What: SigSauer Academy Pistol Training Courses
www.SigSauerAcademy.com
Phone: (603) 610-3400
Fax: (603) 610-3401


Disclaimers:

I only take pistol classes so this guide is written specifically for those of you who always wanted to take formal pistol training but were afraid to take the first step. Sig also offers rifle and shotgun classes, room clearing classes, executive protection courses, force on force training, sniper training, etc… which are not covered in this guide.

Wherever this guide, written in July 2018, differs from the Sig Academy website, ignore this guide and trust whatever is on the Academy website.

I do not work for SigSauer nor am I receiving any form of compensation for writing this.

These are my personal opinions so understand that your opinions and the opinions of the SigSauer staff will differ.

All errors and omissions are mine and mine alone.


Overview:

This Guide is my best effort at assisting my fellow Sig Forum users who might be interested in traveling to the Sig Academy or in encouraging others to take up pistol shooting. I've learned a lot from this Forum. You folks are a very thoughtful and considerate group who have helped me considerably. Thank you for everything you do to promote the shooting sports and thank you for all the help you've given me over the years.

Where: 233 Exeter Road; Epping, NH 03042 142 acre campus in Epping, NH off of Exit 8 (North Road) on Route 101 (about 1/2 mile from both the NH Speedway & the NH Dragway)

Cost: Approximately $500 per day (+ or -) plus travel for planning purposes if you’re from out of state, cheaper if you’re within easy driving distance.
A. $250 per day of instruction
B. + or - $104 per night at one of three Exeter based hotels using the Sig Corporate Rate (this includes the local hotel tax)
C. Cost of ammo (9mm recommended for its low recoil & low cost)
D. + or - Meals if you pack your own
E. + Gasoline & tolls if you're driving from home station
F. + Air Tickets to either Boston Logan Airport or Manchester, NH Airport
G. + Car Rental for fly-in students

Paperwork: You will complete all of your paperwork in advance of registering for classes.
Sig operates a very secure campus and you will need to submit to a criminal background check in order to be allowed to register for classes. In addition, Sig will ask you for a copy of your home state License to Carry. For brand new shooters who need training before being able to obtain their home state License to Carry I'm assuming you can call the office and they'll get you enrolled in the proper class that will qualify you for your license.

Pistol Classes: The four foundational, one-day pistol classes are Handgun 101, 102, 103 & 104. Sig also offers these foundational classes in formats for women and seniors who might feel more comfortable shooting alongside only other women or other seniors. Sig is very supportive of the shooting sports and wants you to help you succeed. Sig will lend you the equipment you need (covered below) so all you need to bring to class is yourself.

A. Handgun 101 is the one-day Orientation class with mostly classroom work followed by live fire at the end of the course. If you’re new to handguns this is a great way to break into pistol shooting. Everyone was a beginner when they first started so don’t be afraid to sign up for this class if you’ve never handled a firearm before.

B. Handgun 102 is Basic Practical Handgun Skills is another one-day course but here you really start to master the basic fundamentals of drawing your pistol, gripping it correctly, taking up a proper sight picture and pressing the trigger back so as not to move the sights from the target and using proper follow through. You’ll pick up some reloading techniques and learn the concept of “using your workspace” while maintaining situational awareness in a defensive situation. Range Safety will be emphasized and re-emphasized. It’s a big step up from Handgun 101 and will teach you how to operate your pistol safely and efficiently as you engage targets from distances ranging from 3 yards on out.

C. Handgun 103 is Sig’s Intermediate Skills & Introduction to Defensive Shooting. It’s an intense one-day course and you’ll be engaging targets from near too far. Expect to engage multiple targets as well. And, if you’re on the indoor range you might even get to engage a moving target (or miss a moving target like I did when I took this class). You’ll be getting into some higher-level gun manipulation techniques and improving upon the skills you learned in 102. Personally, I found 103 to be the toughest course in the four course foundational series but I think most students find 104 to be the hardest.

