RPGI Day into Night Handgun/PCC Course Review
I attended a Day into Night Handgun/PCC course ran by RPGI at Southern Tactical in Holt, FL this last weekend and wanted to give a quick review for those interested in getting some good training at a good price here in the panhandle.
A quick, non-inclusive, background of our instructor, Brendan. He has lots of real-world experience within the military. Along with that, he strives to improve himself every way possible and has trained with multiple champion competition shooters. He combines both practical and competition experience in a very professional manner to bring the students the best possible information and makes sure everyone who attends one of his classes leaves the range better than they were when they got there. Now onto the course itself.
The intent of the course was to increase proficiency with a weapon mounted light on either a handgun or PCC. This was the basis of the course but we covered so much more. There were 5 students, 3 of us were running handguns and 2 were running PCCs. We kicked off the class at 5pm with a safety brief and a quick rundown of the main topics we were going to cover that night. After introductions and getting the administrative stuff out of the way we began discussing gear and weapon setup. We went over what upgrades are good to have and what are just aesthetic.
Now it was time to get down to the shooting. We all started off by individually shooting at a steel plate 50 yards away. This let us really focus on our fundamentals while letting Brendan simultaneously examine our fundamentals and weapons handling before really getting started. After this we moved over to some silhouette targets and began working single shot draws for the handgun shooters and ready positions for the PCC shooters. We did this to see how everyone was doing getting the same grip and getting a sight picture. Brendan used this time to correct each shooters’ posture and help identify where efficiencies could be created. He covered the draw stroke and the ‘why’ it is usually broken into four parts. Breaking it up allows an individual to work on the part they may have issues with before putting it all together. We then added multiple shots to check for proper grip. We were pushed to get outside our normal speed level and then reined in to keep all shots within a standard size IPSC A-zone.
Following this we began target transitions. We discussed how to move your eyes first then the firearm to properly identify and engage the subsequent targets. This was done with a mixture of paper and steel targets.
From here on we started getting some fast-paced shooting. A stage was set up and we were given a few minutes to decide the best way to shoot it. We then went one by one for a couple of iterations to see how we did on the timer. We then built upon this stage and added in some more complexity. The key to completely a stage quickly was figuring out how to move efficiently while being able to engage as fast as feasible while still keeping A-zone hits. After running the stage a couple times each, we discussed tips and tricks to try in the future to speed ourselves up or shave off time by moving or planning better at the beginning.
I was having a good time before but when the lights went out, I really started having a blast and learned as much as I could through the garden hose of knowledge.
We started by conducting some draws and cadence shooting at a steel target to get a feel for turning on your weapon light and seeing how different it is shooting under night time conditions. If you haven’t done this before I highly recommend. Shooting at night or in a dark area can be a whole different ballgame if you haven’t done it before.
We then moved over to the plate rack and ran it for time from the draw while manipulating our weapon lights. This was a good intro into target transitions. After some iterations of proper technique for transitioning between multiple targets we got right back into running some more mini-stages. If done properly, these can really teach you a lot about your abilities with a firearm. It was nice to compete against others but the big takeaway was seeing your personal times get quicker after practicing and discussing the best ways to be efficient. The whole reason of taking a course is to better yourself.
It was awesome to see every individual improve in the 5-hour class. We did focus on how to better shoot a competition stage but it definitely translates to defensive shooting as well. Being good at the basics is what allows you to become better and more advanced. (Even though advanced just means doing the basics extremely well.)
By the end of the course we shot somewhere between 350-400 rounds. If equipment is a concern don’t worry at all. I actually ran the nighttime portion with my concealed carry setup and didn’t have any issues minus having to reload a little more. But that was good practice in itself.
If you want to get more proficient with your chosen weapon system, whether rifle or handgun, then don’t hesitate to train with RPGI. You will learn a lot and I think everyone that took the course with me will agree that you will definitely get your money’s worth. If you compete, carry for self-defense, or are just looking to get better, you owe it to yourself and those around you to get some good training like you will find here. I highly recommend looking into RPGI. They also hold matches every so often at Southern Tactical if you want to see the professionalism and capabilities of these guys.
