Attended Combat Pistol 1.0 on 1/7/23. I started the class with a basic, self-taught skill set that I developed static shooting at an indoor range. I walked away from today's class with a comprehensive skill set that I can't wait to build upon. Training like this is exactly what my firearm proficiency needed. The class was fantastic and well rounded. No experience is necessary, because the instructor is patient, fun and thorough. It was a great day. If you are on the fence about trying a class, my advice is just pull the trigger and do it. You will learn *so much* and have the best time. Thank you ASDS, for an amazing day. I can't wait to come back. read more

First off, QUIT WASTING TIME and MONEY else where. Matt and Jamie definitely challenge anyone from the most inexperienced to the most experienced shooter. I'm a fairly experienced shooter and I always learn something new or hone my skills to be better and proficient. I have taken the 1.5 class 3 times and I still keep learning. Highly recommend if your serious and want a legit real challenge! read more

Buying a gun isn't going to keep you safe, you need to learn how to use it! I have taken a couple of classes from ASDS and they were all EXCELLENT! I recently took defensive shotgun, where we worked on shooting under stress, combat and tactical loading, and distance shots with slugs. I had little shotgun experience before this, and by the end of the day I felt very confident in my ability to defend myself with it. If you have a shotgun, you need to take this class! If you are looking for a place to train in San Diego, this is it. Don't think you don't need training because you have been "shooting for years" and don't be intimated if you are a new shooter. It's an incredibly welcoming, educational and, most importantly, FUN environment. read more

I loved the training in Combat Pistol 1.5. Excellent, and MORE THAN well qualified instructors! Professional and friendly. Initially it was a bit intimidating because its not just target shooting, but defense shooting. It taught me courage and skills. I felt amazing afterwards! I did it! Its not just something you do once. If you want to excell and get your skills down well, you will need to go back. About 9 hrs of training/shooting. A pretty awesome experience. I already signed up to do it again and bringingafriendwithme. Super stoked and super appreciative! read more

Anyone can point and shoot...but there is SO MUCH MORE to learning, gaining confidence and becoming proficient with your weapon. I would always go shooting with my sons. If the gun jammed, they fixed it. They loaded my mags, etc. I found myself wanting to be able to do these things independently...that I really didn't know anything but point and shoot! Yesterday, my son and a couple friends and I had the experience of "Matt & Jamie" 1.5! I highly recommend this class! They make it fun, yet challenging. I get bored and overwhelmed easily...and the way Matt & Jamie roll together keeps you engaged and interested. Their combined experience is immense and extensive. I took away a lot of information and feel much more comfortable with the basics...I left encouraged and excited to continue training! read more

My wife and I Just finished our second course with ASDS. If you're looking to become safer, more proficient, and just plain better - this is the place. Matt, Chris, and Jaime are incredibly qualified, great instructors, and good people too. read more

What an experience! A massive thank you to Matt and Chris for the incredible day on the range. Their knowledge and experience is unmatched. This was true instruction coming from two professionals that have unparalleled real-world experience. We will definitely be using their services again in the near future. It was a pleasure and an honor to work with these two. I have already recommended them to numerous people. I highly recommend going to ASDS for all of your shooting training. Simply incredible! read more

Wow what a professional and personable experience it was taking the Combat 1.5 course with Jamie. Positive, knowledgeable, and rewarding, learning many skills and adopting techniques that work for you and your set up. They make you really want to succeed, challenge yourself, and become more comfortable with your firearm(s), to grow proficient in what you're doing until it becomes natural/automatic. Will be signing up with them again! read more

I did not know what to expect. I'm a new shooter. But after the combat pistol 1.5 class with Matt. Had a a lot of fun and learned a lot!!!! After the first 5 minutes on the tang I knew I was going to be taking another class. Thanks Matt, see you on the next one. read more

