have been allowed to continue at all. He was NOT at the level he should be and several of us were very scared of getting shot. I honestly almost didn't come back on the last day of class I was that scared. The highlight was during a movement drill on multiple targets he bit the dirt. THANK GOD he allowed the pistol to hit the deck, on purpose or not it was the right thing to do in that particular situation. Yes, I discussed my concern with the instructors during the course and afterward. The head guy finally admitted he shouldn't have allowed him to continue and it wouldn't happen again. The same course had some "AI" which were just former students. They were little more than an extra set of eyes for safety's sake .... good. The problem is they tended to stand behind the firing line and chatter a lot amongst each other and on several occasions I saw them spinning blue guns on their fingers and doing fast draws (also blue guns) against one another. In spite of all this the lead instructor was quite good and I enjoyed his drills. I did learn a lot in the class and made a good friend while there.

I also have the same bad experience as others ... having "that guy" in class. Unfortunately for me, "that guy" appeared in several of the first classes I took. He always had something to "add" to the instructor's directive, always had something he had read to share with the group, blah blah blah. He derailed the class so many times I know we lost prob 15% of our range time just listening to him blather. The worst part, he was NEVER prepared. He was constantly leaving the line to change out gear, re-load mags, swap guns, etc. He drives me crazy. Luckily, I haven't seen him in a while. He's a nice guy but damn I don't want to be in class with him again ... EVER.

[Ray Keith]

My worst class experience was not at a bad class. The instruction was superb. But one of the students that I was grouped with was a passive aggressive little shit that drove me and a third student in our group insane. Somehow we all manged to deliver a comprehensible lecture on trigger control (it was an instructor course) that allowed us to pass and for me to get my instructors cert. Beware of getting grouped with psycho students.

Wow! This sounds very familiar, so familiar in fact, I'd say I was the 3rd student... If this was in Memphis TN in Feb '10. If this happens to be the same thing, I'll never forget that guy, scary didn't begin to cover it...

[YVK]

Two-day $550 carbine class with a round count of 340, of which 100 were expended to answer a question "can you rifle shoot 100 rounds without a problem if fired fast". There were other interesting points of wisdom.

[LittleLebowski]

I'd strongly consider leaving.

I'm lying in my hotel right now after just finishing TD1 of a three day advanced pistol course. So far the instructor has told us that "all black sights are superior to night sights," and that if he had it his way, "everyone would shoot 1911's." I don't want to give his name out, but he's a former Gunsite instructor with a lot of expirience. He's very "Jeff Cooper" old school, as in we can only shoot in the Weaver stance and we can't use our slide release levers (none of which really bothers me, but I'd prefer it if he gave us a little more freedom to choose what works best for us).

Anyways, I just thought it would be funny to hear what everyone's "worst" or "least useful" gun class has been? feel free to leave out names if you're so inclined.