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Virtra System at On Target in Crystal Lake


soylentgreen

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A few weeks ago, I took some time off work to do a number of things I have been meaning to do. One of those was to get some training.

I scheduled and hour at On Target in Crystal Lake on their Virtra system. This was my first visit to On Target since it's about an hour drive for me.

In any case, the shop was medium-sized, but well-stocked and clean. It was early on a weekday, so it wasn't busy at all. The staff was very friendly. It appears they have about 16-20 lanes of shooting range. It's a nice place.

 

Mike is the training coordinator. He took me upstairs to the Virtra room. The gun is a real Glock 17 modified with a laser in the barrel and a CO2 cartridge in the magazine. So, it cycles like a real Glock 17. Of course, the recoil is weaker since nothing is being expelled out the business end. I find 9mm Glocks to have very mild recoil anyway since I'm used to shooting 4" 1911s from my days before I switched to something more modern.

The screen takes up an entire wall of the room. There are various scenarios where decision-making is necessary. The system is obviously geared toward police, so, in a lot of the cases you play a law enforcement officer. Mike can change the scenarios on the fly. A suspicious person could reach in their pocket and pull out a gun. Or he could make them pull out a cell phone.

Some of the acting is REALLY bad. But, I think the system is effective. I did very well and didn't shoot any "innocent" people. I shot all the hostage takers in the head....a shot I'd NEVER take in real life unless the person being held was someone I was responsible for protecting and they were certainly going to die without any action by me.

If you suspend your disbelief, the system is very real feeling. I did all the things you'd do in a real shooting situation. My hands were shaking after about five minutes. It could've been my nerves or that I was holding the gun too tightly. Hahaha. Once the shooting started, I pretty much unloaded on the perps. Ask me how many shots I fired...no idea (they can play back all your shots and where you hit). I just keep pointing the gun at the person and shooting until they stopped shooting back. Most scenarios were easy to shoot the bad guy (or girl) before he stabs, shoots, or beats you with a baseball bat if you're on heightened alert. None of the situations included an attacker who came at you or someone else without warning. I remember aiming the first shot...but after that, just pulling the trigger. I might've been aiming, but I just don't remember.

Of course, they try to trick you or distract you from the real threat or a secondary threat...which I thought was very valuable.

The system is not perfect, but the session was well worth the price. It gave me some things to work on (such as consciously trying to control my aim after the first shot). I also reinforced my thought that you'd have to be crazy to want to be a LEO these days. God bless those guys for a thankless job where they put their lives on the line everyday.

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One hour was $60. You can bring up to four people in for that price. I was alone. The session was pretty informal and we did go over the time. And, since it was just me, he charged me less. I won't say how much just because I don't want people going in there demanding to match what they saw some yahoo on a discussion board paid.

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..God bless those guys for a thankless job where they put their lives on the line everyday

 

Thank you. (From a (former retired LEO)

 

My pleasure. I know for a fact that 50-75% of the scenarios shown on training system are situations where I would walk away slowly and not get involved. A cop doesn't have that choice. If he gets the call, he has to go. He has to insert himself into a situation he probably doesn't care about. There's a chance he will be injured or worse.

 

For instance, if a man is beating a woman on the street, I'm not going to try to stop him. I will call 911 and observe. I'll be a good witness. I already know that if I get involved, there's a high likelihood that the victim will turn on me. A police officer has no such options. He's there to enforce the law and protect the innocent.

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