I recently got fed up with just shooting paper targets (technical shooting) and wanted to take it to another level.

So I hopped on Google and found PFT – Practical Firearms Training in West Virginia. Near Leesburg, WV about 2.5 hours from Lynchburg.  I couldn’t find anybody that had reviewed it so I took a chance. I’m glad I did.

I’ve been carrying from the moment I arrived in Virginia. I’ve often thought about what would be the outcome if I was ever in a gunfight. I’ve always had the mindset that if my life was threatened I wouldn’t hesitate. Now I have the confidence that I could adequately use my weapon if the need ever presented itself. A need I hope I’ll never need.  Contrary to the anti gun position I don’t carry a gun because I want to shoot somebody.

“Simply owning a gun imparts neither knowledge or skill regarding its use. Only study and focused training can provide real capability.”

-Pat Goodale

The course was perfect. It is broken up into 3 parts: Teaching / Technical / Tactical

I’m giving a simplified version of the days events. I’ll not go into detail about all the heavy dose of safety talk. The training was very safe and Pat and his instructors did a great job of ensuring nobody shot themselves or others.

Teaching:

The teaching or classroom portion is actually very good. Pat Goodale goes over differences of mindset and makes you think about how ready you are to use your weapon. He touched on the law and how it applies to a deadly shooting incident. It really makes you think about what would happen should you ever be involved in a shooting. He also does a good job about explaining the different parts of a gun ( Remedial for some, yes…but we had several people in the class that were newer to guns and it was helpful to them. )

Technical:

The technical portion of the class was great. In this portion he gave me an understanding of “Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast” a saying I’ve often heard and never understood. We all lined up facing our target. We were then given a “threat” command and told to acquire the target nice and slow and shoot. This process was then sped up over the course of the next hour or so.

By the end of it I felt like I wasn’t even consciously looking at the sites before I pulled the trigger…yet I still hit the target just as accuratly. Pat explained it using the analogy of driving a car. “We don’t consciously say ‘I must turn here so now I must brake and put on my signal.’ we just do it. “Our brains can be trained to do the same thing while shooting and they were.  Our speed was increased and we were able to progress from shooting in the ready position (gun out) to shooting accurately starting with our guns holstered.

One thing I was unable to do was shoot from a “retention” position. I apparently have something wrong with my wrists. The Retention position is designed to allow you target and shoot an assailant that is very close. You hold the gun close to your body at a 45 degree angle. I almost dropped the gun it hurt so bad. I was the only one with this problem. I sprained my wrists when I was younger and they are weak as a result. I’m looking into alternatives for that scenario.

After a lunch break (FYI: bring your lunch) we moved onto the tactical portion.

Tactical:

This was the cool part of the class. Shooting while moving. Shooting steel targets. It was great. It was the part where you start to have the confidence that “yes I can do this” My favorite part of the class was the final simulation;  shooting from a vehicle. In this part of the class you get to shoot 3 targets.

The instructors start off by firing rounds at the targets and shaking your car. You feel like you are under attack. You have to unholster your gun, take off the seat belt. Shoot the target through the window (window down of course) and then exit the vehicle and take out the other 2 bad guys. You use all the skills you’ve used in all the other areas of the class. You understand the difference between cover and concealment and have to take those into consideration.

I also got to shoot #3 bad guy while laying prone on the ground at the rear of the vehicle. It was great fun and practical too.

Summary:

Sometimes in life you “wonder what have I gotten myself into?” I never once thought that about this class. It was great fun and I learned a lot. I think the things I learned will transition into shooting my rifle too. Though I plan to take the class at the next available chance with my wife.  The instructors were very helpful. Sometimes these schools that are out there are run by arrogant tools that think they are hot stuff. Not once did I ever think that about these guys. Pat Goodale was fantastic and only cared about seeing us succeed. 3 women participated in the class and they all did an amazing job.

If I had a suggestion for anyone it would be to learn your weapon a little before you come to class. Some of the guns that the students had were not practical. Some required you to have an empty magazine in order to reset the trigger and dry fire them. Some had a small capacity which required frequent magazine changes.  It slowed down some of the students. I don’t think it made the training deficient in any way for those students but I’d imagine it was frustrating. I personally am a huge fan of Glock and love my Glock 23. But to each his own.

Video I took:

The class was only $150.00 and I look forward to taking the others as well. It’s money well spent.

If you are looking for some outstanding firearms training on the east coast then check out PFT – Practical Firearms Training www.pgpft.com