I attended a 2-night handgun skillbuilder course at Front Sight in Nevada. It was the middle of the heat wave at over 110 degrees during the day, and 95 degrees at night, but still not too bad since it's dry heat and I had plenty of water to drink. I had my Glock 22 40SW with me which I had just installed trijicon night sights a couple days before (but didn't zero). There were about 400 students there for various night classes (shotgun, rifle, handgun, etc) for the 4th of July week, and about 30 students my in class. There were also quite a bit of children, about 30 or so, that were attending a youth camp there while their parents shot. Mount Charleston was on fire in the background which made for a nice backdrop.
First day started in the classroom learning about different lighting options, the harris technique, night sights, and other methods to use at night. I learned that the $110 night sights I just installed would be of little use in the class (which was proven later). Night sights are only useful in dim light, like twilight where you have enough light to see your target, but difficult to see the sights with a light background. In darkness, you will need to identify your target with a flashlight, rendering the night sights useless. Small simple tactical flashlights with the button on the tailcap are the most preferred. Fancy flashlights with multiple functions and colors are not recommended as things like strobe and other settings get in the way or complicated to operate (which was also proven during the class when people inadvertently used strobe or turned their flashlight on when not supposed to).
We went to the ranges next. Loading up my 40SW magazines in the dark, I noticed some of the rounds felt funny. Turns out the ammo shop gave me a box of 9mm instead of 40SW. On the range we practiced the harris technique. It took a little getting used to the position and aligning the flashlight with the handgun, but I got a hang of it quickly. It was basically light on, id target, shoot, assess, light off, move, and scan the area. Lessons learned was limit your light usage so you don't become a target, move every time you use the light, and be sure to use the light to ID the target and whats beyond. People were having trouble using their flashlights: accidentally shining their 200 lumen lights into my face, using their strobes or colored lights, and not practicing light discipline. Fired approximately 150 rounds Class went from 5:30PM to 12:30PM. Spent most of the next day just relaxing in my hotel room in Pahrump and occasionally doing some dry fire practice.
The next day, July 3rd, we started firing a bit earlier at dusk. This allowed me to use the night sights which came in handy in the dim light and allowed me to acquire my sights faster. Others started using their weapon mounted sights. The 2nd days practice involved headshots, timed shots out of the holster at 3 to 15 yards, multiple targets, and malfunction drills. I thought the malfunction drills would be difficult to do in pitch black night, but it felt natural and had no problem since I practiced it a lot during my last day class there. Fired about 200 rounds that night. It was a condensed course due to the 4th of July celebration there in which there was a Declaration of Independence presentation and fireworks show. Unfortunately the fireworks was cancelled due to high winds so went back to the hotel earlier.
Had a great time and met some people from Hawaii there too. I'd highly recommend the class since most people don't have an opportunity to practice at night (when most bad things will happen). As for the rest of the trip, I lost $1,200 gambling but had a good time there overall.
