I had the opportunity to attend the Rangemaster Basic Instructor course held at Top Gun Memphis in July of 2022.
I used a Sig Sauer X5 Legion with Holosun 507c and TLR 1-HL. I wore an AIWB holster ( PHLSTER Enigma with the comfort band and attached a Floodlight holster). I also attached a Blue Force Gear (ten speed) double magazine pouch to the straps on the enigma.
This is a three day class and it was a full three days. The class started at 09:00 and ran until 18:00. Tom Givens is a well rehearsed instructor and you can tell that he has refined his material. He has the timing down for his presentations, range time, and breaks.
Tom provided the class with a well thought out course manual right off the bat. It is fairly comprehensive and contains a lot (but not all) of the information covered in the lectures. There is a chapter that contained the drills and courses of fire (COF) used in the course.
Tom briefed his course standards at the beginning of the class. You must score above 90% on the FBI qualification course, Rangemaster Firearms Instructor Qualification Course, and the comprehensive written exam.
Bottom line up front, not everyone passes. This is a course for instructors to learn how and why to present certain material.
You need to come to this course knowing how to operate and manipulate a pistol proficiently. Tom uses his COF to demonstrate skill progression and assessment of the students pistol skills. He is using this as a way to show you how to teach someone. If you are focused on learning the skill you are missing the way the material is presented.
Tom requires that you wear your equipment concealed. You fire all of the drills and COF from concealment. I saw a lot of 3 o’clock IWB and AIWB holsters in the class. Only one student ran a duty rig.
You do a lot of magazine reloads. I would suggest a minimum of five magazines for this course. I watched a lot of people struggle to load magazines in the middle of a COF.
I would recommend this course for someone that has attended other training before and is proficient with a pistol. If you can shoot the FBI qualification and score above 90% you can pass this course.
You will have to study the course manual and take some notes to pass the written exam. This is not a class where you can go out with your buddies after hours. You have studying to do. If you don’t you won’t graduate.
Now you do have fun in the class. I really enjoyed my range time. It was well thought out and rounds were not wasted.
Tom had his range commands refined. You could tell he had run students through his COF before. His script was detailed where it needed to be and concise when it could be.
I am not going to go into detail about Tom’s material. I will say that it professionally put together and well thought out.
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