[clee]

... My XD got some intense training... I was along for the ride...


When one has this much fun over a weekend, it has to be shared.... I spent two full days training at Practical Firearms Training in West Virginia. www.pgpft.com The instructor Pat Goodale was excellent, Marine background, and now mainly trains SWAT, Federal, and police agencies.

Notice in the following photos and video clips, I was shooting the only XD in a field of glocks. The glockers were curious about my XD, and gave it good reviews throughout the day.

First day: 4 hrs very thorough classroom, then headed to the range. Second day was advanced class, every kind of shooting possible.

Photos

Part of the range, one of the women in the class going through the car shoot (see video further down)

Shot from standard threat position, lots of paper and steel

Lot's of ground work, shooting from different / uncomfortable positions

Emergency reload from prone

Video Clips

Car Shoot: end of first days class... start seated in vehicle, weapon holstered, discover 4 threats outside. Lean out drivers window, two hits on first threat, then 2 hits through passenger window on 2nd threat, exit vehicle, engage targets using rear of vehicle for cover, check below vehicle for approaching hostiles, move to front of vehicle, re-engage final targets

Car Shoot.mpg

Fight To Standing: In trouble, prone, target at 10 yards. Two hits from prone, two hits from kneeling, two hits from standing (notice I had to reload between hits while standing) and yes, with my XD, and a reload, I still beat the glocks

fight to standing.mpg

1 on 3: pure speed check, draw, one shot on three targets, steel at 5 yards. Damn, in this clip I went high on the first, next try got it down to 2.1 seconds (not bad for a newbie)

1 on 3.mpg


...and that is how you have fun with your XD, one weekend, 19 hours, 900 rounds....

yee ha!!!

 

[[TASF]Overkill]

That looks fun.

 

[Slaytex]

Kick ass! I need a vacation where I can do that.

 

[aheXD40]

That looks like it woulda been awesome.

 

[aiformula]

cool training.

How much did the course run if I may ask?

As to the 1 on 3 plates, When they first timed me at TDI, I did 2.1 and got it down to 1.7 and was mighty damn proud until another forum member and instructor at TDI Dave B (BowieTactical) showed us how it was done and pulled 3 1.1x runs in a row trying to get down to his sub 1.00 time.

 

[clee]

PFT courses run $125/day (hell of a deal). I did Defensive Handgun I & II, I'm going back soon for Handgun III which will include the shoot house and night shooting.

 

[Fam Money]

Sounds like fun. Thanks for posting the pics and vids.

 

[therooster]

was this your first time to shoot scenarios under stress??

if so.... its addicting isnt it?

Shot from standard threat position, lots of paper and steel

i noticed you are the only one that is leaning forward from the hips, thats good.

 

[Brickboy240]

Very cool, thank for sharing.

Did you expereince any troubles with the XD? (I am betting not)

Were you the only shooter with an XD at this school?

What were the other guys/girls using?


Looks like fun!

-Brickboy240

 

[sweater]

...I'm hoping that the dudes and dudettes at Frontsight in Nevada are going to let us take a ton of photos when we go. Going with three of my friends:
Friend #1: Ruger P345
Friend #2: Ruger P85
Friend #3: XD SC 9mm
Me: XD Service 9

We're bringing the following for backup (in case something breaks): my XD SC and Kimber Pro Carry II, a Beretta 92FS, and another P85.

If anyone's interested, we got quite the deal on this course:
4-day Defensive Handgun
The course lists for $1200, but we got it for $70. Yes, seventy dollars.

The deal is this: they sold a whole bunch of memberships (at $250k apiece, which includes property and a house) to this place. When they did, they handed out certificates good for free first-time-only students to take a 4-day class, or two people taking a 2-day class. Well, a small side-business sprung up on the Internet of people selling those "grey certificates" to people like me for ridiculously cheap prices - we got 4 for $280.

The Frontsight lawyers have since cracked down. Oddly enough, they sent notice to the place we got ours from days after Frontsight processed our apps and confirmed our class. The price for our class went from $70 to $600.

Still a deal if you ask me.
http://www.cheap-certificates.com/

- Mike

 

[MrTuffPaws]

Your holding your gun in the wrong hand :wink:

 

[agalindo]

All the others are holding thier guns in the wrong hand right clee. Even my attack cat hold his gun with the wrong hand.

 

[Lranger65]

very cool....thanks for the pics................

 

[Fly-Sig]

Sweater, if it is true that the Front Sight lawyers have cracked down, it is really a bad deal. Those who purchased lifetime memberships (for about 5k on up to $$$$) were given a number of certificates that they could do anything they wanted with. FrontSight uses this as their only advertisement - kind of a word of mouth thing. Note that most of the certs are good only for first time students.

I cannot imagine why FrontSight would want to try to impose some minimum price, and I cannot imagine some court deciding that FrontSight has the right to impose a price on certs owned by people who bought them no-strings-attached with their memberships.

I think that certain internet certificate sellers have boosted their prices and may be trying to blame it on FrontSight.

It looks like maybe the going prices have gone up a bit, as there were plenty of grey certs available for $50 to $70 last fall, but there are still certs available at the auction sights for much less than $600.

BTW, even at $600 the 4 day course is well worth the money. Superb training and staff. I suggest staying in Pahrump rather than Vegas because of the drive time. The training is all day long at Front Sight and it doesn't leave much time at all for playing in Vegas, especially after factoring in 2 hours of driving.

 

[bd]

I've never been lucky enought to take anything quite that extensive, but the last class I took left me sore all over for a couple of days. All that squatting and rolling and kneeling is tough!

Looks like great fun, Thanks for the recap.

bd

 

[needles]

Great post, I too am headed to front sight and this has gotten me fired up, excuse the pun.

 

[sweater]

Well, look at the lawyer thing this way: they gave out the certs as promotions, and instead they're being used by people like me who want to take a great course on the cheap. And have no intention of ever buying property there. Ever.

Now, they're probably going to end up hooking me in for additional training sooner or later, but I understand where they would feel that the spirit of the grey certs had been pushed aside.

I'm going to assume that the guy that sold them to me was being truthful - FScerts.com's prices went up as well. I don't know if the courts could/would enforce this, but I also know that the people selling them on the side are not rich enough to challenge Frontsight. It was good while it lasted, I guess, and is still a great deal.

We're staying in Pahrump (which was a PAIN to get reservations in!) and then going to spend some time in Vegas. My city-slicker New York ass has never been there.

- Mike

 

[Fly-Sig]

Sweater, where in NY are you from? My dad currently lives on E 72nd.

IF you've never been to Vegas, you're in for a treat. I suggest that you walk the strip at night. I haven't spent much time there, but there are lots of interesting theme restaurants in the big casinos and the prices are pretty cheap. Very cheap compared to NYC prices! The casinos have free parking, but try to avoid driving the strip because it can turn to near gridlock. Walking the strip is a very entertaining way to get around.

 

[yobo97sc2]

problem was they were selling the certificates, when they should have been selling pens for example and giving the certificates away for free w/purchase.
that's how people get around selling freq flyer tix on ebay.

 

[Hawaiian]

Nice pics and video, looks like a blast! Anybody know of anthing like that in the Pittsburgh PA area?