How do you go about teaching a total newb?

[Edmond]

I know the safety rules and safe gun handling are first. But where do you go from there?

Do you go into any history or legality of using a firearm?

How do you guys teach each student how to learn which eye is dominant?

Do you introduce the basic stances to them and let them decide which they feel more comfortable with?

How do you guys teach total newbs on how to shoot?

 

[jeepmor]

What to tell the newbies

Safety,practice, history.

I think relaying that our freedom as Americans was brought about by firearms and the colonials willingness to keep their freedom as opposed to living under the monarchy. The liberals can bug out as far as I'm concerned on this topic. Americans have become so complacent and easily swayed that they don't believe that firearms are still an integral part and insurance of our freedom.

America does not get invaded by other countries because would be invaders know that the common man will join arms and organize at a foreign threat, just like our military. I read a quote from WWII somewhere on here that, paraphrased badly, stated it in simple terms from a Japanese general.

"We cannot invade America's homeland, for there would be a rifle behind every blade of grass."

I would not make this the dominant topic of conversation, but I would be sure to include this message in any presentation. I feel it's a duty of ours, as Americans, to remember "how" we attained our freedom. We fought for it, just like every other free society on the planet.



jeepmor

 

[Lupinus]

Teaching can be split into to basic groupings. Basic and Advanced basics.

Basics come first.

Go over the basic safty rules of a firearm. Stress the notable rules and also the rule of common sense. 99% of firearms safty is nothing more then good judgment and common sense.

Then move into shooting basics. Shoot various types of firearms get them a feel for different types and what they like and dislike. Also go over basic stance, breathing control, sight alighnment, how to properly pull and not jerk the trigger, etc. If they already have interest start there.

Then move onto more advanced basics after a few times out.

Focus on their likes/dislikes and what they want to do. If it is rifles focus more on rifles- different stances, how to deal with different types of rifles, what ammo is good for what, etc. Sames goes if they take to or are interested in shotguns or handguns. Basicly just more detailed specific things based on what they liked the first few times out and reinforcing based on specific types of firearms.

Then you can go into some more stuff also at any point depending on where you feel is a good time based on the student.

Cleaning and maintenance. Always teach the student how to properly care for their firearms. You don't need to teach them how to be a gunsmith by any means, but at least the basics. How to clean it, where and how to lube, etc.

Law. It's always not a bad idea to teach the basics of the law in reguard to their interest. If its hunting, teach them about when the seasons are, what are the calibers they can use, what animals can't be shot. A good idea is get a copy of the state regulations and walk them through it and teach them how to read any confusing language. If they are more interested in self defense same thing, go over the laws in your state when self defense is and isn't justified and if they ever do need to defend themselves what the procedure is post incident.

Also depending what they are into you can go more advanced. If they like handguns for example teach them how to properly hold a handgun and flashlight at the same time, how to clear different types of jams quickly, etc.

Taylor it to the individual student, talk with them first and get an idea of what they want to get out of this. Start small with the basics and a wider range of things for them to try. From there get more focused and type specific, then when compatent through in little extras and goodies such as the handgun stuffs mentioned above.

 

[Old Fud]

30 minutes of talk, MAXIMUM, and then do some shooting.
Repeat until trained!

Lesson 1: Of course you start with 4 safety rules, then hand them their first shooter and show them HOW to check for unload, to load, to PRACTICE the 4 rules.

Lesson 2: Reinforce 4 rules. Add range rules (eyes, ears, what the range-master's commands mean etc). Teach sight picture, spend less than 3 minutes showing hold/stance/squeeze, step up to the line and SHOOT.

Lesson 3: Build on above at whatever speed your student can and wants to absorb, in directions his performance and interest indicate.

What you want cannot be achieved in 2, 5 or 10 lessons.
New shooter needs your company, your support, your praise and somebody to share his experiences with.

Which is exactly as it should be.

Fud

 

[peteinct]

Fun Fun Fun

When I take someone unfamiliar with guns to the range I do safety rules first then ear and eye protection. I bring a lot of differing guns esp. a 22 to start. People are very nervous at first about both being hurt or looking like a moron.
I find good ear protection plugs and muffs cures flinches and having a wide variety of guns and calibers helps find a gun that fits each user.

