Gear For Gunsite 250

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I haven’t taken Gunsite 250, but I have taken a number of classes from other schools so I’ll add some recommendations.

Bring more ammo than required if you can. Sometimes (depending on class, how many people are there, how much extra time you have etc) you can get some extra reps in. It’s nice to know you have extra ammo and can run the additional drills and still finish the class without running out.

Before you go, dump the ammo out of the boxes and into ammo cans (I like the MTM .30 cal cans - they come in a set of 4 on a stackable tray and you can get 1,000 9mm in each can which makes it very convenient). Also get an UpLULA for loading mags. It’s much easier to load mags from a pile of ammo than it is to pull each round out of a box.

Bring as many loaded mags as you can. If they say bring 10 mags, bring 20. If you’re using a single stack, bring even more. One of the first classes I took, I only brought the recommended number of mags and spent so much time stuffing ammo in mags that I could barely get a drink of water. If you bring a lot of mags you can take a break and get some water instead of loading if you need to. That is especially helpful near the end of the day when you’re getting hot and tired.

Electronic ear pro is a must. You’re there to learn, right? You need to hear what the instructor is saying. Gel ear cups are awesome - get some and you’ll never go back. For peltors you can get them for about $15 so they’re really not prohibitively expensive. The high dollar electronic ear pro (MSA Sordins, Swatcoms, Peltor Comtac) do have advantages in comfort, battery life, and amplification tech (they reduce all sound, they don’t just turn off momentarily when a loud sound occurs), but the <$100 options from Peltor and Howard Leight are big steps up from using plugs and I would not feel bad about using them at all.

If you’re going to be on the ground, wear knee pads. It helps comfort wise but also protects your pants from getting ripped up. Also, consider wearing long sleeves if you’ll be on the ground too. I scraped up my arm pretty good at a class and had to go to work the next day. Had to quickly come up with an explanation of what I did over the weekend that didn’t involve me and a whole bunch of other guys suiting up with rifles and plate carriers and learning how to run around and shoot things. I now have a set of training clothes with long sleeves. While rifle classes and defensive pistol classes generally have different dress requirements, I’d still recommend long sleeves if you can. Even in hot climates a long sleeved breathable material (under armor or dry fit) will be very helpful.

Bring a folding camp chair and a cooler full of water and Gatorade/Powerade. Snacks are great as well. Some of the most interesting conversations I’ve had with instructors happened during brakes and lunches, so if you can spend the time with the group (as opposed to at your car) you’ll pick up a lot.

Finally, take notes. I keep a small write in the rain notepad in my pocket when taking classes. It’s very useful for writing down things like gate codes and instructor phone numbers if you need to contact them. Sometimes it’s hard to take more detailed notes during classes, but once you get home (while it’s fresh on your mind) write an after action review. Write down what you learned and what you need to work on, and then write down what things you might want to bring next time to make your class easier.
 
Lot of good info from all of this. Bring more ammo than required? In this market? I don't know. Some of this is probably going to be reloads as it is. A spare gun is a challenge, too. I could bring my compact carry as a back up, but Gunsite discourages compact guns. My only other option is my 44 revolver bear gun, and it would have to be reloaded ammo for it. (My reloads are solid, been doing it for years, ran other courses with them.) It would be ironic as, a few years back I wanted to do Gunsite with that very revolver but couldn't schedule for the revolver specific course. (The other issue with running that revolver as the back up is I absolutely must recover my brass, which I know is problematic.)
 
Bring more ammo than required? In this market? I don't know. Some of this is probably going to be reloads as it is.
I know, but just think about how much time and money you’re already spending on this class. It would suck to spend $2k-$3k on a week of training and not get get to run an extra drill because you didn’t bring an extra $50 of ammo.

That said, I don’t know about Gunsite specifically but some schools will tell you to bring 1,000 rounds but you’ll only shoot 800. Or more relevant as it happened during this ammo shortage, I took a class that “officially” said to bring 1,500 rounds, the instructors said day-of that 1,000 would be acceptable, and then we only shot 800-900 rounds.

Obviously it’s not a hard and fast rule that you must bring extra ammo, it just falls into the “better to have and not need, rather than need and not have” category.



For the backup gun, bring your compact carry gun and not your revolver. You’re never going to get your revolver brass back and a bear gun is not the right tool to use when learning defensive shooting and tactics. It can be done, but a revolver in a class designed for semi-autos is at a significant disadvantage in just keeping up with the rest of the class, and that is going to make you spend more time worrying about your gun instead of thinking about what you’re learning.

Assuming you mean “compact” as in Glock 19 size and not “subcompact” (glock 26 size) that gun will be fine. Even if it is a subcompact, it should be fine to finish out the day so that you can arrange a rental for the rest of the class.
 
Even if it is a subcompact, it should be fine to finish out the day so that you can arrange a rental for the rest of the class.
When I attended, there were at least 3-4 folks who were using rental guns and ammo purchased on site. I don't know if this is still available, but it cost nothing to inquire
 
...some schools will tell you to bring 1,000 rounds but you’ll only shoot 800.

That has been my experience in other courses as well. I've generally used about 80-90% of the amount of ammo I was told to bring.

a bear gun is not the right tool to use when learning defensive shooting and tactics....
Ayyyye dunnnohhhh. I've run that Redhawk through two pistol courses and my CCW qual. 20 shots I could cover with the palm of my hand.

...a revolver in a class designed for semi-autos is at a significant disadvantage...

Tell me about it. It's also a significant disadvantage in USPSA.

Assuming you mean “compact” as in Glock 19 size and not “subcompact” (glock 26 size)

Guess I should have said sub compact.
 
When I attended, there were at least 3-4 folks who were using rental guns and ammo purchased on site. I don't know if this is still available, but it cost nothing to inquire

So. I failed to mention in my original post: this is an off site course in my home state. There will be no ammo packs or rental guns. Too bad, as it would have been a great back-up gun solution.
 
Was gonna say rentals, but also ask around. Got any friends who will loan you a reasonably similar duty gun and holster, that you'll only use if needed? I have seen that a lot; esp when going with a group of friends, you make the guy with too many guns bring extras for everyone :)

Also ask about ammo. Many classes know it's still expensive or locally hard to find, will arrange to get it for you and some will even arrange for you to have it IF you need it. Guaranteed availability and you tell them the afternoon before the last day yes or no, pay or don't. They probably gave you a lot of info, so re-read all, but don't worry about asking them, even just stuff like REALLY is the ammo limit real? Most instructors and ranges won't mind answering questions if you tried to find it in the info they released, and many will answer even if it IS.
 
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