D. Handgun 104 is Defensive Handgun Skills and it’s definitely the real deal. Here it’s all about surviving a gun battle when your life is on the line. You’ll need every skill you learned in 101, 102 & 103 to be able to improve upon those skills and add new ones that are quite a bit more advanced. Drills on reloading with one hand, including your support hand, firing with your support hand only, shooting from cover, moving to cover & then shooting, shooting from underneath cover, etc.... Sig will give you several different techniques for everything you need to do in a gun fight. They’ll give you drills for each and then let you decide which techniques you like best. You’ll be taking a lot of notes in this class and they’ll send you home with a lot of drills you can practice at home. Personally, I’ve taken this course three times because that what it took for me to master the course content given my (low) level of ability. NOTE: Sig now offers Handgun 104 in a two-day format which, given how much material is taught, makes sense.

Other Great Pistol Courses:

Once you’ve taken the Foundational Courses, Handgun 101 thru 104, you’re a shooter that knows how to safely operate on a Sig range. You’ve mastered the basics and are what I like to call a beginning intermediate shooter with the emphasis on “beginning.” And best of all, Sig offers lots of courses to improve your shooting ability to make you a more accurate shooter at longer ranges, shooting more quickly with smaller group sizes even while moving.

Some of my favorite pistol classes are:

A. Bullets on Vehicles: This is a more expensive course because it includes the cost of a used vehicle which ends up being destroyed during your class. The reason you want to take this course is obvious – we spend lots of time in and around vehicles every day, so defensive shooters and law enforcement officers need to be prepared. During this course anything that can be done with a handgun from inside a vehicle, outside a vehicle, underneath a vehicle and behind a vehicle will be taught. There are several safe draw strokes from inside a vehicle that will be taught along with how to shoot from your vehicle. Locating and using the semi-safe spots of a vehicle for cover are taught along with how little protection a car actually provides during a gunfight. After taking this course you will never be able to watch a TV show or Hollywood movie without laughing and calling bullshit. One of the most exciting, most informative drills in this course is when your instructor has you role play as a the triggerman in a drive-by shooting and has you engage multiple targets while the car is moving at different rates of speed. Does shooting from a moving vehicle make sense or is it pure Hollywood fiction? Take this course and find out for yourself.

B. The two-day Concealed Carry class which I like to take once a year to practice new techniques and get better at old techniques. Learning how to draw wearing different clothing and placing rounds quickly on target with your EDC can never be practiced enough. There is also some scenario based training involving simulated active shooter situations during the course. My instructor had us try on different types of holsters, different carrying styles and taught us how to safely draw from inside the belt and appendix holsters while wearing multiple layers of clothing. This is perhaps my favorite class to take during the indoor shooting season. It's also a class where the technological improvement in pistols and holsters is very noticeable from year to year. Learning how and how not to dress around your everyday carry pistol is also covered.

C. The Close Quarters Pistol class is another course that I also take once a year because it’s such an important class. You’re usually firing at ranges from 3 inches to 3 yards, in other words, the distances at which the vast majority of gunfights take place. Surprisingly, firing from 3 inches away is very easy to screw up if you haven’t practiced it safely under expert instructors and don't know what to expect. Hand to hand techniques to free your gun and other important skills are taught in this class. I consider this an important but often overlooked class.

D. Skill Builders I & II: These are free form, designer classes where the students inform the instructor of what they’d like to improve on or learn and then the instructor teaches those skills through a series of drills. I try to go to as many of these as I can because these are where you pick up many of the finer points of mastering your pistol. These classes are particularly good for beginning intermediate shooters who want to take their shooting to the next level.

E. Steel Frenzy: Shooting drills at plate racks of 8 inch targets at various distances is the first part of the class. By the end of this course you'll be hitting (and missing) 8-inch steel plates at varying distances while moving which is every bit as exciting and difficult as it sounds. This is one of those courses that the first time you take it, you ask yourself, "why aren't those plates going down when I shoot at them?" and then you'll go home and practice before signing up to take it again and again so that your scores and times improve. It's also the most fun you'll ever have on a pistol range. I call this one the "Lays potato chip course" because you can't just stop signing up for this one after taking the class the first time.

