Shootrite Firearms Academy Defensive Handgun Class AAR

[timcar86]

Let me start out by stating that I'm not former law enforcement or military. Also, I had never received any formal training before this class. I heard Tiger McKee on the Tom Gresham radio show "Gun Talk" and thought he sounded like a level headed guy so I looked up his school. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that it was a mere 3 hours away. I checked the schedule and signed up for the first handgun class in a series of classes, the Defensive Handgun class. The requirements of the class were pretty simple; 800 rounds of ammo minimum, at least 4 magazines, a holster and a magazine pouch. I Needed more magazines, ammo a new holster and a mag pouch. Couple all of that with the 400$ for the class, gas, food, hotels, etc. and it probably cost me about 1200$. I arrived at Scottsboro AL on the 2nd of August and got settled in. I thought about driving to Shootrite to make sure I could find it but decided to stay put. I woke the next morning to 3 separate alarms and a wake up call. I was not going to be late. I got some breakfast and shot down the road to Shootrite. I arrived at Lois Lane, yes, Lois Lane, and turned onto the gravel road to a mass of "no trespassing signs". I wasn't certain I was in the right place but I drove on and spotted an old tan trailer with a steel sign that simply read "Shootrite".

I'm not sure why I felt a little some initial dissapointment at the building but I guess I had the mental image of a shiny new huge building. The feeling quickly faded and I pulled my black Ranger next to a white Ranger and shut off the ignition, I was an hour early. The door to the trailer opened up and a very unassuming man stepped out. "How are you?" The man exclaimed. "Tiger McKee", he introduced himself. I instantly recognized the voice and introduced myself as well. He told me there were only going to be 3 people taking the class, including myself. I was pretty happy about that, more attention. He said he was going to get some breakfast and I could stay in the trailer just to lock it up if I left. Pretty trusting I thought as I unloaded my stuff. I told him I'd already eaten and would hang out until he got back. I waited around a while and the two other gentlemen that would be taking the class with me showed up. Both named John but one went by "Chief". The were both former military and from South Carolina. We chatted for a while about, you guessed it, guns, until Tiger showed back up and we went in and started the class.

The classroom stuff started out with safety and the mental attitude with fighting. I was furiously taking notes as my intent for this class was to teach my family everything I could learn. I even audio recorded much of the lectures but out of respect for Tiger I will not be posting them. When it was all said and done I would end up with 5 pages of notes. We went over the training we would be receiving over the next couple of days, got some suggestions for books and discussed other topics like the Colorado active shooter incident. I quickly discovered that Tiger McKee is a very efficient man. His big thing was no wasted movements would equal speed. His training and speech were the same way, No excess words, no excess instruction. It made for very easy to understand training. There were almost no times when I didn't understand what he was trying to convey. It's a rare gift that someone has knowledge coupled with experience and the talent to pass on that knowledge to others. Tiger McKee has that gift.

After the classroom stuff we headed to the range and began with the basics of stance, grip, drawing, loading, reloading and holstering. They may seem like simple things but there were so many details that I never learned that made so much sense. When Tiger showed us these details, he also explained the reasons behind every one. I'm a huge fan of that method of teaching. You can tell someone how to do something but if you give the reasons for the details in that action it will be retained much easier. One of the very new things that I learned was scanning. After you make a shot, make sure the guy is down and then scan around for more threats. Statistics say if you're attacked it will be by more than one person. You scan after the shot(s) and while you holster. At one point Tiger pulled out a knife and was waving it around behind us. The other 2 guys didn't see him while they were scanning but I saw and was very confused. He explained that we shouldn't be just swinging our heads around but looking at the environment, even at the range. One of his tips was train like your life depended on it because you fight how you train and in a fight your life will depend on it. We worked on shot placement and transitioning between shooting multiple shots to large targets quickly and slowing down to place a more precise shot on a smaller/more distant.

The next day we went straight to the range and worked on clearing malfunctions, long distance shots (out to 50 yards), moving and shooting and shooting from a retention position (gun held close to the body, not extended). There were many drills that we did to incorporate all of these things together and once again, out of respect for Tiger's livelihood I won't post those here.

