Tag Archives: training

Fun at Front Sight

Posted on by Melissa

As some of you know, I will become a parent very soon via domestic adoption. The hubby and I decided that we’d better get the trips done before our baby arrives, and one of the trips included a trip to Front Sight Firearms Training Institute. We decided to take the 4-day practical rifle course. I mainly wanted to take this course to become proficient with my AR-15, because I had very little experience with it. We flew out to Las Vegas on a Thursday. We’ve flown with guns many times, so we knew the drill. When we checked our rifles, we were escorted over to the TSA area where they x-rayed our rifle case. I could have sworn I heard one of the TSA agents mumble, “No way!” Bill (hubby) also heard this. When it came time for them to open the case, Bill told the guy, “Please don’t drool on the rifles.” At this, the TSA agent pretended to wipe the drool off his chin. When he opened the case, the agent actually giggled with delight! He couldn’t get over our awesome Magpuled out guns.
We arrived in Vegas with our 120 pounds of gear total. We stayed at the Marriott for the first few days. Front Sight is a good 45 minute drive from Las Vegas, but it’s worth staying there instead of Pahrump, since Pahrump has nothing to offer. Now granted, after spending the whole day at Front Sight in the sun training hard, when we got back to the hotel, we were not interested in doing anything except taking a shower to wash all the dust, gunpowder, and sweat off, eating something, and going to bed. But at least in Vegas you have a lot of options for food.
We were in a rifle class for returning students, which was great because everyone already knew the drills and the safety rules. We only had one STOP command on the range for the entire 4 days, and it was the instructor’s fault, not a student’s. The other students we had ranged from people like me who shoot mostly as a hobby, to full on special operators. One operator brought out his suppressed rifle. This was so cool because on the first day before we went on break for lunch, the instructor borrowed the rifle and gave a demonstration with it. He told us hearing protection was optional, so I took off my hearing protection since I’d never heard a suppressed weapon without protection before. The instructor fired the rifle at a steel target. I kid you not; the bullet hitting the steel was louder than the actual gunshot!
I’ve talked about the “hot brass boogie” before as being an uncomfortable situation to be in. However, I’ve discovered that I’d much rather take hot 9mm brass all day long before hot .223 brass. .223 brass is larger and much hotter. I took brass twice down the back of my shirt. I’ll tell you, it’s very hard to keep the muzzle of a rifle pointed down range while you are being subjected to 2nd degree burns, fortunately Bill was behind me to grab my rifle and the brass before it did any more damage. I’m writing this a week after the class and the burns are still healing.
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One of the drills we learned was how to go from standing down to the prone position and fire a shot within six and a half seconds at 200 yards. We had knee and elbow pads and we were taught how to do it safely and quickly. I was on the second relay, so while we were waiting for the first relay to walk all the way down range, check their targets, and walk all the way back, I decided to practice getting into prone without my rifle. I did it about a dozen times before the first relay was back and it was our turn to shoot. Well, this was not my shining moment! I’d practiced without the rifle, so the moment I had the rifle in my hand and had to go into prone, the weight distribution was very different. The moment I hit the ground, the butt of my rifle came up and cracked me on the underside of my chin. I still got my shot off when I was supposed to, but it sure did rattle my teeth! I also got a pretty good bruise from it, but I had a lot of bruises by the time I was done.
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The class was incredible. It was physically grueling, but very satisfying. By the fourth day, we were exhausted, but the moment the range master said we were going to have a steel competition, I perked right up. I love shooting steel, and I can get quite competitive. I beat my first opponent, but I lost in the second round. After the competition, we took our skills test for the entire class, and then while they were grading the tests, the range master asked if there were any grudges that needed to be settled. Well, after 4 days, there were quite a few grudges! I went up against my husband who beat me pretty soundly. The grudge match we were all looking forward to was these two men who had been best friends for 38 years. These two had been teasing each other throughout the entire class. While I was watching these two friends go up against each other, I noticed that the instructors were holding a gloved hand over the ejection port of their rifles, intentionally causing a malfunction! They were doing it to everyone to get back at us! That’s one of the things I love about Front Sight; the instructors are not drill sergeants, they have a great sense of humor.
The class was more than worth the trip. The only disappointment I had was that there were only 4 women in the class of over 40 students. In the handgun classes the number of women is much higher; sometimes almost half the class. Rifles can be very intimidating, and just the thought of taking 32 hours of training with one is a pretty daunting task. I was nervous about taking the class for the physical aspect of it, but Front Sight does everything they can to protect their students, but they also do not treat women any differently from the men. That is something I really respect of their program.

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Steel Competition

Steel Competition

Bill getting ready for his turn at the steel.

Bill getting ready for his turn at the steel.