F. Dynamic Performance Pistol: This is a class that you take after you’ve taken quite a few courses, are an intermediate or advanced shooter, and are ready for more advanced tactical training or are interested in competition shooting. For me this is a very difficult two-day course which is why it’s my favorite. It consists of lots of different drills where you will need to accurately and rapidly shoot after moving from position to position or from cover to cover. Getting your feet into position quickly at the same time as your gun is acquiring the target and getting off an accurate shot are all taught, demonstrated and drilled. Other drills involve shooting while moving. It’s definitely the most advanced pistol course I’ve taken at Sig and the most enjoyable because there’s so much to learn and improve upon with a course like this. There are also accuracy drills thrown in and every drill is timed. The course handout is excellent and teaches you how to set up these drills on your home range (local range rules permitting). Each time I take this course I do much better but come out with more things I need to improve on at home. It’s a great course though and boy does it wear you out! The creator of this course is Steven Gilcreast and he’s taught me more about pistol shooting than I thought there was to know. If you’re interested in competitive shooting, this is a good course to take as many times as you can schedule it.

G. Red Dot Pistol: As of early 2018 Sig offers two excellent RDS Pistol class. Many students are interested in exploring RDS to see if it's right for them or not, so they borrow an RDS equipped pistol from the Sig Academy and take the introductory class. The one-day Introduction to Red Dot Pistol Course explains the history and evolution of RDS and the advantages & disadvantages of RDS. RDS from every major manufacturer are passed around the room and their strengths and weaknesses are discussed. There is a very thorough Q&A with the instructor and once that's completed it's off to the range to fire RDS Pistol drills and learn the peculiarities of RDS, of which there are many. The follow-on course to the introductory course is a two-day Red Dot Defensive Pistol course which to me seemed like Handgun 104 with a RDS along with several RDS specific immediate action drills added on top of the regular Handgun 104 curriculum. You'll be shooting close range drills, drills simulating a Red Dot failure using your backup iron sights, drills simulating a Red Dot covered in mud such that you can't even see your backup iron sights (Sig seems to think of every contingency with this class). You'll be shooting speed drills, sight acquisition drills, accuracy drills, shooting one-handed, and drills from various positions and drills from longer ranges. By the end of these two classes you'll be very comfortable with the RDS but, if you're like me, probably need more practice at home on your local gun range before you'd want to EDC with a RDS. Shooting RDS is very addictive such that once you try it, the odds of you going back to irons is low. I suspect that a few years from now as RDS technology improves, RDS shooters will far outnumber those who shoot irons only.

H. Other Courses: Sig offers a wide variety of pistol courses from pure defensive shooting all the way up to advanced classes for competition shooters. Sig also teaches 5-day long instructor courses and 3-day master instructor courses. Famous guest instructors from around the world travel to Sig to give classes so there are courses for everyone at every level of ability from brand new shooters to advanced competition shooters. This guide only touches on a very small selection of pistol courses. Rifle, Shotgun, long distance rifle, team training, plus a myriad of other courses are scheduled. Bookmark the Academy website for the latest course offerings and course dates.

I. Do I have to be an expert shooter to attend? No, definitely not. Sig welcomes new shooters every day. I was usually the worst shooter in my classes during my first year at Sig which just meant I had more to learn. And there’s no better way to learn than to shoot with shooters who are more experienced than you are. There are shooters of all ability levels in most classes and the instructors make sure that every student gets plenty of individual, personalized instruction suitable for their ability level. I’ve found that I do best in the classes that have more accomplished shooters in them because I get to watch them shoot and learn a lot just by observing them.

