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Front Sight - 4 day class review?

12K views 47 replies 31 participants last post by  stormcaller1 
#1 ·
Anyone done any training with Front Sight in Pahrump, NV? I'm considering their 4-day pistol course, but would like to know what other folks have to say about 'em.

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
same question

I am heading to Frontsight for the same course. The only things I know about them are what I've read at various internet sites. I assume the true cost of attending will include lodging,meals, travel,ammo. and possibly firearm rental. Not inexpensive.
 
#5 ·
From what I have read they get nothing but rave reviews. I believe it would be money well spent and a blast to attend even if you do leave exhausted and worn out
 
#6 ·
I haven't taken any classes there, but the reviews I've heard are decidedly mixed. I've heard very good reports from people I know and trust, but I've also heard very bad reviews from other folks that I know and trust.

Frankly, if it were my money, I'd be more inclined to spend it some place with a less mixed reputation, like Gunsite or Thunder Ranch. Or better yet, try to find a good traveling trainer like Ayoob, Farnam, or Suarez who's going to be in my area and save on travel costs.
 
#7 ·
Front Sight Training

I have met & talked to 3 people in person that have been to Front Sight and they thought it was great training. Two of them told me to be sure and get a shooting glove because they got blisters from all the practice drawing and shooting. Have read a lot of good things in the forum's about Front Sight from people that have attended. Read several posts from people that had never been there, but had an "opinion".

What ever you do, check out the forum's and don't pay the price that is listed on the FS web site. I bought in on the "Gun & 5 Day Training" for $1195.00. At the time I didn't know I could go for a lot less, and thought it was a good deal (not complaining just stating a fact). Right after that I got offers for as low as $300.00 for the 4 day class. And since then have seen "Certificates" for as low as $100.00 (my buddy in Tucson just bought one and is going with two of us from Surprise AZ). On top of that price add in $50.00 for a background check - good for 1 calendar year. You will pay that even if you have a CCW. You will need at least 800 rounds of ammo and will probably shoot all of it. Best place that I was told about to stay was in Pahrump at "Saddle West" Room includes breakfast w/2 queen beds. In Oct the price was $40.00 a night for the room. They will also make you a lunch to take to the range for $10.00. Should you decide to stay there don't make your res. on the web site. Call Saddle West and tell them you are there to go to Front Sight Training and that's how you get the $40.00 price, other wise you will be paying $70.00 or more for the same room.
You will love the training, you will come away with a lot more confidence. One last thing - buy your ammo before getting to FS.
Hope this helps. I know it was long. But I am real excited about going. All 3 of us are Senior Citizens.

Darv in Surprise, AZ
 
#41 ·
I have met & talked to 3 people in person that have been to Front Sight and they thought it was great training. Two of them told me to be sure and get a shooting glove because they got blisters from all the practice drawing and shooting. Have read a lot of good things in the forum's about Front Sight from people that have attended. Read several posts from people that had never been there, but had an "opinion".

What ever you do, check out the forum's and don't pay the price that is listed on the FS web site. I bought in on the "Gun & 5 Day Training" for $1195.00. At the time I didn't know I could go for a lot less, and thought it was a good deal (not complaining just stating a fact). Right after that I got offers for as low as $300.00 for the 4 day class. And since then have seen "Certificates" for as low as $100.00 (my buddy in Tucson just bought one and is going with two of us from Surprise AZ). On top of that price add in $50.00 for a background check - good for 1 calendar year. You will pay that even if you have a CCW. You will need at least 800 rounds of ammo and will probably shoot all of it. Best place that I was told about to stay was in Pahrump at "Saddle West" Room includes breakfast w/2 queen beds. In Oct the price was $40.00 a night for the room. They will also make you a lunch to take to the range for $10.00. Should you decide to stay there don't make your res. on the web site. Call Saddle West and tell them you are there to go to Front Sight Training and that's how you get the $40.00 price, other wise you will be paying $70.00 or more for the same room.
You will love the training, you will come away with a lot more confidence. One last thing - buy your ammo before getting to FS.
Hope this helps. I know it was long. But I am real excited about going. All 3 of us are Senior Citizens.

Darv in Surprise, AZ
What do you mean by getting a cheaper price for gun schools? How do you get theses?
 
#8 ·
In doing some research it appears there's some funky ties to scientology. Anyone know anything about that?

Seeing as how I have a not-so-dark history of anti-scientology activism (and even my name is a reference to that), it sounds as if they are, perhaps, not a good fit for me.