Intermediate Combat Pistol Course 3 & 4 at ASDS was my first class, ever. A couple of my more experienced friends found an insanely good deal at ASDS, and I couldn't pass it up. We talked to Matt to make sure I could do alright in the class and he assured us that I would be fine with my experience level, albeit informal. He offered to give me a quick primer a couple weeks before to make sure I was comfortable. I first met Matt at his private range at the South Bay Rod & Gun Club for one of his open shoot Fridays. Once there, he immediately put my mind at ease when he showed me how he worked with each of our individual strengths and weaknesses. For $25 I feel like I got a "Combat Handgun 1" class minus a certificate and obviously less time on target. Over the next two weeks I only went to the range once to practice what I could remember from his quick lesson and was again a little anxious leading up to the class. As we showed up to meet our classmates, I was again put at ease. There were two instructors for seven of us, all very like minded but from different realms of shooting. A couple competition shooters wanted to get a little more tactics oriented and others were taking their military and police training to a higher level, whereas I was mostly looking to play GI Joe for the weekend. Regardless of our individual skill levels Matt seems to attract a certain no-bullshit type of crowd which makes for an almost family like setting right out of the gate. At the start of class we were asked what our goals were. For some it was speed and accuracy, others wanted to refine their existing skills, but for me, I simply wanted the confidence with my handgun that I never truly had. The confidence to draw from my holster, get on target quickly, reload without hesitation, work through malfunctions, and deliver shots on target. Any one of which I'd have been happy to have achieved. Matt and Reggie delivered all of this and more. Including the hooded box drills where your world is turned upside down in an instant, the stress induced final course culminating in everything I learned, and all the shots in between, I easily had the most fun I've ever had with a gun and amazingly, ammo was the single greatest cost. Matt spaced out our breaks perfectly and uses the down time to keep us thinking or entertaining us with hilarious banter and great stories. The class is about *doing* but in those "range is cold" moments we got excellent insight about gear and tactics from guys that have spent a lot of time actually using it where it matters. He's really open minded when it comes to techniques and importantly talks about the WHY what he teaches works so well. He acknowledges that different people and different situations require different techniques, so it's sort of a, "If it doesn't work for you, don't do it" kind of deal. If you haven't taken a class before, you're really missing something super fun that helps you get a lot more enjoyment out of shooting and makes your shots infinitely more productive. Yeah, classes aren't dirt cheap, but I guarantee you'll get way better, way faster, for way less money than doing the same old thing over and over again at the range. If you've got a couple classes under your belt, I can't imagine you've had more fun then at an ASDS class. When I wasn't focused on my front sight and The Three S's, I was dying laughing, smiling with pride, or just in awe of how great it was to be there. By the end of day one, I saw vast improvements in all aspects of my shooting. By the end of day two, I was ringing multiple steel targets in the dark, reloading my gun and clearing malfunctions one handed weak side, scoring shots with blurry goggles on the ground rolled-over prone, destroying abdomens point blank from the hip, and just generally fucking up bad guys...and a single innocent bystander - I was THAT guy, hahaha. Most importantly, I knew what I was doing: every time I touched my gun I was doing so deliberately and confidently. Then slowly and surely, I was thinking less and less about all the little things that are so critical to making shots count - they were just coming naturally. I was striving infinitely past my simple goals. My beard also grew 3 inches. read more

Matt and Jamie are excellent instructors. My family and I took an all day lesson yesterday and it was the best spent day in years! we are experienced shooters to different degrees and Matt and Jamie assessed our levels then went about challenging out skills for the rest of the day! They did it by explanation and demonstration. We are a family who liked to laugh and tease each other and Matt and Jamie were happy to join us! I would recommend these guys for anyone and everyone. I will for sure be booking again. read more

I cannot say enough positive things about my time with Matt and ASDS. I have 20 years of shooting under my belt (80% pistol, 15% rifle, 5%), and the Combat Pistol 1 & 2 course was the best training and education I've ever received. Second to none. Matt is an expert. He also brought in Lee and Seth as proctors in the course to help us out, and they were fantastic as well. While this (Combat Pistol 1 & 2) isn't a course for the beginner, ASDS does offer introductory courses, and I would STRONGLY recommend them to ALL firearms owners. Matt brings real, experience-based knowledge that can never be learned from a youtube video or book. I'll be going back to sharpen both my pistol and carbine skills. If you have any questions, please ask! read more

I recently took the intermediate two day combat pistol class with ASDS and it was one of the best decisions I have made to improve my shooting ability. I went into this class a pretty good shooter, but by the end of the two days my shooting had improved dramatically. Matt and Reggie were able to collapse on my skill set and finely hone them. Which reduced my time and increased my accuracy. Not only did my shooting vastly improve but I had fun. All too often shooting classes are boring and sometimes stale. Fortunately, that was not the case with ASDS. The instructors are very personable and keep the environment enjoyable. The class is taught to a group, individually. Meaning Matt would teach the class a concept then have the group work on it and spend time with each one of us until we fully understood and were able to perform it. No matter what level you are at you will improve in one of their classes. I don't care how many dynamic videos you have watched, or how many posts you have on calguns. The bottom line is you need to go train and ASDS is the place to do it. We all had a great time and you will too. read more

Excellent classes, knowledgeable staff, great prices. When I was told about this I had LITTLE experience with firearms and they drastically improved my confidence, aim and showed me what I'm capable of with my weapons. I would recommend this to everyone. Shooting is a skill where you have to constantly keep practicing to get better, these guys will help you practice the right things to do to get EVEN better. read more

I purchased a training course for me and my dad. I will be back. Excellent instruction. I can't wait to come back!

