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Was suprised last weekend when I visited the Gander Mounain on I45 in Spring. They have just opened a Gander Mountain Academy inside the store. Got a great tour of the facility and made plans to return soon and try out their "toys". If nothing else, it was great to see a large company fully embrace firearms training from a self defense and sport shooting perspective.

https://gandermtnacademy.gandermountain.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Today I went back and spent an hour in their V-Range (virtual range) and the 300 Degree Simulator. I'm hooked and will definitely be returning. In addition to classes, they have the following ranges:

• Virtual range (just like an typical indoor shooting range).
  180 Degree simulator - pepper poppers, IDPA type stages, shoot the bouncing ball, etc...
  300 Degree simulator - tueller drills, hogans alley, grocery store, parking lot, home invader, etc...
  Live fire range - small indoor shooting range

Following are the pro's and con's observed from my single visit so far -

Pro -

• Beautiful facility. Looks like high end corporate training center - plush chairs, high-tech monitors, carpeting.
  Friendly and helpful staff. Instructors/staff were very friendly, relaxed, service oriented. They were clearly focused on taking care of the customers.
  CHL friendly. You store your sidearm and magazines in a side room and then go through a metal detector where they issue training firearm.
  The virtual ranges all use modified real firearms. I used their Glock 22 (they also have Beretta 92's). A CO2 cartridge is in the magazine which makes the slide recoil. Hits on target seemed to match what I get with my Glock 19, including the misses and my tendancy to pull to the left sometimes.
  Wide variety of targets and ranges (3yds to 50yds) on the V range. Multiple pre-loaded drills for accuracy and speed.
  You can bring your holster and use on all the virtual ranges.
  You pay for the time (clock starts on your first shot) and not the number of rounds or targets.
  Scenarios in the simulator are a blast and will give you a workout
  The V-Range lets you email your target to yourself, on the simulator, you can email a video (cameras in ceiling) to their YouTube account that you can download

Con -

• CO2 cartridges run out after less than 50rds. Initial shots are suprisingly realistic due to the full cartridge. As it starts to deplete, the recoil gets slower and sluggish.
  More instructors than shooters which can slow you down - everybody is trying to help.
  Prices are high, but compared to range fee/ammo/instructor, they are comparable.
  Emailing targets and video did not work (assume they are having kinks in their new system).
  Glass walls on V-Range, live range and 180 degree simulator, so store customers get to watch you.

If you are in the area, I highly recommend a visit. I had lots of fun today and will be returning with family and friends. Hopefully I can get my wife and kids to take some of their classes as well.

Sounds like a blast. If I ever get down there again I'll have to try and remember to try this out.

Article here: http://www.khou.com/news/local/so-does- ... 62643.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rob Pincus recently published a CD on his sessions in one of the Gander Mountain Academy's 300 degree simulators. He ran each seneario several times to show what happens when you choose diferent tactics to deal with the same critical situation. Very instructive! One eye opener is that in a lot of situations there is a way to avoid the gunfight all together; something you don't find in IDPA but that happpens in real life.

Gerry

This is where I took my CHL class, they offer a Tuesday -Wednesday class from 4 - 8. Great instructor but everyone is new and trying to help so it’s a bit overwhelming at first. All in all a great place to hangout, shoot, look at fire arms, buy misc items for fire arms, and they have a 511 tactical gear area. Much better than the ATV/Boat section they ripped out.

I have the exact same pro's and con's as Lodge, but maybe a few less cons. The CO2 cartridge lasted me a good while and I was doing a lot of rapid firing while waiting to take my live range in class. It also seems they have beefed up the whole firearm accessories section from ammo, holsters, safe storage, safety equipment, and of course at least more than half dozen gun cases.

February 18th they had a fire sale starting at 8am, I was late at 10:30 to get any of the good cheap stuff but there was a line as long as long as the store is wide. Our instructor said they had 5 to 800 new guns from a store in New York that flooded. I am not sure how true that is cause the tables were empty by the time I got there...

Anyway - Overall a great place if you don’t mind a little added cost from other gun stores including Academy.

I tried the 300 degree virtual range a couple of weeks ago and had a great experience. Had an operator (think his name was Joel) that is a homeland security officer that spent quite a bit of time in making it a good tactical teaching exercise. Great fun, had some good training to boot, and then got a tour of the live fire range which is the nicest I'd ever seen. The virtual deal is a bit pricey at $45/hour but the live fire at $25/hour for two shooters is on par with anywhere else by the time I either pay for multiple guns or for both my wife and me on a lane. Will definitely go back.

Didn't notice the recoil diminishing too much, but wish they had a 1911 as a choice (only choices are Beretta or Glock and I have neither)

Lodge2004 wrote:Con-

• Glass walls on V-Range, live range and 180 degree simulator, so store customers get to watch you.

While I understand your objection to this, you have to remember that they are trying to entice other customers into using the service.....because it is a profit center for them.....or at least, they are trying to make it into a profit center. Anyway, if it sounds like fun on the Internet (which it does), it must look like fun to people watching through the glass, and that sells admission tickets.

If you're a little bit embarrassed about people watching your skills (I would be in that situation), then the obvious answer is to get better at them.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

Lodge2004 wrote:Con-

• Glass walls on V-Range, live range and 180 degree simulator, so store customers get to watch you.

While I understand your objection to this, you have to remember that they are trying to entice other customers into using the service.....because it is a profit center for them.....or at least, they are trying to make it into a profit center. Anyway, if it sounds like fun on the Internet (which it does), it must look like fun to people watching through the glass, and that sells admission tickets.

If you're a little bit embarrassed about people watching your skills (I would be in that situation), then the obvious answer is to get better at them.

I might get embarrassed, but I think the added attention would add to the stress level making the experience just a tinny bit more realistic. Poor performance in a training exercise with little to no actual risk is a great tool to learn from. I would rather find out there that I need more practice than a real life experience.

cbird wrote:This is where I took my CHL class, they offer a Tuesday -Wednesday class from 4 - 8.

How does that add up to 10 hours?

Jumping Frog wrote:

cbird wrote:This is where I took my CHL class, they offer a Tuesday -Wednesday class from 4 - 8.

How does that add up to 10 hours?

I think, in theory, there is 8 hours of lecture time and 2 more hours allotted for range time giving a total of 10 hours. However, its been a LONG time since I've stayed in a Holiday Inn. This might just be the allotted lecture time.