I attended the basic rifle class yesterday and I just want to say what a great time I had. Greg ran a top-notch program.
The classroom instruction was very well tailored for an intro-level class and really helped everyone learn how to more efficiently run their rifle. Greg struck a great balance between keeping things professional and serious while injecting some good humor to keep everyone's attention. Even the people who had years of experience on the AR-15 were interested in the information presented. Heck, I was the only person not running an AR-15 and I was engrossed in the presentation and am sure now I'll get an AR at some point.
The live fire portion was extremely useful (and of course, a lot of fun). The range was well supervised and safety was obviously the top concern.
While the class was geared to the AR platform, I was their with my Underwood M1 carbine mix-master. I was a bit nervous about keeping up with high-speed, low-drag AR's with optics, but I learned a lot. Being in a live fire setting with other folks gives you immediate feedback when trying different techniques in drills. For example, I wasn't quite as fast on reloads, but I tried three different techniques at speed and quickly figured out which one had me back up and running almost as fast as the other folks.
Another thing I learned that I wasn't expecting was that a gun with zeroed irons can be almost as quick and just as accurate as one with optics and I have a lot more confidence in my rifle than I did before this class. No, my M1 won't double as a 400 yard tack driver, but it will work for what I need it to do, and what this class is all about.
Thanks again to the 88 Tactical folks, especially Greg and Jason, for running a great class, and for the coupon code.