A lost weekend? hardly!

[P95Carry]

This is boring to most I expect but gotta say ...... I lost a coupla days but gained a lot of satisfaction.

Spend most of this weekend instructing on an NRA Basic Pistol Course .... the first full deal actually since gaining my certification earlier this year. There were six of us - spread over 18 ''pupils'' ..... not a bad working ratio.

The club at which we ran this is an excellent facility - all classromm stuff was done in a generous size club house ... and all range aspects were in a very adequate indoor range. Two squads of eight each worked well during all live fire aspects.

We had a good many ladies ... very encouraging ... plus two teenage girls ... the folks included two doctors, an attorney .. and other professionals.

Some had guns .. but even they had relatively little shooting experience. One guy brought his new-in-box GP100 ... he had had it ten years and never fired it! LOL.

End result? 18 very happy people ... who had enjoyed their time, were radically more conversant with things handgun oriented .. and who also gained an enormous lift in proficiency and safety. if comments from them as they left today were anything to go by - we did OK.

Quite simply - it is as satisfying as heck to bring in new or novice shooters, and have them enthusiastic and ready to spread the word even more. We plan another in new year and Personal Protection in Spring .... I even ''converted'' one or two semi folks to revo!!

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Cool, Chris. A new dimension to the "each one, teach one" method. You can bring them in a lot faster that way.

BTW, a question in "revolvers" is awaiting you:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=111016

 

[P95Carry]

Larry - thank you Sir for the nudge to that thread ... my main PC mobo fried last week and I am struggling along with a lashed up old machine - until in a while I hope I get a new system. So - not on line a whole lot - plus in fact a work overload also causing problems!

Thx again .. I have been there and posted.

Best

 

[Norton]

Good on ya' Chris......definitely not a lost weekend for you or the students.

One should never underestimate the effect that the instructors for the NRA Basic classes have on their "pupils".

As a relatively new shooter of only a few years, I know that the gentlemen who led my NRA Basic Pistol class had a profound impact on me on many levels. If I had a bad experience there, it may have turned me off to the whole thing.

 

[YammyMonkey]

What is involved in getting certified to teach those NRA classes? Checked their website but all I found was very general and not very helpful.

 

[P95Carry]

Paul - that was in fact almost what one of the students commented .... they said that had we not been so helpful and patient ... plus making things interesting, she might otherwise have gone the other way! She was ... what? .... let's say, a floating voter! LOL.

I find that patience and pos feedback is very important .. and we were I guess lucky also - the folks there wanted to learn ... and did good. Satisfaction for all concerned.

 

[P95Carry]

What is involved in getting certified to teach those NRA classes?

Yammeee .... I have not checked the NRA site but .... the NRA does have available a list of certified Councellors .... the guys who teach us to become instructors.

I had to travel quite some way to do my courses .. two whole weekends, plus a final half weekend .... not to mention the expense etc. I do not begrudge that tho one bit - it was a means to an end and I managed to get my certification on all five aspects .. Basic Pistol, Personal Protection, Shotgun, Rifle and .. range safety officer.

I can't give a simple link right now to solve this for you but ... I suggest perhaps a phone call to NRA ... state your interest in this and they will mail you a brochure with all the info you should need.

If it proves problematic .. let me know by PM and I'll try and check it all out for you.

 

[Spot77]

Thanks for bringing the light to the eyes of 18 more people.

 

[Trebor]

The NRA info on training counselours is way out of date. It took me two years to find a counselour in my area who was still teaching instructors. The TC names I got from the NRA were all out of date or just didn't get back to me. Interestingly enough, the counselour I did find was NOT on the list the NRA sent me or on the web page. He is a TC though and is one of the most active in the state.

Start with the NRA list but look beyond it as well. I'd suggest talking to all the instructors you know to ask them who their training counselour was and then back tracking to that TC. You might have better luck going that route then just trusting the NRA list.

 

[Jesse308]

Thanks P95Carry for helping bring more shooters into this sport.

Just curious, what handguns were used?

 

[P95Carry]

Just curious, what handguns were used?

Jesse .... well, the folks who had guns had (IIRC) .... 642, Lady Smith, GP100, P95, Glock 17, Heritage S/A .22lr revo, M19-2 Smith. One of my students - a teen girl, had been loaned by her Pap a fairly loaded 1911 - but a 9mm ... danged if I remember the actual make.... she did pretty well considering gun weight and size.

I brought a huge load of my own guns and so did couple of other instructors .. so at end of course it was open season for the students .. they could try out almost anything you can think of as a platform. Several shot my M66 and were noticeably impressed with a revo ... and others tried various Glocks and other snubs etc.

The value of this was that most folks left having a much better idea what would suit them for fit and weight etc .. a valuable excercize.

 

[Bob F.]

Chris: EXCELLENT!! Bringing new shooters (voters) into the fold is SO important. I too just recently got my Basic Pistol instructors. We have several guns avail for students to try, provided by the instructors.

Looking forward to Spring and some good classes.

Stay safe.
Bob

 

[P95Carry]

Bob .... good to hear you have your instructor's cert' now - I think every bit helps ... one good reason why giving up a weekend is really no big deal!