TGO David

I know of one person who took their HCP class there and subsequently had their permit revoked by the State because the class and course of fire cut corners. This person had to take the class over again elsewhere and pay all associated fees (again). Reportedly this happened to a few people who took their class. I'd avoid them like the plague and don't mind saying so or stepping on any toes in the process.

Joe, Dan... I am choosing to use a Revocable Trust for my SBR project and subsequent suppressor purchase. My wife and I are both named as trustees of the Trust. When submitting the materials to the BATFE, do we need to provide a 2x2 photo and pair of fingerprint cards for each of us or just one of us? Trying to get this all together prior to the CMMG SBR registered lowers arriving and thought perhaps others who use a Trust for their purchases might benefit from this information as well. Thanks.

I will say this... When our class with CIS was going on last week we had eleven (11) students and two (2) instructors. We got a boatload of individual attention as Todd and Dustin worked up and down the line if students were doing live fire exercises. There were several instances when only two students were on the line at once, so you had one-on-one supervision at those times. By comparison there was an APPS group taking their class next door. I would estimate the number of students to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-35 people based on what I saw. It may have been more. I do know that they filled the bleechers up. Our class was what I would call very organized and very methodical. Their class appeared to be quasi-organized chaos. No one over there shot anyone else, at least. Several of their students came over to watch us run our drills or ask for information about the class we were taking. I bet that made the APPS people happy. From what I saw and heard, I can't imagine there being a whole lot of actual value in the class that was being given. I liked the fact that CIS keeps their student/instructor ratio intentionally low so that everyone gets their money's worth. I also liked the fact that any time "harsh language" was used in our class, it was used sparingly and to drive a point home and never directed at a student. An example of when I think harsh language is appropriate in training? The target in front of you isn't just a bad man who wants to remove your belongings from you under threat of injury or death. Rather, that is the murdering son of a bitch that wants to hurt you, kill your family and take away everything you've ever worked hard to obtain or accomplish. NOW FIGHT!!!

Yep. But the last pair of G19 mags that I bought were recent shipments from Smyrna, GA and they were both cut for the ambi release. Glock seems to be pushing them out there ahead of the new Glock 19s themselves.

Ok... so what was this thread about, again? Oh yeah. The fact that the Europeans are now able to buy their Glock 17 and 19 with the ambidextrous magazine release. I need to go dig up some more info and see if there's anything new about these coming to the USA.

I wanted to share some of the things that have really stuck with my since I took the class a week ago. These are just some things that I've either made it a point to do differently or have noticed myself doing automatically as a result of the training we were provided at the CIS class. Spare Magazine -- I have found myself carrying a spare magazine anytime I am carrying my Glock now. Before I would rarely carry a spare mag as I felt that it was unnecessary for the average Joe and reserved for people who wear a badge or put themselves in high-risk environments. The only times I would carry a spare mag 100% of the time were when I was carrying my 1911. And only then did I do it because I realized that 8 rounds of ammo was not likely to be enough. The CIS class really drove home how essential it is for you to have enough rounds at your disposal to take care of multiple attackers and/or deal with equipment failure. Even with my Glock's 15+1 round capacity, I no longer feel comfortable carrying just enough ammo to fill the gun. My daily carry now incorporates a single additional mag carried on my weak side. Combat Reloads -- When I shoot at a range that allows movement, I have always changed magazines within 1-3 rounds of depleting the current magazine's inventory rather than run it dry. This is a holdover from shooting competition. But now I have begun doing my reloads and cycling the slide each time I ram the next magazine into the gun. It's a good habit to get into and definitely Murphy Proofs the situation. I have to give Todd and Dustin 100% credit for this gem of wisdom, and they give 100% credit to their own sources of training. This is good stuff. Checking Your 360 -- I caught myself subconsciously checking my perimeter at the range the other day after doing a few moving fire drills. I hadn't made a mental note to do that, I just was. This was something else that Todd and Dustin hammered into us at the class and it very obviously "stuck" with me and has become a part of my shooting habits. Maglula UPLULA -- Seriously. The guy who invented this should win the Nobel Peace Prize. It's the best $30 piece of plastic and metal that I've ever bought. It makes loading a lot of high-cap magazines suck soooooo much less. And in the "Things I need to be doing more" category... More work on drawing the spare magazine from concealment! It's amazing how difficult it can be to pull a spare mag out from under an untucked polo shirt. You think it's going to be easy and then you play tug of war with your clothes just to get the #$%&* magazine out and lined up for insertion into the gun. Practice one-handed reloads, both strong and weak hand. Who knew it could be that much fun? Practice fast transition between hard and soft sight picture. I need to get my splits between shots back down to what they were when I shot USPSA regularly, but keep my accuracy up as high as possible. Pushing the envelope is really frustrating... but fun.