J. Range Safety: Most ranges have too many rules and don’t allow you to practice defensive shooting drills. Sig has two (2) main rules – 1) Don’t muzzle anyone or anything you don’t plan on shooting and 2) Keep your trigger finger on the frame of your pistol indexed to a “safe spot” such that it is above the trigger guard and your trigger is fully visible from the side until you have a target that is legally & morally available to you. Your finger is not allowed to touch the trigger until three conditions are met (they’ll burn those conditions into your brain so I’m not going to cover them here). They have more common sense rules but the two main rules above are stressed above all others. Sig usually runs “hot ranges” where students are expected to keep their guns loaded with the correct amount of ammunition that allows them to complete the next set of drills. If you’re gun is empty and goes click instead of bang when you’re on the line due to an empty chamber, you and your training partner will be running to the “dead man’s gong” and ringing it ten times while shouting “I’m a dead man, I’m a dead man, I’m a dead man” as loud as you can. The only thing worse than the dead man’s gun is when your gun goes bang but you were expecting a click. You’ll be drawing from your holster, moving at the high ready or low ready, retreating, advancing, moving from cover, moving around obstacles while engaging targets and a whole host of things most local ranges don’t allow you to do. At Sig anytime you muzzle anyone, including yourself, or have your finger on or near the trigger when you’re not supposed to, you’ll hear about it – usually from your fellow students and then again from the instructor. At Sig everyone is considered a range safety officer and the returning students all know and vigorously enforce the rules just like an instructor would.

Typical Day:

A. Arrive at 0800 hours, stop at the Sig Pro Shop and view the computer screen in the lobby to find out where your class is meeting. There’s a big map on the wall and maps on a table for you to take with you. Then go to the check-in station inside the Pro Shop, sign in and if you want to order a lunch, you can choose from the menu and pay $12.
B. 0830 Class Start Time (some classes may start earlier or later so check your course instructions)
C. Mandatory Safety & Medical Briefings
D. Keep your weapon unloaded & locked up in your gun case until told to access it.
E. Usually you’ll meet in a classroom, fill out the waiver forms, read and initial all of the safety rules, fill out the ammo sheets,and receive the range safety briefing. Some beginner and advanced classes have a few hours of in-class instruction before going to the range. Others have you shooting by 0915.
F. Equipment Borrow: during in-processing you can choose to borrow any weapon Sig has in any caliber Sig offers, ear pro and eye pro are also available; along with magazines and holsters. But if you borrow a Sig weapon you are not allowed to leave campus with that weapon during lunch hour.
G. Ammo: You can choose to shoot Sig’s ammo for which they’ll sell you at whatever rates they’re posting that week. You’ll keep track of your box tops and fill out your blue ammo sheet at the end of the course. Sig will typically bill your credit card within 2 business days. Or you can bring your own ammo in a separate locked container which is usually slightly cheaper. Sig owns their own ammunition factory so their range ammo is of the highest quality while also being reasonably priced. The old indoor range requires the use of Frangible ammo which is more expensive than FMJ ammo. The new indoor range allows the use of FMJ ammo as do the outdoor ranges.
H. Lunch: Either bring your own & store it in your cooler; travel off campus to visit a local restaurant or purchase a lunch through the Sig Academy. During the in-processing they’ll hand out a lunch order form from a very good local deli. Lunches cost $12 and you’ll pay at the Pro Shop and pick them up at a designated pick-up point. Most instructors break for 60 – 75 minutes for lunch sometime around 12 noon plus or minus 30 minutes. Just be sure not to open carry when you’re off campus at a local restaurant and don’t go off campus wearing an empty holster and magazine pouches. If you've borrowed a pistol from Sig, you have to leave it on campus during the lunch break.
I. End of Day: Most day classes end sometime between 1600 to 1700 but night classes are also offered. There’s an oral after-action brief by your instructor. Your instructor will usually tell you about other course offerings that expand upon and advance the training you just received and answer any last minute questions. Certificates of Completion are handed out and then class is dismissed. If you’ve borrowed equipment, there’s a weapons cleaning room next to the Arms Vault where you can clean your weapon before turning it in to your instructor.
J. Post-Course evaluation: A few days after each class Sig will send you a course survey. Your instructor and the VP of the Academy read each survey. You can e-mail your instructors with questions afterwards and from experience I can say that they get back to you as soon as their teaching schedule allows.
K. 15% Discount Code offered if you sign up for another Sig course using the code affixed to the back of your course certificate within two weeks of taking a course.

