Hillside Brass

03/11/2026

I’ll be updating the calendar for April and May soon.

If you have a specific class or date you’d like to request let me know.

02/03/2026

Carrying In Cold Weather?

It’s been extremely cold here in Kentucky for the past couple of weeks. The kind of cold that makes you limit your outside movements and to layer up more than usual when you do have to go outdoors. But threats still exist, even in the cold, making our need to protect ourselves from them just as important regardless of the weather. During my days on patrol I had the luxury of wearing a pistol on my hip and a warm winter coat with a split in the side made to go around that pistol and still give me good access to it.

My Carhartt jacket, however, does not have that same access zipper on the side. (Nor would my somewhat deteriorating sense of fashion allow me to wear it in public if it did). The only viable option for one wanting to defend themselves adequately in such a situation is to train for it. Here are just a few of the things that I recommend to better equip yourself for such situations:

Practice drawing from underneath thick layers of clothing.
Training with gloves on. The actual gloves you might be wearing.
Dry firing with gloves on.
Practicing drawing and shooting (or dry firing) after you’ve been outdoors for a few minutes and your body is starting to react to the temperature.

As I so often say, “train the way you fight”. Simply put, wear the clothing you might possibly be wearing when you are forced to defend yourself. See what works and what doesn’t. Don’t simply trust the fact that you shot on the range on a perfect 75 degree day and expect the same tactics to work during a January ice storm, because they won’t!

Stay safe and train!

01/13/2026

Firing live rounds isn’t a necessity to train.

Dry firing. It can be one of the best (and cheapest) ways to practice with your handgun. Use this drill and watch your pistol shooting improve rapidly! ...

01/08/2026

Friendly reminder to check the batteries in your guns and

Even if they aren’t used often keeping fresh batteries in them can make all the difference in a critical situation.

01/03/2026

Holster Retention Levels Explained

What type of retention holster do I need?When it comes to carrying a firearm, the choice of holster can be just as critical as the firearm itself. Your abil...

12/20/2025

Shane here with an update! Since my capacity to offer a multitude of public classes still remains somewhat limited, I decided to focus on occasional small teaching sessions. These will be posted primarily on our youtube channel with a focus on addressing the multitude of questions and topics that I have seen arise through the past few years of teaching.

If you have any questions or concerns that you would like me to address please don’t hesitate to shoot them to me. You can email me at [email protected] or text to 502-517-4302.

Check out the video intro here and please don’t forget to subscribe!

11/26/2025

"There's only one type of recon man that has stopped learning recon-the dead type"
US Army Recon Manual, 1970

Are you still attempting to learn?

11/25/2025

Mosul, 2006. A few of the boys from 5/20—steady under fire, tight as a fist.

Urban grind, long days, longer streets. Brotherhood forged, never broken.

11/11/2025

10/18/2025

07/04/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EF5qCpkEF/?mibextid=wwXIfr

“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”

George Washington, first annual address to Congress, 1790.

Happy Independence Day, America!