User Panel
Posted: 12/29/2018 4:15:30 PM EDT
I miss Gun Disneyland with it's salty, steely eyed killer instructors, Commandos wandering around, multi story shooting platforms, fast moving steel, radio controlled steel, bullet fragments from machineguns on the next range raining down over the berm walls.
Are there any places like that still around? Academi just had crap listed like "Mossberg armorer course" seriously? Lol nooo thanks Gunsite used to make you take what seemed like a million blah blah courses before you could do anything cool like force on force. I've been to cool courses with traveling instructors but even doing team work or building searching isn't the same without Blackwater's "Headquarters of Dr. No" play set. Yeah sure, I should just eat broccoli, do more pushups and go to boring Appleseed shoots in Jorts and a Hawaiian shirt so Shotar doesn't get all butthurt at my cool 00's woodland camo plate carrier |
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A range a few miles north of here has a shoot house and has courses in it open to the public. They also allow shooting while moving, drawing from concealment, full auto, and pretty much everything else on their range. It's nowhere near the size of Blackwater but there are plenty of similar places around the country I would imagine. It's nice to have a range so close that's the polar opposite of a fudd range.
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Blackwater became XE which became Academi.
Same location in Moyock, NC with different ownership. Great training, ive been there a few times. |
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Weren’t these the schools that developed “Contractor Casual” dressing of 5.11 cargo pants & polo shirts? With optional plate carriers & LBVs (Load Bearing Vests, if they changed the term).
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http://thesitetraining.com
formerly owned by Blackwater. Last time I was there a retired SEAL sniper ran the place. |
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There was a Blackwater training facility in Mt. Carroll, Illinois. It's now called The Site and has training courses. I've never been there but it's supposed to be nice.
http://thesitetraining.com/ ETA: Beat by a few minutes |
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Quoted:
The PD in Alliance, OH has a pretty nice facility. View Quote It's fully funded through courses offered. The tax payers don't spend any money on it. In fact, I think it even generates revenue for the city. It's nice, but it's nothing like the BW Compound. CSAT in Texas is good. So is Shaw's (Midsouth) in MS. |
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Blackwater became XE which became Academi. Same location in Moyock, NC with different ownership. Great training, ive been there a few times. View Quote It’s an “open to the public” indoor shooting range with a backstop rated for .556 rifle and down. There’s oftentimes long vans parked out front with various U.S. Government plates. There’s at least four military bases nearby including the Coast Guard Academy and the Naval Sub Base. |
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My range has a guest instructor, super Seal guy of some sort.
Redfrog I’ll I’ll loan you a real AR and pistol if you’re interested |
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Executive Security International (ESI) has been around long before BW was heard of. They go back to the early 80's and maybe into the 70's.
They had driving courses there back then with the Dalenbach family of drivers teaching the courses. Now it's more range time and protection details depending on which course you take. https://www.esibodyguardschool.com/ |
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Quoted:
I miss Gun Disneyland with it's salty, steely eyed killer instructors, Commandos wandering around, multi story shooting platforms, fast moving steel, radio controlled steel, bullet fragments from machineguns on the next range raining down over the berm walls. Are there any places like that still around? Academi just had crap listed like "Mossberg armorer course" seriously? Lol nooo thanks Gunsite used to make you take what seemed like a million blah blah courses before you could do anything cool like force on force. I've been to cool courses with traveling instructors but even doing team work or building searching isn't the same without Blackwater's "Headquarters of Dr. No" play set. Yeah sure, I should just eat broccoli, do more pushups and go to boring Appleseed shoots in Jorts and a Hawaiian shirt so Shotar doesn't get all butthurt at my cool 00's woodland camo plate carrier View Quote I've been there a bunch, good place to get solid no-bullshit instruction. |
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Blackwater became XE which became Academi. Same location in Moyock, NC with different ownership. Great training, ive been there a few times. View Quote They had rescue divers working the sunk bus in the pond out front, classes and training going on in every berm, and some high speed guys practicing BIG demo somewhere. About every 20 minutes, BA-BOOOM. Fuck it was awesome. |
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Quoted: I visited in '06. They had rescue divers working the sunk bus in the pond out front, classes and training going on in every berm, and some high speed guys practicing BIG demo somewhere. About every 20 minutes, BA-BOOOM. Fuck it was awesome. View Quote |
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http://alliancepolicetraining.com/ It's fully funded through courses offered. The tax payers don't spend any money on it. In fact, I think it even generates revenue for the city. It's nice, but it's nothing like the BW Compound. CSAT in Texas is good. So is Shaw's (Midsouth) in MS. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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The PD in Alliance, OH has a pretty nice facility. It's fully funded through courses offered. The tax payers don't spend any money on it. In fact, I think it even generates revenue for the city. It's nice, but it's nothing like the BW Compound. CSAT in Texas is good. So is Shaw's (Midsouth) in MS. |
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I think they’re still around
Tactical Response High Risk Civilian Contractor - Direct Action 2010 |
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I'll pick you up, you'll need to buy your first holster. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Just go to Detroit. Know where we can find one? |
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The winding down of Iraq hurt a lot of them. You see less and less of the week long classes.
Max Velocity Tactical He has a nice area for Small Unit Tactics |
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Old school tag.
Agree. Miss the NC Facility. I haven't been in a few years but I know it's just not like it was way back when. Memorable Moments; - That truck stop dive with the good BBQ a couple miles outside the gate. - Being down there when two "cool guy trainers" showed up to do some filming, and watching them act like glassy eyed school girls when the real swinging dicks were around. - Going to Sonic with a Suburban full of machine guns. - Waiting outside one of the shoot houses and a mama bear with some cubs comes wandering by. I was at Gunsite not too long ago, and the facility itself is great, but the curriculum is too rigid to be of any use at this point. Yes, I know I could work for a week straight on my draw and "flash sight picture" and "surprise break", and pass your "Masters" times. Now show me how to takedown that bus over there please? Also at Gunsite ever since that dude got shot on the catwalk by his buddy they don't allow anybody up on the catwalk during runs, which is dogshit. |
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Don’t trainers come to you now rather than you going to them?
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LAV shoots at a range I shoot occasionally. Seems to be a lot of high-speed guys there. Kind of loose and fancy free too if that's your bag.
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Quoted:
The winding down of Iraq hurt a lot of them. You see less and less of the week long classes. Max Velocity Tactical He has a nice area for Small Unit Tactics View Quote |
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What's your beef with Academi? I've taken a pistol course and carbine course there, and they were awesome. Instructors were expert and easy-going, let us do a lot of fun stuff. Nice campus, too. If I had the money I'd be down there every year.
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A lot of the shooting community that has the time/money to do a 5 day class have gotten older. I know I was always beat after a TR class and that’s when I was young. With the wind down of the GWOT terror, the gov’t tit dried up. It’s cheaper to host an event and bring in an instructor, if you have a good facility.
TR and Gunsite are still doing well, I don’t know if MISS is doing civ classes again. There are some good facilities around the US. Asymetric does some good stuff along with the other’s mentioned. Carbine classes seem to have slowed down in number... Still plenty, but I don’t see as many as I used to from some of the established instructors. I do a pistol class once or twice a year to knock the rust off, but I have been to so many of the schools and classes that I would rather spend my time and money on another vacation. |
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Quoted:
A range a few miles north of here has a shoot house and has courses in it open to the public. They also allow shooting while moving, drawing from concealment, full auto, and pretty much everything else on their range. It's nowhere near the size of Blackwater but there are plenty of similar places around the country I would imagine. It's nice to have a range so close that's the polar opposite of a fudd range. View Quote |
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