Has anyone here taken any training from Mike Reilly? I'm looking at taking a defensive pistol class from him with some friends and am wondering if anyone has feedback.

If anyone has any other formal pistol training suggestions in MN/WI for a few poor college students, I'd love to hear them!

No comment (experience) about the fellow above by the OP..  But, I will tell you that you will not find a finer trainer / educator then Sully at Defensive Edge.  He can work with all skill levels in the same class, and have everyone walk away a better shooter and with a lot of quality repetitions on a range where you can draw.  The best money you will spend!  Taken both range classes and armorer classes, NEVER DISAPPOINTED.

but does Sully at Defensive Edge have a big, fluffy, teddy bear dog samoyed at his place of business? No? Arnzen does!

Well, unfortunately canines do not instruct human beings in firearms handling.  So that pretty much trumps that smart ass remark!

Mike Reilly
Manager

Mike had his first gun when he was 6 years old and keeps on adding. An NRA certified instructor with 20 years of Martial Art instruction experience, Mike's passion is for self defense firearms and helping others learn how to safely and responsibly defend themselves. Mike believes “self defense is more then a right, it is a responsibility. The first step to a world without criminals is to create a world without easy victims.” Mike helps people find guns that fit their needs, their lifestyles; guns they will love. Outside of the shop Mike is a dedicated powerlifter and competes in several charity events each year.

Too many dipsticks were at the last sully class for me to ever go back.
But I guess that is how some instructors like to run their classes.

I got less out of that event than watching videos from Thunder Ranch.

Their money and jaw-jacking means more to sully than others.

That's the first time I ever heard a bad word about him or his classes.

I took one of his classes from his associate way back when CCW was first passed & it was a good class, but I don't have any experience since then with him.

What class was this at?

What did Sully say when you talked to him about it?

I took my CCW class with Mike Reilly. Nice guy. Learned a lot from him, got one on one training during the range portion of the class, drawing to fire, shooting while moving. All the range time was at the MN horse and hunt club.

Yup, that was me with my Cx4 and it ran w/o an issue the whole time I was there.
I took classes later on from him. But same group of childish behavior was on display. I gave up sharing the line with class clowns with loaded firearms at hand.

You might also remember I had one of the class clowns grab the Px4 out of my holster while I was on the line to prove some silly point. That is about as unprofessional and dangerous a stunt as I have ever seen.




I don't see how my not going back for a 2nd day of class is relevant. I've been to 3 classes since that time. It was the last class with more clowns that ended it for me.

If you really want to know, I didn't go back for the 2nd day because we were up all night with my 2 week old daughter.  
I didn't think being in a class with live ammo and zero sleep was safe for others or myself.

I talked to Sully and his assistant. No refund was provided.

Never said I had a problem with him or his class instruction skills or the way the material is presented. Quite the contrary and if you look at ARFCOM archives, I've posted lots of positive things about his skills.

My concern is that many times, people become a distraction during the class and show how immature they can be with live rounds in the chamber. And letting thst type of crap go on takes away from others trying to learn.