Other Interesting Things You Should Know are:

A. Outdoor Shooting Season generally runs from April 1 – October 31st. They do run a few cold weather outdoor classes in the winter but those are clearly marked in the course description. Plan on dressing in layers and prepare for wet, cold, even snow depending upon the weather forecast and time of year. Don’t be that guy/gal who shows up without rain or cold weather gear assuming your class is being held indoors during the outdoor shooting season. If wet weather is forecast bring an extra set of dry clothing. Always bring more clothing than you think you'll need, that way you'll never end up freezing and/or soaking wet.

B. Indoor Shooting Season generally runs from November 1 – March 31st: Sig has two indoor ranges so course offerings are limited during the cold weather months and they keep those ranges running morning, noon and night. One is a 25 yard range that only allows frangible ammunition and the other is a 50 meter range where FMJ ammo is used. That means you need to sign up for indoor classes as soon as they get posted on the Academy website because they sell out quickly!

C. Sig Teaching Style: Sig doesn't really have one single, strict, dogmatic teaching style. I'd say they are very eclectic and strive to incorporate pistol shooting's best practices no matter who created them. There is no one single Sig way to do something. Instructors usually teach several techniques on how to accomplish a particular task, discuss the history and evolution of these techniques, tell you what the advantages and disadvantages are, discuss where you might want to employ one technique over another, and then demo those techniques and have you try them for yourself and let you decide which one(s) are best for you. They'll use drills from every source and tell you who invented the drill and what teaching points each drill provides. From what I've seen the curriculum changes very quickly once better techniques come out, are tested, and proven superior to older techniques. Pistol shooting, thanks to the growth in competitive shooting as a sport, is advancing quickly and the Academy Staff are quick to change the curriculum to incorporate these advances.

D. Quality of the Instructors: The quality seems to range from "merely excellent" all the way on up to fantastic. If they have a dud instructor in their ranks I haven't come across them yet. All of the instructors appear to have either military or law enforcement backgrounds. Many are also competition shooters in various disciplines.

E. Bring a Pocket-Sized Notebook and be prepared to take lots and lots of notes during class. These instructors are very thorough and each class contains way too much information for you to rely upon your memory afterwards. You will be learning lots of drills that you can run either at home with dry-fire practice or at your local gun range (local range rules permitting). Shooting is like a puzzle and each class will give you new pieces to fill in the puzzle to make you a better, safer shooter.

F. Record your Times, Scores, Misses and keep track of them over time. It's gratifying to see all of these measurements improve as you master the fundamentals and move on to more advanced techniques. I like to use an Excel Spreadsheet to track my performance so that I know what to practice at home before my next class.

G. Sig Standards: For pistol if you have to ask if your round fell inside the line, it's out. Slow hits are encouraged, fast misses are not. In general the focus is on the process of shooting correctly with good fundamentals. Scoring and timing is just used to measure your progress. Instructors want you to shoot with good fundamentals and expect you to do so slowly until you master the fundamentals and are ready to increase your speed at your own pace. In other words, it's okay to be a beginner or new to a task. No one's going to yell at you for missing or being slow. Oftentimes an instructor won't tell you a par time for a particular drill until after you've fired it because they don't want you racing the clock and missing. Sig emphasizes process and fundamentals over performance. This is a supportive learning environment not a competition.




Hotels:

A. Though SIG does not arrange lodging for students, Sig has corporate rate arrangements with 3 local properties in Exeter, NH: Hampton Inn & Suites Exeter , Fairfield Inn & Suites Exeter and The Exeter Inn. To ensure you receive the Sig corporate discounted rate, please be sure to reference "SIG SAUER Corporate rate" when making your reservations. FYI, in my experience the Sig Sauer Corporate Rate works out to about $104 per night (including taxes). I’ve saved $100 - $200 or more some nights by using Sig’s corporate rate. Sig has thousands of employees in the area so they have plenty of bargaining power and they are kind enough to let students benefit from it.

