Sig Handgun 102 vs 103

[Keystone]

I'm looking to take a course at the Sig Academy. I'm trying to figure out if the 102 handgun course, or the 103 course, would be better for me. A lot of the course objectives seem to be the same. I've taken the GOAL intro handgun course, and will be taking the GOAL IDPA course come April.

If you can comfortably handle a firearm, and shoot fairly accurately (I hit the target...usually in the middle ), clean the gun, etc, would the 102 course still be advisable? I don't want to be the jerk that shows up and can't do half the stuff required by the class

 

[bfm]

If you have more than the basic safety skill and are comfortable shooting, I would got for 103.

 

[dba62]

I agree.

HG102 is good if you need to learn: how to hold the gun, how to sight the gun, and how to draw from a holster. There is no movement while shooting or strong-hand/off-hand shooting.

 

[twortley]

I did both, but I was new to handguns a year ago. 103 is where it starts getting interesting/fun.

Only comment (see my 103 post here) is that you will be moving around including facing left, right and behind, so you better be comfortable with not sweeping anyone with your muzzle, and handling reloading, failure drills, holstering, drawing etc without any issues. Its not a beginners class at a gun handling level, but you certaintly don't need to be a "good shot", just extremely safe.

Oh, Sig instructors will yell at you if you do something unsafe, and they will pull you if you don't get the message ...

 

[dba62]

Oh, Sig instructors will yell at you if you do something unsafe, and they will pull you if you don't get the message ...

They actually made one or two (I can't remember now) people in my HG102 class dry fire. I have not taken HG103, but I have signed up to do so.

 

[Keystone]

I did both, but I was new to handguns a year ago. 103 is where it starts getting interesting/fun.

Only comment (see my 103 post here) is that you will be moving around including facing left, right and behind, so you better be comfortable with not sweeping anyone with your muzzle, and handling reloading, failure drills, holstering, drawing etc without any issues. Its not a beginners class at a gun handling level, but you certaintly don't need to be a "good shot", just extremely safe.

Oh, Sig instructors will yell at you if you do something unsafe, and they will pull you if you don't get the message ...

Do you learn the failure drills in 103? I haven't done too much in that way. I can clear my gun if it has a problem, but haven't had any training on "here's the most efficient way". I've also never drawn from a holster, but I think the IDPA class will cover that. I'm pretty good about watching which way the gun is pointing, so that shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[Tiny207]

They actually made one or two (I can't remember now) people in my HG102 class dry fire. I have not taken HG103, but I have signed up to do so.

in my 102 class there were two that got "Downloaded" and had to dry fire the rest of the class.. Didn't help that one of the two couldn't hear the instructors because he was partially deaf.

I will be attending the 103 in June.

 

[Keystone]

What was the reason that they were "downloaded"? Unsafe gun handling, or novice gunhandling?

 

[dba62]

I took the 103 class and thought it was slow. We only fired 10 rounds by lunch. The second 1/2 of the class was much better. Among other things we did some alternative shooting positions and we did a movement exercise: walk forward and shoot, walk backwards and shoot. Of course the problem with moving and shooting is that onlly one person can perform the exercise at a time, but I would have liked more of it.

Overall I was somewhat disappointed - I'm not sure why we had such a slow start. Perhaps this instructor was more conservative than other instructors or he wasn't happy with what he saw in some of the students.

 

[drew]

dba, who was the Instructor for your class? Some of the students they get up there, is exactly why there are mandated safety classes in some states....
Remember, common sense isnt very common....

~Drew

 

[dba62]

dba, who was the Instructor for your class? Some of the students they get up there, is exactly why there are mandated safety classes in some states....
Remember, common sense isnt very common....

~Drew

I'd rather not name him. I'm not sure he did anything wrong and I feel like if I name him here I would be implying that he did. I am still planning on taking more classes at SIG - all in all I think they do a good job. I'm just hoping that in some of the more advanced classes this won't be an issue.

 

[Another_David]

to the OP, if you call the sig academy and ask, they should be able to get the instructor on the phone (or he'll call you back) and answer your question.

 

[Tiny207]

What was the reason that they were "downloaded"? Unsafe gun handling, or novice gunhandling?

Wow Late reply on this, Sorry...

