Meeting and Maintaining Acceptable Standards

We recently modified our Basic Pistol 2 course to offer a two-hour version that serves 3 functions: Basic Pistol 2 The BP2 course is the class we recommend for people that know how to shoot, but have never had a formal handgun course where fundamentals were taught in depth, and/or have never shot on a …

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Small Gun class data 2019-2020

Each year at the start of summer I offer a small gun oriented defensive pistol class.  The intent of the course is to provide an opportunity for people to practice with the smaller gun that is more convenient to carry in the hot weather.  Use of pocket holsters, purses, fanny packs, and any other mode …

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1980 American Pistol Institute (Gunsite) class notes

Another artifact from Bob Hanna – notes from classes he attended at the American Pistol Institute (aka Gunsite) in 1980 and 1981. Here’s their recommended twice-a-month practice drill. API dry practice drill. Another practice drill. The advanced practice drill. Turning draws were emphasized a lot more in courses (and matches) in the 1980’s than they …

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SIG Pistol Mounted Optics Instructor Course AAR

On June 18-19, 2020, KR Training instructor Sean Hoffman and I attended a session of the SIG Academy’s Pistol Mounted Optics Instructor course. The class was a mix of private sector and law enforcement trainers. It was held at the famous Gunsite facility in Paulden, Arizona. I picked this particular session of the class to …

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Split the Difference drill

Recently trainer Bob Jewell sent me a new drill & target he developed, called the “Split the Difference” drill. It’s 11 rounds, shot from 3 or 5 yards on a variety of numbered dots. You shoot the dots in order, firing two shots on all the shaded dots (1, 3, 6, 7) and one shot …

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Three Seconds or a LOT less, Maximum Speed

When we were developing the “Three Seconds or Less” test, one of the concerns was making each of the strings of the test roughly equal in difficulty. We enlisted the help of a couple of very fast shooters, K. Clark (multi-time winner of the Rangemaster Tactical Conference shooting match), and national champion Ben Stoeger, to …

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Shooting the Georgia state police qualification course of fire

Lee Weems of First Person Safety recently shared the current Georgia state police qualification course of fire, and sent me a few of the SQT A-1 targets to use. The course of fire was designed for both semiauto and revolver, so all mags are loaded to 6 rounds, and the reload times are quite generous. …

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The KRT Target Series

Over the past few years we have developed three targets for use in classes. This post shares downloadable images of those targets that you can print out and use. KRT-1 The KRT-1 is mainly used for the 16x16x16 drill. You can buy full size copies from Action Target, but if you want to print a …

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The new NRA CCW class

Over the October 11-14, 2019 long weekend I and KR Training instructors John Daub and Tracy Thronburg got certified as instructors in the new NRA CCW course. The training was conducted by Tiffany Johnson and Aqil Qadir from the Citizens Safety Academy. Tiff and Aqil are also Rangemaster certified instructors in addition to being NRA …

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Jeff Cooper’s First Article

Here is a scanned copy of Jeff Cooper’s first published article, from the Marine Corps Gazette, in Sept 1946. Titled “What Good Is A Pistol?”, it discusses pistol training and caliber selection. Highlights: Cooper comments that the semiauto pistol be redesigned to have more slant and a slight curve — essentially describing the difference between …

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The “Reloading Pause” Fallacy

Since the 1990’s, gun control advocates have insisted that reduced capacity magazines (limited to 10 rounds) were “safer”. The most recent set of talking points relate to active shooter incidents. The claim is that by requiring the active shooter to reload more often, this creates an operational “pause” in which untrained, unarmed people can rush …

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The 16x16x16 drill

The 16x16x16 drill: 16 rounds at 16 feet within 16 seconds, onto a KRT-1 Target. To set up, divide 16 rounds between two magazines; it does not have to be 8 and 8, in fact it’s encouraged to have an unknown and varying round count between the two magazines. Load the gun with one of …

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Shooting the Dallas PD qualification course of fire

Force Science recently published a study looking at performance by Dallas PD in 149 officer-involved shooting incidents.  Several trainers, including Tom Givens (Rangemaster), have commented on the data in the study.  The full link to the study is here. One issue peripheral to the study is the qualification course of fire used by Dallas PD.  …

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