Any good beginners courses in NC? I'm thinking it's time for me to try one
Google turns up some, just not sure if their any good

You might want to be a bit more specific.  Handgun, long gun, self defense, competition shooting, concealed carry, basic gun safety, or a combination of these?

What area are you located in?

Have you spotted any in particular that peak your interest?

Would like to start with a carbine course.

Currently living in Apex, found one down near Salisbury named "Defensive Concepts" but I want to make sure it would be a course worth the time and money.

I took Carbine 1 with Defensive Concepts. It was a good introductory carbine course. It started out pretty slow, mainly because several students were very very new to rifles, with some jam-o-matic rifles and malfunctioning optics thrown in. But I learned a good bit. 

I would have taken more courses with them had it not been for a serious money crunch. 

Many (most?) of the courses offered by Defensive Concepts are in Carthage NC, which is a straight shot down US1 from Apex, probably about 45 minutes or less. One of the owners also posts here regularly.

@NCPatrolAR

You rang?


Thanks for the plug guys. All of the remaining open enrollment classes for 2017 are scheduled for Carthage NC. Salisbury is the where our PO Box is ;)

Another plug for Defensive Concepts. I've taken beginning thru night shoot house classes with them.  I really like the fact I get solid instruction for a reasonable fee. They tailor the classes based on the skill level of the attendees which is good, too.

It is good to attend classes from several trainers for different views, methods, etc. From Apex there are a lot of classes fairly close in the Fayetteville and Southern Pines area.

DCNC is GTG. Good guys and solid training!

Don't forget courses with John McPhee at SOB Tactical.  Classes are in the Sanford area (~45 minutes from Apex).  I've heard really good things about his classes and it is an opportunity to learn from a legend.  A little pricey, but sounds worthwhile.  I'm signed up for an upcoming carbine course in a few weeks and will post a review after it.

https://gunfighteru.com
http://sobtactical.com

This guy travels around doing classes, I like his videos on YouTube so I figured I'd give him a shot when he gets to Charlotte in September.

https://warriorpoetsociety.us

Perhaps one day, we can all do a weekend retreat where he teaches us more advanced stuff.

Interested in some of this.

Does anyone in NC do any knife/blade training?

Proshots in a Rural Hall has a knife class with karambits that I enjoyed, but I have t gotten around to buying a real one.

I took the information of the people I took the class with and tried to start a group where we would get together and continue practicing, but it never materialized.

A true shame since everyone there clearly needed more training than just one class... and yes I include me.

I'm taking a class with John in a couple of month for long range shooting, to strech my 6.5 Creed out 

Has anyone tried Frontline Defense?

Frontline Defense

Thank you for posting my sites link.

to the OP please let me know if I can help in any way.

OK, I have changed gears when it comes to shooting at the moment. I finally picked up a RPR in 6.5 Creedmore and want to stretch it out. Problem is I have never really done any long range shooting beyond 2-300yards. I see Frontline(someone posted them above) offers a long range course, but someone recommended BangSteel in VA. Anyone have any input on either?

Bang Steel offers a two day course for $400 (up to six people in the class) or a one on one single day for $360
Frontline is $300 for an 8 hour class, up to 8 people

I took a bangsteel course.

Pros:
Targets out to 1,100 yards.
Plenty of target selection.
Pretty much all unknown distance until you range them.
Expert spotting and advice on wind calls
Decent "chalk talk" prior to getting to the range, but that's about where the instruction ended

Cons:
Not really much instruction -- starts off with a theoretical discussion of concepts you can read about in applied ballistics or other tome, but after that it's really just a shooting session with spotting services.

Back to pros:
$360 for a supervised shooting session is a decent price. Wytheville, VA is 2.5 hours from me vs. 3.5 hours for Frontline. If I lived closer to Frontline I think a membership there would be better.

I just finished pistol 2 and rifle 2 this weekend with guest instructor John Lovell from Warrior Poet Society. Courses were hosted by Spec Train out in Monroe, NC.

I got my butt handed to me SOOOOOO much, but considering some of my competition were SWAT officers and one Marine sniper, I am kinda not surprised or upset.

I came away knowing more than I did before I arrived, but with definite knowledge that I need improvement. If the North Koreans invade, you better have a few others to rely on before me.... I'm not A-team, let's just say I'm in the first half of the alphabet and leave it at that.

If you are a police officer, Lovell is offering a special class on "one man room clearing" you should check out. Considering Mr. Lovell is a former 75th ranger member, I'm inclined to believe he knows his craft well, and what I saw this weekend proved that.

You should probably attend these classes expecting to not be tier one, but to be able to learn and practice on your own time. Don't just take the class and leave it for months.

Hope this helps Spec Train as they are some really nice guys and their range setup is exquisite.