At 25 yards the line goes prone. This is long shooting in the 250 course, and it's harder than it looks.

The raven, wings spread, still guards the gate. Passing under its silhouette, you're reminded that Gunsite Academy is not just a school, it's a culture. If you bring the pressures and priorities of your other life with you, the raven gets less of you.

"It's a life-changing experience. You'll be different when you leave."

I'd heard that before, during my first class at this renowned shooting facility. The 270 Rifle class taught me a few things that should have come much earlier. This 250 Pistol course would surely teach me more. Indoctrinated in my youth to view handguns as a good choice when there was no rifle around, I'd gradually come to think more charitably of them. But an accomplished handgunner I was not.

"The 250 is our beginner's class," continued Charlie McNeese. At least I was in the right place. "You may have fired handguns a little or a lot. Maybe not at all. You'll do just fine if you practice what we teach. It may not be what you were taught elsewhere. It may not be what you'll practice for a hunt or a bullseye match. But what we teach is, by consensus, the best way to defend yourself in armed combat."

Eric Olds shows that all good shooting starts with proper grip--high and firm--in the holster.

Whose consensus? I almost asked aloud. Later, in an interview with Gunsite operations manager Ed Head, I did. "When Jeff Cooper founded Gunsite Academy," Ed replied, "he taught what we call the modern technique of the pistol. It's a culmination of his experiences and those of some truly extraordinary handgunners--Thell Reed, Eldon Carl, Jack Weaver, Ray Chapman. What Jeff preached--and we still do--also borrowed from FBI training dating to 1928. Gunsite 250 shows you combat-proven techniques.

"Most of our pistol instructors have worked in law enforcement," Ed continued. "Charlie did. In fact, he taught policemen to shoot. He and Eric Olds and Ron Fielder--your instructors--are masters of defensive handgun shooting.

They can also tell you why their methods work."

A retired Border Patrol officer who began teaching at Gunsite during the 1990s, Ed got his first taste of the Academy when he attended as a student in 1988. "Five years ago I moved from San Diego to Chino Valley--partly to teach full time here," he said. In February 2005 Buz Mills asked me to oversee operations when Bob Young left. I miss the teaching, but coordinating all the programs is a rewarding job. Honestly, I get misty-eyed thinking of the lives our training has saved--not just policemen but civilians firing in self-defense and, of course, soldiers.