Best shooting school

[ragsproshooter]

Just courious... Which is the best shooting school you have attend? Who is the best instructor(s)? Why do you feel this way? I have been to a few different schools all with different insturctors and of course I have an opinion on how I think is the best. I was just wondering what all of you thought.

[Bear1142]

The United States Shooting Academy (USSA)....

But I'm pretty biased, so take it for what it's worth.

Erik

[Flexmoney]

For what application?

The school of hard-knocks is pretty good. Classes are kinda long...and get expensive.

[ragsproshooter]

It really does not matter what applicaton......... Any shooting school is what I was wondering about.

[Madcap Magician]

For pure shooting technique, not tactics or how to shoot competition, look into Rogers Shooting School in Ellijay, GA.

[FranDoc]

Are you looking for a fixed-location shooting school, or recommendations on particular instructors?

I've heard glowing reports from people who have taken class with Max Michel & Travis Tomassie, www.maxmichel.com. I've not yet taken class from them, so cannot give you a first hand report.

I have taken class with both Ron Avery, www.practicalshootingacademy.com; and with Matt Burkett, www.mattburkett.com.

Feel free to ask specific questions about either of those.

[ragsproshooter]

I am not looking for a shooting school.... I was more just courious what everyone else thought about one that they have been too. This was intended to be a topic of comparison.

[scooterdog]

I would highly recommend Double Impact with Max & Travis or Manny or Jarret. We've had all 3 up here in Missoula and I found all of them to be excellent instructors. Just my 2 cents worth.

[davidball]

For what application?

The school of hard-knocks is pretty good. Classes are kinda long...and get expensive.

And you never graduate.

[Loves2Shoot]

For what application?

The school of hard-knocks is pretty good. Classes are kinda long...and get expensive.

I would say that hard-knocks school is much much more expensive than good classes/instructors.

[ap3]

Universal Shooting Academy with Manny Bragg.

Small class sizes, you will shoot about 1,000 rounds in practice, and the class has an excellent foucs on developing solid fundamentals such as trigger control, and recoil management. You can take classes to learn tricks of the game, but if you can not excute fundamentals flawlessly you will struggle advancing beyond a certain point.

Manny is not only an excellent shooter, but a very good coach.

[Jaxshooter]

Manny Bragg is excellent.

[Ramas]

I would recomend Eric Grauffel. Well.... he is 3 times World Champion, winning everything in 10 years. He and his father is top instructors. He will be in Florida Open and will make courses in 2008. Visit www.ericgrauffel.com if you want to register.

[Odie]

Manny's class is no frills, hardcore fundamentals. I got a lot out of it, and still do, I wrote down most of the stuff we did, and I'm still using it 6 months later. I also went up a class in 2 guns. Don't expect magic pixie dust, that's what I did, and was not happy the first day. Then I realized I wasn't happy because my fundamentals sucked. After I realized I sucked, I concentrated on what Manny was saying, and there it was. But I had to find it myself with his guidance, and I think that's why it stuck as well as it did. My improvement hit hard after lunch the 2nd day, seemingly all at once. I am scheduled with him again in April, it's well worth it. If you take a class with Manny or Frank, have the attitude that your fundamentals are NEVER as good as they could be, and you'll get a lot from the class.

[Odie]

And if it weren't for the tornado (yes, a real tornado), we would have shot about 2000 rounds in 2 days. We looked like drowned rats running for the range shed.

[-JQ-]

Since you are application agnostic, HKPro puts on a great MP5 operators course. I had no idea how wrong one could be in the correct operation of a weapon...changed my life...:-)

The course covered control of weapon, trigger technique, failure drills (including changing to sidearm) and moving/shooting.

Tom is a great guy and instructor. And...amazing shooter...30 round mag dump into 3" target...saw it with my own eyes or I wouldn't have believed it. He traveled to Central KY from MO for the class. i think he has a minimum of 8 and max of 10-12 students.

I will probably try to go to another session next year.

[Resjudicata]

Another positive vote for Manny Bragg.

I lucked out and was able to get a quick 2 day class with him right after Area 3 this month. I found out my trigger control sucks. (Along with a whole host of other things )I was doing it all wrong. It's amazing what that seemingly small thing can do for you. Now I just have to practice it over and over and over to get the right way into my brain and the past year of the wrong way out.

I'm sure a class with most of the big top 10 GM's would be worth it but I definitely recommend Manny. Great shooter, great guy and great teacher.

Chris

[tptplayer]

Universal Shooting Academy with Manny Bragg.

