I've been a shooting guns on a somewhat regular basis since I could first afford them back in the late 90's, however Coach Kelly's Tactical Rifle class was my first formal training class. I've read a bunch of after-action reviews online and some articles regarding what to expect and how to approach formal training. I know from life and personal experiences (funny as Kelly said the same thing) that all men of action think they are born with innate and unmatched skills in driving, shooting and f**king - I believe they way he told it there was another "skill" but this is how I've heard it. Any honest man with the slightest bit of experience on the road, between the sheets or behind a gun knows that such is not always the case and usually no matter how good we think we are at something, chances are good there is someone better.
I tried to approach this class knowing that I am competent and safe behind the trigger, and to keep an open mind to proper manipulation and build upon skill sets while establishing new ones upon which I could have a platform for future growth was the ultimate goal. As with every class, the instructor has to begin somewhere to establish a baseline. As it is and should be with any firearms instructional class, we reviewed firearms safety and muzzle discipline then moved into some dryfire exercises while our weapons manipulations were critiqued and corrected. We then moved onto introduction of the standards upon which the class is based - I won't bore everyone with the details, but as you might imagine each shooting exercise is designed to be built upon to improve speed, accuracy and correct weapons manipulation.
I very much enjoyed the class and structure. I found I have some rather weak points that need drastic improvement but I also found that I was able to hold my own and excel in a few of the exercises and standards. Kelly is a superb teacher who isn't afraid of pointing out what you are doing wrong but is quick to assist you in getting it right. The attitude of the class is fairly light, there is definitely space and time for some time-honored shit-talking but I think everyone there was mostly interested in self improvement. This is a class that I would recommend to anyone looking to better their skill with rifle. I'm looking forward to working with Kelly again in the future, good stuff!
ETA: I wanted to add that I also found out a bunch about my rifle. I didn't encounter any malfunctions or breakages, in fact, I was quite pleased that it performed without a hiccup as I had not yet put so much lead downrange in such a short period of time. I try to stay in reasonable physical conditioning but I found out first hand that "ounces equal pounds" - I like cool gear as much as the next guy but all that coolness get heavy faster than you think!