Ah well, it was a hell of a deal, too.
 
#9 ·
The owner is a Scientologist. I've heard of no evidence that this, in any way, affects the content of the classes or shooting training.

Certificates are for sale on Ebay. The price has gone up lately. My guess this is do to the political environment. $200 will get you a certificate that is good for your first course there. There are also the scarce "blue certificates" which are good for any course, even if you have been there before. I have one of each. One I bought. One I won on a forum.
 
#10 ·
Yup. Did the course in October and it was very good. The owner's religious preference has NOTHING to do with the training you'll receive.

You'll get closer to 40 hours of training as the days were longer than 8 hours. From the second day on your car/truck will be close to the range you do the training on so you can shuttle a lot of spare stuff you might need. I brought a spare weapon.

I stayed at the Pahrump Station, great place.. They prepared a sack lunch for me each day and had a free breakfast buffet each morning.

It's a very good paced course and I think you'll enjoy it though you'll be pooped at it's finish! :wink:

Here's my instructors... don't let them scare you! :rofl:

 
#11 · (Edited)
Thanks for the feedback guys. Knew I could count on ya'll.
 
#12 ·
I attended a 4 day defensive handgun class with my son and it was one of the best vacations I've had. Lots of learning, lots of shooting. Excellent instructors. We both made huge improvements in our gun handling, malfunction clearing, and marksmanship.
 
#15 ·
I have never attended the Front Sight Institute but I have some friends that have gone several times. They were able to buy $100 coupons to let them attend.
They said they really enjoyed the class and learned a lot. They did say that they really push their memberships which let you train for free for the rest of your life. These run from several thousands to almost 100,000 dollars.
They are very convincing and if you are easily talked into things, you might find your self caught up in the moment and whipping out your Visa card!:haha:
 
#19 ·
No they do not. Only goes hot when you're on the firing line and the instructor tells you to load.

I graduated from the 4-day handgun course and I actually learned a lot. I left feeling really confident with my handgun skills. It's really good training, you won't regret it. I'm thinking about going back and taking the practical rifle course. I still have a free certificate I can use :danceban:.
 
#23 ·
Between Utah polite society events and the occasional new shooter class, I've seen quite a few people experiencing a hot range for the first time. Novice shooters are rarely the ones that have trouble. You tell them to keep their guns in the holster when they're not on the line and they listen. The troublemakers are the "experienced" shooters who don't have any hot range time. Folks who have spent a lot of time on cold ranges tend to have trouble with holster discipline; many of them have developed carelessness and bad habits because they're used to their guns being unloaded and 'safe'. This leads some of them to do stupid things despite the first rule of gun safety. I definitely think it's best to get people in the hot range habit from the beginning.
 
#26 ·
Front Sight just offered me a good deal: 3 classes for $300 each...for me and a friend/relative.

I'm seriously thinking about it.
 
#27 ·
The OP made reference to the fact he thought that lodging and meals would be provided, that is farther from the truth. You must provide your own hotel and food, and if i remember right from reading their website, they do not have a cafe on property.

If your going to go, take the $1199 offer, lots of free stuff including a free gun.
 
#32 ·
I went to the class using acertificate purchased on ebay. I was impressed. There is no hardsell on memberships but MAN you get a LOT of junk mail. I did eventually purchase a handgun membership. $900.00 lifetime handgun. Money well spent.
 
#34 ·
Patti,

Can you elaborate on the class action that was found against Front Sight? Why do you think are they not paying the judgement?
 
#38 ·
I just got back from a 4 day defensive handgun class. It was a blast, and I am definitely going again! Except next time I'm driving, Southwest Airlines lost my baggage (guns) on the flight home and had to fedex them to me a few days later. Grrrr...
 
#42 ·
You see Darv I do listen to you...I've joined the forum:smile:

For my first post I thought it might be wise to talk about something I have first hand experience with and that would be Front Sight.

I took my frist class there about 8 months ago. It was the 4 day Defnesive Handgun class with day 5 being a 30 state CCW class. I took advantage of the free gun and 5 day training deal for $1195 and picked up my included XD 9 from their pro shop ( actually they ship it to your dealer within days after the class ends). The days are long and filled with both lecture sessions as well as range time (mostly range time...some lectures are givin during your lunch break). Yes they do talk to everyone about Memberships, and there are all kinds of offers, but it in no way detracts from the fantastic instruction you will receive there. And, it is a very small part of the total 5 days of training.

