I just found out I'm going to front sight in October for their handgun course. Needless to say, I'm stoked as hell! But, I have no idea what to expect or take (besides gun and ammo). So who's been and can offer some advise?
take some sunscreen and snacks, they are full days. we did the two day handgun I wanted to do the 4 day but we were on a family vacation, so I got out voted.
Great training
Have Fun
You'll have a great time!
The trainers were excellent. That's not an overstatement. You WILL leave at a higher skill level. It's well worth the trip, but honestly, I'll probably never get back there. I'll spend my money with local trainers IF THEY EVER OFFER A SHOTGUN COURSE. I wish they would ACT -- but that's another topic.
Dress for the weather. We went a year ago last December for the four-day and it rained 3.89 days out of the four.
Believe it or not, there are some very good restaurants in Pahrump. I can't remember the names -- explore, you'll find them. An Italian place on the main drag and a Japanese restaurant were over the top good!http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...akhouse_Sushi_and_Hibachi-Pahrump_Nevada.html
Yup, you'll enjoy it.
You can reserve box lunches online -- they're good and no hassle.
My step dad and I went and took the 4 day course. It was a blast. You need your gun, mags (as many as you have so you can listen and not spend so much time reloading) holster and mag pouches. You need some sort of concealment clothing (a zip up light weight jacket works best if you have an OWB holster), A hat (to deflect hot brass and keep the sun out of your eyes), eye and ear pro, sunscreen (the classroom areas are shaded, but the ranges are usually not), they told us about 800 rnds for the 4 day course (we found it cheaper to mail the ammo to our hotel and pick it up when we got there). Also the instructors are not allowed to accept cash tips (if you want to tip them) so we gave them some ammo. Like someone already said, they have boxed lunches available, but we just got a a big sub sandwich from walmart and ate that. You will want to stay hydrated, they have things of water there, but I brought a camel back for in the classroom. You might also want to bring a pocket flashlight for the optional night shoot.
That is all I can think of right now (I have been thinking about it a lot recently as we are talking about going back). They are long days. We wanted to go into Vegas to get some food but most night we were pretty tired and just ended up crashing at the hotel after a quick cheap meal.
I've been a couple times and here's a couple pieces of advice:
Take at least 4 magazines with you and have 2 magazine pouches. Everything goes really rapidly out there so the less time you spend loading magazines the more you'll get out of the course.
Bring any equipment that'll aid in loading magazines. Again, the less time you spend loading the better. You may think, "I can just push my rounds in by hand, I'm pretty quick at that," but remember, you will be shooting between 600-800 rounds, all of which will have to go into a magazine first.
They will give you two name tags (one for your front and one for your back), put them on your hat. It's a lot easier than making new name tags every morning. Seriously, as soon as you get there you might have enough time to load magazines, drink a little water, then it's off to the firing line.
Buy your ammo in Nevada. Frontsight has a strict no-reloads policy so since you have to buy factory anyway, buy them in Nevada. My advice is to buy it at a Walmart in Las Vegas rather than Pahrump.
Most important, have fun! The instructors are very clear, this isn't boot camp, if you need a break, sit out an exercise or two. Also, the boxed lunches are a little pricy but they're really convenient (and big) so consider that option.