I put the targets in close and tell people that it is harder to shoot well than the TV makes it look. I take their best target and give it to them as a souvineer. I just make sure they are safe and having a good time and even load magazines for them. I'll go a little into grip and stance but just shooting seems to hook most people.

I don't really go into the laws other than to say it is a little more complicated than the media makes it out to be and I would love to go into it later. I don't want to come across as more of a nut job than I do at first. Then I tell them to come here for lots of great info.
pete

 

[benEzra]

peteinct, +1 on the fun.

After basic safety, I'd BRIEFLY talk about sighting (line up those 3 dots, put the center dot on the target), let them dry fire a few times, and let them SHOOT at 5 to 7 yards. Make sure they're wearing good ear protection (I'd start out a newbie with plugs AND muffs, even with a .22.)

If you make it too abstract when starting out, it'll be no fun. But if they find it fun, they'll WANT to learn more.

They'll also find it easier to grasp whatever else you tell them if they have a basic experiential framework to put it in. Talking to someone about trigger press and a surprise break is tough if they've never even pulled a trigger before.

 

[Pilgrim]

I try not to overwhelm new shooters with information. For a new shooter, it is a lot to remember the safety rules and shooting basics and put it all together on the firing line.

I do not do any shooting on a new shooter's first day. It's their day, not mine. I do not want them comparing their performance to mine and becoming discouraged with a "I'll never be able to shoot that well" thought process.

I save the technical aspects, history lessons, and laws of self defense for the breaks in the shooting action if the new shooter asks. I take frequent breaks in the instruction and shooting so my new shooter doesn't get tired. It's not about work, it's about fun, and the student needs some time to digest and analyze just what he or she just accomplished.

Pilgrim

 

[Matthew Temkin]

I know the safety rules and safe gun handling are first. But where do you go from there?

Do you go into any history or legality of using a firearm?

How do you guys teach each student how to learn which eye is dominant?

Do you introduce the basic stances to them and let them decide which they feel more comfortable with?

How do you guys teach total newbs on how to shoot?

I do this quite often when I give the NYS 47 hour Armed Guard class.
I begin by with a brief introduction and then show the first part of A Women's Guide To Handguns--a video with some excellent actors.
Then I go into a brief history of firearms...starting by showing a flintlock pistol, caplock single shot, a cap and ball revolver, a single action cartridge revolver and, finally, a S&W Model 10 revolver.
Since most of our student will be using revolvers I go into nomenclature, gun safety and then the old draw and present drill.
Then we go into the principles of shooting...stance....grip....sight alignment....sight picture...breath control and trigger squeeze.
I then show a NRA pistol shooting video which shows how exactly a sight picture works, followed by about an hour of dry fire.
After that I show how to load and unload and how to present from the holster.
Live fire comes next, and, unless they are experienced shooters, I teach from the Isoc. stance.
Two hand, strong hand only and weak hand usually takes a few hours until everyone is ready to qualify.
Then I show them how to uncock a cocked revolver.
Once they can shoot I introduce shooting from kneeling position, using cover, point shooting and low light methods.
Gun cleaning finishes up the basic portion of the class, followed by tactics and legala spects of employing DPF.

 

[Hardtarget]

Years ago I was chosen to teach two ladies (co-workers) to shoot. The choice was made by them...in other words...I was conscripted. We talked about the safty portion and the sight alignment that day. Next day I had my pellet pistol with me and after the safty talk we went out back to give it a try. Cardboard box full of crumpled paper and 15 feet of distance. They shot just 20 each swapping every fifth shot.When they could hit a 2 inch square most of the time we cut the target size smaller. After several days we moved to 30 feet and shot at the 2 inch target some more. By the end of that summer, one of them could hit a 1 inch square most of the time and give it a good scare with the rest of the shots. All this did was prove to them they could shoot. They could align the sights and hit where they aimed. Then I told them to get their husbands to give them a pistol for a birthday and start shooting a real gun.I don't know if they ever took it any further.
Mark.

