I did 2 days of private lessons with Frank Garcia last spring. I was a beginner-intermediate shooter at the time. The facility is excellent. Frank is an excellent instructor. He times everything. He is very perceptive. He is an excellent communicator. I learned many gun handling tricks, a good draw, how to tune my double stack magazines and my shooting accuracy and speed all improved. I took my Open Custonm STI .45 and my single stack GM .45 with iron sights. You will shoot as many rounds as his web site says. He is exactly as advertized. I left with a written practice plan and drills. Both have been very useful. He is a very nice gemtleman and the experience was all positive. I am going back this year.

Dean

 

Dean, did you do lessons by yourself or with others ("private lessons"?), and can you elaborate on "tune my double stack magazines"? I have to admit, I haven't heard about tuning mags.

 

I was the only person thus I called them private lessons rather than a group lesson. A small group of the right people might be ok. Frank paid attention to virtually every one of my shots. Lots of very good drills steel and paper tailored to my weaknesses. Everything standing started in the surender position with the gun in the holster. Moving targets were new to me. 6 good hits were tougher for me at 10 yards than 3 at 25. Then try it with the left hand.

Double stack mags 1911 mags are not as reliable as single stack. There have been posts on this in the forum. I would only use single stack as my primary self defense weapon. My Open double stack is a gamer. Frank taught me about final spring angle, followers, cleaning, springs, slide stops, locking open etc. Feed lips can be polished. You read all the time about big time shooters and jams with their long double stacks. They are not common but they do happen. My Open gun is reliable but more so since I learned about magazines and their maintenence. I am no expert and was lucky to learn from a Grandmaster who is an excellent instructor and comunicator. You don't have to be a Class B national IPSC shooter to go to him like some places.

Dean

 

Anyone else had experience with Frank Garcia? I would think there are more people on the forum here who have possibly even had friends who attended his classes. Or perhaps anyone thinking of attending? If there are, I'd like to get together with a couple of guys to schedule a three or four-man class.

 

I hope to go there the later part of June or first part of July. as soon as Roto-Cuff permits.

 

Paladin:
Been there twice. Once for a private 1000 round all day class.
And went back another time for a 3 person class.
Two years after the first class I am still picking up on things he mentioned to me that I didn't understand at the time.
Can't speak too highly of his classes. He is a good guy and very focused and intense teacher.
Well worth the time and cash. I have also shot his Florida Open the past 2 years and it was just great fun and a perfect way to spend a day.
He has 10 shooting bays on his property and the courses of fire from the Open become part of the learning process.
p7fl

 

FRANK GARCIA

I AM A LEO IN FRANK'S HOME TOWN. I HAVE NOT TAKEN ONE OF HIS COURSES; HOWEVER, WE DO USE HIS RANGE. FRANK HAS WORKED WITH ME ABOUT EIGHT HOURS TOTAL, AND I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT HE IS A PROFESSIONAL. I CAN TELL YOU THAT EVERYONE (IPSC,IDPA, LEO, ETC.......) THAT I KNOW HAS TAKEN HIS COURSES SPEAKS HIGHLY. I HAVE TAKEN NUMEROUS COURSES THROUGHOUT MY 13 YEAR CAREER, AND NO ONE HAS EVER POINTED OUT MY BAD HABITS AS HE HAS. FRANK STARTS YOU FROM SQUARE ONE (GRIP, DRAW, TRIGGER PREP, SIGHT ALIGNMENT, SIGHT PICTURE) AND MOVES INTO MORE ADVANCED SHOOTING SKILLS. IF YOU WANT HARDCORE, CUTTING EDGE TRAINING THEN YOU ARE LOOKING IN THE RIGHT PLACE.

P.S. BRING PLENTY OF AMMO

 

I took a 3 day class in Febuary. it was exactly what I needed, build a solid foundation with the basics and work on that. Frank is awesome and gives personal attention to all the students. He knows how to explain what I was doing wrong in a nice way. The techniques I was taught 13 years ago are 20 years old and there are newer and better ones today, mainly developed by competition shooters that shoot a hundred thousand rounds a year.

The weather was not cooperative at all, it was cold, muddy and rain. We stuck thru it and so did Frank, standing out there in the rain and motivating us.

He is a very good and attentive to his students, he notices all your mistakes and is not shy about pointing them out as some instructers are. all in a nice way and friendly attitude

there are no big egos at this school, just good quality learning.

I highly recomend taking a class with frank no matter what your level is.

shay