Another Advanced Defensive Rifle class in the books! This is the 3rd class in our defensive rifle track and it introduces many new concepts for proving out the foundations of good shooting. After refreshing the fundamentals of marksmanship, we dove into firing multiple rounds accurately, working against multiple targets, transitions, and moving and shooting. We also did positional work on the barricade to establish an understanding of what works, before applying those skills

We recently taught Mastering Handgun and Rifle Mechanics classes. These instructor-level classes break down the fundamentals of shooting until they are performed at a high level. Errors hindering performance are weeded out. In the rifle class, we discuss the importance of having a truly good zero and then spend time getting one. In both, students go through a variety of baseline drills designed to find deficiencies and then work to correct those flaws. The causes of each are

The RD team is in great mid-season form this year, with results coming fast and furious. The guys have been shooting a ton of matches around the region and we're happy to see their successes. Andrew Pfantz - Despite fathering a new child in May, he has been shooting well. Placing 1st in Limited at the BRew City Open despite a bunch of malfunctions, taking 2nd at the IDPA State match, 11th in Limited at Nationals, and then winning the USPSA MN Sectionals overall. He is focused

We had a jammed weekend consisting of our intermediate level defensive handgun and rifle classes. This level is a great refresher of the fundamental skills, and also push students to the next level of performance. Intermediate classes go through the basics to ensure everyone has retained or improved the core principles of effective shooting, then dive into a variety of new concepts to apply those skills. Malfunctions are worked on again, and then introduced are using cover an

We trained several Competent Gunfighters yesterday, learning how to problem solve when everything goes wrong. To fight off certain defeat, you need to maintain a strong mental ability along with a practiced skill set that keeps you in the fight. Students trained on keeping their gun up and running through malfunction, physical limitations, and environmental challenges. This class offers a great opportunity to work on things seldom practiced safely elsewhere.

Great group of guys for our Intermediate Defensive Shotgun class yesterday. The shotgun is a fun platform to run and is loaded with capability. We started with a cold open drill doing combat reloads, then confirmed patterning to establish our baseline. Then we worked through some hammer drills to get stance and marksmanship set. After that we spent time optimizing the combat reload, ready up positions, shell changes, and pistol transitions. We tested out the time it took to c

We had a great group of guys attend Intro to Defensive Rifle this past weekend! They covered a lot of ground on their way to fixing and adjusting fundamentals. After some classroom time covering basic safety and gun ownership considerations, we hit the range. We started with ideal weapons manipulation and the basics of marksmanship, reviewing stance, gun fitment, and trigger control and then did some burn down drills to see where the wheels fell off. After some adjustments we

Another fantastic Intermediate Scoped Carbine class in the books with Adrian and Critical Impact Group! We had a beautiful day at Highlands putting lead way down range. We started our work with a refresher on ballistics and wind effects, maximum point blank range, and repeatedly making quick and accurate shots out to 600 yards. The rest of the class consisted of barricade shooting, working “perfect” barricade positions off tripods, then adapting the principles on not so perfe

I freaking love warm weather. I truly love seeing different places around the country. And I absolutely love shooting and training. A couple of weeks ago I traveled to West Liberty, IA to take JBS Training Group's American Gas Gun Rapid Precision class. Training with Mark Smith of JBS has been a holy grail goal of mine for years and he was finally close enough to WI on a date that worked. On my way to class one morning from the AirBnB, surrounded by wide open corn fields in e

Nice Intro to Firearms and Defensive Handgun this weekend! Students learned about the legal and moral concerns when carrying a firearm, built the fundamentals of marksmanship, and dove into the critical concepts of accurate shooting. We spent the afternoon on the range building a good grip, working on the trigger press and reloads, cleared malfunctions, and even explored transitions and getting off the X. Always a good day on the range with fellow shooters!

Students really brought it in our 2 day Performance Pistol class with Gateway Defense last weekend! This high round count, high intensity class made better shooters out of everyone. Day 1 was filled with building the foundational principles for speed and accuracy. Students enhanced their grip, sped up their draw, worked on sight confirmation levels, perfected the trigger press, and dove into target transitions. Day 2 brought more complex target transitions, target blending, f

Great Concealed Defensive Handgun class this past weekend! Students got in-depth practical training on carrying their concealed handguns. We discussed legal and moral considerations, the fundamentals of marksmanship, drawing from concealment, and performing common manipulations. From there we introduced movement, cover and concealment, disadvantaged positions, sight confirmation levels, and more. We wrapped up with a fun Blackjack dual! Great job students.

Fantastic Intro to Scoped Carbine class last weekend, teamed up with @critical_impact_group! Our scoped carbine series is our most popular offering and they sell out every year. We’re proud to be the exclusive offering of these classes from Adrian. This intro class establishes solid fundamentals of marksmanship, an understanding of ballistics, knowing your scope and holds/dialing, and prepares students for collecting and building data for accuracy at distance. The class takes

Sold out Intro to Defensive Shotgun class again this year as we’re one of the only defensive shotgun instructors in the Midwest. This is such a fun class to take because the platform is so diverse. The shotgun is a powerful tool you should consider keeping handy. The class starts with the fundamentals - understanding the tweaks in marksmanship techniques to handle the recoil. Then we dive into the specific manual of arms for each user’s shotgun - loading, unloading, shell cha

Our 2026 training season is officially underway with the completion of Intro to Firearms and Defensive Handgun and Intro to Defensive Rifle this past weekend. The intro classes feature some classroom time covering safety, technical knowledge, legalities, moral obligations, and the fundamentals of marksmanship. Students get a chance to try everything in a safe environment before heading out to the range. Once on the range, everything is put into practice. Basic skillsets are p

One of the biggest problems we see in any sport or hobby, and especially shooting, is the belief among experienced or even high performers that they don’t need a training class or that training wouldn’t be helpful. They have a flawed belief that they are already good enough (“I was in the army”), without knowing how much better other shooters are. Or, they think there isn’t anything of value left to learn and believe it’s just a matter of doing what they are doing but better.

The 2026 shooting season has kicked off and we've added several new shooters to our sponsored team. Sponsoring shooters not only gets our name out there, but it allows us to support the shooting sports and the people that make it great. Returning this year is Nick Doub , a seasoned veteran who's been with us for a few years. Nick is a master level IDPA shooter and does a ton of matches locally and throughout the region. He's always ready to talk shooting sports and frequently

The training season is about to start and we've introduced several new training classes this year. We are always striving to meet the needs of our students, which means helping them progress their skills and offering a variety of options to do. In addition to our new 1-on-1 private training option, we've introduced: Performance Pistol with Gateway Defense (May 30-31). This high level class is designed to tie all of your pistol skills together and teach you how to apply them

Rapid Defense is now a Kenetrek boots dealer! Kenetrek makes some of the highest quality boots out there for sportsmen, working folks, and shooting enthusiasts. We are the exclusive dealer within 50 miles of Racine, WI. Kenetrek boots are mostly made in Italy to the highest standards of craftsmanship. They feature a variety of styles that all feature single piece leather outsoles, extreme abrasion resistance, and ample protection for most use cases. There are insulated and n

Another SHOT Show has come and gone and we were there for the week checking everything out to establish new relationships, connect with existing ones, and learn about gear to better inform you. This year it took 85,000 steps to see it all! Our Top 5 Rise Triggers. Yea, we know there is nothing much new here. Rise makes excellent triggers at a fantastic price point. But the Rev 535 is worth mentioning for having such a clean, crisp break at a great pull weight. And the 2 stag