I'm getting fuzzy dice and curb feelers for mine next.

It appears that there are some good SBR upper kits out there that include quality, chromed, properly staked bolt carrier groups and do so at a price point that is a little cheaper than buying each part individually. LMT has a really nice 10.5" upper that I keep looking at but as has been noted, LMT stuff doesn't come cheap. As has also been noted, you get what you pay for with LMT. What other completed SBR uppers should I be looking at? Or if you were going to roll your own, what would the parts list look like?

Mick, that mag release was slick! It was nice to meet you as well.

Photos have been posted for your enjoyment. As I said before, I hope these inspire you to take a quality defensive handgun class if not from CIS from someone. Do some research before choosing your training provider and make sure that you're really getting education from someone with a good reputation and solid knowledge. Backflips and ninja commando crap look good in the movies but they won't help you any in the real world.

Not personal experience, but yes I've heard of some people who had to do this in a crunch later in order to get security clearances or better duty assignments.

I've been given the OK to post photos. So, I'll be resizing them today and posting some a little later.

Vickers Tactical Extended Glock Mag Release The Vickers Tactical extended magazine release arrived last Thursday. Installation was simple, requiring only 5 minutes of my time and the use of a small screwdriver. The mag release is the perfect length, IMO. It's just long enough to make it easier to manipulate without having to drastically adjust your grip on the firearm but not so long that it's easy to accidentally hit. In my opinion this is one modification that anyone who carries a Glock should consider doing right along with quality aftermarket sights. Wolff Stainless Steel Guide Rod and 15# Recoil Spring These parts still haven't arrived. I am going to send an email inquiry to find out if the order has been delayed for some reason. They were set to go out US Mail. Ameriglo Operator Night Sights The first thing I did to my Glock 19 was install new sights. I chose the Ameriglo Operator sights for their bold, white outlined front sight and their subdued non-outlined rear sight. Dots were green up front, yellow in back. When I took my class with CIS two weeks ago, it was the first time that I had really taken the Glock out to run it since the sights were installed. I had shot it a few times indoors at 7 yds but not at any greater distances than that. During my class at CIS, my point of aim and point of impact varied by about 2-inches at 14yds and it got worse the farther away from the target I got. This past weekend I bumped into a guy at Owl Hollow Gun Club who also had Ameriglo Operators on his Glock 19. While looking at some other changes he had made to his gun, I noticed that the dot on his front sight was about 1mm lower than the dot on my front sight. We confirmed that by setting the guns side by side and comparing them. Suddenly my low points of impact made sense. I was having to cant the muzzle down quite a bit to make the dots all line up! Saturday evening I ordered another set of Ameriglo sights but this time ordered some of their Pro Operator sights. These have a white outline on the rear dots as well as the front. YES - I could have contacted Ameriglo and probably gotten a replacement front sight free of charge or at least at a discounted rate. I may still do that. But I've also discovered that my eyes really like the white outlined dots and that it helps me get a better "hard sight picture". Anyway, more on this and the Wolff recoil spring assembly after I get the parts, install them and take it back out to the firing line.

Also be sure to ask to have your record expunged so even the complaint against you no longer appears. It may cost you a little money to the County Clerk's office to have this done, but it will be worth it.

I'll ask and see if it's OK for me to post them.

Those graphics are barely 6K each so they aren't even a blip on the radar in terms of bandwidth requirements.

After hearing some of the reports of the language that Buford uses in his classes, I'm not sure I'd send a sailor through his class let alone my wife. Just my thoughts on that.

The two I mentioned are the only that I have first hand experience with.

My head is spinning a bit because of the options, but I think I am going to go ahead and build it as a 5.56mm rifle and buy a .22lr conversion upper for it later. EasilyObsessed pointed me to one that looks really nice and is getting good reviews on the various AR forums. 9mm would rock, but .22lr is a hell of a lot cheaper to hose targets down with.

I'll trade you one if you want.

My wife took her class with Criticial Incident Strategies and Todd and Dustin bent over backwards to accommodate the need for her to not handle any ammo to avoid lead exposure (pregnant!). Dustin loaded mags for her during the shooting drills. That sort of customer service combined with the glowing report and her own excitement about the class afterward made it a snap for me to decide to take their Defensive Pistol class subsequently. Now while I don't think you could go wrong with CIS at all and highly recommend them, if your wife is interested in taking an "all women" HCP class, the folks at On Target in Murfreesboro are occasionally offering such classes and they are lead by one of their own female employees. I hope this helps.

Smyrna is about 25 miles southeast of Nashville, heading toward Chattanooga on I-24.