You can look them up here https://rpg-international.us/home.
I attended a Day into Night Handgun/PCC course ran by RPGI at Southern Tactical in Holt, FL this last weekend and wanted to give a quick review for those interested in getting some good training at a good price here in the panhandle.
A quick, non-inclusive, background of our instructor, Brendan. He has lots of real-world experience within the military. Along with that, he strives to improve himself every way possible and has trained with multiple champion competition shooters. He combines both practical and competition experience in a very professional manner to bring the students the best possible information and makes sure everyone who attends one of his classes leaves the range better than they were when they got there. Now onto the course itself.
The intent of the course was to increase proficiency with a weapon mounted light on either a handgun or PCC. This was the basis of the course but we covered so much more. There were 5 students, 3 of us were running handguns and 2 were running PCCs. We kicked off the class at 5pm with a safety brief and a quick rundown of the main topics we were going to cover that night. After introductions and getting the administrative stuff out of the way we began discussing gear and weapon setup. We went over what upgrades are good to have and what are just aesthetic.
Now it was time to get down to the shooting. We all started off by individually shooting at a steel plate 50 yards away. This let us really focus on our fundamentals while letting Brendan simultaneously examine our fundamentals and weapons handling before really getting started. After this we moved over to some silhouette targets and began working single shot draws for the handgun shooters and ready positions for the PCC shooters. We did this to see how everyone was doing getting the same grip and getting a sight picture. Brendan used this time to correct each shooters’ posture and help identify where efficiencies could be created. He covered the draw stroke and the ‘why’ it is usually broken into four parts. Breaking it up allows an individual to work on the part they may have issues with before putting it all together. We then added multiple shots to check for proper grip. We were pushed to get outside our normal speed level and then reined in to keep all shots within a standard size IPSC A-zone.
Following this we began target transitions. We discussed how to move your eyes first then the firearm to properly identify and engage the subsequent targets. This was done with a mixture of paper and steel targets.
From here on we started getting some fast-paced shooting. A stage was set up and we were given a few minutes to decide the best way to shoot it. We then went one by one for a couple of iterations to see how we did on the timer. We then built upon this stage and added in some more complexity. The key to completely a stage quickly was figuring out how to move efficiently while being able to engage as fast as feasible while still keeping A-zone hits. After running the stage a couple times each, we discussed tips and tricks to try in the future to speed ourselves up or shave off time by moving or planning better at the beginning.
I was having a good time before but when the lights went out, I really started having a blast and learned as much as I could through the garden hose of knowledge.
We started by conducting some draws and cadence shooting at a steel target to get a feel for turning on your weapon light and seeing how different it is shooting under night time conditions. If you haven’t done this before I highly recommend. Shooting at night or in a dark area can be a whole different ballgame if you haven’t done it before.
We then moved over to the plate rack and ran it for time from the draw while manipulating our weapon lights. This was a good intro into target transitions. After some iterations of proper technique for transitioning between multiple targets we got right back into running some more mini-stages. If done properly, these can really teach you a lot about your abilities with a firearm. It was nice to compete against others but the big takeaway was seeing your personal times get quicker after practicing and discussing the best ways to be efficient. The whole reason of taking a course is to better yourself.
It was awesome to see every individual improve in the 5-hour class. We did focus on how to better shoot a competition stage but it definitely translates to defensive shooting as well. Being good at the basics is what allows you to become better and more advanced. (Even though advanced just means doing the basics extremely well.)
By the end of the course we shot somewhere between 350-400 rounds. If equipment is a concern don’t worry at all. I actually ran the nighttime portion with my concealed carry setup and didn’t have any issues minus having to reload a little more. But that was good practice in itself.
If you want to get more proficient with your chosen weapon system, whether rifle or handgun, then don’t hesitate to train with RPGI. You will learn a lot and I think everyone that took the course with me will agree that you will definitely get your money’s worth. If you compete, carry for self-defense, or are just looking to get better, you owe it to yourself and those around you to get some good training like you will find here. I highly recommend looking into RPGI. They also hold matches every so often at Southern Tactical if you want to see the professionalism and capabilities of these guys.
You can look them up here https://rpg-international.us/home.
