Durham Pistol & Rifle Club
3973 S. Jim Minor Road Haw River, NC 27258

If you ever searched the internet and dreamed of traveling to another state for professional firearms instruction from one of the premier firearms training academies, you will find this training from Steve McDaniel to be extremely cost effective. 

Course Location:

Durham Pistol & Rifle Club (aka, DPRC) 

3973 South Jim Minor Road

Haw River, NC  27258

Range 1

Professional Firearms Instructor Who Will Instruct The Classes:

Steve McDaniel is the owner of Alaska Tactical in Anchorage, Alaska.  He also teaches outside Alaska.  In May 2018, Steve first taught his Defensive Handgun Level 1 course at DPRC.  In May 2019, Steve taught his Defensive Handgun Level 1 and his Advanced Defensive Handgun courses at DPRC.  In 2020 and 2021 Steve taught multiple courses at DPRC.  For four years in a row, these classes have been a huge success based on comments from all the students and various observing DPRC leaders.  Steve also received high praise from Louis Awerbuck and Leigh Lambert of the Yavapai Firearms Academy.

 Maximum # Of Students:

The maximum number of students for each class will be 20.  The classes will be filled on the basis of qualified persons who pay first (once the registration process begins).

 Reasons To Take One or More Of The Courses Being Offered:

• To have fun.
• To learn new things and enhance existing skills.
• To challenge yourself to become a safer, more accurate, faster shooter with enhanced gun handling skills
• Some persons are already carrying (or are thinking about carrying) a handgun (or other firearm) for defense of yourself and your loved ones either inside the home or other locations.  If after being alert, trying to avoid the bad areas of town, trying to de-escalate and walk away from an issue, if an aggressor is intent on bodily harm of you and your loved ones, you must make a decision and act.  If you choose to use a firearm in such a circumstance after exhausting all other options, hopefully, you will have had sufficient, professional training to prevail.  If you use a firearm in what you believe is self-defense, you will be judged by our legal system as to whether your actions were justified, reasonable, and prudent.  Whether you have had professional firearms training, how much, and how recently could be evaluated by the plaintiff’s legal counsel.  This training could help you survive and it could help you relating to the preceding sentence.
• If you have a concealed carry handgun permit and you are not military and you are not a sworn law enforcement officer (LEO), each of us needs to evaluate how frequently we train with firearms, how realistic is our training, etc.  Many persons (myself included) don’t train enough, nor under the correct conditions and training scenarios.  It’s very important to receive on-going training from a professional instructor, who will provide invaluable coaching.
• If a trainee is already an excellent shooter and has an objective of eventually becoming a private sector paid, professional firearms instructor, this would be a great place to observe how Steve teaches, his interaction with students, etc.  This is something that cannot be learned from a book or the classroom but is best learned through experience and observation.

Why Should I Take Courses From Steve McDaniel, Owner And Chief Instructor Of Alaska Tactical, Of Anchorage, Alaska?

Steve is a consummate professional and has been in the firearms industry for over 37 years.  He was formerly an adjunct instructor at both the famed Gunsite Academy in Arizona and at Thunder Ranch.  He has many more credentials and certifications. For example, he is a certified NRA law enforcement firearms instructor in the disciplines of:

• Tactical handgun
• Tactical shooting
• Tactical shotgun
• Patrol rifle
• Select-fire

 

Steve has many other certifications, with two of those being he is a:

• Certified edged weapons instructor
• Certified instructor in the martial arts discipline of hojutsu.

 

For more background on Steve, please visit the Alaska Tactical website at the URL just below.

http://www.alaskatactical.com/stevemcdaniel.html

 

Some of you knew and trained under Louis Awerbuck of Yavapai Firearms Academy before Louis passed away in 2014.  Louis and his partner, Leigh Lambert, both sang the praises of Steve McDaniel.   From my experience with Louis and Leigh, this is from two people who were otherwise generally quiet and reserved and who upheld the highest principles of honor and integrity.    Their praise is what initially sold me on Steve McDaniel because I trust their word.  What connects me to Steve now is having observed for years his honor and integrity as a human being and the passion with which he imparts his extensive knowledge to his students in ways the students readily understand, leading to their improvement.  Please visit the Alaska Tactical website to see what Leigh said about Steve.  Also, many of us saw Steve’s teaching ability, teaching style and expertise as an instructor , teacher, and coach for the last three years at DPRC and how he improved the shooting skills of the students.

 

DETAILS (for those who want to know much more.

The ammunition round counts are the minimum the student should bring.  You may shoot more or less, depending on the class size and how well the trainees perform.  All ammunition must be lead-based, with no steel core, steel jacketed and no armor piercing.  Some drills will involve shooting steel targets.  Due to range safety and the need to avoid damage to expensive steel targets, it is imperative we avoid steel projectiles. 

For Advanced classes, Steve will want to evaluate the trainee’s experience as part of the application process.   As one example, if a trainee has limited experience with shooting and handling defensive carbines and has not had comprehensive formal defensive carbine training previously, the Advanced Defensive Carbine course would not be a good fit for such a trainee.

 

How Nice Are The Facilities At DPRC?

DPRC is an excellent facility with multiple shooting ranges.  There is also a clubhouse with nice, separate restroom facilities for women and men, and there are tables and chairs for the meeting space. 

There is a refrigerator stocked with soft drinks, bottled water and snacks, all of which are available at a very nominal cost.

 

The remainder of this email is to promote your thinking in advance of the training so you can evaluate what you need for the course.

