Just got back from Defensive Handgun 1 and 2 with Pat Goodale's Practical Firearms Training at their home facility in Alderson, WV. To summarize...it was great. Mr. Goodale himself was present much of the time, and when he wasn't he turned instruction over to his extremely capable cadre of instructors.
Each class was one day long, and it is $200 dollars a day. For DH1 we shot approximately 250-300 rounds, and for DH2 around 450-500. Normally their round counts are higher, but in the current political climate they have abbreviated them in the interest of making the cost less prohibitive for students.
Defensive Handgun 1: This class is a basic introduction to shooting a pistol, and also counts as your concealed carry weapons class. As such it begins with three hours of class room time discussing basic shooting fundamentals and safety, and the use of deadly force. After lunch we went out to the range where we did several basic manipulation sequences dry, then...we went hot...and the shooting began. OK...OK...so at first it was a little boring, firing one shot from an At Ready position into center mass on command. This was so the instructors could diagnose your stance, grip, and trigger manipulation. As I said, this is a basic class, and would be perfect for new shooters. We had a few relatively new shooters in our class and it was fun to watch them increase in skill over the course of the day. By the end of the day we had worked on shooting on the move, moving to shoot, and utilizing cover. Our 'capstone' for the day was a scenario where each shooter started seated and seat belted in the driver's seat of a patrol car. The instructors would start some combination of shooting, yelling, and shaking/beating on the car. The shooter had to get out of the car, and utilize it for cover to take out three different targets from multiple angles.
Defensive Handgun II: No classroom time on this day, no sir...9am on the range and ready to start shooting. There was some turnover in attendance...not everyone had signed up for I and II like I had, and some people came just for II, having taken I previously. This being the case we started with some basic skills assessment. Starting at about 4 yards we would, on command, draw and put lead on paper. Then, reholster and increase the distance. The first several shots were center mass, the last four were head shots from 20+ yards. The goal was all the center mass shots in an open hand sized group, and all head shots on paper...and in the head...obviously. We moved on to more advanced retention techniques...that is...retaining the gun in an extreme close range engagements. We also did asymmetrical shooting positions, one hand manipulations (both primary and support hand)...this wasn't just shooting, but drawing, shooting, and reloading one handed, and fighting from the ground. As the day went on we combined these skills, shooting on the move at multiple targets utilizing both hands, and each hand individually all while moving. There were two 'capstone' events for this day. One was shooting laterally moving targets from cover. This was a pair event where two shooters started standing casually and talking, and once the instructors were convinced you were actually talking to each other the mover would take off, this was your queue to split and each find cover and begin engaging two targets moving laterally. The other event was a rescue simulation...walking to your car with groceries you hear shouting and gun shots and see a small child hurt on the ground between you and a shooter. Dropping your groceries you rush to cover and engage the threat. You run out and pick up the child, run back to cover, and re-engage the target who, at this point, has shown itself to still be a threat.
Summary: Guys, this place is great and I can't recommend them enough. Everyone was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and safe. I probably will not have the opportunity to go back this year, but I'm going to try to make it to their 3 day, ~1000 round Advanced Pistol class in the spring. Oh, I didn't even mention all the other cool stuff they did for some of the students. Some newer shooters hadn't been able to find extra magazines before class, so they just had the two their guns came with. The guys at PFT let those folks borrow magazines from their own guns when they had them. Some of the people didn't have very good holsters, well if the instructors had a spare holster they let the student use it. A lady that was their mentioned that she was thinking about buying a Shield, so one of the instructors let her use his for a few drills. An older gentleman had never shot a Glock, so they found him a loaner to shoot with a little bit to get a feel for it. During breaks, lunch, and before and after the class both days the instructors were more than willing to talk about aspects of the class, guns, or just shoot the breeze about life in general. If I could give people thinking about going to a class one piece of advice it would be this. GO! Don't let your fear of 'not being good enough' stop you. That is why you are going. No one is going to laugh at you, not one person got made fun of either day of my classes, either by instructors, or other students. GO...TO...CLASS...these were my first two classes and I had a great time. If you have any questions feel free to contact me on here or email me at huntertjw@hotmail.com. You can find information about Pat Goodale and his Practical Firearms Training center at www.pgpft.com.
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