Front Sight is a defensive shooting school. The training there is excellent and I've been a few times. I had a couple of friends that wanted to go so, I went to support them. Since I've been a few times with a pistol, this time I took a revolver. Very different.

I took the 4 day defensive pistol class. This class is designed to give shooters a more realistic workout with their guns. The majority of the shooting is from the holster and with concealment.

They start with the fundamentals, teaching how to run a safe range. They run in a coach/shooter configuration. This means, when you're not shooting, you're coaching. Coaching helps back up what you're learning.

At Front Sight you will learn:

• The "three secrets" of shooting; sight alignment, sight picture and trigger control. Then the "fourth secret" is added; follow through.
• A 5 step presentation from the holster.
• How to move your concealment out of the way. Once shown how to do it, the pistol can be presented really quickly.
• "After action drills" including why they should be done.
• Three types of malfunctions and how to clear them.
• Three types of loads and how to do them.

There is a ton of shooting. We fired about 650 rounds in those four days. That may not seem like a lot to some, but this was really meaningful training and not just blasting away.

After lunch and after class on day one and two there are lectures. They cover Moral and Ethical ramifications of using a gun in self-defense. They cover the color code of mental awareness. They touch on legal ramifications, but don't delve too deeply because laws vary from state to state and there's just not enough time to cover it all. They also cover tactical movement.

In the morning of day three they send you through the "simulator". This is a shoot house where they set up a scenario and you have to go into the house and take care of the bad guys, but not shoot the innocents. It's a real adrenalin rush. The afternoon is filled with shooting drills, including time pressure, and malfunction drills.

Day four is where the rubber meets the road. In the morning there is a skills test. This test encompasses everything you've learned. Except for one controlled pair, all the shooting is done from the holster. It is done from the 3, 5, 7, 10 and 15 yard lines. There are controlled pairs, failure to stop and designated head shots. The times are not generous. However, if the training is absorbed and the fundamentals applied, the test is doable. Here is the whole shooting portion with times:

• 3 yards controlled pair to the thoracic cavity 1.6 seconds
• 5 yards (from the ready) controlled pair to the thoracic cavity 1.4 seconds
• 5 yards controlled pair to the thoracic cavity 1.8 seconds
• 7 yards controlled pair to the thoracic cavity 2.2 seconds
• 10 yards controlled pair to the thoracic cavity 2.4 seconds
• 15 yards controlled pair to the thoracic cavity 2.8 seconds
• 7 yards "Failure to Stop" (controlled pair to thoracic cavity followed by one untimed head shot) 2.2 seconds (done twice)
• 5 yards single designated head shot 1.9 seconds (done five times)
• 7 yards single designated head shot 2.3 seconds (done twice)

This is what a Front Sight target looks like:


The thoracic cavity is that D shaped part encompassing the heart and lungs. The head shots must all be in that 3"x4" box. I wrote the times from memory so, I might be off by a few tenths of seconds, but not by much.

The scoring is simple, 5 points for shots where they are supposed to be. 2 points for hits in the grey area and 0 for outside of that. Head shots must be within the head oval to get the 2 points. If they hit the body they are 0. This makes for a total possible score of 125. If you're late on time, that's -3 points.

Then they do Type I, II and III malfunction clearances. Then they do tactical and emergency reloads. All of those are timed as well. Make a mistake in procedure and it's -3 points. Finish late on time and it's -3 points.

You may lose 13 points total and still get distinguished graduate (DG). You can lose 38 and get graduate. More than that and you get a certificate of achievement. This time I got DG. If not the most difficult, it is certainly one of the most difficult tests in the shooting industry.

After lunch they run a "Man vs Man" competition where two students compete in a steel course. They stand side by side and have to shoot three targets. The first is a hostage target with about a 4" flipper you have to hit without hitting the hostage. Then there are red and blue silhouettes which must be shot in order. Whoever shoots the course the fastest without shooting the hostage wins. It is a single elimination match and the over all winner gets a challenge coin. Super fun and really puts the pressure on you.


I know this was a long post, but I hope it was worth it. It's a great school and I always have a lot of fun there.

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Freedom isn't free.

Thanks for the well written description, I felt the excitement as I was reading about the timed shots.
Congrats on the DG.
That really sounds like a great training exercise.

