4-Day Advanced Tactical Handgun

What prerequisites are required for this course?

You must DG the basic handgun skills test. Prior to being able to attend this course, I took the 4-Day Defensive Handgun course approximately 3 times and also attended the 2-Day Handgun Skill Builder.

What are your General Comments?

The makeup of my class was a mix of students new to the class and some who had taken it before. Several husband and wife couples were there. In fact, I was surprised to see 1/ 3 of the class were women. (Now, if I can just convince my wife to come out for the basic handgun class…)

I have drilled and drilled on the basics…so I was looking forward to something new. The ATH class delivered on that! This class picks up where the basic classes stop. The first thing the instructors do is a quick review of your 5-step "presentation" of your sidearm. Then about 10 minutes later, they run the student through the skills test that you took in the earlier classes. They are not looking for perfect shooting, but safe gun handling and the general ability to hit the paper.

Once that is done, we're off and running with hostage situations and more dedicated headshots. We were shooting against moving targets, with the instructor utilizing a remote control. Students were also moving and shooting … literally…using cover and concealment. Pretty cool. We also learned to move, and engage numerous targets from various kneeling and prone positions.

Of course all of this is done with a serious attitude and a professionalism that people have learned to expect from Front Sight. The most common pistol at Front Sight is still the Glock, probably followed by all the variations of the 1911. Also seen were Sigs, H&K, and a couple of students using small revolvers as a backup weapon.

The advanced class students get to participate in multiple shoot "scenarios" where the students have to enter a structure and engage various enemy or friendly targets. Most of these are against paper targets, but the last one was with a real live instructor. They take the student's side arm and give us a Beretta 92 with simunitions. The weapon functions normally, but shoots a type of wax/paint bullet. In our scenario, the instructor has a knife (yes, a plastic one), and proceeds to turn and 'stick" you with the knife while you are moving through a doorway. Luckily, during the class, they also taught the students to shoot in "close contact." Watch out! An enemy with a knife can move faster than you can imagine!

At any rate, I was able to pull the Beretta from the concealment and shoot the attacker from "close contact" before being knifed. However, I did a lot wrong; so after the event, the instructors walk through everything that transpired, the good and the bad. You walk away being humbler and better prepared for a real world encounter. This class was great!

Would you suggest this course to others?

Yes!

How did you get there?

I drove from CA.

How did you stay?

I stayed at the Saddle West.