This class was hosted by THE GUN DUDES, with special guest THE GUNFIGHTER CAST. Meeting these guys in person was fantastic. And of course learning from Massad Ayoob was absolutely amazing. Their links are now on the right side over there under the A List Links. The class was held at a confidential law enforcement training range. A beautiful range, that was a great venue for the training course.
There are a lot of great shooting schools out there. I’ve been to a bunch of them, and all can help you be a better shooter. But the way of the gun demands more than just being a good shooter. Because if you are ignorant, you might win a gunfight, and then spend the rest of your life in prison. Let me be clear about this, the MAG-40 class was the most important class I’ve ever taken. Half of it was shooting. Half of it was legal lectures and videos. In the course, you will take a lot of notes. Technology is great, and Gundoc and I used our HTC Sensation smart phones for note taking. At the end of the course, there is a test. I’d suggest bringing a notepad and pen, and then after the class, each nite, transfer what you wrote to your computer so you are going over everything twice at least. The note taking is heavy and justifiably so… the info flow was heavy. Heavy in volume and significance. I can’t stress this enough, this was the most important class I’ve ever taken. Also, as a bonus, when you graduate, should you be involved in a defensive shooting, Mas will serve as an expert witness should you be prosecuted. That could be worth it’s weight in gold one day. Everyone who takes the art of the gun seriously, or carries one daily by choice or career… you need to take this class.
The shooting is straight forward Old School stuff, with some modern stuff thrown in to keep it up to date. Mas is big on the Classics and makes sure you try it out. Weaver, Chapman, Isosceles. You fire 6 rounds in each course of fire… each stage. So you are only loading 6 per mag. You can very easily bring a Revolver to the MAG-40 class and do very well with it. In fact, if I take another one, and I’d love to, I’ll bring a revolver. Accuracy over speed is stressed. Over all the shooting portion was great, and I enjoyed it. The Qualifier had me shooting a 298 out of 300. I posted a number of class photos on my Facebook page, so if you want to see them, then by all means, check them out there.
Interesting. Notes-wise, that’s essentially what we cover when we do the NRA’s Personal Protection classes (granted, we go a bit above the NRA’s curriculum). Although I’m assuming that, given Ayoob’s reputation, there’s more depth to it than the notes show.
With all respect to NRA PPITH/PPOTH, MAG-40 blows them both away. (I’ve taken the former, and teach the latter). 20-25 hours of legal stuff for our MAG-40 class, and taught by someone with almost certainly more investigator and legal experience, and more teaching experience, than most anyone who teaches PPOTH. Lots more depth than the single hour allowed for legal in the NRA PP classes, and Mas is pretty darned good and experienced at teaching this stuff.
Eagerly waiting for MAG-80 to come this way. Our Live Oak FL December MAG-80 got cancelled due to a court date conflict for Mas. 🙁
Oops, I meant to say, I teach PPITH/PPOTH and have taken MAG-40.
Yeah, like I said, I’m sure there’s a lot more depth to Ayoob’s class. Just good to see that the same variety of topics are covered. How well the legal is covered also likely depends upon the lawyer who teaches that part. Most times I’ve been involved in the PP classes, we’ve used Evan Nappen or Penny Dean, who are both pretty knowledgeable about the legal system. I can personally vouch for Penny’s skills, having hired her when I was forced to defend myself from a carjacker.
I know it’s the fault of the smartphone, but I thank you anyway for “puma facia guilt”. I’ll treasure that.
Cougar face is the face of the guilty…
Wow, definitely need to attend this class. The guy shot through the head and got back up, he’s still alive? That’s amazing.
That’s no joke… He went on and won the fight too.
George, it was a pleasure loosing to you. For what it’s worth I say this class is a must for anyone who carries. It’s scary to think that I have carried for as long as I have without the information I got from this class. What hit home for me was that I have been doing my family a disservice by not knowing what I know now. This is no exaggeration. The after incident, witness, bad guy, investigating officer, and prosecutor information was priceless.
Massad gives waaaay too much information to absorb in 1 class, this is something to attend every other year to not only get it all but to keep current. Mas instructs to “white knuckle” the grip? IMO the best part of the class is to get Massad as THE expert witness if the case goes to court…that right there is priceless. He is known throughout the courts system as a trustworthy and honorable man and that goes a long way even before a word is spoken. What did he say about states with “castle” doctrines?