The certificates that people have been talking about are givin to those who buy memberships. They can sell them or give them away and can be used by anyone who has never been to a Front Sight class before. Sure, they are trying to get new students into their facility, it is their business afterall. After my 5 days of training were over I was so impressed that I bought a membership for myself and my son who is LE in Las Vegas. I new I would be back for more training and next time it would be FREE! Now you still have to pay for travel there, hotel, meals and ammo. There are also fees for the various CCWs if you choose to take that part of the class. As Darv said, Saddle West is the best place to stay if they have rooms. They cater to Front Sight students with specially priced box lunches and free breakfasts.

I just finished my second go round with the 4 day Defensive Handgun class a couple weeks ago. It's so much fun and also a lot of work, but I've not talked to one person who was dissapointed in the trainng they received. Also met a great bunch of people from all walks of life and all ability levels. I'll be going back next month for the 4 day Rifle Class:smile:

One more thing...they ran a cold range for the first day and a half (this just means that when off the firing line guns were unloaded). The reason for this was a safety issue. The Range Master was seeing too many fingers on triggers when they shouldn't have been but as soon as he saw some improvement and felt better about the safety of the class, we went to a hot range. In classes with novice through expert experience levels, I have no problem with this procedure.

By the way, from day 2 on, all draw is done from concealed carry, and isn't that what it's all about anyway?
 
#43 ·
Training Great - but Hard Sell Tactics

My husband and I each bought the Millionaire Patriot deal ($1300 for 4 Day Defensive Handgun, 1 Day CCW, Springfield Arms XD, etc). We went but the guns were on backorder, so we got free rentals. The training was FANTASTIC - professional, indepth, safe, can't say enough good about the training. Being impressed, be bought the $4900 Lifetime Legacy Membership (2 for 1 deal). BUT - though they charged our Visa account, we never got our guns. We called and emailed repeatedly. Yes, there is a backlog, we understand, but its been over 3.5 months. And in the meantime we are being bombarded with emails and recorded phone calls telling us of the great deals we should buy. Yesterday my husband called again and said that he will contact the BATF who will check their records to see if anyone else bought and were sent their guns since we did. Wow - today we got a call - they have new stock - we have our choice of 4" black 9mm, 5" olive green 9mm, they even have one ported model. They will ship our guns tomorrow. Training is well worth the time and some money, but be prepared for a hard sell.
 
#46 ·
My husband and I each bought the Millionaire Patriot deal ($1300 for 4 Day Defensive Handgun, 1 Day CCW, Springfield Arms XD, etc). We went but the guns were on backorder, so we got free rentals. The training was FANTASTIC - professional, indepth, safe, can't say enough good about the training. Being impressed, be bought the $4900 Lifetime Legacy Membership (2 for 1 deal). BUT - though they charged our Visa account, we never got our guns. We called and emailed repeatedly. Yes, there is a backlog, we understand, but its been over 3.5 months. And in the meantime we are being bombarded with emails and recorded phone calls telling us of the great deals we should buy. Yesterday my husband called again and said that he will contact the BATF who will check their records to see if anyone else bought and were sent their guns since we did. Wow - today we got a call - they have new stock - we have our choice of 4" black 9mm, 5" olive green 9mm, they even have one ported model. They will ship our guns tomorrow. Training is well worth the time and some money, but be prepared for a hard sell.
I signed up for the free gun deal, but I haven't attended the course, yet. I waited 4 months for the gun and gear and they kept giving ambiguous answers. They finally offerred me a Taurus 1911, instead. It wasn't what I wanted, but I took it. Maybe I should've tried your approach.
 
#44 ·
Transporting guns to Front Sight Training

A question for those of you who have done training like this: did you run into any issues transporting your handguns when flying? It seems like they could get 'lost" so easily... I saw one post where some equipment got delayed on the way back but showed up later.

Did you bring ammo or buy it it either at the school or nearby?

Any tips/suggestions for getting the stuff there will be appreciated. Thanks!
 
#45 ·
A question for those of you who have done training like this: did you run into any issues transporting your handguns when flying? It seems like they could get 'lost" so easily... I saw one post where some equipment got delayed on the way back but showed up later.

Did you bring ammo or buy it it either at the school or nearby?

Any tips/suggestions for getting the stuff there will be appreciated. Thanks!
PM sent your way! :smile:
 
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