So we were trolling around the Internet and we stumbled upon a deal from Living Social. Let’s start off saying that we did no research before signing up for this class other than that it would cost $97 per person for it instead of the normal $190. So we decided to check out what Sig Sauer Academy was all about and bought vouchers for the class.

One detail to note is that we were not able to pick out of Sig’s whole class selection for this deal, just Basic Practical handgun skills 101 and 102. We naturally chose the 102 class as it was for people who understand what a gun is and what its basic functions are, which is all of us on most days.

We showed up to the academy and were greeted by a gorgeous pro shop stocked with every Sig knick knack, doodad and whizbang you could think of. We walked past the pro shop after drooling over some of the guns we will never own and made our way into the classroom.

Lets start off with this description of the class…

Overview

  • Handgun Selection Considerations
  • Support Equipment
  • Shooting Basics – the Importance of Proper Grip, Sight Alignment, Sight Picture, Stance, Trigger Control and Follow Through
  • Presentation of the Handgun from the Holster to the Target and Safe Recovery Back to the Holster
  • Administrative and In-service Loading and Unloading Techniques
  • Static Shooting Positions
  • Cleaning and Maintenance

With the purpose of the class being understood, we were not expecting to be rolling around the floor poppin head shots like we were James Bond. We started with a 150 minute classroom session going over what sight picture is, gun safety devices (locks, safes, trigger locks), drawing techniques, holsters, and how to operate on a hot range (all guns loaded). After this session, and half way into a boredom coma, we got up and walked to the range. First thing we saw were steel targets and we all got a little giddy.

Now I don’t need to go through the individual drills – we can show you those in some of our videos in future posts. The one thing I will say is that all things considered, the class went over what it advertised – grip, sight alignment, sight picture and drawing safely from a holster. I am comfortable using a firearm, and I would like to take the classes at Sig where you roll around shooting like you’re James Bond but I knew there were holes in my grip methods and didn’t realize there were many ways to gain sight picture.

All in all, I would recommend that you do your research before taking any class but Sig Academy gets a pretty close to perfect score in my book. The class taught what they said it would. It was a little bit of classroom time but not a huge amount and the instructors were amazing at giving individual attention to people in a group situation. People that couldn’t hit the wall they were leaning on up to people like us who shoot pretty darn good all benefited from this class.

The Ugly: (Updated) The No Longer Ugly and now very helpfull summary

UPDATE 4/12/2012
Went back to the Sig Sauer Academy after they had made some adjustments to the way that they stock their Pro-Shop and they had almost every gun in the shop in stock. The pro shop manager was very helpful and it seems the changes they were making as we went to the Academy the first time were almost an overnight difference. Now I can truly say that both the class and pro shop expierence were amazing. No problems at all and I would reccomend this to anyone. We bought two M400’s as well as two handguns and had no issues getting what we wanted!

UPDATE 4/6/2012
Posted on the Sig Academy Facebook page and recieved a response in about 5 minuets as well as an E-Mail. I was called by the proshop manager who is now in the process of finding me a shiny new M400. Good customer service. Looking for my next class… any suggestions?

Just wanted to throw this in there as Sig should be a little embarrassed for themselves on this front. After the class we walked back into the shiny pro shop with full intent on buying a gun. I picked up the Sig Scorpion 1911 full size and it was perfect. I would take it and start the paper work but there was one problem; it wasn’t in stock. No big deal, I got over my attachment to this gun and found literally 36 other guns which were also all out of stock… So I decided today is the day I will buy a Sig M400 Assault Rifle, it’s as good a day as any. I walked over to an employee and said I wanted the M400 enhanced… well, guess what? The M400 is out of stock as well, and not just one model but all six they had on the wall. So the 20% discount they offer for taking a class is for sweaters and patches because you can’t get a gun. One of the employees there told me to email him and he would set a gun aside which I did nearly a week ago. I still haven’t heard back so I don’t think they really kept a log of it. Anyway, I wanted to tack this on the end as it has nothing to do with the academy per say but did affect the overall experience.