 

[Waitone]

I start with basics like grip, barrel, business end, ammo, etc. just to facilitate communication (10 minutes).

Then move to the four safety rules (15 minutes).

Third is get a handgun into their hands and let them develop muscle familarity with the firearm. Rack the slide, open the cylinder, load the mag, use the safety, how to unload a firearm, verify the firearm is unloaded, how to hand a handgun to someone, gunshop etiquette (meaning check the firearm even if cleared by the clerk), checking a firearm is not rude or insulting, hearing protection and eyes protection (30 minutes).

One essential range instruction is if I put my hand on your shoulder, FREEZE THEN AND THERE, DO NOT MOVE. That is because something is really wrong (5 minutes).

Head for the range to make noise.

 

[Richard.Howe]

Be sure to start with a .22 -- low recoil and not intimidating, lets the learner focus on what's important. I've had good luck teaching with rimfires in both pistol and rifle. Single-shot is best for teaching ammunition conservation and "making every shot count."

Just my 22 cents.

Rich

 

[kahr404life]

If you want to find the dominate eye, using your fingers, make a triangle with both hands. Aim the triangle at an object using both eye's. Close one eye then the other. Which ever eye stayed on target through the triangle is the dominate eye.
Go over gun safety first: 4 rules of safe gun handling, go over grip, go over trigger control, go over sight picture, go over stance's.
Whatever weapon you are using go over it's operation, disassemble, mainteneance, and features.
Dry fire at first then move to live fire.
The most important thing is be patient, people learn at different speeds, do not slack off just because they are too slow or fast.
Also note that what works for you may not work for them so be flexible in your teaching style. I tell my students if you can hit (with the weapon) standing on one leg, do it. Accurate and safe shooting is what counts not doctrine and dogma. Hope this short response helps.

 

[Havegunjoe]

Send them to an NRA First Steps Class.

Let the experts do it. It's cheap and they will receive an excellent book that they can refer back to that will answer all of their questions.

 

[brownie0486]

Determine dominant or master eye, they are different animals and most do not know the difference. That determines iso stance and two handed arms positioning.

Handhold, Sight alignment, then Tigger control, in that order.

I just taught two women the other day in the desert, one had never held a handgun before. They did as I asked them and shot 100 rds each in two hours of practice while I talked to them at their shoulder slow fire.

At 15 and 21 feet, both kept all their shots inside 6 inch circle COM, and towards the end of the two hours were putting bullets on top of each other.

They swapped off with the one gun they had which was a NIB SA XD 9mm compact. The gun ran great, the ladies were impressed. They want more.

Robin Brown

 

[Sinsaba]

When I had the honor of teaching a co-worker, I did the standard. 4 rules, basic stance, how to hold, the works.

Once she had the hang of it I told her to point the gun down range. Turn her head, don't look at what you are doing. Pull the trigger, keep doing it. Notice what it feels like. Notice that all of a sudden the trigger "breaks". When the gun jumps, it didn't jump too bad did it? It didn't hurt did it? Ok, lets do it again.

I did this a number of times to make sure whe wouldn't be afraid of the noise, the recoil, etc. Seems to have worked.

Then we went on to aiming the gun.

 

[hso]

No insult intended, but it's important that you have enough experience yourself to know the answer to these questions before you start to teach someone else.

If you do know all of this and are just trying to find out the sequence then you should always start with safety followed by a brief very broad "this is how this works" for the .22 they will be using.

I like to use a .22 lr non-repeating bolt gun to keep it simple so that there's a minimum of fumbling.

Keep them close to the target the first few rounds. 3 yards is close enough.

Explain how to shoulder the rifle and what the sight picture should look like.

Let them shoot 3 to 5 rounds and when they are bingoing the bull’s-eye move back to 15 feet and repeat. Move again when they're doing well.

If they're having problems, diagnose eye dominance.
• Extend both hands forward of your body and place the hands together making a small triangle (approximately 1/2 to 3/4 inch per side) between your thumbs and the first knuckle.
• With both eyes open, look through the triangle and center something such as a doorknob or the bullseye of a target in the triangle.
• Close your left eye. If the object remains in view, you are right eye dominant. If your hands appear to move off the object and move to the left, then you are left eye dominant.
• To validate the first test, look through the triangle and center the object again with both eyes open.
• Close your right eye. If the object remains in view, you are left eye dominant. If your hands appear to move off the object and move to the right, then you are right eye dominant.

