Gunsite "250" Defensive Pistol Class - My Experience
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 11:14 am
I recently attended the "250" Defensive Pistol class at Gunsite (http://www.gunsite.com ). It was an awesome experience, so I thought I would share my experience with those who might be interested. I'm writing this from memory, so there might be some slight inaccuracies, such as which day we did malfunction drills... but it was a really packed week, so please forgive me if I got something out of order.
Monday
It's a brisk 28 degrees outside as we slowly navigate the rough dirt road to the Gunsite facility. The hotrod Prius doesn't like the road, but I'm not going to let a few potholes and sharp rocks to keep me away. After a bumpy ride, we reach the gate and as I pass under the raven I get the sense that this place isn't going to be like anywhere that I've ever trained before.
We begin in the classroom, filling out paperwork and signing waivers. Gunsite is a hot range, so almost everyone has their weapon holstered and loaded. It feels strange to be surrounded by 40 people with loaded pistols on their hips... not frightening... but definitely different. It turns out that there are two classes of 20 students. We will all be together in the classroom portions, but will divide into our separate classes and shoot at different ranges for the hands-on portions of the class. Looking around the room, there seems to be a fairly diverse group in attendance. My class included 3 couples, a few cops, some retirees, and people whose day jobs included everything from training horses, to lawyers and doctors. Ages ran from the early 20s to the early 70s.
After the paperwork, we met our instructors. Jerry was our lead instructor, and Dan, Mike, and "Hutch" were our coaches. All had extensive experience and impressive backgrounds. Over the course of the week I would learn that not only did they have impressive resumes, but they were all damn nice guys who are REALLY good at sharing their expertise in a way that the student can understand.
After brief introductions, we launched right into the training. We talked about safety and then got an overview of what we would be doing for the week and the reasoning behind all of it. And then we talked about safety some more. As the instructors outlined the coming week, I noticed all the plaques and photos hanging around the room. All contained expressions of gratitude for the great training. Many were from foreign governments and elite military units. Seeing a couple Marine Recon oar plaques hanging on the wall really drove home just how good these trainers are. If Recon Marines come to these guys for training, you know they know what they are talking about. I started to wonder if I was up to the challenge. Sure, the Marines were here for more advanced stuff than I was... but would I be able to keep up with instructors who are high-speed enough to teach students like those?
Before lunch we went to the range for the first time and the instructors checked our gear and again went over the safety rules. We were divided into two relays of 10 shooters. This allowed those who weren't shooting to reload magazines and observe the drills as the other relay worked. It also gave a 10 to 4 student to instructor ratio while we were on the line. This worked amazingly well. I was constantly surprised by how much individual attention we all managed to get during the week. The instructors seemed to see everything... and were quick to jump in and provide guidance that (for me at least) always made an immediate improvement. We learned how to safely (and quickly) draw from the holster and present the weapon. We also talked about stance, grip, sight alignment, and trigger press. After a few drills we went off to lunch.
After lunch, we went back to the range and began to put all the things we talked about in the morning into practice. We worked on getting everything right without any time pressure. As we improved, we started to slowly impose time limits. We also got to see how spring in the desert works. Although it had been below freezing in the morning, by mid afternoon the temperature was in the 70s and the desert sun was intense. After a couple hours of shooting, we stopped doing drills and had a quick shoot-off. We lined up against one other student with steel poppers about 10 yards distant. On the signal we drew and engaged the targets. First popper down wins. I was eliminated in my first engagement. This was our first taste of head to head competition. Then it was back to the classroom where we were given homework and turned loose for the day.
Tuesday
We started out on the range where the temperature was again hovering around the freezing mark. The training picked up right where we had left off, but now the targets were turning. We had a limited amount of time to draw and fire before they faced away from us. As I picked up speed, my marksmanship suffered. The instructors were quick to spot the reasons and point out the mistakes. I made corrections, and my groups began to shrink again (when I remembered to do everything I had been taught).
After lunch we introduced reloads into the drills and learned both tactical and speed reloads. Throughout the day, things continued to speed up. At the end of the day we had another shoot-off. Again, I was eliminated in the first round. I shot first but missed... and I didn't get a second shot. The gunsite mantra of "draw quickly, shoot carefully" sank in around that time. Getting the first shot in is a big part of winning a gunfight... but a loud noise never killed anyone. You need to make that shot count.
