A Day at the Range

Today's range trip was to a private defensive handgun course for V and I, along with another couple who are good friends of ours. Steve Moses of Bluff Dale Firearms Academy was our instructor for this course.

I first met Steve back in September when he helped us out by giving a carbine safety training course the weekend before our first carbine match at my home range. He impressed me with his knowledge, the way he shared that knowledge with us, and his attention to firearm safety. Three things I think are important in a firearms instructor, so I called Steve and set up today's course.

The day was sunny, windy and warm. Great conditions for an outdoor class during the first weekend of December. Steve gave us a quick presentation in the classroom on what to expect, then it was out to the firing line. As this was a basic class, the first hour or so was spent on safety and on presenting the handgun through dry fire drills. We had three pistols and one revolver on the line.

When we continued on to live fire drills, Steve worked with us on firing from the Low Ready Position, Position Sul, and a Covert Position that I had not seen before in a training class. The covert position starts with the handgun in your strong hand, behind your back and out of sight. Your strong hand thumb is on your pants rear pocket. This position could be useful in a situation such as answering the door when you are not expecting guests. After working through those drills, we started working from the holster. V now understands why she needs a better holster.

Steve did a great job working with us. He built up each drill slowly, one step at a time, and made sure we had a handle on each step before continuing on. Steve also has a good amount of patience, and the ability to correct safety issues without causing offense. One of the students had some repeat safety violations that Steve handled very well. These were problems that I had been trying to work on with her, but I think Steve finally got the message through to her why what she was doing was wrong. We will see in the next day or two when we run dry fire drills. That, in and of itself, made this class worth while.

We all had a great time, and we all came away from this course with new skills and information. I would highly recommend Steve Moses and Bluff Dale Firearms Academy to anyone interested in improving their firearms skills.