Gunsite Women's Handgun Class - Daily Report

WillametteWill · May 14, 2018

So these reports are being relayed to my by @SouthernGirl, who is attending a week long (technically a 3-day followed by a 2-day) class for women shooters at Gunsite this week. She doesn't have much time to post as they are busy days and homework at night. She has tried to attend two other advanced handgun classes in the past year but the planets have definitely not aligned until now (I told her all along to just go to Gunsite!!!)

Day #1
Begins with safety. You would expect this and she said it is clear that this is a major emphasis for the class. In addition day one seemed to be filled with the basics. Grip, stance, presentation, trigger control, reloading, etc. Modifications were made to her grip and stance which seemed to go well. She went through about 75 rounds today (expecting to shoot about 850 for the week). Lot's of work on the foundations during the day with about 18 in the class. Homework was some dry firing drills. She said there was a lot of information which filled the day. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Her equipment includes a S&W M&P Shield 9mm with a TLR-6 laser/light in a custom holster from Bitterroot Gunleather in Montana (Caleb does some amazing work...about to order one for me now!). Backup gun is a Walther Creed 9mm, DeSantis holster. Blackhawk! mag pouches. And lots of ammo. Check back tomorrow evening for another update. (Mods, I placed this in the Women Shooters forum with a note in the training forum to follow...hope this is ok based on the content.)

GOG · May 15, 2018

Following here.

WillametteWill · May 15, 2018

Day #2
Malfunction instruction and drills. This is really something she has not done to any extent or is very familiar with so good training. She seemed pretty comfortable with the information and the practice. They also expanded reloads into tactical reloads with theory and practice. Another good session. More sessions on focusing on the front sight along with scanning for targets during pauses in shooting. Re-holstering work also seemed to be part of the day, a very overlooked subject. Overall sounded like a good day at the range and a bit more settled down after getting past the initial first day. There seems to be a good comfort level, having all women shooters in the class.

I'm not sure how but she has a HUGE bruise in the palm of her left (off) hand. She says it doesn't hurt at all but it looks scary. Think it might be from magazine changes. About another 75 rounds today. She needs to step it up since by my calculations you can only fly with about five boxes of 9mm to stay under the weight restrictions for ammo! (Gunsite will arrange to ship it back to you if needed.)

GOG · May 15, 2018

It sounds like a productive day, but that bruise is probably going to be sore at some point.

Mister Bisley · May 16, 2018

Really nice write-up, thanks for sharing her adventures at Gunsite. I for one am very jealous of her time spent on those grounds. Looking forward to more story.

Kristina · May 16, 2018

Following!

WillametteWill · May 16, 2018

Great quote for your signature Kristina!

kott0n · May 16, 2018

Following .

Thanks for sharing.

WillametteWill · May 16, 2018

Day #3
This is the final day of the first, three day class. Several of the shooters are staying for the additional two days. This seems to be a nice way to conduct the class. Five days may be too long for some but not for others. This way you have options.

Much more ammo today! She went through about 150 rounds plus 25 frangible. Other shooters have been going through more with their high cap mags compared to her 7/8 rounds with her Shield.

Today sounded fun. Clearing houses, slicing the pie and dealing with attackers that come up behind you. Some work on steel while clearing areas for threats. Clearly there is an increase in confidence with her shooting compared to discussions Monday evening. This is great. It should like each day is building on skills from the previous sessions and linking them together. There are some in her class that have their husbands with them and they are taking another class at the same time. Pretty cool. Overall it sounds like being around like minded ladies in this environment has been both enjoyable and helpful. The instructors overall have been great as well (slight issue with one but it was professional handled by the facility). More to follow tomorrow. Thanks for following and hope it helps!

GOG · May 16, 2018

Cool beans.

WillametteWill · May 18, 2018

Day #4
I didn't flake last night...the class had a night shoot so I didn't get the range report until late. This was the first day of the second, two-day class and noted prior. Smaller group so much more individual attention. All of the women were also in the first class except one who was returning after taking the three day class prior.

Big difference today was lots of ammo downrange compared to the others. I though she would be brining home some bullets but doesn't look like the case now (good), likely 300-400 rounds today. Adding to the skills by including more with multiple threats, up to five I believe. Quite a bit of shooting steel. They also did some one-handed (strong hand) shooting and showed some good techniques to make this easier. Obviously she wasn't as comfortable compared to two-handed but I think was surprised that she could do it as well as did.

It sounded like the highlight was taking a break and returning in the evening for night shooting using a flashlight. They showed and had the students try different positions. This is a difficult skill unless you practice. I've had to qualify this way and it is generally humbling compared to traditional shooting. So this was a good demonstration to show this is a perishable skill (and reminder to me as well).

The day she arrived shot anticipation was one of the biggest issues. I haven't heard her mention this for days now! That is awesome to see. You can tell the confidence is much higher now than at the beginning of the week and this sound true for others in the class as well.

I'll post another report tonight and see if she will do a wrap up when she returns. Thanks to all following an hope this helps some!

Will

Mister Bisley · May 18, 2018

Badass.

WillametteWill · May 18, 2018

Day #5
Final day (but we will do a wrap up post as well). Lots of good drills today. My favorite was hearing about drawing from concealment and placing rounds on a threat. 2.8 seconds. For someone who had very little practical application with this I think this is pretty amazing. Some students were drawing from CC purses but most from hip holsters.

More time in the shoot house clearing rooms but with a more educated thought process than SWAT stuff. Sounded like there was good discussions on the where and when aspects as well as the threat identification and shooting. There were several other drills with shoot / don't shoot threat identification in various locations. Again, lots of rounds downrange, sounds like 300ish today. (note: if you go to Gunsite, sounds like you need to bring more ammo than the "minimum" recommended, I suppose why the call it a minimum). Another segment was turning targets and placing rounds on threats while exposed.

She is flying back tomorrow so we will get together and craft a final wrap up. You can message @SouthernGirl with any questions as well (she might be a little tired tonight!) Going to shoot some trap in WA this weekend...she asked for a break from handguns for a bit! Understandable. Think she is ready to go back anytime though.