My wife and I recently attended a two-day course at Sig Academy in New Hampshire. We are Mass LTC-A holders (concealed carry licenses), and our prior formal training consisted only of the safety course offered by Mass Rifle Association. In summary, we were very satisfied with the Sig Academy course, and plan to take another course there soon.
The course addressed trigger control, accurate shooting (primarily at close distance), drawing and firing, clearing of cover garment prior to draw and upon re-holster, reloading, moving before and after firing, use of cover, and multi-target scenarios. Throughout the course the instructor stressed a 360-degree visual scan after firing to check for additional threats. We fired 300 rounds of ammunition, preceded by about one-half day of instruction.
Our course was about half-full with 8 students. There was a single instructor, though he noted that they usually have two instructors for a full class. I would describe the level of expertise of the average student as similar to my own -- capable of handling a firearm safely, drawing safely from a holster, returning to holster, and reasonably accurate at point shooting and shooting with sights. Gun handling was done in a controlled manner, with guns unpacked and holstered at the firing line, and with guns in-holster at all times other than when instructed to fire. Loading of magazines, including removal of mags and loading while in-holster was fine, but drawing a holstered weapon at any time other than at the line and when instructed to fire was clearly controlled.
Required equipment included a semi-auto handgun, belt mounted holster, extra mags, and mag carriers. I recommend a shooting vest for cover as it is easy to manage during the course, as well as four mag carriers to keep up with reloads. They offer use of their firearms and other equipment though they ask that you clean a gun if you use it.
I used my Sig 239 in .40 while my wife used her Sig 232 in .380 (both have 7 round mags). The rest of the students had larger guns with greater capacity, but we had no problem keeping up, and if anything got a little more practice reloading during firing sequences.
I would very strongly recommend this course for those who carry a firearm. The training was excellent, the Sig Academy facilities are nice, and the instruction addressed practical shooting from a concealed carry perspective.
The course addressed trigger control, accurate shooting (primarily at close distance), drawing and firing, clearing of cover garment prior to draw and upon re-holster, reloading, moving before and after firing, use of cover, and multi-target scenarios. Throughout the course the instructor stressed a 360-degree visual scan after firing to check for additional threats. We fired 300 rounds of ammunition, preceded by about one-half day of instruction.
Our course was about half-full with 8 students. There was a single instructor, though he noted that they usually have two instructors for a full class. I would describe the level of expertise of the average student as similar to my own -- capable of handling a firearm safely, drawing safely from a holster, returning to holster, and reasonably accurate at point shooting and shooting with sights. Gun handling was done in a controlled manner, with guns unpacked and holstered at the firing line, and with guns in-holster at all times other than when instructed to fire. Loading of magazines, including removal of mags and loading while in-holster was fine, but drawing a holstered weapon at any time other than at the line and when instructed to fire was clearly controlled.
Required equipment included a semi-auto handgun, belt mounted holster, extra mags, and mag carriers. I recommend a shooting vest for cover as it is easy to manage during the course, as well as four mag carriers to keep up with reloads. They offer use of their firearms and other equipment though they ask that you clean a gun if you use it.
I used my Sig 239 in .40 while my wife used her Sig 232 in .380 (both have 7 round mags). The rest of the students had larger guns with greater capacity, but we had no problem keeping up, and if anything got a little more practice reloading during firing sequences.
I would very strongly recommend this course for those who carry a firearm. The training was excellent, the Sig Academy facilities are nice, and the instruction addressed practical shooting from a concealed carry perspective.