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No Boys Allowed

Posted on by Melissa

So the Colorado Springs chapter of A Girl and A Gun women’s shooting league officially launched last night, and it was an incredible experience! I walked into the clubhouse at the Pikes Peak Gun club (a little late) and about 15 women had shown up for some sisterly shooting. I had never been in the presence of so many like-minded women. There were women of all experience levels, some who had never shot before, all the way up to one of our facilitators, who is a competitor, as is the creator of the club. We even had a few young ladies with us, too. So in the clubhouse, we listened to the creator of the league and the two facilitators of the Colorado Springs chapter talk about the history of A Girl and A Gun. The creator of the club had only started it about a year and a half ago, and she already has over 40 chapters all over the country! The cool thing is that our chapter was the first to launch outside of Texas.

So after our history lesson, we went though a quick safety briefing, then the ladies announced we were going to shoot steel. All of the experienced shooters started cheering, including myself. I’ve said it before, but I LOVE shooting steel! It is so satisfying; you know right away if you hit your target without waiting for a cease-fire and walking down to your targets. I was there mainly as a Range Safety Officer and an instructor, but I had to have my fun, too. The four of us roamed the firing line, watching the ladies shoot to make sure everyone was being safe, and offering tips. That’s one of the best parts of being with all these women instead of being on a line full of men. When I offer advice, the women take it! Some men look at me and don’t take me seriously, and therefore, don’t listen to me when I try to give advice. Don’t get me wrong, if I see a gross safety violation, man or woman, they don’t have any choice but to listen to me!

After most of the ladies had their fill of shooting, I got my turn and tossed some lead down range. I don’t know if it was all the good juju from being around all these women, but I was just ON. It was a constant ting, ting, ting as I shot the target. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy!

After everyone was done for the day, we went back to the clubhouse for cake. We all hung out for a little while, talking about our experiences, and just generally enjoying the camaraderie.

A Girl and A Gun will hold “Girls Night Out” every Wednesday at the Pikes Peak Gun club from 6-8pm. You don’t have to be a member, and you don’t have to have a gun to come out and have a good time. I’ll be there most Wednesdays working as RSO and instructor, so stop by and get some “group therapy!”

If you’d like to see some pictures from our first Girls Night Out, check out A Girl and A Gun’s facebook page.

Ladies Shooting League!

Posted on by Melissa

I have just discovered a ladies-only shooting league called A Girl and A Gun. It’s mainly in Texas, so I hadn’t heard of it sooner, but they are opening a chapter in Colorado Springs! I was so excited when I found out, because I just haven’t had a lot of opportunities to go shooting lately. unfortunately my world doesn’t revolve around shooting. I do have a regular (non-gun related) job that keeps me pretty busy. I have a wonderful family. I recently decided I’m going to go back to school. But through all that, I still have to make time for what I’m passionate about, and that will always be shooting.

I’m so excited to meet other women who share my passion! There’s just not a lot of us out there, and here in Colorado Springs, before A Girl and A Gun, there wasn’t any way for us to get together. But here’s the best part: not only am I going to be a member, but they’ve asked me to be an instructor! We’re still working out all the details, but I will be at the Pikes Peak Gun Club on June 5 for the chapter launch. It’s going to be a lot of fun, so if you’re in the area, come by between 6 and 8pm. Hope to see you there!

Rifle Instructor Workshop

Posted on by Melissa

So as you may already know, I’m an NRA Certified Pistol Instructor, and have been for about two years. I decided that I wanted to extend my credentials, and I figured my next step was rifle. Luckily, my husband happens to be an NRA Training Counselor, and he was teaching a Rifle Instructor Workshop this weekend. Now I know what you’re thinking, “Well he’s your husband, so of course he’ll just let you slide though the class and sign your certificate!” That’s not how my husband operates, and that’s definitely not how I operate. I put everything I had into this class, and I learned a lot.

What made our class even more fun was that there were only six of us, and we were all already pistol instructors. We traded off teaching each other the sections from the basic rifle class, so that we can teach our own NRA Basic Rifle class. I already knew two people in the class, so we were joking around, having a great time. The only time we weren’t having a great time was getting into the different shooting positions. On Saturday, we were “teaching” each other how to get into the positions, and on Sunday we were at the range actually shooting from the six different positions. A couple of the positions were VERY uncomfortable. The sitting position, as I’m demonstrating here, was the worst!

By the end of the first day, my back was killing me! But it was worth it, since I passed the class and will soon have my credentials to teach the NRA Basic Rifle class! Next step: SHOTGUN!

Shoot like a girl if you can! My second trip to Frontsight

Posted on by Melissa

What an awesome week! I just got back from Frontsight Firearms Training Institute. This time I went with all “my boys,” my husband, brother-in-law, and 17 year old nephew. My husband took the four day tactical shotgun class, and my brother-in-law, nephew, and I took the four day defensive handgun class. If you’ve followed my blog before, you’ll know that I’ve already taken the two day defensive handgun class from Frontsight. The four day class goes above and beyond the two day class, and I was excited to review the skills I learned from the two day class, and to learn more advanced skills.

