Shotgun Class
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2022 12:29 pm
It's been 46 years since I did any formal shotgun training in the police academy so I thought I could use a refresher. I found a 2 hour $75 "Combat Shotgun" class fairly close to where I live so I thought I would give it a shot.
I just returned from the class. There were just 5 students. One had a Mossberg 500, 3 had Rem 870s and I used my Escort Slugger. Two of the Rems has Magpul stocks, the other had a full stock with a pistol grip, rails, lights, optic, all the gadgets. All the Rems had extended mag tubes. The 500 was a "Retrograde" model that comes with a walnut stock, 7 shot tube, 20" bbl with rifle sights and heat shield. It also had a butt stock shell carrier. That was a very nice looking gun. Mine was my 5 shot Escort so I was odd man out. I did have elastic shell card carriers on my gun.
This was a two hour class. Usually 1 hour of classroom, an hour of range. Since there were only 5 of us we went through the class part in about 30 mins. We spent nearly 2 hours on the range. The class actually went about 2:30. Round count was 30 rounds all slugs since it was in indoor range. I know... 30 rounds in two hours? Because of ammo shortages/prices we did a lot of dry fire drills.
We practiced loading, moving, loading while moving, emergency reloads, stance, trigger, flash sight picture, engaging multiple targets while moving and reloading.
Overall it was a pretty good class, Being only 2-2.5 hours there isn't a lot of standing around which is a good thing. Moves right along. John, the instructor was a retired FBI agent who worked swat teams and taught firearms training at the national academy so he knew his stuff.
Like me, all the students were experienced shooters so there wasn't "that guy" who asked a lot of question or needed special attention.
This class would be most valuable for someone who just bought a shotgun for home defense and wanted to learn how to run it. It's pretty much all you need to know.
My shotgun ran like a top. It was smooth running, accurate and reliable. The stippling helps hold on to it but it was kind of rough on my slide hand. Probably need to either wear fingerless gloves (fingers need to be free to reload) or sand down the surface a bit. A roughed up hand it is a small price to pay for a sure grip however.
I will also say that IMO hi-capacity shotguns are over rated. With the technique of constantly topping off the magazine you don't really need more than 4-5 rounds in the tube. Longer shotguns are cumbersome and heavy.
I just returned from the class. There were just 5 students. One had a Mossberg 500, 3 had Rem 870s and I used my Escort Slugger. Two of the Rems has Magpul stocks, the other had a full stock with a pistol grip, rails, lights, optic, all the gadgets. All the Rems had extended mag tubes. The 500 was a "Retrograde" model that comes with a walnut stock, 7 shot tube, 20" bbl with rifle sights and heat shield. It also had a butt stock shell carrier. That was a very nice looking gun. Mine was my 5 shot Escort so I was odd man out. I did have elastic shell card carriers on my gun.
This was a two hour class. Usually 1 hour of classroom, an hour of range. Since there were only 5 of us we went through the class part in about 30 mins. We spent nearly 2 hours on the range. The class actually went about 2:30. Round count was 30 rounds all slugs since it was in indoor range. I know... 30 rounds in two hours? Because of ammo shortages/prices we did a lot of dry fire drills.
We practiced loading, moving, loading while moving, emergency reloads, stance, trigger, flash sight picture, engaging multiple targets while moving and reloading.
Overall it was a pretty good class, Being only 2-2.5 hours there isn't a lot of standing around which is a good thing. Moves right along. John, the instructor was a retired FBI agent who worked swat teams and taught firearms training at the national academy so he knew his stuff.
Like me, all the students were experienced shooters so there wasn't "that guy" who asked a lot of question or needed special attention.
This class would be most valuable for someone who just bought a shotgun for home defense and wanted to learn how to run it. It's pretty much all you need to know.
My shotgun ran like a top. It was smooth running, accurate and reliable. The stippling helps hold on to it but it was kind of rough on my slide hand. Probably need to either wear fingerless gloves (fingers need to be free to reload) or sand down the surface a bit. A roughed up hand it is a small price to pay for a sure grip however.
I will also say that IMO hi-capacity shotguns are over rated. With the technique of constantly topping off the magazine you don't really need more than 4-5 rounds in the tube. Longer shotguns are cumbersome and heavy.
A lot can be accomplished in a fast moving 2+ hour course. And how well you run the basics determines your level of overall mastery anyway. 
I will say that its unlikely that I will ever use one in the confines of my home. I don't keep one loaded and handy for HD. 