Wednesday
Wednesday was brutal. We started off in the classroom and talked about the combat triad (marksmanship, gun handling, and mindset). Then it was off to the range. Although we had sped things up some on Tuesday, today we got our first taste of the speed that was expected of us. Headshots from 3 yards in 1.5 seconds. Double body hits from 7 yards in 1.5 seconds. Double body hits from 10 yards in 2 seconds. It seemed almost impossible to see the target turn, react and draw, get a sight picture, and make a smooth trigger press in that time limit. I can't speak for my classmates, but I got pretty discouraged at that point. I frequently didn't get the shot(s) off in time, and when I did they were all over the target.
After that dose of humility, we slowed things back down a little and worked on cleaning up all the flaws that cost us time and accuracy. We also introduced kneeling and prone positions and extended the range of some of our drills to 25 yards. As if that wasn't enough new stuff for the day, we also introduced movement. We fired while advancing and retreating. We pivoted left and right. We turned 180 degrees to engage targets. And we also learned to clear different types of weapon malfunctions. We sent a LOT of ammunition downrange.
Thursday
Everything came together Thursday. We started by performing the "schoolhouse drills." Headshot from 3 yards in 1.5 seconds, twice. Double hits from 5 yards in 1.5 sec. Double hits from 10 yards in 2 sec. Double hits from kneeling position at 15 yards in 3 seconds. And double hits from prone in 6 seconds at 25 yards. (I really had a hard time getting to the prone position and getting a sight picture in 6 seconds... getting old is hell). Scoring is pretty tough, you need to do more than just put a hole in the paper... you need to get good hits. At gunsight, a good hit for center of mass is a circle that's about 7 inches across (think paper plate size). A good headshot is the triangle formed between your eyebrows and your nose. Good hits are 5 points. Hits on the target outside of those areas are only 2 points. A perfect score is 60.
Then we did "El Presidente" in which you start facing away from the targets that are 10 yards away. You turn around, draw, shoot each of the 3 targets twice, reload, and then shoot them each two more times. You're supposed to do this in 10 seconds. For every second over 10, you take a 5 point penalty on your score. Perfect accuracy and a 10 second time yields a score of 60.
We also went through two simulators. First was the playhouse... an exercise in clearing a building. Talk about intense! Next was the North Wash... a little ravine with steel targets set up throughout. You navigate through the wash and engage the hostile targets and challenge the friendlies. I was huffing and puffing like I had ran a 100 yard dash by the time I was done. What a rush!
The remainder of the day was spent working on the drills. Everything started to fall into place. My draw got quicker and my presentation smoother. The flash sight picture was instantaneous most of the time. Accuracy and speed improved dramatically. I felt like I finally got it. By the end of the day, I was exhausted... but the day wasn't over yet. We took off to get dinner and wait for the sun to go down - because tonight was the night shoot.
Thursday night
After the sun went down, we learned 4 different flashlight techniques and practiced with all of them. Even in the dark (it gets REALLY dark in the Arizona desert) I was able to get good hits. But then came the highlight (or should I say bright light) of the evening. They taught us to fight through getting blinded by a light. I stood at the line with my pistol at low ready, while Jerry blasted me with a 200 lumen flashlight 2 inches in front of my face for a few seconds (which felt like 5 minutes!). It was all I could do to keep my eyes open even with him yelling for me to keep 'em open. All of a sudden the light switched off and Jerry yells, "Fire!" Less than a second later there were two .45 holes hugging the X on my target. I couldn't believe it, but I did it.
Friday
Test day. I started off at the funhouse, another indoor simulator. My heart was racing as I methodically cleared the rooms. The lessons from Thursday had sunk in though, and I made a good run through the simulator. It felt like I was a million miles removed from where I had been at the beginning of the week. I then went to the Donga, which was another outdoor wash, loaded with bad guys. I crept through the course, steel targets ringing as I mowed down the hostiles. I felt like I really nailed it... and Mike agreed, with one exception. Somehow I had managed to walk right by a bad guy without seeing him. I was an inch away from a perfect run, but that one mistake would have killed me. Talk about a reality check! Tunnel vision is real... even in a simulator you can get so focused on what’s in front of you that you miss a threat off to the side. Lesson learned.
