In November MrsWombat and I attended a Gun For Hire (GFH) Step 2 pistol course. This is a non-NRA class which was held at the Cedar Grove Essex County College Police Academy. The range is fantastic and well worth going on a course in order to see!

 

The standard GFH Step 2 course is typically expected to be a 1:1 or up to a total of 4 students and has the following requirements "You will need a strong side holster, modern firearm, three magazines or speed loaders, 200 rounds of factory ammo, and eye and ear protection. Knee pads and cover garment are optional."

 

The course description mentions that the course will cover:

• Strong Hand Shooting
  
• Weak Hand Shooting
  
• Strong Side Cover
  
• Weak Side Cover
  
• Reloading - Stress and Rapid
  
• Controlled Groups
  
• Shooting Over Cover
  
• Shooting Under Cover
  
• Holster or Concealment Draw
  
• & More....
  

For our specific Step 2 course however GFH were offering a significantly discounted course with more students (~8). We still covered the majority of the above items, such as shooting from cover (strong and weak side), moving and shooting, dot drills, holster drawing, controlled groups, reloading. In total we shot around 75 rounds so with the additional students we probably didn't cover all the exercises in as much detail as a 1:1 or smaller group training would have. I was actually surprised at how few rounds it was when I got home and had to recount since it felt like far more.

 

Shooting from around cover, both strong and weak side takes some practice, and has made me think more about how we would react on a home invasion for example. With the set up in the range the cover can be moved around to change the distance and sideways offset to the targets.

 

It was overall a great training day, we both enjoyed it and MrsWombat outshot me when the pressure was on. Having Anthony shout 'threat', and then having to draw and fire without taking a long pause to aim seems to make a difference! The Step 2 course has given me some very practical and useful drills to try at our normal range and to try at home with our Airsoft setup.

 

 

note: We also attended the NRA Step 1 Class that was held in the morning as a refresher since we're fairly new to firearms. I've previously attended an NRA Basic Pistol which I believe is a more thorough introduction for a new shooter.

 

Overall Step 2 is recommended!

 

TheWombat

Thank you for the review. I had taken NRA First Steps Pistol through GFH about a year ago and was thinking about taking Step 2 over the summer. Your review not only made up my mind about taking the course but also has me thinking about getting an airsoft gun for practicing at home.

I'd also suggest chatting to Anthony at GunForHire and see whether you should just jump into Urban Pistol 1/2 rather than Pistol Step 2.

 

Both options are valid, depends on what you are after.

 

Airsoft is a very useful training tool based on my own experience

 

hth

 

TheWombat