Choosing a firearms class: questions from WLS training debriefs
Published by We Like Shooting. Updated .
Course names can leave a prospective student with plenty of questions. WLS’s training debriefs give you a more concrete starting point: how the instructor matched the class to the students, what the attendee learned, and what became clear about the equipment used. This guide organizes those questions using the reported experiences in episodes 682, 684 and 685. It covers choosing and evaluating a class, rather than providing a training syllabus.
Ask how the course meets the students where they are
In episode 684’s Defensive Rifle debrief, the attendee describes a level-one basics course where the instructor assessed the students and adjusted the level of the work. The following passage praises how the instruction was adapted to what the students needed and would find valuable. That makes class fit a useful subject for an enrollment conversation: ask how the instructor assesses the group and handles differences in experience.
Read the supporting passages
I got to take it with a couple good friends. Will from Country Boy Guns and AK-47 Podcast. And Mike from the Let's Go Hunt Podcast and AK-47 Podcast. And yeah, we went, we showed up, and we took the Defensive Rifle course. This is a level one basics course, but he pushed us and analyzed our skill and basically set the level of the course to
We Like Shooting 684 – Meat Swaps — 00:20:11 · Cite this passage
what he thought that we needed and what he thought we would take the most value from. So it was like we got some of the defensive rifle basic stuff, but also some of the other stuff. He did a really good job, honestly, of setting the level of the course to the students and what... You know, what level we were at, which is so hard to do. don't know if you guys are familiar with instruction in any way, but it's like really difficult sometimes to make those changes on the fly. But I thought that he, him and his instructor
We Like Shooting 684 – Meat Swaps — 00:20:41 · Cite this passage
The course label alone does not describe that interaction. Ask the provider to explain prerequisites, what a typical class day looks like, and how students receive help when they need it. Those are practical questions inspired by this debrief’s emphasis on matching instruction to the people present. The linked account remains one attendee’s experience of that particular course.
Read the supporting passages
what he thought that we needed and what he thought we would take the most value from. So it was like we got some of the defensive rifle basic stuff, but also some of the other stuff. He did a really good job, honestly, of setting the level of the course to the students and what... You know, what level we were at, which is so hard to do. don't know if you guys are familiar with instruction in any way, but it's like really difficult sometimes to make those changes on the fly. But I thought that he, him and his instructor
We Like Shooting 684 – Meat Swaps — 00:20:41 · Cite this passage
Listen for learning that the attendee can describe
The pistol-class account in episode 685 describes a gradual return of confidence and a sense of learning something from each lesson, explanation and exercise. The speaker names Highlands Defense while praising the experience. That detail gives the positive assessment more substance than a bare statement that the class was enjoyable: the attendee explains what the experience felt like and where learning appeared throughout the day.
Read the supporting passages
I was like starting to feel myself again. I was shooting more confidently. I was shooting fast and reasonably accurate. I just finally started to feel like my old self. And, man, it was just such a good day, such a good class. I learned something new in every lesson. I learned something new with every explanation. I learned something new with every exercise. I just can't say enough about the training that Zach is doing with Highlands Defense. Like it has been
We Like Shooting 685 – Chicken Rich — 00:33:20 · Cite this passage
When comparing course reviews, look for that kind of explanation. An enthusiastic report is more informative when the person can describe why the instruction helped them. Use it to develop questions for the provider about feedback and course expectations. The passage is a historical personal assessment; your enrollment decision still needs the provider’s current course description and prerequisites.
Read the supporting passages
I was like starting to feel myself again. I was shooting more confidently. I was shooting fast and reasonably accurate. I just finally started to feel like my old self. And, man, it was just such a good day, such a good class. I learned something new in every lesson. I learned something new with every explanation. I learned something new with every exercise. I just can't say enough about the training that Zach is doing with Highlands Defense. Like it has been
We Like Shooting 685 – Chicken Rich — 00:33:20 · Cite this passage
Separate the class experience from the equipment debrief
Episode 682 sets out two parts of a Night Fire Basics report: the class and what the attendee got from it, followed by a comparison of equipment used on different occasions. Episode 684 also says the class exposed equipment failures. Those observations show why a course report can contain both praise for instruction and dissatisfaction with something brought to the class.