It was both Unsafe and Novice... a gentlemen was shooting ok and had a decent group forming on the target. He then made his second to last shot and it had gone astray (Down and to the left of his group by 6-7 inches) He then did this WTF gensture and threw up his arms with gun in hand... That had me ducking because i was to the left of him and about one foot taller, that move could have given me a shorter haircut or a fresh new hole in my head.. He had a couple other problems with listening and following simple directions, but the throwing up the arms was the big one.

 

[Keystone]

to the OP, if you call the sig academy and ask, they should be able to get the instructor on the phone (or he'll call you back) and answer your question.

I might have to do this, thanks

Wow Late reply on this, Sorry...

It was both Unsafe and Novice... a gentlemen was shooting ok and had a decent group forming on the target. He then made his second to last shot and it had gone astray (Down and to the left of his group by 6-7 inches) He then did this WTF gensture and threw up his arms with gun in hand... That had me ducking because i was to the left of him and about one foot taller, that move could have given me a shorter haircut or a fresh new hole in my head.. He had a couple other problems with listening and following simple directions, but the throwing up the arms was the big one.

Yeah, sounds like a good idea to take away his ammo...

 

[Another_David]

I might have to do this, thanks

just to add some: I took a couple classes there and the instructors I had were great and they told us to call them if we had any questions regarding courses, etc. the courses are too expensive to get stuck in a class below your experience level.

 

[drew]

The only reason I asked, was because I took a few Instructor courses there, and all the Instructors I had were top notch... I got along great with them becuase of our mutual beliefs in safety first... I have seen them give some warnings to some students, many of which have already taken the 40 hr LE handgun classes through their departments. They are not going to take you out of the class for minute things, but throwing your arms up in the air with a firearm in your hands is down right moronic...
He should not be allowed to have a firearm if he/she is that stupid.....Agree or disagree with me all you want, I just hope he/she didnt reproduce, becuase stupid people only reproduce more stupid people.
~Drew

 

[physics]

I'm looking to take a course at the Sig Academy. I'm trying to figure out if the 102 handgun course, or the 103 course, would be better for me. A lot of the course objectives seem to be the same. I've taken the GOAL intro handgun course, and will be taking the GOAL IDPA course come April.

If you can comfortably handle a firearm, and shoot fairly accurately (I hit the target...usually in the middle ), clean the gun, etc, would the 102 course still be advisable? I don't want to be the jerk that shows up and can't do half the stuff required by the class

I attended the 102 just recently. It was a very good class, and I highly recommend it.
There were several people in the class that were inexperienced with firearms, which contributed toward several unsafe situations. I think these guys would have benefited from taking the 101 first.

The instructors (who were outstanding and very professional) spent much of the class correcting unsafe handling issues. There was _lots_ of poor trigger discipline, people pointing muzzles at their abdomen while re-holstering, two guys were "downloaded' and had to dry fire for a while, and there was one bonehead (who had super duper mall ninja written all over him) that royally muzzle swept the left side of the firing line while trying to lock open his pistol. There were also a couple of older guys with hearing problems that couldn't understand the directions of the instructors several times.

One other thing I would recommend is to use the loaner gear from Sig. Several guys brought their own pistols, and they were often out of sync with the rest of the class. If you use the Sig equipment, you can concentrate on the class, which is probably a greater benefit that getting some practice in with your own gear.

 

[eisenhow]

Unless you have some sort of gift certificate for Sig I'd take a look at NEShooters. It's $250 for a 2-day class instead of $195 for a one day. You'll get great instruction and small class size.

 

[Alex]

Do you learn the failure drills in 103? .

Yes, at some point they give you a couple of snapcaps and tell you to load them randomly in your mags. Then, as you shoot, the snapcap doesn't fire of course which is supposed to simulated a dud. The clearance is tap and rack.

I took the 103 this April with Scott Kenneson. I liked the class very much. Learned tons of great stuff.

I didn't take 102, but I had had lots of practice at MFLR, and was quite comfortable safely drawing from the holster, etc. Still, the instructor and the SO were watching me very closely at the beginning. They also stated before we went to the range that if they would have a slightest doubt that a student is not up to the expected proficiency level, they have the right to send the student home.