First and foremost, students will learn the basics of firearm safety.

1. TREAT every firearm as if it is loaded.

2. NEVER point at anything you do not intend to shoot or destroy.

3. KEEP your finger off of the trigger until you are ready to fire.

4. KEEP your weapon in a safe condition when not in use.

5. KNOW your target, what's beyond and between it.

• This information will be repeated constantly before live fire starts to ensure understanding and adherence.

• Those who violate these rules will be asked to leave without a refund. This is to ensure the safety of all participants. It is imperative that these rules are adhered to.

Beginner course

• Your pistol - If you do not own one, I have two 9mm pistols available to loan.

• At least 100 rounds of ammunition - If you do not own a firearm, I have ammunition available for sale for the loaner firearms.

• 2-3 spare magazines

• Personal eye and ear protection - If you do not own any, loaners are available.

• Proper outdoor clothing and footwear - This course is outdoors, so please wear closed-toe footwear. 

• Water and snacks - The range gets hot and the course runs about 4 hours.

Beginner/Intermediate 

• All of the above mentioned

• At least 150 to 200 rounds of ammunition.

• Magazine holder, I have one loaner available.

• (optional) sturdy belt

• (optional) holster

Explain the range procedures.

• Hot/cold range

• Shooter down range

• No operating of firearms during cold or down range

• Cease fire

• Everyone is a range safety officer. If you see something unsafe, say something

Range set up

• Lateral and vertical limits explained

• No shooting wild life

• Paper targets

• Steel target

• 5 - 10 yard distance

Knowing your firearm (Parts and Terminology) demonstration shown with airsoft gun

• Slide

• Slide release

• Chamber

• Magazine

• Magazine release

• Take down pin / Disassembly lever

• Front and rear sights

• Grip

• Safety (if applicable)

Additional information:

Brief explanation of semi automatic fire.

• When firing the firearm, the slide pushes back while loading the next round into the chamber. One shot per trigger pull is semi-automatic.

• The takeaway is that because it self loads another round, just releasing the magazine does not guarantee that the weapon is clear and safe, as a round still remains in the chamber and can still be fired with a trigger pull.

Clearing a firearm

• Press the magazine release to drop the magazine.

• Pull the slide to the rear to eject and round currently in the chamber

• Observing from the top down verify that the firearm is clear.

• Remember to follow the firearm safety basics even after the firearm is cleared.

At this time, we will have the students bring their firearms to the table to make the firearms clear and safe. Once cleared, students will familiarize themselves with the parts of that particular firearm.

• Stance

• Grip

• Trigger

• Sight Alignment 

• Sight Picture

• Breathing

• Follow Through 

• Recovery

Fundamentals will be demonstrated through dry-fire and live-fire exercises
After each magazine, we will call cold range / down range and analyze shot placements and make corrections.

Once students have a decent grasp on fundamentals, the rest of the class will be using our fundamentals to perform several drills.

• Bill Drill - draw and fire six shots at maximum speed while maintaining acceptable accuracy

• Doubles Drill - 2 controlled shots fired in succession done 3 times.

• El Presidente Drill - 2 shots center mass between 3 targets

• Dot Torture Drill

• 1R1 Drill

• Mozambique / Failure Drill

• Box Drill

• Run-and-Gun course

At the end of the class we will go over the overall experience and things to work on the next time they are at the range. Time and ammunition permitting we can squeeze in more drills.