After the simulators, I did the schoolhouse drills and did about average for me. I scored a 34. Considering that I gave up 10 points off the bat because I couldn’t get into prone fast enough, I was ok with the score. Plenty of room for improvement, but nothing to be ashamed about. Then came the final portion of the test... El Presidente. I did the drill in 9 seconds, and scored a 42. Considering that the highest I had scored during practice was a 40, I was really happy. If someone had told me at the beginning of the week that I would be able to turn, draw, get 12 hits on 3 different targets, and do a reload in 9 seconds I would have laughed in their face. And now I had just done it. Granted, the accuracy wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad either.
After everyone had finished the tests, it was time for the shoot-off. One on one competition, this time with two, 4 inch plates (I think they were 4 inches, they were small!) placed at 7 and 10 yards. We had to hit both plates and perform a reload, and then engage the final target, a popper at about 7 yards. Whoever got all their targets down first wins. Each person shot 6 times in the prelims. To my amazement, I went 5-1 and made it to the next round. My wife also went 5-1 and advanced. (Do you see where this is going?)
In the next round, it was double elimination. I faced my opponent and we each won a round. Sudden death. I beat him by a whisker and advanced again. Wifey also defeated her opponent and advanced. Now we were matched up against each other. The loser would be in 3rd place (out of 20) and the winner would go against Steve (another student who had gone undefeated and had a bye in the previous round) for 1st place. I squeaked out a win and advanced... but she nearly got me. The final was the best 3 out of 5. To my amazement, I beat Steve in the first two matches. My luck ran out though, and Steve took the next 3 in a row for the win. Still, I never would have believed that I would be able to shoot as quickly and accurately as I did during the shoot-off. The week of training really, really made a difference.
After the shoot-off, we had graduation and then got to take a tour of the late Colonel Cooper’s home. Colonel Cooper was the founder of Gunsite and is a legend in the firearms community. His house is incredible. His wife Janelle showed us their home and is an amazing host and a really neat lady. It was a great way to finish off an amazing week.
Lodging
We stayed at the Raven's Roost, a bed and breakfast that was linked from the Gunsite website. We couldn't have found a better place to stay. It was more like staying with a friend than anything else. Tim and Renee are great hosts, and have a great deal of knowledge about Gunsite and Colonel Cooper. I highly recommend staying with them if you go to Gunsite.
Overall Impression
Taking a week long class requires a significant investment in time and money... but my experience was that it is worth every penny. The facilities, curriculum, and instructors are all phenomenal. I left Gunsite far better prepared to successfully defend myself than when I arrived. If you are looking for advanced training, Gunsite should be on your short list of places to go for a course.
Monday
It's a brisk 28 degrees outside as we slowly navigate the rough dirt road to the Gunsite facility. The hotrod Prius doesn't like the road, but I'm not going to let a few potholes and sharp rocks to keep me away. After a bumpy ride, we reach the gate and as I pass under the raven I get the sense that this place isn't going to be like anywhere that I've ever trained before.
We begin in the classroom, filling out paperwork and signing waivers. Gunsite is a hot range, so almost everyone has their weapon holstered and loaded. It feels strange to be surrounded by 40 people with loaded pistols on their hips... not frightening... but definitely different. It turns out that there are two classes of 20 students. We will all be together in the classroom portions, but will divide into our separate classes and shoot at different ranges for the hands-on portions of the class. Looking around the room, there seems to be a fairly diverse group in attendance. My class included 3 couples, a few cops, some retirees, and people whose day jobs included everything from training horses, to lawyers and doctors. Ages ran from the early 20s to the early 70s.
After the paperwork, we met our instructors. Jerry was our lead instructor, and Dan, Mike, and "Hutch" were our coaches. All had extensive experience and impressive backgrounds. Over the course of the week I would learn that not only did they have impressive resumes, but they were all damn nice guys who are REALLY good at sharing their expertise in a way that the student can understand.
After brief introductions, we launched right into the training. We talked about safety and then got an overview of what we would be doing for the week and the reasoning behind all of it. And then we talked about safety some more. As the instructors outlined the coming week, I noticed all the plaques and photos hanging around the room. All contained expressions of gratitude for the great training. Many were from foreign governments and elite military units. Seeing a couple Marine Recon oar plaques hanging on the wall really drove home just how good these trainers are. If Recon Marines come to these guys for training, you know they know what they are talking about. I started to wonder if I was up to the challenge. Sure, the Marines were here for more advanced stuff than I was... but would I be able to keep up with instructors who are high-speed enough to teach students like those?