At the end of every drill, Tiger was quick to ask each one of us, "What are you learning?" By forcing an answer we all had to recall the drill and how it applied to us. Another great teaching aspect of the class. At the end of the 2nd day we went back to the class and had a debriefing about what we had learned and how to use it when we went back home.

Tiger McKee is not larger than life. He was very down to Earth, level headed and efficient. He never got in anyone's face, yelled at anyone, cursed at anyone and always explained what he was trying to teach. If someone had a malfunction or made a mistake he simply said "fix it and keep going". If you're thinking about taking a class, take one at Shootrite.

Side Notes:

- It's hot in the summer in AL. The only shade is under the shelter during breaks. Take lots and lots of water.

- Take sunglasses. The range is mostly rock and gravel that reflects the sunlight.

- Make sure your stuff works before you go. One guy was using a Sig 220 with some new magazines. Two of the new magazines would literally blow apart when he slammed them into the magwell. He cleared a lot of malfunctions before switching to a different gun.

- Just my opinion, but a gun without a double/single trigger would be preferable. Even at close range, the first shot of the guy with the 220 would be off target by quite a bit.

- Just another of my opinions but a safe-action gun seemed to work a lot more smoothly than a gun with an external safety or decocker. I was using my S&W M&P 9mm and not having to remember to put the safety on/off during drills took out an extra step.

- A gun with a high cap mag will keep you on the range longer. Or, if you have something like a 1911, make sure you have a lot of mags. I had over 100 rounds in magazines every time I went out. The guy using the single stack mags ran out every single drill while myself and the other guy with high capacity magazines stayed out and finished. You'll get more range time is what I guess I'm trying to say.

Do yourself a favor and take a class here. It's well worth the investment and will give you the tools to build upon for future more advanced training. Even the two guys who were former Army were very surprised at the details of pistol handling that they had never been taught.

- Tim

[Guest Travtastik]

Having been think about taking a class there for awhile. Now that I am getting some time to do things I am going to make the trip.

[Jamie Jackson]

Excellent AAR Tim. Good pics and nice shooting Sir. Thank you.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Tiger, but I always heard and read positive things about him.

A small class with that level of individual instruction is outstanding. I've been in classes with 20 or more people running relays and small ones like yours. I'll take the smaller groups every time.

Much Obliged.

[Dennis1209]

Thanks for the post.

You do realize the ONE big mistake you made right off the bat don't you?

How many of us would get the chance to go out and have breakfast with Tiger McKee, and didn't? I'm a fan of him and his monotone voice also.

Question: I've seen him a number of times on gun shows (TV) showing how to do this and that. Each training episode he was using his old customized for him full size Colt 1911. I mean, to look at it you would think it was worn out decades ago. Did he wear it during your training?

[timcar86]

Thanks for the post.

You do realize the ONE big mistake you made right off the bat don't you?

How many of us would get the chance to go out and have breakfast with Tiger McKee, and didn't? I'm a fan of him and his monotone voice also.

Question: I've seen him a number of times on gun shows (TV) showing how to do this and that. Each training episode he was using his old customized for him full size Colt 1911. I mean, to look at it you would think it was worn out decades ago. Did he wear it during your training?

He joined us for lunch on day two and we really got the chance to pick his brain on a lot of topics. He was using his colt 1911 and it did look like it had been in and out of the holster about 1,000,000,000 times. He showed us his Katana AR that was built to his specs by Red Jacket and the reason for each detail. I had my AR with me and asked his opinion about what he would change on it. Like I said in the above post, very down to earth.

[ShamGlock]

Great review. I have been eyeing his carbine class in November myself.

[Mark A]

Tiger is one of those guys that communicates a ton with few words. I tend to take a LOT of notes in his classes...

Like much in life triggers are different for different people. I prefer a traditional DA/SA but that is what I've practiced and trained the most with.

I was in a different part of Alabama this weekend doing a carbine course. I agree as to the heat. Even the rocks were looking for shade...

Glad you had a good time, mark