Shotgun Defense Class

[Mossberg Kid]

Just signed up this afternoon for a shotgun defense class at the Gilbert Indoor Range in Rockville, about 3 miles from my house.

Being a noob, I figured it would be a good idea -- and probably a lot of fun.



If anybody has any tips -- what to look for, what to look out for -- I'd appreciate it.

I'll keep you all posted.

-The Mossberg Kid-

 

[Onua]

is it for defense in the home? My girlfriend asked about taking a few NRA courses and has really taken a liking to the 870 platform.

 

[Minuteman]

Training is more important than owning a firearm. Good for you, let us know how you liked the course.

 

[jimbobborg]

Training is more important than owning a firearm. Good for you, let us know how you liked the course.

It's kind of useless to have the training if you don't have a gun to practice with

 

[mcbruzdzinski]

is it for defense in the home? My girlfriend asked about taking a few NRA courses and has really taken a liking to the 870 platform.

Im use the 870 for my NRA shotgun classes as do many of the other NRA instructors.

 

[Mossberg Kid]

I'm not certain the class is for home defense; I'm assuming it is. Either way, I'm sure I'll learn a lot. Looking forward to some more SHOOTING the thing!

 

[Mossberg Kid]

Training is more important than owning a firearm. Good for you, let us know how you liked the course.

I'll definitely keep you all posted. Should be fun.

 

[Mossberg Kid]

Leaving work an hour early today so I can get to my shotgun defense class at the Gilbert Range. I'll see if I can get a few pics snapped while there.

Psyche!

 

[Minuteman]

Cool. Very interested in what you think. Please take a pic or two if no one objects; also would be nice to see their POI (program of instruction), ie. the various parts of the class.

weird, but I kinda feel excited for you; like when I went to my first shotgun class in 198x.

 

[Mossberg Kid]

My Evening at Gilbert Range: Pleasure Out of Chaos

I had quite the enjoyable experience last night during my shotgun class at the Gilbert Indoor Range in Rockville, MD -- in spite of the dynamic on display at the facility. Staff there are always nice, friendly and helpful, but things seemed particularly disorganized and chaotic.

First off, the instructor I was supposed to have arrived late. Then there was confusion because of a lack of adequate class room availability.

Then I learned another shotgun class was to be taught by another instructor at the same time, in addition to all the other people coming in to shoot their various firearms independently. After about another 15 minutes of back-and-forth and a lack of communication to attendees, the second instructor took it upon herself to take all of the other students, including yours truly, into her class.

We were all glad she took the initiative and made an executive decision, and we were all able to proceed.

Fortunately, we had enough room for all of us in the one class room.

It was a good class, based on the National Rifle Association manual. The instructor, Tina Wilson-Cohen, is a certified NRA firearms instructor and training counsel, highly experienced (former Secret Service, former U.S. Air Marshal, former federal firearms instructor) and a good teacher, but it was more of a general intro-to-shotgun kind of class as opposed to the "shotgun defense" class I had signed up for. I was expecting something more advanced, a more strategic, tactical presentation, so we ended up going over a good bit of familiar ground -- certainly NOT her fault.

And she did a good job of displaying a variety of shotguns and explaining their component parts, how they function, what to look for, what to look out for, what to avoid, etc. And she passed each one around, so we could handle them, get a feel for each one and make some comparisons.

Then it was time to shoot. I was the only student who had a shotgun and I brought my Mossberg 500 12g with me, while most of the others were going to shoot a Remington 870, the other shotgun that's so highly recommended for home defense without needing a Greek bailout. We started off in the rifle section of the range with 3 lanes to ourselves, and I was one of the first to shoot, since most of the others had never fired a shotgun before.

The first time I had fired my shotgun, last week, I loaded each slug one at a time, fired, ejected and reloaded. But being that I've got some "snap caps" and have been dry firing (practice firing) every day, I felt ready to take my shooting to the next level, so I just pumped my magazine full of slugs and went after it.

The good news is, I was into it, zeroed in, focused, and pumped those rounds right out, reloaded and repeated. The bad news was, I went through my box of slugs in about a minute or two. Then it was time for others to get their groove on.

So while I'm standing and watching others getting started, I noticed there were more students than guns to shoot, so I went up to Tina, who was providing each student with some one-on-one hands-on instruction, and offered the use of my shotgun to anyone there who had purchased a box of 12g slugs.