Before lunch we went to the range for the first time and the instructors checked our gear and again went over the safety rules. We were divided into two relays of 10 shooters. This allowed those who weren't shooting to reload magazines and observe the drills as the other relay worked. It also gave a 10 to 4 student to instructor ratio while we were on the line. This worked amazingly well. I was constantly surprised by how much individual attention we all managed to get during the week. The instructors seemed to see everything... and were quick to jump in and provide guidance that (for me at least) always made an immediate improvement. We learned how to safely (and quickly) draw from the holster and present the weapon. We also talked about stance, grip, sight alignment, and trigger press. After a few drills we went off to lunch.
After lunch, we went back to the range and began to put all the things we talked about in the morning into practice. We worked on getting everything right without any time pressure. As we improved, we started to slowly impose time limits. We also got to see how spring in the desert works. Although it had been below freezing in the morning, by mid afternoon the temperature was in the 70s and the desert sun was intense. After a couple hours of shooting, we stopped doing drills and had a quick shoot-off. We lined up against one other student with steel poppers about 10 yards distant. On the signal we drew and engaged the targets. First popper down wins. I was eliminated in my first engagement. This was our first taste of head to head competition. Then it was back to the classroom where we were given homework and turned loose for the day.
Tuesday
We started out on the range where the temperature was again hovering around the freezing mark. The training picked up right where we had left off, but now the targets were turning. We had a limited amount of time to draw and fire before they faced away from us. As I picked up speed, my marksmanship suffered. The instructors were quick to spot the reasons and point out the mistakes. I made corrections, and my groups began to shrink again (when I remembered to do everything I had been taught).
After lunch we introduced reloads into the drills and learned both tactical and speed reloads. Throughout the day, things continued to speed up. At the end of the day we had another shoot-off. Again, I was eliminated in the first round. I shot first but missed... and I didn't get a second shot. The gunsite mantra of "draw quickly, shoot carefully" sank in around that time. Getting the first shot in is a big part of winning a gunfight... but a loud noise never killed anyone. You need to make that shot count.
Wednesday
Wednesday was brutal. We started off in the classroom and talked about the combat triad (marksmanship, gun handling, and mindset). Then it was off to the range. Although we had sped things up some on Tuesday, today we got our first taste of the speed that was expected of us. Headshots from 3 yards in 1.5 seconds. Double body hits from 7 yards in 1.5 seconds. Double body hits from 10 yards in 2 seconds. It seemed almost impossible to see the target turn, react and draw, get a sight picture, and make a smooth trigger press in that time limit. I can't speak for my classmates, but I got pretty discouraged at that point. I frequently didn't get the shot(s) off in time, and when I did they were all over the target.
After that dose of humility, we slowed things back down a little and worked on cleaning up all the flaws that cost us time and accuracy. We also introduced kneeling and prone positions and extended the range of some of our drills to 25 yards. As if that wasn't enough new stuff for the day, we also introduced movement. We fired while advancing and retreating. We pivoted left and right. We turned 180 degrees to engage targets. And we also learned to clear different types of weapon malfunctions. We sent a LOT of ammunition downrange.
Thursday
Everything came together Thursday. We started by performing the "schoolhouse drills." Headshot from 3 yards in 1.5 seconds, twice. Double hits from 5 yards in 1.5 sec. Double hits from 10 yards in 2 sec. Double hits from kneeling position at 15 yards in 3 seconds. And double hits from prone in 6 seconds at 25 yards. (I really had a hard time getting to the prone position and getting a sight picture in 6 seconds... getting old is hell). Scoring is pretty tough, you need to do more than just put a hole in the paper... you need to get good hits. At gunsight, a good hit for center of mass is a circle that's about 7 inches across (think paper plate size). A good headshot is the triangle formed between your eyebrows and your nose. Good hits are 5 points. Hits on the target outside of those areas are only 2 points. A perfect score is 60.
Then we did "El Presidente" in which you start facing away from the targets that are 10 yards away. You turn around, draw, shoot each of the 3 targets twice, reload, and then shoot them each two more times. You're supposed to do this in 10 seconds. For every second over 10, you take a 5 point penalty on your score. Perfect accuracy and a 10 second time yields a score of 60.
We also went through two simulators. First was the playhouse... an exercise in clearing a building. Talk about intense! Next was the North Wash... a little ravine with steel targets set up throughout. You navigate through the wash and engage the hostile targets and challenge the friendlies. I was huffing and puffing like I had ran a 100 yard dash by the time I was done. What a rush!