The neat part about this trip to Frontsight was that I was able to experience how easy it is to travel with guns. We had 3 pistols and a tactical shotgun with us. We were traveling with a lot of gear, so we were quite a spectacle! We had the shotgun and my Glock in a (very heavy) rifle case. Each of us had a suitcase, and we also had two carry-ons. We had the other two pistols in a hard sided case in one of our suitcases. You must have the guns in a hard sided case, and they must be padlocked, not TSA locks. So all we had to do was go up to the airline’s ticket counter and let them know we were traveling with firearms. The ticket counter lady’s reaction was the same as if we’d told her we were traveling with clothing. All we had to do was fill out a form that went into the cases, and the lady just wanted to see that the actions were open and the guns were unloaded. Then TSA takes them and x-rays the cases, and then they take the guns and put them in the belly of the plane. The only slight restriction is that you can only have eleven pounds of ammunition per piece of luggage. That’s it! We decided to buy the ammo in Las Vegas so we didn’t have the extra weight, since we needed 600 rounds each, and my husband needed 500 shotgun shells.

The class itself was intense. Our days started at 5:30am. We stayed in Las Vegas, so we had to drive about 45 minutes to get out to Frontsight, which is near Pahrump. We had to be at the range at 8am, except on the first day, we had to be there at 6:30am for check-in. We were on the range from 8am to about 5pm. There were forty students in our class, and we were divided up into two relays. One relay would be shooting, while the second relay lined up behind them acting as coaches. This made the range very safe, with twenty sets of eyes plus our instructors and our rangemaster. The only time someone got hurt was if their gun bit them, so a Band-Aid fixed that right up. Or, if it was me, I was in a hurry doing a tactical reload, and my magazine bit me, and I have a nice blood blister on my thumb.

Out of the forty students in our class, there were about ten women. Not to brag, but the women were out-shooting the men most of the time! At one point, we had a steel target competition. This included a hostage target, and two other “bad guys” behind him, all made of steel. Steel is extremely fun to shoot, because it moves when you hit it, and makes a very satisfying “tink” sound when you hit it. Most of the women in our class out-shot the men in the steel competition. Our rangemaster’s best quote for the entire class was “Shoot like a girl if you can!” Unfortunately I didn’t do as well in the competition, but I only lost because my opponent shot the bad guys faster, but I didn’t shoot the hostage, like a lot of people did!

The best part of this trip to Frontsight was going with my family. Even though my husband wasn’t on the range with me, I got to spend time with my brother-in-law and my nephew. It made our class so much more enjoyable, because we all get along really well. We had a great time on the 45 minute drive back to Vegas because that was our “debrief” time. We would talk about “that guy” on the range, or the funny things our rangemaster said. We also heard about what happened in the shotgun class from my husband. I was so proud of how much my nephew took in all the information and improved his shooting in four days. My brother-in-law wasn’t too shabby either, the last drill we did, he shot five shots within the size of a quarter. This is my biggest tip about going to Frontsight. If you can go with family or friends, it makes the experience more fun.

If you are planning a trip to Frontsight, here are my best tips:

Frontsight is in the middle of nowhere. During lunch, you do not have time to get lunch anywhere except right there. You can order lunch from their food company, but if you are with a large group and are there for four days, it can get expensive. We bought a $6 Styrofoam cooler, and every morning we hit Von’s (aka Safeway) and stocked up on bread, lunch meats, cheese, fruit, chips, drinks, and ice. It was so easy, and much cheaper. Now if you’re by yourself or with one other person, and just want to buy lunch, order it ahead of time; it’s very tasty.

Make sure you bring a lot of high SPF sunscreen. I used 70 SPF. You will be in the desert sun almost constantly. You need to apply in the morning, and reapply often. So have the sunscreen with you in your range bag, along with nail clippers and a nail file. Whether you are a man or woman, you WILL break a nail, if not a couple. Have the nail clippers so you can cut it down so you’re not scratching yourself or catching it on clothing.

Pay close attention to what clothing you bring. Wear high neckline, close-fitting shirts. A couple of women on our range were wearing V-neck blouses. Needless to say, they caught a lot of very hot brass down their shirts. I wore a high necked shirt, and I still caught a piece of brass down my shirt. It will probably still happen, but you’ll lessen your chances. In terms of pants, I suggest tactical pants. I bought 5.11 tactical pants because they are sturdy, and they have lots of pockets, which you will need in the class for storing extra magazines and loose ammo. Check out www.lapolicegear.com, they have lots of styles and sizes, including pants specifically for women. If you don’t want to spend the money on tactical pants, at least get cargo pants. Make sure to wear sturdy, comfortable shoes. You will be on your feet for eight hours a day and they will get dirty. I wore my combat boots, and they worked out great.