 

What Type Of Handguns Can Be Used During This Training To Meet Alaska Tactical Requirements?

Full-size semi-automatic pistols or revolvers can be used with a caliber of 9mm or larger.   Steve does not want any sub-compact guns or any pocket pistols.  An example of an acceptable, minimally sized “full-size” handgun for purposes of this class is a Glock model 19 or larger.  Glock was used just as an example as you may prefer any of a number of full-size handguns from other excellent manufacturers.  As long as it’s full-size, it’s recommended you use what you currently carry or intend to carry or train with after this training.   Commonly on such courses, the most popular calibers are 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP while occasionally other acceptable calibers will be used such as 45 GAP, or 357 Sig, or 10mm.  It is highly recommended for a student to bring two handguns in case your primary firearm experiences some type of malfunction or a part breaks during the course.  If you bring two handguns in case your primary handgun becomes inoperable, it may be helpful for the second gun to be the same make, model and caliber.  That would make your management of ammunition and holsters much easier to continue the course.  However, those decisions are up to the trainee.

 

What Type Of Handgun Holster Can Be Used During This Training?

Steve expects all trainees to use a handgun holster that is sturdy and able to withstand the numerous draw strokes from and into the holster.  It is recommended to go with kydex or leather.  Cloth and nylon holsters are not recommended.  The type of holster Steve is requiring at the beginning of the course is a strong side, outside the waistband (OWB) holster with a trigger guard mounted on the hip or just behind the hip bone.  If you need to buy a holster(s) for this training, there are many excellent manufacturers.  A few of them include JM Custom Kydex, Blade-Tech Industries, Fobus, and BlackHawk.  There are many other manufacturers and sellers of quality holsters.

 

Due to safety being paramount and Steve needing time to assess the handgun handling and safety proficiency of each student, Steve is not approving the use (when other trainees are also on the firing line) of shoulder holsters, ankle holsters, inside the waistband holsters, fanny packs, cross draw holsters, small of the back holsters, and holsters positioned in front of the hip bone in what has become known as the appendix carry position.  If a student wants to bring one of the holsters covered in the preceding sentence, Steve will gladly evaluate your use (involving live fire) of such a holster during a break or lunch time when others are not on the firing line.  In such a case, only Steve and the one trainee would be on the firing line for safety purposes.  Steve may authorize an exception to what is covered in this paragraph on an individual case basis if he has trained the person for several years and knows of the trainee’s professional proficiency.

 

It’s recommended you have a gun belt specifically designed and made to carry the weight of your holster, handgun, magazine carrier(s), and three or more spare magazines, and/or other equipment.  Using a light weight belt not specifically designed and constructed as a gun belt will cause problems as it will not comfortably and reliably support the weight of what the belt must carry.

 

Equipment You Need To Bring (some of this has been covered above):

• A safe, properly functioning, full-size handgun as previously described (two are very strongly recommended in case your primary handgun experiences a parts breakage or some other malfunction that cannot be quickly fixed; see the above discussion).
• If you’ll be shooting with a red dot sight, ensure the battery is fresh and have a new, back-up battery.
• Holster(s); see the discussion above; it’s not a bad idea to bring two holsters for your primary handgun in case your primary holster experiences a malfunction.  Chicago screws (or other fasteners) can loosen and fall out, old Kydex can crack, etc.   If your holster has fasteners (such as Chicago screws) that can work loose, it’s recommended you use some blue Loctite on those screws, train with the holster(s) and ensure such fasteners do not loosen.  Take those steps well in advance of taking the course.
• Handgun ammunition appropriate for the full-size handgun(s) you bring.   It’s recommended to use service, “ball” ammunition that you know functions flawlessly in your firearms.  Handloads/reloaded ammunition are permitted but no tracer, incendiary, explosive or armor piercing rounds may be used.   Don’t try and save money by utilizing cheap but questionable ammo.
• Belt mounted magazine carrier(s) and a minimum of five spare handgun magazines you know work flawlessly.  Remember that magazines can become defective (feed lips getting “bent”, springs becoming weak and failing to properly feed the ammunition, etc.).  If you’re going to shoot a revolver rather than a semi-automatic pistol, bring speed loaders and associated, belt mounted carrying cases.
• Appropriate gun belt as covered above.  Wilderness Tactical Products belts from Arizona, Kramer Handgun Leather,  Beltman, Inc., MitchRosen.com, Blade-Tech Industries and other manufacturers make excellent gun belts.  You may also want to check out High Speed Gear as they offer excellent belts, magazine carriers, etc.
• A serviceable flashlight. Should be end cap push button operated. If you are using a weapon mounted light, you are encouraged to also bring a detachable light so you can practice both light techniques. Sure-Fire, Fennix and Streamlight all make good units. The Sure-Fire 6P, Fennix PD series and Streamlight model Scorpion all work well.  We will not be shooting at night to comply with range rules but the training will cover the use of a flashlight or weapon mounted light.
• Hearing protection.  Can be plugs, muffs or both.
• Eye protection.  Can be safety or shooting glasses.
• Appropriate clothing (remember, we’ll shoot “rain or shine”).  You may also wish to wear a hat with a brim and a shirt you can button at the neck to prevent a shooting buddy’s hot, ejected brass from going down your shirt and burning you multiple times during the course.
• Brass container. Something to hold empty cartridge cases
• To reiterate -- ensure you have ammo and a holster suitable for your spare/back-up firearm.