 

[silliman89]

Maybe it's just me, but I think it's more fun to knock over cans than put holes in paper. When you finally get to the shooting portion of the lesson, I recommend shooting at something that falls over.

 

[Roundeyesamurai]

Personally, I'd avoid a few of the subjects presented thus far.

History- How does knowing Smith and Wesson's first names make them a better shooter? Likewise, quite alot of "commonly accepted" firearms history is known to be apocryphal, so why present something which is likely incorrect?

Justification laws- Unless you've actually be educated/trained in this area, DON'T touch this subject. Too much of it is based on "what so-and-so's Uncle Jimbo told me". Don't listen to the opinion of a college criminal justice student, either, since they usually know only enough to get themselves into serious trouble.

The easiest explanation of justification is this statement:

"SHOOT TO LIVE"

In other words, don't present a firearm or fire it unless you're ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED that you or someone else is going to die if you don't. Stick to that rule, and you can't go wrong. Thinking that you might be able to find a legal excuse to shoot someone for stealing your TV or sodomizing your poodle, will get you locked up.

 

[Mannlicher]

I would not even try. They can buy a book or two on guns and shooting. Then I would suggest they take an NRA course, maybe one on handguns and then on long guns. I am pretty biased on the subject, and what I like, trust and want, might not fit another.

 

[Roundeyesamurai]

I would not even try.

That's a good point. Most amateurs who try to teach (and some "professional" teachers, too) aren't remotely qualified to do so.

 

[13.45]

1. dominant eye
2. four safety rules
3. basic features & familiarity
4. basic hold and stance
5. sight picture
6. trigger control

then we have some fun shooting the airgun or .22LR we're using

 

[1911 guy]

Safety, Fun and Technique.

Safety comes first.
Then put some rounds downrange to hook them.
Now that they're interested, it's time for tutelage in technique.

 

[peteinct]

Newbs are the future of the gun culture

Hi all, I think that exposing new people to the shooting sports is the mosteffective way to preserve our gun rights and liberties. It is too important to "just leave it to the experts". It can be very intimidating for someone who is totally new to the whole scene as I was when I started. So if anyone expresses an interest I say "Sure I'll take you. Glad to have you. Let's go have some fun. By the way does your wife want to go also?" No they won't get world class instruction from me but they will get to have a good time with someone they know. At the least they can see that not all gun owners are knuckle draggers and maybe they will become shooters themselves.

The number of hunters are slowly dwindling, there are less places to shoot and less places to buy guns. People aren't learning about guns in their homes like in the good old days. We as shooters need to make an effort to recruit new and non traditional shooters into our group.
pete

 

[GoBrush]

After you have the safety rules down I start off with Grip, Sight Picture, and most important how to squeeze the trigger (dont have them Pull the trigger) squeeze the trigger with steady pressure not knowing when the gun will fire. When the newbie gets these 3 things down they will be well on their way.

Good Luck and Teach as many Newbies as you can!

 

[bobaloo]

One of my missions is to take people out shooting who have never shot a gun before. I've made a lot of converts to the shooting sports this way, and brought a lot of people over from the anti-gun side. After they've emptied a mag in an AR15 it's hard for most people to think they should be banned

A lot of good ideas so far, just two I've found useful to toss in.

First, for the sight picture, take a piece of cardboard about 6" x 12" and cut it out in the shape of a rear sight with the front sight post in the middle, properly aligned. You can hold this up in front of the target and SHOW the student what the sights should look like when they're doing it right, instead of trying to explain it to them.

Second, when shooting pistols of 9mm or larger (everything but .22), I like to have them take the first 5 shots or so without even trying to aim. Just point the gun in the direction of the berm and squeeze the trigger, concentrate on what the gun feels like, so that they aren't scared of the recoil. It really seems to help with the flinching once they realize it's not going to hurt them.