Small class sizes, you will shoot about 1,000 rounds in practice, and the class has an excellent foucs on developing solid fundamentals such as trigger control, and recoil management. You can take classes to learn tricks of the game, but if you can not excute fundamentals flawlessly you will struggle advancing beyond a certain point.

Manny is not only an excellent shooter, but a very good coach.

+1 I have taken 2 classes from Manny. My classifer scores (and shooting in general) went up 5 to 10 points each time.

[pjb45]

Chris,

What kind of suggestions did Manny give about your trigger control?

tks

pjb

[ShooterSteve]

Anyone in the Carolinas or Virginia can get good help from Larry Brown. He understands where the shooter is and works from that level and then goes up. Can get very deep and technical if needed. One day class I shot 600rds of pistol and 300 shotgun. I learned a ton of small things which will knock of small time, but adds up when you count all of the targets and transitions you make while in a match. Like what Odie said,I've been shooting a while, and have advanced, but when I learned all of these small things which will add to my foundation, I realized how much I didn't know. NOW, I have to go break bad habits and relearn... some would say that is bad, but to me all it means is I NEED to shoot more! (at least that's what I tell the Mrs)

[Resjudicata]

Chris,

What kind of suggestions did Manny give about your trigger control?

tks

pjb

He showed me how much I should be prepping the trigger. I run a heavy trigger in my STI so I need it more than most. I had been just taking up the slack and then mashing right on thru. That made my accuracy go down big time. If I can do it the way he showed me I can make it very light which cuts down on my sight movement due to trigger movement.

It doesn't seem like much but I have already seen an improvement in my scores. Now I just have to train my finger to do it without conciously reminding myself.

Chris

[NovaShooter]

Shooter Steve,

Do you have contact info or a website for Larry Brown?

Thanks,

Jayson Smith

[mjbine]

Are you looking for a fixed-location shooting school, or recommendations on particular instructors?

I've heard glowing reports from people who have taken class with Max Michel & Travis Tomassie, www.maxmichel.com. I've not yet taken class from them, so cannot give you a first hand report.

I have taken class with both Ron Avery, www.practicalshootingacademy.com; and with Matt Burkett, www.mattburkett.com.

Feel free to ask specific questions about either of those.

Fran,

In which class do you feel like you learned more?

[dirtypool40]

You gotta decide if you want a "techniques course" where you cover a lot, shoot a little and may take months to digest it, or a "practice course" where you shoot loads and tune up accuracy, speed and trigger time rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrright before a big match.

I've take three of the first and one of the latter. Depends what you're after who is best.

Edited October 27, 2007 by dirtypool40

[FranDoc]

In which class do you feel like you learned more?

Mike --

Tough question, no 'one better than the other' straightforward answer. What I learned was highly dependent upon how much I was READY to learn, how solid the underlying fundamental skills were. I suspect that will be the same situation for most students.

My first 'class' with Ron was a half-day during Range Day at an LE seminar when I was brand new (translate: near-dangerous) with a handgun [Ron, stop shaking your head 'yes']. I was clearly out of my element, and Ron skipped lunch that day to give me an hour's private tutorial. He even let me shoot his STI because the borrowed Sig I had didn't fit my hands, and I didn't have the skills to manage it correctly. We did BASICS -- stance, grip, flinch assessment/management, etc.

A year later, with somewhat improved skills (thanks to a local instructor recommended by Ron), I took 2 days of private instruction with him in Montrose. Got more out of that, (1)one-on-one time and (2)I knew a little more, so I could learn more. We still spent most of those 2 days on fundamentals because, frankly, that's what I needed to do.

Burkett's class was a 10-student class. He started with the grip/stance/shoot groups basics, then did a lot of the drills that he talks about in the videos -- timing drills, refining the draw, multiple shots, the water bottle drill for stability in movement, then moving box-to-box, then shooting on the move (front/back and side-to-side, nothing complex). Having done those drills in class, getting the immediate feedback from an on-site instructor, the videos make more sense. Matt shot the match with us after class, and taught a bit at each stage.

I learned different skills with Matt because I was ready to learn them, I was at a different point on the skills-learning curve. We had 10 people in that class, all levels from 'barely shot before' to M-class. Matt tried to challenge each of us; that's hard with such a spread in skill and experience level.

We have another resource in proximity: I can recommend class with Steve Anderson. You'll walk off the range exhausted, with your brain crammed full, and with pages of scribbled notes so (you hope) you'll remember it all later. It's definitely 'worth it'.

Edited October 27, 2007 by FranDoc