Had a blast going that year and will plan on going again in Dec 2011jbirds1210 wrote:I went and had a good time. I really had a better time with KinnyLee goofing around on the strip than I had at the school. The drive from Texas is beautiful in the winter. Kinny took me as a guest with his free certificate so I had no expenses outside of travel (and an awesome Emerson knife I bought in the pro shop).
The training (IMO) was a bit dated when it came to teaching the Weaver stance and thum-on-thumb grip. That said, the instructors had practiced these forms enough to be impressive and they did help some of the people improve.
Safety? I guess the firing line was fairly safe. I only refused once to participate with someone who I was partnered with. When I put my gun away and sat down, the staff realized the poor old guy was dangerous and issued him a rubber gun.
I would not choose to go back to front sight simply because they do not challenge their students in the basic (read affordable) courses.
I was able to skip the sales pitch by skipping lunch inside of the facility on the second day. There was no pressure on site to join their organization. The mass mailings are ridiculous and the phone calls are even more irritating.
Best part of the experience was the seminars, in my opinion, their awareness seminar is second to none.
Jason
As for my opinion, their classes are run by scripts, and they run on a tight schedule. The training is a bit dated compared to others but it is a good foundation to build on. They do push on memberships, but like Jason said, it's not as annoying as the email and snailmail ads. I just delete them as soon as one comes into my inbox. lol. Overall, their training is great and their staff is very friendly and helpful. Their business model does not agree with a lot of people (me included), but it is a somewhat cost effective way for me to train when I have time and funds. Hope that helps the OP.
PS. Jason, you think they will open up the "big hole" (North Rim of Grand Canyon) December of next year?