My biggest tip to anyone who is going to attend any class at Frontsight for the first time: Go there as a blank slate. I don’t care if you were Army Special Forces for 25 years, go there open to all of their training, and try their way first. If it doesn’t work for you, fine, you can switch back to your training after you leave. If you go there closed minded and don’t want to try any new techniques, there is no reason for you to go, so save your money. Frontsight is the best firearms training you can get in the civilian world, no matter if you are brand new to shooting, or if you have several decades’ worth of experience.

If you’d like to see the pictures from our Frontsight trip, head over to my Facebook page and “like” Women With Firepower.

My first experience at Frontsight

Posted on by Melissa

I am a diamond life member of Frontsight Firearms Training Institute. I have been for a while, but because I have a regular job, I had a hard time getting the time off so I could fly to Nevada to take a class. The first time I had the opportunity was October of last year. Specifically October, because I didn’t want to be out in the Nevada desert in the middle of the summer and be completely miserable. I was especially excited with the timing because it was around Halloween, and if you’ve been to Las Vegas during Halloween, you know why I was happy to go then. I was excited to go hang out on the strip and people watch that night after I got back from Frontsight.

My husband and I flew out for our courses, I was taking the two-day defensive handgun course, and my husband was taking the four-day defensive handgun course. I was only taking the two-day course because it was my first time, and I just wanted to get my feet wet. My husband had taken several classes before, so he knew what it was like already. Because we took different classes, we were on different ranges, which was fine by me. I love my husband, but I was happy to take the course by myself because I didn’t want the perception that I needed him to hold my hand through my course.

We got there the day before, and checked into our hotel in Las Vegas. The next day, we got up at o’dark thirty to drive the 45 miles out to Frontsight. We got there, and went to our separate ranges. The weather on the first day was beautiful. We sat underneath a shelter to protect us from the sun as the instructors taught us the basics. They would lecture on a lesson, then we would practice the lesson down range. The only down side to the range I was on was it was a 100 yard range. The shelter was at the back of the range, but we were only shooting at about 10 yards. So every time we had to shoot, we had to walk 90 yards. This wasn’t that big of a deal, but if you got thirsty… yup, you were walking your happy butt all the way back, and all the way back to the line when you were done.

The instructors were incredible. I almost expected them to be very strict, almost like drill instructors, but they were just the opposite. They were friendly and loved to joke around. There were four instructors and our range master, with about thirty students. The rangemaster had us pair up so that we had two relays. When one relay was shooting, that person’s partner would be their coach, so it was very safe because not only did we have the five instructors, but also an entire relay watching out to make sure everyone was being safe. Since the instructors had so many eyes on the range, it kept them free to give us very personalized help.

I wound up partnering up with a woman who works as a police officer on the railroad, so she knows her way around her pistol. Once we started to get to know each other, we started to have way too much fun. So much so, the instructors began to pick on us and tease us. Through the fun though, I was blown away by how much I learned in just the two days I was there. The class was very intense and fast-moving. You know how I said I was looking forward to going out on Halloween? Yeah, that did not happen. We were so exhausted when we got back to our hotel on Halloween, we went to bed a 9 o’clock!

The best part came on the second day when we got to go into a shoothouse. The scenario was we had just gotten home from Frontsight, and there were men breaking into my house. We had a guy who was controlling the pop-up paper targets, and I had an instructor behind me. The instructor was giving the bad guys a voice; he was screaming at me to get me rattled. I have to admit, it worked! When the first bad guy “kicked” in my door, I forgot to even aim! I was lucky that I hit him where I was supposed to, in the thoracic cavity. In the back of my mind, I knew I would have a hostage target, but I figured if I shot the hostage, I would turn it into a joke like in the movie Speed. But when the hostage target popped up, the bad guy was holding a kid. I’m thinking, “Crap, I’m a future mother, I can’t shoot the kid!” Well, as you can see, the bad guy bit the dust!

What I really liked about Frontsight in general was that about one-third of the students were women. I did not feel like I was treated any different from the men, I was treated like any other student who wanted to hone their firearms skills. Everybody was so friendly, and all the students jumped at the chance to help each other out. Our class was on our lunch break and decided to hit the restrooms before heading to the lecture hall for lunch. While I was in the restroom, my partner was giving an impromptu lesson on presenting from the holster. Only at Frontsight would you see five women in the restroom practicing their presentation in front of the mirror! Frontsight really is a place where women can feel like equals.

I can’t wait to go back, I’m signed up to take the four-day defensive pistol course in April. There is a possibility I may not be able to go, but if I do, I will write another post once I regain use of my hands!