I am reviving this old thread because I just returned from the same four day class at Front Sight in Pahrump, NV. This is an accurate description of what I went through with my full-size M&P 9 mm version one, my EDC. Thanks Rastoff for saving me a bunch of time, and props for doing it with a revolver and getting the DG.

I first bought a membership to Front Sight over 20 years ago soon after it started. Even though I lived only about six hours north, I never attended. The massive and confusing marketing efforts were somewhat off putting, but everyone to whom I spoke who had attended praised the training highly.

Finally, a new neighbor who has attended FS many times invited me to go with him to this pistol course which he has taken four times before. While the course is more basic than many of the tactical courses I have taken, it is excellent. He prepared me for what to expect very well and that helped a lot. He even ran a mini FS shooting outdoor range session for me two weeks before we drove there.

I had to adjust my stance, draw, presentation, shooting decisions and certain procedures to meet their requirements. However, adjusting to what they were teaching was an important part of learning to be flexible and competent in more ways than one. Add to that the June desert heat of 108-112 degrees we had to manage while staying safe, sharp and focused, this was very challenging.

Average class size is 36. Ranges have 20 lanes so up to 40 shooters are competently taught and supervised by a uniformed and certified staff of 4-6 instructors depending on the exercises being done. We had about eight folks who were complete newbs, two older gentlemen well into their 80’s, a mother and 17 y/o daughter, eight women total, and a dozen experienced shooters. One was actually so tacticool as to appear in full battle dress.

I shot with my RMR as did my buddy and one other person. No revolvers. I learned to trust both my dot and smooth trigger press. I shot much more accurately, and then faster, as the days progressed.

I didn’t worry about the Skills Test as I felt I had so much new and different info to assimilate, and with the heat, that being in the Graduate level would be sufficiently rewarding. I felt the time windows were short, but focusing on accuracy would do the most to reduce my points down.

When the certificates were handed out at the end of day four, they were handed out in ascending order according to scores on the test. Name after name was read and I wasn’t included. Then the shoot boss said he was now into the Distinguished Graduate category. He read one name, then my buddy’s name, and finally mine as the best score in the class. Only nine points down. I was shocked, and thrilled. A lot of people helped me get there, and it added a heightened sense of accomplishment to the experience. Attached is my shooting accuracy target with all shots within time, only one timed head shot a little low.

This is worthwhile. Find a way to get there without paying full price, like being given a membership from a friend. Because of the ammo shortage our round count was reduced to <450. Very considerate.

Happy Fathers Day 2021.

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I've been, and came out a better shooter.
Tom B.

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frontsightnsqueaz

Any shooting school should make you a better shooter, just as practice will. Went to a USMC Combat Pistol/ Revolver and shotgun school that was designed with Jeff Cooper's help and our instructors were taught by Cooper at Gunsite. We fired 1000 rounds of .45 ACP in five days, 350 rounds of 00 Buck and slug in three days, and 300 rounds of .38 Special in two days. After those courses you did not want to look at a gun for a while. Hands were sore and raw from recoil and our shoulders and upper arms were so black and blue it looked as if we had been beat with a baseball bat. The course was free and they paid us Per Diem and travel pay to go to it. We came out with a very high level of proficiency, but to maintain it you had to practice, practice, and more practice.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I'm glad you finally went and had a good time. Even better to walk away with the great score.

Your shooting was excellent and I can see you were late a couple times. It just shows that a late hit is better than an on time miss. Of course it could have been the malfunctions that were late. No matter, you did it.

To all reading this; make no mistake, this skill test is hard. This shows definitively that CB3 can shoot.

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Freedom isn't free.

Now I need to go shoot Rastoff’s Challenge clean for the first time ever.

I had trouble accessing my concealed spare mag for the Type Three malfunction and the Emergency Reload. That was where I lost the other 6 points. As well, the guy next to me on the line (4 feet away) had a ND three feet in front of him at the beginning of this drill test. A little unnerving.

I’m still working on the first one. He said it was untimed . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Great write up. How about contact information? Website? Address? Phone? etc.

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Bill

Frontsight.com

All you’ll need to know.

Don't sign up for his emails, not any of them. You'll get flooded with emails.

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Freedom isn't free.