Month: August 2024

I’d like to start off by saying this is the first time I’ve ever taken a shooting course, so whether my opinion is valid on this subject is up to you. But during my time here at Aim Surplus I’ve gotten to talk with several co-workers who have taken classes and have been able to form expectations for myself. I recently got a chance to take the pistol essentials class at Impact Shooting Center, here are my thoughts. 

We started the first day off by working on the base fundamentals including Grip, Trigger, and sights; over the course of that day, I was able to improve greatly with my recoil management and trigger preparation due to Shane’s (one of the instructors) help. His biggest mantra was that every method he showed was “a way and not the way” and if he found that it wasn’t working for you he’d apply the attention and guidance to find what would. I can say that every student in my class including me had made a considerable improvement from the baseline we set that morning. 

On our second day we continued progressing the skills we learned by running some harder drills and even running a mock USPSA-style course, which was a blast. We got to participate in multiple challenges competing against each other for prizes provided by Aim Surplus and Make Ready Firearms adding some pressure to the drills.  

When I came into this I was a mediocre handgun shooter at best, I had a vague idea of the fundamentals with no clue on how to train properly or what I needed to work on. After taking this class I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge on both subjects that I can now apply on my trips to the range. This was all thanks to Shane and Brian, both were amazing instructors who had a massive amount of great information. During the running of this course, they gave very good demonstrations of drills giving everyone the chance to work on them until we moved on to a new section of the training. The class was a smaller one, giving both instructors the chance to work one on one with all the students and guaranteeing that everyone was able to improve. 

Near the end of the first day, we got to shoot Shanes standard which was 10 shots at 7 yards at a 3×5 card. The challenge consisted of breaking up the 10 shots into groups of 2 all from a draw, the goal was to get your 5 groups under 9 seconds combined and all clean of course. All of the students got a chance to take a crack at it and then we got to watch Shane and Brain attempt it. If you are able to complete it within the standards set you earned a black hat patch. 

In conclusion, I am very grateful to have been able to take this class. I was able to learn so much and I think everyone else who I took it with would say the same thing. I’d highly recommend this class to anyone of any skill level, I guarantee you will walk away with improvements and new skills to work on. I want to give a huge thanks to Brian and Shane for letting me participate, and if I get a chance to take this again I will in a heartbeat, it’s worth every dollar and more. 

Throughout my time working here at aimsurplus, I have had several amazing opportunities. I have had the chance to go to events like the NRA convention in Indianapolis, in which I got to learn a lot about the industry I work in (not to mention the Brazilian steakhouse). On top of that, I had the opportunity to take a SOLGW AR-15 Armorer course with Toren, in which I learned an in-depth understanding of the AR platform. My most recent experience was getting to take a pistol class down at Impact Shooting Center.

The class that we took was the Impact Essential Pistol class, and as the name would imply, this was a beginner-level class, with an emphasis on the basics. For some context, I have been “shooting” for a hot second. Over the past year, I have been dipping my toes in the competitive shooting scene. That being said, I was not necessarily going into the class blind, but I soon figured out that I still had a lot to learn.

Shooting with Shane was an experience unlike anything I have ever had before. I could tell immediately that this was not his first rodeo. Shane of course is a phenomenal shooter, but perhaps an even better teacher. Shane taught in a way that was so easy to understand. He was also a very humble teacher. He never made any statement implying that his way was the only way something could be done. He actually did the opposite. For pretty much every subject that we covered, we were introduced to a variety of different perspectives from some of his friends Donovan Moore with Point 1 Tactics &  Scott Jedlinski from Modern Samurai Project. It was super helpful to see all of the different thoughts and perspectives on things like target transitions, different training styles, and much more. 

Overall, It was a great refresher for me. I have been shooting for a bit now, but I left that class feeling a much deeper understanding of myself as a shooter. The problems that I need to work on, and how to identify new ones. Being able to look at my groups and break down why each shot landed the way it did, and what I need to do to fix it, is truly an amazing thing. I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to take this class, and super stoked that I got to meet some amazing people.