Review: Sig Sauer Handgun 101

Sig Sauer Academy Handgun 101

Taken: early July.

Level:                    Entry level.

Lecture:         (5)   Solid 5-6 hours providing a good grounding in: safety, operating mechanisms of firearms, basic grip, basic stance, basic sighting, transporting firearms, basic legal precautions, cleaning, storage, and care of handguns.

Range:          (5)   A good several hours of basic training and drills. 50 rounds 9mm fired.

Materials:      (5)  Good handout materials including large legal appendices and future training options. 

Equipment:   (4)   Students are paired up to swap out a high quality 9mm handgun. Ammunition provided.

Value:            (5)   Tuition was $200. An excellent value for the expertise of the instructors and the included materials.

Recommended For: Anyone who would like a solid course in the basics of handguns. Acceptable for shooters with a bit of prior experience. Even those who have been shooting for several years will learn something. Could be overwhelming for someone who has never touched a gun before or has trepidations about firearms.

Total Score: 24/25  (96% for those who prefer things that way)

Opinion: I enjoyed it immensely for what it was. The information is delivered in quick concise chunks and there is far more detail in the legal and moral realms of handgun carry and use than usual for basic classes. 
The range time was put to good use with '2 body - 1 head drills' and similar. I appreciate introducing students to a 9mm immediately and the targets were close enough for relatively easy to obtain accuracy. Critique of targets was handled well although class size and only two instructors kept it a bit limited.
The cleaning lecture actually put the students to cleaning the guns which is nice over merely demonstrating what should be done.
Although it is not a concealed carry course, the topic does come up and is investigated in rather more depth than most basic courses provide. Traveling with arms is also discussed thoroughly.

One of those days

Yes, I know, usually this title precedes a rant about a terrible day. But this time I'm not talking about one of those days, rather one of those days. The kind when everything goes right.

I have discovered something. If I move closer to the target, I turn into this super confidant, and surprisingly accurate shooter. I like it when the target is close. 

Don't get me wrong, I haven't been spending my youth in ridiculously long range training, but our local indoor range is a 50ft fixed. So, I shoot 50ft targets. The other day, I did a bold thing; there being no-one else at the range, I walked up to about 15ft from the target. 

Yes, this is close. Yes, this is useful in defensive training. Yes, I have done this before at various clinics and other places, but not for a long time.

And everything went where I wanted it to go. There was a flier, one stray shot down on the bottom of the spinal column in the target. And a few times I might have clobbered the target in the nose instead of between the eyes. But nothing strayed left or right. By the end of the day, there were five nice ragged holes in my target and fifty little brass cases on the floor. I am ecstatic.

I like it when the target is close.