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! 

Sometimes I like to switch it up and carry something other than my normal m&p setup. Today was one of those days.

Let’s start at the top left, arguably the most important part of the carry. The black cold brew coffee. It fuels the soul. Then you have my HellBent front pocket wallet and my keys. We have some AimSurplus grape chapstick. My Hellbent “bottle opener”. Kershaw Shuffle 2 knife so I don’t have to worry about breaking or losing an expensive knife plus they are nice. Front and center we have my LV ghetto camo print holster from NorthCoast Tactical and that is holding my STI 2011 4.0 Tactical that is ported and an SRO. The only things you really need.

-Cano

This past weekend a group of AIM employees got to hang out and shoot some guns at Impact Shooting Center. 2 of us took the class. Pete helped teach and earned the 3rd ever Impact Shoot 2 patch! The infamous Josh Vance took awesome pictures of everyone. Bryan helped instruct and almost died from the heat. I helped when needed, shot a little, and then brought 4 guns home at lunch to repair before class ended.

If you are new to pistols or it’s been a while and you want a refresher, take a class with Shane. You will leave a better shooter, fully comfortable with your firearm and part of a shooting community.

Here are some pictures that I took:

And here are pictures from Josh Vance that are real pictures.

-Cano

There was a meeting at work with the fancy kids. The Flux Raider boys brought their toys to work.

The flux brace takes a sig p320 and makes it into a cool little setup that is giving you the third point of contact, making your pistol shoot more like a rifle.

This lets you have a cool little backpack setup and it’s a Sig that will run reliably so you do not have to worry about it.

-Cano

Do you hate Josh Vance? You should. Most people do. It’s a lifestyle #Ihatejoshvance

Here is his EDC:

Josh is always shooting pictures whether you want him to or not. kidding… kind of… He’s got his Canon on him ready to go.

He’s got his trusty Glock 19x with SRO, Apex Trigger, and x300 wrapped in a Tier1 Axis Elite.

His Kizer knife and Streamlight flashlight keep him ready at all times.

I enjoy most his Wendy’s frosty card. you never know when you need a frosty and having this card makes sure you will get one for free.

We have a ton of the colors from Lancer. Really great quality mags but also a great way to change up the color scheme and have some fun with your setups. I personally use Lancer mags to designate my subsonic .300 blackout rounds from supers. I pick up a Lancer I know it’s subsonic, but I still check to make sure because why not.

We also have a smoke, clear, and FDE Translucent but they don’t look as cool in the picture. Check em out!

-Cano

I say gun but technically it is 3 guns. The same model just different versions of the gun. The PW MK1 Mod 2-M features the PWS long-stroke piston system. While the internals are the same as other PWS lines, the MK1 MOD 2-M offers a variety of features exclusive to this line.

The handguard features a cool setup on the bottom rail that will allow for pic rail or Mlok attachments. They have a fully forged upper and lower but have eliminated the forward assist and added a flared magwell and trigger guard. This gun is built to be a tack driver that is perfect for all uses.

Currently, we are carrying it in 3 sizes.

Super cool setups where you don’t really need to add anything other than an optic and you are ready to have some fun.

-Cano

Ammo isn’t hard to find anymore, you better be out there training! I want to start showing some of the drills the guys at AIM run every time we go shoot. Not that we are the best out there, but we put in the work to get better every week. I would put us up against any gun shop around their top 5 vs our top 5 and I like our chances.

This one will humble you, You can be shooting your best all day and then run this and hate it. This is the Tier 1 Concealed Three 7’s Drill.

It’s not overly complicated but you do have to be on your game to run it clean. The instructions for this drill are on the target but here they are:

This drill is to be completed at a distance of 7 yards, drawing from concealment, totaling 7 shots, within 7 seconds.

The shooter will draw and place one shot in the upper left 1” circle, transition to the upper right 2” circle, and place two shots inside it. The shooter will then conduct a slide lock reload and put three shots in the bottom left 3” circle, then transition to the 3” bottom right 1” circle and place one shot inside. 1”

This drill works on your accuracy, throttle control, weapon manipulation, and recoil management. Any shots breaking the line are considered in.

I always try to run it clean and then worry about the time after but as soon as I get halfway clean I speed up thinking I finally got it. Nope.

Test yourself. Push yourself to blend everything it takes to run this. Here is the link to their downloads where you can also get their cold start drill as well.

https://www.tier1concealed.com/pages/three-sevens-drill

-Cano

In 2007, Magpul Industries Launched Magpul Dynamics, a firearms training division focused on developing firearms manipulation skills. Magpul Dynamics changed the whole world of firearms training world at a fundamental level.

In 2008, they launched a series of DVDs different from prior instructional DVDs. These were actual classes with people making unscripted mistakes and how they are corrected. Prior to this, nobody was really doing anything like that.

If you have not seen them, check them out. After that find the guys in the video and take classes with them in real life, it will change your shooting game instantly.

Here is a link to an interview with one of the OG’s Chris Costa:

Chris Costa Reflects on “The Art of the Tactical Carbine”

-Cano

Some sweet surplus ammo just came in. First up is the Brazilian CBC M193 5.56x45mm Brass Case and it comes in 1000 round cases inside a .50 cal ammo can. Standard Ball cartridge equivalent to M193.

The other ammo we got in is Greek 8mm Mauser 198GR.

This is surplus over-run Greek 8mm rifle ammunition. It is a 198 Grain LC FMJBT bullet in a 20 rd box. It IS Corrosive. It is packaged 48boxes to a case or 960rds to a case.

Always trying to get the cool stuff for you guys! Pay attention to our website and if something you want is out of stock, sign up for product alerts!

Have a good weekend ya knuckleheads!

-Cano