Read the supporting passages
y'all hurt my feelings for the next year and a half. So I'll try to go through this pretty quick, but I mentioned last week that I was going to go through a night fire basics class and I did. So there's a couple of different things that I want to do. Number one, I want to quickly talk about the class, what I got out of it, what I thought of it overall. Number two, I want to talk about the gear that I used, compare and contrast it to the gear that I used in the last time that I shot a night fire class, tell you what worked, what didn't work and what
We Like Shooting 682 – Bonecast — 00:32:39 · Cite this passage
assistants did just a fantastic job of doing exactly that. I got so freaking much out of it. Again, it demonstrated some equipment failures that I was not necessarily happy with
We Like Shooting 684 – Meat Swaps — 00:21:10 · Cite this passage
For your own planning, keep separate notes for course expectations, the provider’s equipment requirements, and questions about the experience afterward. Follow the provider’s current requirements when preparing for a class. WLS’s debriefs are useful examples of the questions that real attendees raise; an equipment comment in a podcast is not a substitute for the course’s own published requirements.
Read the supporting passages
y'all hurt my feelings for the next year and a half. So I'll try to go through this pretty quick, but I mentioned last week that I was going to go through a night fire basics class and I did. So there's a couple of different things that I want to do. Number one, I want to quickly talk about the class, what I got out of it, what I thought of it overall. Number two, I want to talk about the gear that I used, compare and contrast it to the gear that I used in the last time that I shot a night fire class, tell you what worked, what didn't work and what
We Like Shooting 682 – Bonecast — 00:32:39 · Cite this passage
assistants did just a fantastic job of doing exactly that. I got so freaking much out of it. Again, it demonstrated some equipment failures that I was not necessarily happy with
We Like Shooting 684 – Meat Swaps — 00:21:10 · Cite this passage
Use a debrief to decide what to ask next
The most useful follow-up to a positive class story is a specific question. Episode 684 suggests asking how the instructor adapts to the group. Episode 685 suggests asking how explanations, exercises and feedback are organized. Episode 682 suggests asking what the attendee expected from the class and what they actually took away. Together, they offer a way to have a more concrete conversation with a training provider.
Read the supporting passages
what he thought that we needed and what he thought we would take the most value from. So it was like we got some of the defensive rifle basic stuff, but also some of the other stuff. He did a really good job, honestly, of setting the level of the course to the students and what... You know, what level we were at, which is so hard to do. don't know if you guys are familiar with instruction in any way, but it's like really difficult sometimes to make those changes on the fly. But I thought that he, him and his instructor
We Like Shooting 684 – Meat Swaps — 00:20:41 · Cite this passage
I was like starting to feel myself again. I was shooting more confidently. I was shooting fast and reasonably accurate. I just finally started to feel like my old self. And, man, it was just such a good day, such a good class. I learned something new in every lesson. I learned something new with every explanation. I learned something new with every exercise. I just can't say enough about the training that Zach is doing with Highlands Defense. Like it has been
We Like Shooting 685 – Chicken Rich — 00:33:20 · Cite this passage
y'all hurt my feelings for the next year and a half. So I'll try to go through this pretty quick, but I mentioned last week that I was going to go through a night fire basics class and I did. So there's a couple of different things that I want to do. Number one, I want to quickly talk about the class, what I got out of it, what I thought of it overall. Number two, I want to talk about the gear that I used, compare and contrast it to the gear that I used in the last time that I shot a night fire class, tell you what worked, what didn't work and what
We Like Shooting 682 – Bonecast — 00:32:39 · Cite this passage
Open the original debriefs before quoting a recommendation. Their dates, surrounding conversation and personal context matter. This guide assembles listening and enrollment questions from those reports; it does not rank instructors, verify credentials or promise that another student will have the same experience. The source episodes below let you evaluate the accounts in full.
Read the supporting passages
y'all hurt my feelings for the next year and a half. So I'll try to go through this pretty quick, but I mentioned last week that I was going to go through a night fire basics class and I did. So there's a couple of different things that I want to do. Number one, I want to quickly talk about the class, what I got out of it, what I thought of it overall. Number two, I want to talk about the gear that I used, compare and contrast it to the gear that I used in the last time that I shot a night fire class, tell you what worked, what didn't work and what
We Like Shooting 682 – Bonecast — 00:32:39 · Cite this passage
I was like starting to feel myself again. I was shooting more confidently. I was shooting fast and reasonably accurate. I just finally started to feel like my old self. And, man, it was just such a good day, such a good class. I learned something new in every lesson. I learned something new with every explanation. I learned something new with every exercise. I just can't say enough about the training that Zach is doing with Highlands Defense. Like it has been
We Like Shooting 685 – Chicken Rich — 00:33:20 · Cite this passage
Source episodes and scope
This guide synthesizes the linked conversations. Opinions and reported experiences remain attributed to those episodes; quoted transcript text may contain transcription errors. Dates below identify the original discussions.
- We Like Shooting 682 – Bonecast (2026-09-29) · Full transcript
- We Like Shooting 684 – Meat Swaps (2026-10-13) · Full transcript
- We Like Shooting 685 – Chicken Rich (2026-10-20) · Full transcript