The remainder of the day was spent working on the drills. Everything started to fall into place. My draw got quicker and my presentation smoother. The flash sight picture was instantaneous most of the time. Accuracy and speed improved dramatically. I felt like I finally got it. By the end of the day, I was exhausted... but the day wasn't over yet. We took off to get dinner and wait for the sun to go down - because tonight was the night shoot.
Thursday night
After the sun went down, we learned 4 different flashlight techniques and practiced with all of them. Even in the dark (it gets REALLY dark in the Arizona desert) I was able to get good hits. But then came the highlight (or should I say bright light) of the evening. They taught us to fight through getting blinded by a light. I stood at the line with my pistol at low ready, while Jerry blasted me with a 200 lumen flashlight 2 inches in front of my face for a few seconds (which felt like 5 minutes!). It was all I could do to keep my eyes open even with him yelling for me to keep 'em open. All of a sudden the light switched off and Jerry yells, "Fire!" Less than a second later there were two .45 holes hugging the X on my target. I couldn't believe it, but I did it.
Friday
Test day. I started off at the funhouse, another indoor simulator. My heart was racing as I methodically cleared the rooms. The lessons from Thursday had sunk in though, and I made a good run through the simulator. It felt like I was a million miles removed from where I had been at the beginning of the week. I then went to the Donga, which was another outdoor wash, loaded with bad guys. I crept through the course, steel targets ringing as I mowed down the hostiles. I felt like I really nailed it... and Mike agreed, with one exception. Somehow I had managed to walk right by a bad guy without seeing him. I was an inch away from a perfect run, but that one mistake would have killed me. Talk about a reality check! Tunnel vision is real... even in a simulator you can get so focused on what’s in front of you that you miss a threat off to the side. Lesson learned.
After the simulators, I did the schoolhouse drills and did about average for me. I scored a 34. Considering that I gave up 10 points off the bat because I couldn’t get into prone fast enough, I was ok with the score. Plenty of room for improvement, but nothing to be ashamed about. Then came the final portion of the test... El Presidente. I did the drill in 9 seconds, and scored a 42. Considering that the highest I had scored during practice was a 40, I was really happy. If someone had told me at the beginning of the week that I would be able to turn, draw, get 12 hits on 3 different targets, and do a reload in 9 seconds I would have laughed in their face. And now I had just done it. Granted, the accuracy wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad either.
After everyone had finished the tests, it was time for the shoot-off. One on one competition, this time with two, 4 inch plates (I think they were 4 inches, they were small!) placed at 7 and 10 yards. We had to hit both plates and perform a reload, and then engage the final target, a popper at about 7 yards. Whoever got all their targets down first wins. Each person shot 6 times in the prelims. To my amazement, I went 5-1 and made it to the next round. My wife also went 5-1 and advanced. (Do you see where this is going?)
In the next round, it was double elimination. I faced my opponent and we each won a round. Sudden death. I beat him by a whisker and advanced again. Wifey also defeated her opponent and advanced. Now we were matched up against each other. The loser would be in 3rd place (out of 20) and the winner would go against Steve (another student who had gone undefeated and had a bye in the previous round) for 1st place. I squeaked out a win and advanced... but she nearly got me. The final was the best 3 out of 5. To my amazement, I beat Steve in the first two matches. My luck ran out though, and Steve took the next 3 in a row for the win. Still, I never would have believed that I would be able to shoot as quickly and accurately as I did during the shoot-off. The week of training really, really made a difference.
After the shoot-off, we had graduation and then got to take a tour of the late Colonel Cooper’s home. Colonel Cooper was the founder of Gunsite and is a legend in the firearms community. His house is incredible. His wife Janelle showed us their home and is an amazing host and a really neat lady. It was a great way to finish off an amazing week.
Lodging
We stayed at the Raven's Roost, a bed and breakfast that was linked from the Gunsite website. We couldn't have found a better place to stay. It was more like staying with a friend than anything else. Tim and Renee are great hosts, and have a great deal of knowledge about Gunsite and Colonel Cooper. I highly recommend staying with them if you go to Gunsite.
Overall Impression
Taking a week long class requires a significant investment in time and money... but my experience was that it is worth every penny. The facilities, curriculum, and instructors are all phenomenal. I left Gunsite far better prepared to successfully defend myself than when I arrived. If you are looking for advanced training, Gunsite should be on your short list of places to go for a course.
anc of course after the course he will yell :" I will be back! 
