One of our employees took her first pistol class this last weekend. These are her thoughts:
Hello all, Autumn here! This past weekend I had the honor of participating in a pistol 1 class at Impact Shooting Center and I truly do not think I can put the experience into words, but I will give it my best shot.
1. What is your prior firearm experience?
Working in the firearms industry, over the past 5 years, I would consider myself street smart when it comes to a firearm, how they work, the components of one, and how to operate the trigger. My range and behind-the-trigger time used to be weekly, about 5 years ago, but that was completely self-taught with the assistance of my sister and brother-in-law; outside of that, I have had very little prior firearm experience. Going into this class I was looking to sharpen what I thought I knew and it turns out it wasn’t as much as I thought.
2. What firearm were you shooting?
I took my Smith & Wesson M&P 9 Shield, with iron sights, to this class and it proved to be a headache, but hey! It’s the gun I am currently carrying so I decided that I should practice with what I’m carrying. This handgun had two magazines, one 7-round magazine, and one 8-round magazine; luckily, another AIM employee showed up and had 3 extra magazines for me to borrow, which definitely helped with how much reloading I had to complete. My other conundrum was that I am left-handed and my handgun is an older model and did not have the capability of switching the mag and slide release.
3. What did you hope to learn going into this class?
All these handicaps aside, going into this class I was really hoping to learn how to be in better control of my firearm and have more confidence behind the trigger. Even though I am comfortable around firearms when it comes to conceal carry I lacked the confidence. So I was hoping that I could gain the confidence and control through some training and instruction.
4. What was your biggest takeaway from the class?
My biggest takeaway was my grip and even though I thought I was holding my firearm the correct way and applying the right amount of pressure, with the correct hand; I was actually not.
5. What area did you improve the most?
My grip and stance are where I improved the most. Shane took a portion of the class to explain the differences between the fight stance and the isosceles stance and how these two stances affect the body’s movement when pushed upon in different directions. Then he took another portion of the class and explained grip and arm extensions and how when you correct your grip and hold your arms out at the right extension, without your arms being locked, you have a more secure grip and are in more control of your firearm. With these couple of little tweaks to what I thought I knew, my shooting became significantly better.
6. Is there anything you thought you would learn but did not?
Shane covered everything and more. I left the class feeling infinitely more knowledgeable than when I went I entered.
7. How do you think the instructors did?
The instructors did awesome! They didn’t let anything get past them; the moment I started slinking back into my old ways they were right there reminding me. My favorite instructor was BFlann Superstar!
8. Are you interested in taking more classes?
I would love to take more classes, I feel like this intro class has given me the desire to grow and become a better shooter. There is nothing more rewarding than a day’s worth of hard work and you see the hard work paying off, just after a few short hours.
9. Do you practice anything you learned in class? Like dry fire or grip?
I have practiced since the class with my grip, but truly I probably have not practiced enough.
10. How did you like your first class?
I loved my first class and am truly grateful for AimSurplus, Bryan, Peter, Josh, and James that pushed me to go and get started past entry-level gun ownership!
