Fred Fuller
Moderator Emeritus
Thunder Ranch Training Series MR-TRDSDV
Defensive Shotgun: Logical Solutions For The Real World, Copyright 2007, Publisher's Development Corporation
2 Disk Set
Total run time: 2 hours, 4 minutes
Price: $49.95
Ordering Info: http://www.americanhandgunner.com/webblastTRDS.html or http://www.thunderranchinc.com/store.html
Preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhgwHQCJwWw
Clint Smith is a world class defensive firearms instructor, and Thunder Ranch is an equally excellent facility. He has an extensive career spent behind- and in front of- various firearms. His published biography says in part:
This is the first of the Thunder Ranch series of DVDs I have seen, and it may well not be the last. The production is well done, and Clint Smith has a very personal and entertaining style in delivering his material that makes the DVD a pleasure to watch. It's apparent he has a lot of platform time in his background, he is completely at ease in front of the camera and is a master of his material.
I spent 13 years at USAJFKSWCS, the US Army's schoolhouse for Special Forces soldiers. Overlooking all the media hype about SF, please understand that Special Forces soldiers are first and formost teachers. Their jobs involve training and assisting the forces of other nations- or indigenous guerrillas, depending on the situation. The first class, and the class everyone takes upon coming to USAJFKSWCS, used to be the ITC- Instructor Training Course. The purpose of this class was to teach you how to teach. It wouldn't surprise me if the USMC school system at Quantico didn't have something similar, and two tours with a USMC Combined Action Platoon would give ample opportunity to learn on the job. The thing is, I know good instruction when I see it, after spending a long time around some of the Army's best. And Clint Smith is as good as anyone I have ever seen.
There's a LOT of material in this two-DVD set. The first disk, with a run time of 38 minutes, is essentially a lecture on the basics of gunfighting- what the literature calls the Mental Preparation and Logic Lecture. The second disk in the set runs for an hour and twenty-six minutes, and is loaded down with shotgun stuff. This includes chapters on Proper Technique and Application, Single, Double, Pump & Semi-Auto shotguns, Loading, Carry and Presentation, Room Clearing and Proper Light Use, Range Drills and Demonstration. There's material on ammo varieties, ammo differences and uses, patterning and performance, and yet more demonstrations of the above, all delivered in Clint's inimitable style. Two things that were emphasized throughout- the most consistent thing about shotguns is their inconsistency, and ya gotta learn to load 'em.
No DVD, no matter how good it is, is a substitute for hands-on instruction with a good trainer. But training videos are a useful introduction to a given trainer or school, a good way to sample the fare if you will. Training with any nationally known instructor- and especially one who works out of a fixed base- is going to be a fairly expensive proposition. It's reasonable to wonder if you'd like the individual you're considering training with, or if their material really suits your needs.
A training DVD like this is one way to answer some of those questions, to get an intorduction to that instructor's material and style of presentation. And it's a way to brush up on some of the things you might want to practice on ahead of time before you show up for class. It's pretty apparent that Clint expects people to keep their guns stoked without really thinking about it much- so practicing combat loading of your particular shotgun until it is second nature would be a good idea before showing up at Thunder Ranch.
Is this the only DVD you'll need, if you plan on depending on training films to learn your way around the basics of a fighting shotgun? I suppose a case could be made for that. For the 'use the shotgun you have' single shot and double barrel folks, it might well suffice as the only video needed. And it's good on the repeaters too. But I still like Louis Awerbuck's The Combat Shotgun better as a basic intro to the pumpgun. Admittedly I am biased, I've had Louis' shotgun class and I haven't ever had a chance to go to Thunder Ranch. Yes, there are other shotgun videos available. I have the Gunsite video, and it's good. I have Gabe Suarez' shotgun video on order also, but it hasn't gotten here yet so I can't compare it with the others. Essentially, it seems to me that the Thunder Ranch shotgun video is starts out a bit beyond the basics- so if your shotgun foundation is already pretty solid, you should be happy with this one. If you're starting at Square One, get the Awerbuck video first. That's JMHO, of course.
People always ask- "Is it worth the money?" IMHO, this one certainly is. As I said earlier, no video is a substitute for a live class. But this one is definitely a worthwhile investment for any defensive shotgunner. I understand that most plain ordinary citizens don't see the need for hands-on training at the professional level, don't feel they can afford it, or for any one or several of many other reasons will never seek formal training. While no video can substitute for a class, watching a professional trainer in action is at least an introduction to these vital concepts.
