Basic Class Descriptions

 The NRA Defensive Pistol Course is THE perfect training to follow up your Concealed Weapons Permit course with.  This class focuses on the use of a gun for self defense.  It covers presenting a gun from concealment, reloading, malfunction drills for semi-automatic handguns and the mindset needed to survive a life threatening encounter.  The student will execute basic competency drills to further enhance gun handling techniques.  The course is approximately 6 hours but is an objective based course meaning the time limit is not critical- results are.  This course goes beyond the NRA basic pistol class but does not cover the topics in the NRA Personal Protection Outside the Home course.  NRA Defensive Pistol is meant to go beyond the information covered in the South Carolina Concealed Weapons Permit class by providing more detailed instruction.  This is the perfect class to learn the skills the student was introduced to in the South Carolina CWP class and NRA Personal Protection classes.  Prerequisite is the SC CWP  class, one of the NRA personal Protection classes or permission of the Instructor.
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 The NRA Basics of Pistol Shooting is intended for all individuals regardless of previous shooting experience or NRA-affiliation and is available for delivery in two ways. One option is the traditional, instructor-led course where you will receive direct instruction from an NRA-certified instructor from beginning to end. The other option has two components: a self-study or “eLearning module” which is completed online in your own time frame and a hands-on practical portion conducted in a classroom and shooting range with an Instructor.  The online coupled with range time is referred to as the blended course.  The classic instructor training course is a full day and includes firearm safety, function, basic fundamentals of shooting and a live fire component.  A NRA basic pistol certification will be issued after successful completion of the course, including a 90% score on the written test.  Many states accept the NRA basic pistol course as proof of training for concealed carry so if you are interested in concealed carry, this is a good place to start.

Topics that will be covered in the NRA Basic Pistol Certification class:

• Firearm Safety
  • Basic safety
  • Firearm storage safety
• Pistol Mechanisms of Operation
  • Pistol parts and how they work
  • Semi-automatic pistol parts and how they work
  • Operating double and single action semi-automatic pistols
  • Revolver parts and how they work
  • