This past week I had a chance to attend a handgun training course offered by Condition 1 firearms academy. The two main instructors were Justin Coyle and Darryl McCreary. Also in attendance for training were Andrew Gervais of Liberty Tactical Supply, Frank Maschhoff Jr and Zach Hall all very experienced shooters and great instructors. It was an incredible experience. The class was aimed at the beginner shooter to get them comfortable handling a firearm and a preparation for a handgun safety course. It was taught with the premise that the students had no previous training.
This will be my second experience of professional firearms training. The first one was for my Carry permit at Guns and Leather. I did enjoy the class highly but the cheap price drew a large turnout and made one on one training time limited. With the condition 1 class the restriction of 15 students with five instructors gave a plenty of 1 on 1 training.
The class began with setting up totes for firearms to reduce any possible accidents from holsters and to make things more organized. Darryl began with a quick rundown of basic safety rules and range rules for the day. He then tossed it off to Justin on proper stance, grip and trigger pull. Not having grown up with firearms I of course learned to shoot from movies. Which meant I sucked. Badly. I know this and am making ever attempt to get proficient. Condition 1 teaches the isosceles shooting stance. Which is feet shoulder length apart with gun-side foot slightly forward. The knees have a slight bend in them and you lean forward. The phrase that was repeated was “nose over toes”.
Condition 1 differs from everything else I’ve ever heard and DO NOT preach squeezing of the trigger. They advocate a pressing of the trigger. Squeezing is a whole hand motion whereas when pulling the trigger you only want the trigger finger pressing the trigger not the whole hand grip. They taught to press with the fat part of the finger tip. Trigger follow through was covered as well. To press the trigger back all the way then leave it there will you require your target then let out just enough for the trigger to engage. Those two tips alone greatly improved my shooting. As long as I focus on trigger control and follow through my shooting vastly improves.
We shoot in relays for about three hours almost going through 100 rounds. They had some very creative shooting exercises to help us learn and get comfortable. Everyone left that day shooting 100% better than when we go there. The group that showed up was a great bunch of guys and ladies. Including my good friends Mike and James from Skillsandgear.com I only wish the class would have gone longer. If you are in the Tennessee area and want some amazing firearms training go check them out. I can say for a fact that I will be taking many more classes offered by Condition 1 in the future.
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