More often than not, I receive emails asking the familiar question, “Who is the best firearms or weapons instructor?” That’s a tough question to answer. Most of us have seen the videos presented by men like Instructor Zero, Travis Haley, Chris Costa, myself, etc., but who is the best?
In my years of instructing not only in the military, but in the civilian community, I’ve wondered the same thing. I’ve attended some of what I would consider the best schools in the world and worked with some amazing individuals. With every round that I’ve thrown down range on steel or paper, I gather two pieces of information: either ‘do not do that again’, or ‘yes, do that again.’
If an instructor ever tells his students, “I am the best,” or, “This is the best school,” I would have no problem in packing up my gear and leaving. Even if they truly were the best out there, every school offers different course outlines, various instructor backgrounds, different teaching styles, etc., and there is always something that you can take away from it—even if at the end you find yourself saying, “I’m never doing any of these things.” At least you have learned something. There is no ‘best’. The instructors I listed above have a following for a reason, and they definitely have something to offer. Not one instructor outshines another.
In short, there is always something to learn. If you’ve had a good or bad experience with a school, please post below; we’d be interested to hear about it.