I just returned from taking the Combat Pistol 1.5 course today. I really didn't start shooting until six months ago. I have been practicing at a target range and have been making fairly steady improvement. I thought that I had been preparing myself to be able to confront an armed adversary. After 30 minutes in the ASDS course I realized that I was wrong. I am really glad that I took this course. Now I now what the issues are and I know what I need to do to prepare. Matt is a real professional who runs his students through a rigorous 8 hour course while making it a lot of fun at the same time. I'll be taking this course again. read more

Totally worth the money, now I'm a tier 1 operator and I've got a can a day dip habit.

This was a great time and we learned a lot! Matt is a great instructor, funny, personable and professional. As someone who has been shooting for a few months this was a great much needed intro course that really helped me get better but also give me the reasons as to all the techniques we were learning and practicing. I learned to correct my problems and that was totally worth it. I highly recommend this to anyone who has picked up their first pistol or is experienced and looking to improve. I'm looking forward to continue the training with Matt and team and try other courses when I pick up my AR. read more

ASDS is the best shooting school in Southern California. Matt Klier and his team are professional, safe, and they make the training fun. I've taken multiple classes with ASDS and I always come away with new knowledge, a fresh perspective, and drill that I can work on at the range to improve my skill. read more

Had the privilege of taking a class with the ASDS team. Had a fantastic experience. I learned a tremendous amount. The class was very safe, the instruction very individualized and professional. I'm very grateful. read more

Very in depth training experience. Instructor was professional. I highly recommend for anybody looking at firearms training go to active shooter defense. Doesn't get any better. read more

Matt is a respectable, responsible and skillful instructor. I've been learning from him in the past five days and he certainly met my aspects of shooting and more... I personally respect him not only as an instructor, but also as a moral teacher. He teaches people not only how to shoot, but also how to see things differently and be kind and respect to people around us. Having firearms should be the right to the citizens, but it is definitely not the reason we should use it as violent weapons. His experiences also amaze me in multiple aspects and I learned so much from that and I believe it would have a great impact on my life. There are so much things I want to say, but you'll feel what I feel once you talk to him and really get to know him. Even five days seem short, but I believe his sincerity of really maximizing the dollars works way more than teaching how to shoot. I'm really happy to learn from him and grateful that he tries so hard to make everything fresh everyday! I definitely recommend anyone who wants to learn shooting to contact him and I guarantee he will surprise you! read more

It is sad that we must go through such training in 2019, however if you chose to Matt is the guy to teach you. He knows his stuff and served this country. read more

This is the best gun handling school I have ever experienced! Hands down, you will learn more than any other program you could ever imagine. After two solid days of training any gun owner will walk away more experienced, more confident, and a far superior shoot and gun owner than 95% of users anywhere. The Active Shooter Defense School will teach you salty, gun handling, shooting, and what you need to know for use in the real world. THIS IS A FANTASTIC PROGRAM and is worth 10x more than the cost!! AMAZING and an awesome time! read more

ASDS is in it's own league when it comes to firearm training. Whether you are a first time shooter and looking to get a solid foundation or you are experienced and looking to take it to the level, this is your school. I've taken a good amount of classes from different schools and instructors and this is best training I've had. My shooting and confidence has really improved. Matt pointed out a couple bad habits I had developed after the years in a very simple and respectable way and more importantly he explained why! This allowed me to work through the mechanics. I really can't recommend this school enough. I will be back over and over again. read more

Matt is a total professional, and does a great job of showing people how to shoot better without being condescending. Best of all, he explains why certain things are more efficient or safer than other techniques. He's very friendly, and we spent almost as much time laughing as we did shooting. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to improve their skills, or for a first time shooter who's never held a gun before. read more

My boyfriend and I took Matts first day handgun class and had a blast. Neither of us had shot a handgun before but we're considering buying one, his first class was great and perfect for beginners. He started with the basics and kept drilling them in while we shot so that we would remember them. He gave us each tips and comments to help us improve while shooting. We both came out much more comfortable with handguns in general and we're both hitting the bullseye (well ok, maybe not the middle but pretty close) we would definitely recommend his guidance for any level. read more