Two young women who came to the event together and were firing a shotgun for the first time took me up on my offer and asked me to help get them started. So I did. It was fun sharing with them and helping them out.

They each put up their own targets, fired about 2 slugs, and then took a break, getting used to the kick, then they repeated. I stood nearby, assisting when asked and offering the occasional tip.

They were both appreciative, as was Tina. The next thing I know, they're giving me the gift of an extra box of slugs to fire as a gesture of thanks for letting them use my shotgun. Psyche! So I hurried back out into the shop to snag another target, came back into the range and had another go.

It was awesome to load that bad boy up again nice and full and start pounding those slugs down range. Too bad a box of 10 slugs cost $16 and lasts about a minute of shooting at that pace.

Maybe next time, when I get two boxes again, I'll shoot the first box one slug at a time, then pound the second box like I'm clearing a room in downtown Jihadistan! It's more dynamic and more fun to just pump those shots down range!

Anyway, everybody had a good time and enjoyed themselves. And when they weren't shooting, they were watching the others, asking questions, making comments, and learning along the way.

I asked the two young women who fired my Mossberg how they liked shooting a shotgun and they said they loved it. I asked one if she was intimidated at first, and she said she was -- I doubt a guy would ever admit that -- but that once she fired off a couple of rounds and saw that she could do it, she really enjoyed it. I told her the next time, she'll enjoy it that much more, now that she knows what to expect.

All in all, a pretty good time seemed to be had by all, but I may think twice before I sign up for another class through the range itself. Not that I won't do it. But I will think about it. I paid $75 (not including ammo) and got something other than what I was expecting. Tina was great (and beautiful and intelligent); three thumbs up; she gave me her business card and I told her I'll track her down on Facebook and see what other kind of classes she's offering, her schedule, etc.

Not quite sure what the problem with Gilbert's was. Too few staff? Overbooking? Failure to anticipate a busy night? Inadequate communication? Dunno. Maybe they need to bring some retail sales consultant guru in and evaluate the layout of the front counter area so they can figure out where in the process the bottlenecks occur and why. I'm sure the fact they only have one computerized cash register/terminal is part of the problem, but there's more to it than just that.

Sorry I wasn't able to get any pictures.

 

[Minuteman]

Great account of events, thanks for posting. I'm sorry your experience wasn't as you expected, but any training opportunity is good.

Once I was fortunate enough to attend a formal shotgun training class with Rod Ryan at Storm Mountain. He let me use his personal shotgun and took us through several close quarters drills. Some of his drills involved picking up a 'malfunctioning' shotgun, clearing the problem and shooting it as fast as possible. You can do this drill with snap caps at home. Have someone put the gun in a state that is out of battery or with a snap-cap stuck in the tube, or on the rail or some possible messed up configuration; then you clear it. The more you handle the firearm the more familiar and comfortable you get with it. In the Army we often go days with our weapons, sleeping with them inside our bags, to keep them warm and make sure no one can take it from you. There are some jokes about this common practice, but I'll spare you.

Also, I posted some time ago a huge list of drills I found at another web-site, there might be some shotgun drills on the list you can try (dry fire at home; or live on a range were permitted).

 

[Mossberg Kid]

Great account of events, thanks for posting. I'm sorry your experience wasn't as you expected, but any training opportunity is good.

Once I was fortunate enough to attend a formal shotgun training class with Rod Ryan at Storm Mountain. He let me use his personal shotgun and took us through several close quarters drills. Some of his drills involved picking up a 'malfunctioning' shotgun, clearing the problem and shooting it as fast as possible. You can do this drill with snap caps at home. Have someone put the gun in a state that is out of battery or with a snap-cap stuck in the tube, or on the rail or some possible messed up configuration; then you clear it. The more you handle the firearm the more familiar and comfortable you get with it. In the Army we often go days with our weapons, sleeping with them inside our bags, to keep them warm and make sure no one can take it from you. There are some jokes about this common practice, but I'll spare you.

Also, I posted some time ago a huge list of drills I found at another web-site, there might be some shotgun drills on the list you can try (dry fire at home; or live on a range were permitted).

Thank you, Minuteman. I'll do a search for those drills and see if I can absorb them. So much to learn.

 

[Buck]

It's kind of useless to have the training if you don't have a gun to practice with

haha! I swear I was thinking the same thing. Training is primo, but it is key to have the tool to be able to use it.