B. I recommend arriving the afternoon before your class date so that you can get checked into your hotel, enjoy a quiet dinner and get a good night’s sleep.

C. The local hotels book up fast in May when the Exeter Academy holds its reunions and it’s nearly impossible to get rooms in Exeter the first weekend of June when the Exeter Academy graduates. Ditto for Parent’s weekend and the 2nd weekend of September when the students start school. Alternate lodging is available by going the extra 15-20 minutes to Portsmouth. If you're bringing your entire family with you then staying in a Portsmouth Hotel is the better option since it's on the coast and closer to NH's famous beaches so there's a lot more for your family to do than in Exeter.

D. When bringing your firearms into the hotels be sure to have them locked up in a gun case. Open Carry is not recommended because it will almost always draw a police response. And don’t wear your empty holsters and mag holders into the hotel. Remember to always be a good ambassador for the shooting sports.

My Recommended A to Z Packing List for experienced shooters who already have their own equipment:

A. Shooter’s Notebook that fits into your pants pocket to take notes on the range
B. Firearm(s) in a locked case (experienced shooters bring a back-up gun)
C. Ammunition in a locked container that’s separate from your firearms and located away from the locked firearms case in your vehicle while driving through Massachusetts. Each course description will contain the estimated round count for that course. However, I've learned to bring 30% more ammo than listed in the course description because sometimes you end up needing it. The reasons could be a smaller class size which led to more repetitions of the drills or it might be just the composition of your class led to more shooting than normal for that course.
D. Cleaning kit (Optional as cleaning kits are available next to the arms room next to the small indoor pistol range)
E. Dominant Side Hip Mounted Holster (paddle holsters or similar recommended; some courses don’t allow Level II retention holsters so check your course description carefully before packing your holster).
F. Mag pouches: two or more
G. Number of magazines: bring enough magazines to fire at least 50 rounds, however many that is for your pistol & bringing more magazines is better than bringing too few. Don’t be that guy who shows up with only three 7-round magazines.
H. UPULA Magazine loader (Optional but it’ll save you from sore fingers)
I. Shooting cap
J. Eye Protection (both clear and sunglasses if you’re shooting outdoors)
K. Electronic Ear Protection with extra batteries (recommended) and/or ear plugs
L. Rag to keep your hands dry
M. Range Bag
N. Rain Gear / cold weather gear (if shooting outdoors)
O. Boots / closed toe shoes (no sandals)
P. Shooting gloves (weather dependent)
Q. Range pants with a sturdy gun belt
R. Crew neck T-shirt or button up shirt (no low-cut necklines or muscle shirts which will allow hot brass to burn you) but if you’re shooting indoors on steel wear a long-sleeve shirt to absorb stray bullet fragments.
S. Cooler w/ice, sports drinks and water
T. Snacks: peanuts, power bars, candy bars etc…
U. Knee Pads / Elbow Pads / Shooting Vest / Flashlight (Optional for certain classes so check the course packing list to see if you’re supposed to bring these).
V. Tools for sight adjustments and extra fiber-optic rods, a knife and matches for those of you shooting fiber-optic sights (Optional)
W. First Aid Kit w/ bandages in case you develop blisters on your fingers (Optional)
X. Outdoor Season Classes: bring insect repellent with at least 25% or more DEET; Sun Screen; sports drinks; water; cooler with ice; folding camp chair; Liquid Grip (a liquid chalk that keeps your hands dry when firing under hot & humid conditions)
Y. A folding camp chair to sit on during breaks.
Z. Other: Check the course description because some courses require special equipment.

Who Shoots at Sig?:

Basically your class will be a cross-section of America and sometimes even students from overseas. Most classes will have students ranging from responsible citizens to law enforcement to firearms instructors to active duty military and everything in between. There are doctors, nurses, paramedics, business owners, retirees, husband and wife teams, father-son teams, buddies, you name it. Some will be competition shooters while others are purely there for defensive shooting. The only thing they all have in common is a desire to learn how to shoot better and to do so safely. Different classes draw from different groups.

