I work with a group (Bayprofs) putting on NRA Basic Handgun classes (and occasional Personal Protection classes). We had our most recent Basic class last Saturday (the 11th)
Good class. A little smaller than usual, only five students. But a couple of our regular instructors were out, so it worked out well,
The students were all young this time -- mid-twenties -- three men and two women. The women were fairly nervous to start, but they finally settled down and shot some good groups in the live fire exercises. We have three female instructor, but they were out. Too bad because they are very good working with female students.
We had three instructor for most of the class. A fourth joined us for the marksmanship and live fire portion. We like to have a lot of instructors on hand so we can provide personalized instruction.
Probably 80% to 90% of our students had never even held a gun before. Roughly 20% to 40% of our students are women. We have students of all ages from early 20s to us more seasoned types. We've had entire families attend together. We limit classes to 12 students, and most of our classes are full or nearly so.
I've been with this group for about four years. Our NRA Basic Handgun classes is the second Saturday of the month. The way we do it, the class runs 10 hours or so. In addition to the core lectures, we do a lot of "hands-on" work with the students. The students handle a variety of revolvers and semi-autos under direct supervision, one-on-one, of an instructor. They use dummy rounds to load and unload the guns, dry fire and generally learn how things work and feel, and they get continual safety reinforcement.
Then in preparation for live fire, and after the "marksmanship" lecture, we work one-on-one with students on grip and stance using "blue" inert training guns.
Before going to live fire with .22s, the students shoot airsoft (the quality type) in the classroom so they can get a feel for sight alignment and trigger control (and reset) without the noise and intimidation factor (for beginners) of firing real ammunition.
After the students fire their 25 rounds of .22 (working one-on-one with an instructor), we put out a variety of guns from 9mm to .44 Magnum so the students can get the experience of firing the larger calibers.
When someone has gone through our program, it's not uncommon for her/him to be shooting 1.5 to 2.0 inch groups at seven yards with the heavy calibers. A few months ago, a petite young woman who had never fired any type of gun before out shot everyone, including her husband, with the .44 Magnum -- putting three rounds into about an inch at 7 yards.
All of us instructors have multiple NRA certifications. All of us also have had a pretty fair amount of additional training, including multiple classes at Gunsite.
We do this because we like to. None of us receive any money. Our class fees cover our expenses (we supply everything -- guns, ammunition, eyes and ears, a bunch of printed material, etc.).
Good class. A little smaller than usual, only five students. But a couple of our regular instructors were out, so it worked out well,
The students were all young this time -- mid-twenties -- three men and two women. The women were fairly nervous to start, but they finally settled down and shot some good groups in the live fire exercises. We have three female instructor, but they were out. Too bad because they are very good working with female students.
We had three instructor for most of the class. A fourth joined us for the marksmanship and live fire portion. We like to have a lot of instructors on hand so we can provide personalized instruction.
Probably 80% to 90% of our students had never even held a gun before. Roughly 20% to 40% of our students are women. We have students of all ages from early 20s to us more seasoned types. We've had entire families attend together. We limit classes to 12 students, and most of our classes are full or nearly so.
I've been with this group for about four years. Our NRA Basic Handgun classes is the second Saturday of the month. The way we do it, the class runs 10 hours or so. In addition to the core lectures, we do a lot of "hands-on" work with the students. The students handle a variety of revolvers and semi-autos under direct supervision, one-on-one, of an instructor. They use dummy rounds to load and unload the guns, dry fire and generally learn how things work and feel, and they get continual safety reinforcement.
Then in preparation for live fire, and after the "marksmanship" lecture, we work one-on-one with students on grip and stance using "blue" inert training guns.
Before going to live fire with .22s, the students shoot airsoft (the quality type) in the classroom so they can get a feel for sight alignment and trigger control (and reset) without the noise and intimidation factor (for beginners) of firing real ammunition.
After the students fire their 25 rounds of .22 (working one-on-one with an instructor), we put out a variety of guns from 9mm to .44 Magnum so the students can get the experience of firing the larger calibers.
When someone has gone through our program, it's not uncommon for her/him to be shooting 1.5 to 2.0 inch groups at seven yards with the heavy calibers. A few months ago, a petite young woman who had never fired any type of gun before out shot everyone, including her husband, with the .44 Magnum -- putting three rounds into about an inch at 7 yards.
All of us instructors have multiple NRA certifications. All of us also have had a pretty fair amount of additional training, including multiple classes at Gunsite.
We do this because we like to. None of us receive any money. Our class fees cover our expenses (we supply everything -- guns, ammunition, eyes and ears, a bunch of printed material, etc.).
