Pardon my stupidity with technology .... this is a Thumbs up Gif to R_S' last post

A lot of people prefer the illusion of capability to the reality of having to build actual capability.


Take a look at the things someone can just buy-  A reliable handgun, 3-6 mags, 2k rounds, 2x basic holsters (one IWB, one OWB), a good mag pouch, a good belt, a range bag, powered ear pro, eye pro...


How many shooters actually have all of that?  You would be shocked at the "gun guys" who don't have that and therefore can't do a basic class.  


Now, factor in that once you start using the gear, you find that a lot of it sucks and breaks, so you need better and more...and you find out that your pistol needs work or you bought something stupid and need to buy a new one...and guys just don't care enough to do it.  They toss it in the glove box and call it good enough.  


Comfortable illusions of capability are what most gun owners desire.  Training exposes uncomfortable truth about things like physical fitness, equipment, skill limitations, threats, vulnerabilities...and so on.


Everyone can pretend to be John Wick...and keep up that illusion, so long as they don't test themselves.  

My step Dad was retired Army but I never saw or heard of him firing a weapon. When he died my Mom asked me to get his gun from night stand.
It was a chrome 1911, full mag. I don't know what he lubed it with but combined with years of dust the slide was so gummed it would hardly move.
No way this was ready to be used for home defence, doubt it would fire. I unloaded and told mom to give it to Step Dad's Daughter's Son who was in Navy.

I'm wondering if there is a reason Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch was not included in OP's list?  It is very possible that there are so many really good instructors that listing them all would be similar to trying to list all the good gunsmiths and remember them all by name.

I'm not sure why the OP didn't include Thunder Ranch.... I know they are on my list of destination training sites I would love to attend.

Based on your statement about the possibility of good instructors and listing them..... this is why I mentioned it would be good for those of us who actually get out and train to find the reputable trainers within our own relative geographical areas and start referring our friends and neighbors to them.  Get those people out to local classes.... as they get the urge to seek out additional training, then hopefully they will begin to open their scope of view to places farther away.

I'm always on the look out for more training.

My local range is awesome, Elite Shooting Sports, and they have a bunch of training classes but they're never scheduled.  I asked about it and they said they can't get enough instructors.

Some of the folks that train the Special Operations Community:

Rogers Shooting School

Shaw Shooting

Bill Roger's indicated that he trained Navy SEALs since the 1980's under a non-disclosure agreement for at least 20 years, so that SPECOPS would have an advantage.

His standards include hitting a head sized target at 10 yards, from the ready position in 0.5 seconds.  

Friend was a certified firearms instructor.  He enjoys training.

I'm impressed at those among us who continue to train actively and frequently over multiple decades.  I spent a period of about 15 years when I attended a lot of classes and taught some classes, but the rest of life started to wear me out.  I can still do most of what I could do before, but almost all of it is a lot slooooooooowwwwwerrrrrrrr . . . and more deliberate thinking is involved.

I really do need to do some training but I'm not sure who would be a good choice without driving out of state to one of the places I see recommended here or on YT.  I'd hate to drop a grand or more to find I'm with some idiot and some of the places are so "tactical timmy" that it screams poser to me.  I'll have to do some more research and make a mission to take some in the first half of next year, one pistol and one carbine course.

NRA and Appleseed are affordable and offer training nationwide.  That's where I started.

Like most things, frequency and recency of training matter to firearms.  Almost no one had the time and money to shoot at the range every day.  Few shoot every week.

But you can dryfire at home for 15 minutes every day.  It costs nothing and is convenient.  It's what Paul Howe recommends.

But it costs effort and time!  Dry practice has to compete with sleeping in the recliner while pretending to watch television.

I was just like most at first.   Bought my first gun.   Hit the range.  Got a permit to carry a few months later.   Figured if the state gave me my gunfighter card then I be good to go, so strapped on my gun and started carrying.    ...   I was still at the point of figuring out why my Glock always seemed to shoot 3-4" left.  Scary times looking back.  I was oblivious to the walking disaster i was as I think most undertrained or overconfident people are.  

But a few months later I realized I should probably become a little better if I was carrying this huge liability around everyday.   So I took a HG1 class at the local range where I took my permit class.  Learned a 4 step draw, reloads, malfunctions, support hand shooting etc.  Cool.  Now I'm set, right?  Over a year goes by.  Took another, learned some more stuff I didn't know I didn't know.   Cool.   HG3 next.  I'm getting really good, I thought!  LoL.

Class 3 is when the lights turned on for me!  I learned I was still awful and I didn't know anywhere near even half of what I needed.  Why?  Because I was fortunate enough that this place stuck us into force on force scenarios with Simunitions.   I learned really quick how those square range skills I thought I was getting decent at did not automatically get applied when needed under stress.   I saw firsthand that the lowest level of training I reverted to was abysmal.  I knew I had to get much better on and off the range if I actually was going to carry a gun around.   So I set out to pursue improvements.    

This past year I only had a single 2 day class.  Tough year for me with training between ammo and home repair expenses piling up so it's been the lightest in a while.  But I will get back to it hard in the next year or two when expenses settle down.   Since 2015 I've managed over 500 in class training hours in various disciples.   Expanded out from the local range classes to quality state and regional instructors.   I have since trained with MDFI, Sentinel Concepts, Centrifuge Training, Dark Angel Medical, Sage Dynamics, Modern Samurai Project, Haley Strategic, Handgun Combatives and others.   Funny thing about it though is the more I train and the better I get, the more I realize how much more I need to get proficient in.  Having the blinders removed to how much skill is really needed is both enlightening and frightening.  Where I was at when I first started carrying a gun scares me beyond words.  

Most won't ever train.   I took my permit class with a buddy.  9 years later his additional training hours are still at zero.

I shot next to a lady who was there to get her range time in for her 5 year renewal of her permit last year.   I had to show her how to open the cylinder on her carry revolver.   She couldn't hit paper on a full size silhouette with it at 3 yards.

I shoot with another buddy most weeks. He always wants the "bullet points" I take back from training yet can't commit to taking a single class with me.   I got him to sign up for one once but he couldn't say no to work the day before so cancelled.  That was going on 4 years ago but I'm still trying with him.    I think he is really afraid of being bad, even though I'm getting him to be pretty good at least compared to most of the general fodder at the range.

I wish everyone would get out to train but it is never going to happen.  You can't buy skill, but you can buy the time of people who will teach you skills.   Unfortunately most would rather blow money on yet another gun or gadget and then spend a day taking pictures of it for social media before spending that investment on training to actually improve.

I'll be headed to rangemaster next year, it was recommended by several people.

Reasons why people don't train:
1.  Don't know they need it
2.  Don't want to admit they suck
3.  Costs too much
4.  Don't have the time.

Moreso the first two.

Great insight!  Thank you for sharing.

The Dunning–Kruger Effect: On Being Ignorant of One's Own Ignorance



Mosby's classic article on the subject:
Why We Suck, And How To Fix That

Pass this out to your friends, John Correia of Active Self Protection has a webinar on making training resolutions for the new year.

https://activeselfprotection.com/shop/2022-training-resolutions/