Sig does offer specialized classes for military and law enforcement only that are not covered in this guide.


Range Facilities:

For pistol Sig offers a number of well equipped outdoor ranges and two indoor ranges. There are shoot houses, ranges for vehicles, moving targets, stationary targets, and a full array of paper and steel targets. I haven't shot at all of the ranges yet but so far all the ranges I've seen are well maintained. Let's put it this way, there's nothing in my home state that matches the quality and number of ranges offered by the Academy.


What Types of Pistol should I bring if I'm bringing my own gun to class?:

Read your course description which will specify what guns are recommended. If you have any questions, call the academy prior to class.

In general, a good quality, well maintained, modern pistol from a reputable manufacturer in the proper size and caliber (.380 ACP, 9mm, .40S&W, .357 Sig, or 45 ACP) unless otherwise specified in your course description. For classes with high round counts a full size or compact gun would be my recommendation since it will be a lot more comfortable for you. For classes such as Concealed Carry or Ankle Holster classes a micro or sub-compact or whatever you regularly EDC carry would be my choice. Most students bring 9mm because it's cheaper and has less recoil. And remember, you can borrow the appropriate pistol from the Sig Academy Arms Room at no charge for each class.

Traveling safely through Massachusetts with firearms:

1. Keep your ammunition in a separate locked storage container. The lock can either be a key lock or combination lock.
2. Keep your firearm(s) in a separate locked storage container. The lock can be either a key lock or a combination lock.
3. Keep your locked ammo box in a separate compartment of your vehicle away from your locked firearms container. For example, you could keep one locked container in the back seat and another in the trunk or rear compartment.
4. The glove compartment does not qualify as a locked container in Massachusetts.
5. DO NOT carry a concealed firearm on your person unless: A) you are either LE or have a Massachusetts LTC; and B) you have magazines with a maximum capacity of 10 rounds or less (unless you are LE). For example, possession of an 11 round magazine as a civilian would get you charged with felony possession of high capacity magazines.
6. Bring your home state License To Carry with you.


The Sig Pro Shop:

Think of a Department Store but with guns, gear, optics & shooting apparel instead and that’s the Sig Pro Shop. Every firearm that Sig sells from micro-pistol to assault rifle is for sale along with gear, optics, ammunition, sights, repair parts, you name it, it’s there on the shelves or on the racks. The key is to maintain your discipline and try not to buy too much. There are times I think that the classes are a loss leader just to lure you into the Pro Shop. Sig Students receive a 15% student discount but it’s hard to convince myself that I’ve really saved money after spending way too much in that Pro Shop every time I’m on campus.


Summary:

FOR NEWCOMERS TO THE SHOOTING SPORTS: If you have never fired a gun and you’ve been thinking of taking pistol classes for self-defense, home defense, or competition, I hope this guide gives you enough information to overcome your hesitation about the unknown. I wrote this guide so that you will do a heck of a lot better than I did when I first showed up on the Academy's doorstep many years ago.

I remember how nervous and unprepared I was driving up through a January blizzard to get to my first class which is why I wrote this guide to help you through the process. If I can do it then anyone can because that’s how poor of a shooter I was when I first showed up on campus. Welcome to the shooting sports. I hope you come to enjoy pistol shooting as much as I do.

FOR SIG FORUM MEMBERS: If you are an experienced pistol shooter and want to become better, faster; then the Sig Academy is worth traveling to. Their instructors are top notch as are the facilities and equipment. One of the Sig Academy slogans is "Where the Professionals Train" and they more than live up to those words. And once again, thank you fellow Forum Members for all that you do to promote the shooting sports.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: H-Man,

Excellent write-up H-Man!

I've taken many classes there, including the ones you listed (with the exception of Close Quarters Pistol). I completely agree with you that any class at Sig Academy is well worth the investment for high quality training. I also like the fact that I can leave my gun at home and use the Academy's guns. That way I can use the same model gun that I carry, without wear and tear on mine. Plus no concerns about travelling through MA with a gun in the car.

And yes, I am familiar with the gong.