Takeaways from my Red Dot class

I’ve been friends with a couple firearms instructors so over the years I’ve done tons of 1-on-1 training but have somehow never taken classes with others before. This last weekend I took a Red Dot class, giving me the strange experience of taking my first class as a semi-experienced shooter.TAKEAWAY 1: Gucci doesn’t always mean greaterI’m sure like a lot of you, I love great gear and changing out parts. I’ve got “gucci gats” and have more planned/in progress; however, I took this class with a mostly stock Glock 19.3 with Holosun 407C (has slide milled and extended mag/slide release, but otherwise stock).Without giving too much away, the instructor wasn’t an average cop giving basic pistol at the local range; he's got some serious credentials. He was personally running a Sig 320 with a Holosun 509T and had an issued Sig with an RMR. He said he trusted both optics equally. Do we really need a duty ready optic? Are you on duty? What conditions are you ACTUALLY putting your firearms through? Some of the actual operators are running things we scoff at.The others in the class were running some pretty fancy guns (stand out to me was a Stacatto). Others had top end optics (saw an Acro) and lights (not that the lights mattered in this course, but these guys were “I only buy the best” type of dudes). A couple others ran Glocks, but they were either 34s, comp’d, or otherwise gucci’d out. I was the only guy wearing plain clothes and didn’t have an OWB Battle belt setup.At the end of the day, I learned a ton and shot just as well as everyone else there (if not better; Staccato guy had 12” groups at 10 yards…). As much as I love good gear, it’s not a fix to make you a better shooter instantly. My mostly stock Glock ran just as well as the fancy guns and gadgets.TAKEAWAY 2: Allocate your practice time to favor the fundamentalsWe spent a lot of time focusing on body mechanics and setting ourselves up for success with the red dot. The instructor said it feels stupid spending so much time on basic shooting, but without the fundamentals squared away the red dot can’t shine.Furthermore, it feels good practicing reloads, but the majority of DGU won’t need a reload. Meanwhile, every DGU has a draw. It doesn’t feel as tacticool as practicing reloads but allocating our time to perfecting/maintaining the fundamentals (clean draw, presentation, etc.) is much more important.TAKEAWAY 3: Train like you carryThe beginning of the class had a sit-down classroom portion. After that, we all went out to the range. Watching everyone take out their tiny pocket pistols and switch to their OWB Battle belt setup with full-sized comp’d pistols was strange. At the end of the day, I couldn’t help but wonder what they learned from the class given they don’t seem to carry an optics pistol or carry anything remotely comparable to what they were shooting all day. Nor do they carry in the same position or carry all the mags on their belt. I know I got 8 hours of trigger time with a pistol I can carry and got practice with my carry setup.TAKEAWAY 4: Keep it simpleAgain, there were lots of fancy guns and fancy optics and I saw everyone else have some sort of issue throughout the day (“oops, forgot the safety,” “I missed hitting the ALS,” “My dot auto adjusted to the light and I couldn’t see it,” “My dot turned off”). Seeing everyone else have some issue made me really appreciate the simplicity of a Glock and keeping my optic on constant brightness. Yeah, I don’t get all warm and tingly touching a Glock, but at least I got my shots off. Plus, I was able to drop my mags, unlike Staccato guy, who didn’t want to damage his mags or get them muddy (can you tell I didn’t get along with Staccato guy?).TAKEAWAY 5: Go get more trainingFirst off, getting training always makes me feel more enthusiastic about continuing to get better. I’m looking at training in the area and trying to fit a couple into my schedule. Next up should be a Modern Samurai Project class!Second off, as a musician I can say that your practice time in your bedroom doesn’t translate to playing in a band well. Similarly, I’ve had a lot of solo or 1-on-1 time (like bedroom practice) but haven’t had much experience with other shooters (like playing in a band). Not to boast, but I think this was a good experience seeing what other shooters are like and their skill levels. I think continuing to get training with others gives you a comparative idea of your skills. At the very least, if the purge happened tomorrow, I know I’d be able to take Staccato guy. #FuckStaccatoGuy​EDIT: clarification via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/3zAgILQ