THESE ARE MY PEOPLE!! It is so rare these days to be able to spend your entire day socializing and learning with and from people who are like minded. I literally was like a kid in a playground with a whole group of new friends by the end of the day. I was smiling ear to ear as I got into my car at the end of the day. My husband signed me up for the women's only pistol course. While all of their classes are co-ed, sometimes it can be a bit intimidating to shoot with the men, so this is a good option to have. I have about 2 years experience shooting (indoor ranges only), but I am a slow learner and have struggled with accuracy mostly due to shot anticipation. This course is designed for all levels. You can take it if you have never shot a firearm, or you can take it as a semi-experiened person like me, because it never hurts to revisit the basics and learn from talented individuals. Danielle is about as experienced as it gets. Not only that, but she is personable, patient, and funny. By the end of the day, I had improved considerably. I learned things such as how to manage shot anticipation (we ran some awesome drills), positioning, reloads, and much more. In the 8 hours you spend here, you will learn more than you would in probably 2 or 3 days in another course. I cannot stress enough that you will get so much "bang for your buck" (pun intended). Some classes may spend 4 hours on positioning, and that is just not needed They teach you what you need to know, make sure you are comfortable, and then move on. A couple tips: 1. BRING SUNSCREEN AND SLATHER YOURSELF IN IT. 2. When they offer you a ride to the property, take it, unless you have a large vehicle, preferrably with 4 wheel drive. My CRV did not make it and I had to be rescued (which they are more then willing to do). 3. They have bottled water, but good idea to bring an insulated bottle, such as a hydroflask. You will want to stay hydrated. 4 Pay special attention to the gear that is required for the course. While they do have loaners, better if you come prepared with a rig that is comfortable for you 5. I wouldn't plan anything major for the evening after your course. You will be hot, dirty, and tired and all you will want is a shower, food, and sleep. I am hoping there is enough demand for Danielle to offer a women's only pistol 1.5. I also want to take the rifle class. I can't wait to come back to ASDS! read more

If your overwhelmed about all the "training" programs in San Diego, make the ONE choice, The RIGHT Choice, and go see Matt and his crew. The education and experience are superior and excellent. Matt is an exceptional instructor that takes the time to instruct you in a way in which you can learn. The environment is friendly, supportive and encouraging. Do not be deterred by the drive to Dulzura, sure its far, but the drive is very beautiful and once you get on the range, it's just incredible. Great weather, views and setup. Matt has given me the tools to greatly improve my skill level, and I'm going to continue to work on it, so that I may take his more advanced rifle classes. A huge thanks from one Matt to Another! It's really hard NOT to have fun, so just come out and take some classes with ASDS! read more

These guys are awesome. The classes are fun but you also learn a lot, and they are really patient with my repeated mistakes. Sign up for one of their courses, all the cool kids are doing it. read more

I cannot thank Matt enough for being such an awesome trainer. I am new to guns, only starting to shoot seriously in 2014, and I have taken several classes in pistol basics and home defense. Matt has made it incredibly easy to follow the fundamentals and practice this daily to perfect my aim and leave bad habits behind. I was nervous in the beginning to take classes when I have heard about what jerks some guy trainers can be to new female students, but rest assured, ladies - Matt is the best! He understands your level and wants you to learn and get better. My shooting has improved so much, but I will continue to take more classes with Matt and team to keep my skills sharp. I would highly recommend any new shooters to take Matt's classes and learn your fundamentals now before you get into bad habits or worse, not learn safety first on your weapons. For those of you who are advanced shooters, you can never stop practicing and take more training to get better. I would not say I was afraid of guns when I started, possibly overthinking to be safe, but I sure am not now. Just always cautious and follow the rules. If you are ever interested in taking a class with ASDS, feel free to contact me. I would be a reference for Matt and his team any day. They are professionals; ex-military, law enforcement, etc., and they are passionate about you being safe but have fun learning. Matt also uses humor which definitely breaks up the stress. Too bad I can only give 5 stars! I'll be baaaaaack! read more

I attended a 6 hour Self Defense class with Matt & Danielle as my Instructors. I was totally new to firearms. I have never had this much fun (With my clothes on). By the end of the 6 hours I felt totally comfortable with a "Live Weapon" & knowledgeable enough to buy my 1st gun. I would Highly recommend this class for anyone starting out. read more

I'd been looking to attend one of ASDS' courses when my work schedule would permit since last year. Attending this past weekend's pistol course was insightful, clear cut, instructive, very entertaining, and enormous fun. Being prior service, I very quickly realized how much techniques and training had changed and improved, and I honestly felt grateful to learn dynamic and effective drills, which historically were reserved for select military and police occupations. The fact that some attendees in my class had been in some of those select occupations, and willingly took the instruction in a total student mindset, to me, constituted the highest compliment possible. I do look forward to attending future courses, and Matt Klier is an outstanding, down-to-earth instructor. I believe I'd have to spend triple ASDS' class price point to get the noticeable increase in competency and confidence in a personal firearm elsewhere. read more