4-Day Defensive Handgun Course

What were your reasons for taking this course?

My husband recently purchased a firearm for our home defense. My husband works 12 hours a day, and he was worried about my being home alone. He took me out on the range to shoot with him, but I was terrified of the gun and shooting it. The range master at the range we were shooting at suggested Front Sight to us, as that was where he had studied.

What are your General Comments?

I appreciated the fact that the instructors were sensitive to people like me, who had never shot a gun. I was afraid that the class would move too quickly for me to catch on, because there were a lot of law enforcement personnel there. But, there was enough repetition throughout the course that I caught on to what they were teaching.

In general, I liked all the instructors. They were always happy to answer any questions I had or offer tips to help me improve. I do wish that there were more instructors in on the range though. Either that, or that the class was smaller. We had about 40 students with only 3 instructors. There were a couple of things that I was doing wrong, but I wasn't corrected until the fourth day. If I would have been corrected on the first day, I might have been able to do better on the skills test. I was holding my hand on the gun a little too low, and I needed to move it up a bit. When I shot, I didn't have proper control over the recoil, causing me to shoot low.

This is probably just personal preference, but I thought that the malfunction drills should not have been included in the skills test.

I am very happy to be able to say that I can now hold a gun without being scared. I thought that phobias like that would take like ten years to be cured! The noise from shooting the gun still startles me a little, but I can see a huge improvement in my abilities.

Do you have any tips for first-time students?

I would suggest bringing a cheap pair of gloves or something for your hands. I bought a nice pair of leather gloves, but the gun I was using shredded them by the end of day 4. There were quite a few people in the course, men included, that had to wear bandages on their hands by the end of the course.

Also, make sure you bring a concealment jacket, shirt, or vest. I wouldn't have known about needing this, if I hadn't done so much research before attending the course. You won't need the concealment until the middle of the third day of the course.

Editor's Note: To make sure you have what you need in advance is why the Gun Training Central Team wrote the Travel Guide for Front Sight. Anyone who doesn't read the Travel Guide is going to be behind the learning curve, as they go through the 4-day class, because most likely you will not have all the little things you need for the course. I've heard several people complain about the glove issue. It depends upon, quite frankly, the toughness of the shooter's hands and how the shooter interacts with the slide on his weapon. Also, it depends upon how sharp the metal serrations/grips are on the slide. Some weapons tend to chew on the hands a little more aggressively than others do.

Would you suggest this course to others?

Yes, I would.

How did you get there?

I drove from Los Angeles, which only took about 4.5 hours.

Where did you stay?

I stayed at the Best Western. I did a lot of research online before going, because a lot of people said the rooms at different hotels smelled like smoke; and I am allergic to smoke. Best Western was the only hotel in Pahrump whose reviews all said you couldn't smell smoke in the non-smoking rooms. It was clean. The fridge didn't work, and the air conditioning was loud; but overall it was good. Plus, they give you a Front Sight student discount.

How did you handle the ammo situation?

I bought the gun rental package at Front Sight, and they provided the ammunition.

How did you handle the lunch situation?

I ate at the Beach Café every day. I preordered all of my lunches online, before I got there. It wasn't expensive, so for what it was, it was fine.

How did you handle the dinner situation?

To be honest, by the end of the day I was too tired. I just went back to my hotel room, ate whatever I had there, and went to bed.

What other courses are you planning to take in the future?

I am already signed up for the 4-Night Defensive Handgun course.