For the record, I purchased this DVD out of my own pocket, and did not receive it in consideration of presenting this or any other review. Nor did I receive any other compensation or consideration for offering the above opinions.
hth,
lpl
Defensive Shotgun: Logical Solutions For The Real World, Copyright 2007, Publisher's Development Corporation
2 Disk Set
Total run time: 2 hours, 4 minutes
Price: $49.95
Ordering Info: http://www.americanhandgunner.com/webblastTRDS.html or http://www.thunderranchinc.com/store.html
Preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhgwHQCJwWw
Clint Smith is a world class defensive firearms instructor, and Thunder Ranch is an equally excellent facility. He has an extensive career spent behind- and in front of- various firearms. His published biography says in part:
Clint Smith, President and Director of Thunder Ranch , is a Marine Corps veteran of two infantry and Combined Action Platoon tours in Vietnam. His experience includes seven years as a police officer during which he served as head of the Firearms Training Division as well as being a S.W.A.T. member and precision rifleman. He left law enforcement to serve as Operations Officer for the American Pistol Institute where he was Dean of instruction and was instrumental in range and curriculum development for A.P.I. In 1983, Clint founded International Training Consultants, Inc., an active mobile training program which is nationally recognized for innovative programs in Urban Rifle, Shotgun, Precision Rifle, and various handgun formats. In 1986, he served as Director of Training for Heckler & Koch, Inc., where he developed and taught progressive courses in fully automatic weapons as well as conventional weapons systems. In 1993, Thunder Ranch , Inc. opened to show not only innovative training, but numerous range designs and functions of a type not seen before in one facility. Clint is a contributor to American Handgunner, GUNS and SWAT magazines and has published articles in many other national and international publications. In 2004 TR was successfully moved to Oregon.
This is the first of the Thunder Ranch series of DVDs I have seen, and it may well not be the last. The production is well done, and Clint Smith has a very personal and entertaining style in delivering his material that makes the DVD a pleasure to watch. It's apparent he has a lot of platform time in his background, he is completely at ease in front of the camera and is a master of his material.
I spent 13 years at USAJFKSWCS, the US Army's schoolhouse for Special Forces soldiers. Overlooking all the media hype about SF, please understand that Special Forces soldiers are first and formost teachers. Their jobs involve training and assisting the forces of other nations- or indigenous guerrillas, depending on the situation. The first class, and the class everyone takes upon coming to USAJFKSWCS, used to be the ITC- Instructor Training Course. The purpose of this class was to teach you how to teach. It wouldn't surprise me if the USMC school system at Quantico didn't have something similar, and two tours with a USMC Combined Action Platoon would give ample opportunity to learn on the job. The thing is, I know good instruction when I see it, after spending a long time around some of the Army's best. And Clint Smith is as good as anyone I have ever seen.
There's a LOT of material in this two-DVD set. The first disk, with a run time of 38 minutes, is essentially a lecture on the basics of gunfighting- what the literature calls the Mental Preparation and Logic Lecture. The second disk in the set runs for an hour and twenty-six minutes, and is loaded down with shotgun stuff. This includes chapters on Proper Technique and Application, Single, Double, Pump & Semi-Auto shotguns, Loading, Carry and Presentation, Room Clearing and Proper Light Use, Range Drills and Demonstration. There's material on ammo varieties, ammo differences and uses, patterning and performance, and yet more demonstrations of the above, all delivered in Clint's inimitable style. Two things that were emphasized throughout- the most consistent thing about shotguns is their inconsistency, and ya gotta learn to load 'em.
No DVD, no matter how good it is, is a substitute for hands-on instruction with a good trainer. But training videos are a useful introduction to a given trainer or school, a good way to sample the fare if you will. Training with any nationally known instructor- and especially one who works out of a fixed base- is going to be a fairly expensive proposition. It's reasonable to wonder if you'd like the individual you're considering training with, or if their material really suits your needs.
A training DVD like this is one way to answer some of those questions, to get an intorduction to that instructor's material and style of presentation. And it's a way to brush up on some of the things you might want to practice on ahead of time before you show up for class. It's pretty apparent that Clint expects people to keep their guns stoked without really thinking about it much- so practicing combat loading of your particular shotgun until it is second nature would be a good idea before showing up at Thunder Ranch.
Is this the only DVD you'll need, if you plan on depending on training films to learn your way around the basics of a fighting shotgun? I suppose a case could be made for that. For the 'use the shotgun you have' single shot and double barrel folks, it might well suffice as the only video needed. And it's good on the repeaters too. But I still like Louis Awerbuck's The Combat Shotgun better as a basic intro to the pumpgun. Admittedly I am biased, I've had Louis' shotgun class and I haven't ever had a chance to go to Thunder Ranch. Yes, there are other shotgun videos available. I have the Gunsite video, and it's good. I have Gabe Suarez' shotgun video on order also, but it hasn't gotten here yet so I can't compare it with the others. Essentially, it seems to me that the Thunder Ranch shotgun video is starts out a bit beyond the basics- so if your shotgun foundation is already pretty solid, you should be happy with this one. If you're starting at Square One, get the Awerbuck video first. That's JMHO, of course.
People always ask- "Is it worth the money?" IMHO, this one certainly is. As I said earlier, no video is a substitute for a live class. But this one is definitely a worthwhile investment for any defensive shotgunner. I understand that most plain ordinary citizens don't see the need for hands-on training at the professional level, don't feel they can afford it, or for any one or several of many other reasons will never seek formal training. While no video can substitute for a class, watching a professional trainer in action is at least an introduction to these vital concepts.
For the record, I purchased this DVD out of my own pocket, and did not receive it in consideration of presenting this or any other review. Nor did I receive any other compensation or consideration for offering the above opinions.
hth,
lpl
