"Gunsite teaches what even the armed forces can't teach well. Small classes and expert instructors, plus our modern ranges and life-like courses of fire, are unique to the Academy. We accommodate special requests. When a Marine unit wanted training in foreign weapons for a covert operation, the Services had nothing to offer. We procured the guns and ammunition to give 250 Marines the hands-on experience they needed. We even wrote them a training manual. It all happened in just six weeks. Gunsite got no money for this effort until months later, but those Marines captured a Russian machine gun that was killing Americans and specifically credited Gunsite for their success. Wow!"

Gunsite instructors recommend a shooting grip like this--on a 1911 in .45 ACP, of course.

That sense of mission comes across from other instructors at Gunsite, too. Like the Academy's owner, Buz Mills, they're not here just to sell their services. They believe.

Discipleship is part of what you pay for in a week of classes. When you fire 1,000 rounds into targets, then practice your draw and magazine changes after full days on the range, you might as well commit your mind, too.

You're also wise to use recommended gear. It's no secret that Cooper's pet pistol was a 1911 in .45 ACP. Talking with Gunsite's marketing director, Jane Anne Hulen, before signing up, I got the impression that shooting the 250 course with any other pistol would be like riding a Kawasaki to the chopper rally at Sturgis. So I looked hard for a 1911 that would make me look good. My pick: A five-inch Smith & Wesson with belly rail and white-dot sights. It would prove an excellent decision.

Charlie McNeese runs the targets as shooters draw. They have just 1 1/2 seconds to fire.

But I'd erred in getting a holster. A traditionalist, I like leather, and you'll find no better 1911 cowhide than the selection offered by Galco. Every model is beautifully formed and stitched. Choose from pancake, Yaqui slide and traditional versions. Alas, I'd ordered a holster for a standard 1911, not one with a rail. Eric Olds came to the rescue with a hard-composite loaner by Blade-Tech. He also tossed me a pair of magazine pouches. Everyone else had the foresight to break in their gear--and bring four magazines.

Before warming up the hardware, though, we 15 students got lectured. "Shooting is 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical," Charlie emphasized. "Practice intelligently. Dry fire when you can't shoot. Practice loading and magazine changes with the dummy rounds we gave you. Get familiar with your pistol. Establishing routines makes you faster and more accurate, provided they're the right routines."

Despite small hands, Jade Goodhue is quick and sure during tactical reloads with her Les Baer .45.

Safety? I was pleased that Gunsite keeps the rules simple: Never allow a pistol to point at anything you'd regret shooting; keep your finger off the trigger except to fire; know your target and what's behind it. Unlike the many firearms courses that require guns to be empty off-line, with actions open, Gunsite's 250 instructors let each student choose the carry condition of his pistol.

"A 1911 is pretty useless without a full magazine," they pointed out. "We suggest you carry yours loaded, cocked and locked." Every firearm at Gunsite is assumed to be loaded; every pistol must be holstered until the command to fire at targets on the ranges. You can't turn around or leave the line after a volley until you slide that .45 into its holster. Loading off-line, you extract the magazine but not the pistol.