AAR: Concealed and Off-Duty Pistol (David Pennington)

[ToddG]

subzero -- That's the Basic Mag Carrier from Custom Carry Concepts.

M4arc -- I use a prototype leather appendix holster from Garrity's Gunleather and one of the BMCs listed above. No issues with either. I also had a Ruger LCP in a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster, though I only shot it a couple of times during the class.

[ToddG]

Guys, I shot Scott Warren an email about the experience many of us had ripping up our leather gear at Dave's class this weekend. As I thought, he's of the opinion that the sharp edges on his sight are a better trade-off than compromising on performance for the sake of comfort and keeping our gear pretty. Here was his response:

Todd, thanks for the feedback. When using Warren Tactical sights, PLEASE remember that they were designed, not by a casual shooter, not by a machinist, not by some businessmen, all of whom are motivated by producing products purely for profit. They were designed by a serious tactician, who does excel in the competitive arena, but whose heart and mind are directed towards keeping those who work in the real world and on the job alive and well. At a true tactical or defense time, when you have to conduct that one handed slide manipulation drill, you will come to love those sharp edges, knowing that they will not fail you as you cycle the slide with your only one good hand. Then you will be able to deliver those well placed rounds into your attacker(s). Further and just as important, remember those sharp edges were not designed for the fashion minded.

Over the past few years, I've also ripped up and punctured some concealment garments practicing those same drills because of the Warren sights. But the reality is, better to rip up a golf shirt than discover during a Bad Time that you can't rack the slide one-handed (which is a definite problem with the current stock M&P sights). For myself, I'm just going to use a Wilderness belt and throw-away concealment shirt for classes like these in the future. I'd rather ruin some dedicated training gear than walk around with equipment that won't actually do what I need it to do under worst case scenarios. YMMV.

[John Frazer]

Looks like a good class.

Question, are the Warren sights sharper somewhere than the Heinie Straight Eight or Slant Pro?

[John_Wayne777]

(which is a definite problem with the current stock M&P sights).

You ain't just whistlin' Dixie....

Try doing a one handed slide rack on a 1911 with a 20 pound recoil spring and Novak sights.

[30 cal slut]

This is one I really wish I could have taken. Unfortunately I just had too much important stuff going on this weekend.

If Dave offers this class again in 2009 it's one I'm going to put on my "to do" list.

+1

Dave is top-notch, I'm gonna put this on my training calendar for 2009.

Todd, thanks for the AAR.

[DrMark]

All,

Thanks for taking the time to post detailed AARs like this. It's a big help to those of us who don't get to train as much as we'd like to.

BTW, David Pennington was the lead instructor of a 10-8 class I took in 2006, and I wholeheartedly agree with the comments that he's an excellent instructor.

Mark

[TOrrock]

We also had a mini AK clinic for yrac and Dinger.

[David Pennington]

Thanks for all of the kind comments. I really enjoyed seeing everyone and, as always with these classes, learned some new things myself.

[DocGKR]

Sounds great. If you ever come out to the west coast, I'd love to take a class with you.

[subzero]

Forgot to mention, during the night shoot we shot various brands of 9mm and 38 sp defensive ammo. I was particularly surprised that Golden Saber 124+p threw a lot less muzzle flash than I thought it would, after shooting 45 ACP 230gr Golden Saber at night and seeing a basketball sized flame.

9mm TAP, Golden Sabre, Ranger and Gold Dots all seemed to be about even in terms of how much muzzle flash they threw. None seemed far off from the flash shown by 115gr ball 9mm.