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pistol retention class - Milwaukee area

MKEgal

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
4,383
Location
in front of my computer, WI
Yes, Tom says he will make this a regular offering in his rotation of advanced / continuing ed classes.
I may take it again.
We had about 12 people & it was a blast. I'm still limping.
(Next time, ibuprofen before class in addition to another dose + the spiked eggnog after I get home.)

Class actually went a bit longer than scheduled, & most of it was hands-on, either attacking the dummies or using plastic guns with each other.
Very very little used real guns, after they were checked several times for no ammo. (No worries about mine... I can only shoot citrus.) :rolleyes:

One point he made very early, & is a bit of a philosophical change from similar training I've had, is that we were not learning self-defense. We were learning how to overwhelm an attacker in order to get away, get them to decide to leave, or at least have room to draw & fire. For that brief period between the attack starting & ending the defender has to be more violent & determined than the attacker.

The proverbial can of whoop-ass was much in evidence as we pummeled those creepy green canvas dummies.
I had to chuckle at the guys (that would be everyone else in the class): even on the dummies, only maybe 1 or 2 could bring themselves to do groin strikes. The rest kneed what would be the thigh or lower abdomen.

And yes, the heavy gloves are neccessary when working on retention / takeaways with the plastic pistols. Doing it with metal on bare hands is gonna hurt.
That's something we need to spend more time on to really have it useful when needed. Definitely a perishable skill.
 

JJC

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
283
Location
La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
Yes, Tom says he will make this a regular offering in his rotation of advanced / continuing ed classes.
I may take it again.
We had about 12 people & it was a blast. I'm still limping.
(Next time, ibuprofen before class in addition to another dose + the spiked eggnog after I get home.)

Class actually went a bit longer than scheduled, & most of it was hands-on, either attacking the dummies or using plastic guns with each other.
Very very little used real guns, after they were checked several times for no ammo. (No worries about mine... I can only shoot citrus.) :rolleyes:

One point he made very early, & is a bit of a philosophical change from similar training I've had, is that we were not learning self-defense. We were learning how to overwhelm an attacker in order to get away, get them to decide to leave, or at least have room to draw & fire. For that brief period between the attack starting & ending the defender has to be more violent & determined than the attacker.

The proverbial can of whoop-ass was much in evidence as we pummeled those creepy green canvas dummies.
I had to chuckle at the guys (that would be everyone else in the class): even on the dummies, only maybe 1 or 2 could bring themselves to do groin strikes. The rest kneed what would be the thigh or lower abdomen.

And yes, the heavy gloves are neccessary when working on retention / takeaways with the plastic pistols. Doing it with metal on bare hands is gonna hurt.
That's something we need to spend more time on to really have it useful when needed. Definitely a perishable skill.

It's great and refreshing when we can read a post about training, gaining experience and overall knowledge with out anyone spouting "we don't need any training". Sorry I couldn't resist.

JJC
 

MKEgal

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
4,383
Location
in front of my computer, WI
JJC said:
It's great and refreshing when we can read a post about training, gaining experience and overall knowledge with out anyone spouting "we don't need any training".
I've said it before:
training is good,
more training is better,
gov't-mandated training is bad.

This was entirely voluntary, so people are cool about it.

(Actually, IMO gov't-manded almost anything is at best questionable. Things like nationwide coordination of laws that affect everyone is good [I'm thinking of uniform traffic laws]. Health & safety measures are generally good but have at times gotten out of hand. And one of the primary & most proper functions of gov't is protecting the rights of citizens.)
 

HandyHamlet

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2010
Messages
2,772
Location
Terra, Sol
I've said it before:
training is good,
more training is better,
gov't-mandated training is bad.

This was entirely voluntary, so people are cool about it.

Good to know there will be other classes. Looking forward to participating.

Do we really need to purchase a blue training handgun?
 

MKEgal

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
4,383
Location
in front of my computer, WI
DangerClose said:
I assume the police officer who dropped his gun at the mall and "it accidentally went off" will be attending this class. *rimshot*
We can only hope. I'm sure it would do him good.
But I doubt it... probably will either have the charges dropped or reduced or just pay a small fine.
That will set a useful precident [sp?] if something similar ever happens to a regular citizen.

I'm still waiting to see the trespassing while armed charges. It's a fine up to $1000, and since he endangered people's lives I think he should get the max. Southridge is posted, right?

HandyHamlet said:
Do we really need to purchase a blue training handgun?
a) No, he has a whole bag of them.
b) No, it can be orange or red or yellow.
:rolleyes:
 

jpm84092

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Messages
1,066
Location
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
A "blue gun" will set you back about $45 - $55 depending on the vendor. Blackhawk makes a Model 1911 training gun in orange for about $25. If you want to go really big, the SIRT Training Pistol has the weight and feel of a Glock and "fires" a laser with each trigger pull. And, there are laser sensitive targets. But, this is a training pistol with a real gun price tag. (If anyone is contemplating ordering the SIRT, place the order through me or MKEGal as we both get an NRA Instructor Discount.)

Whatever your budget and personal choices dictate, Yellow Cat recommends continuous practice.
 
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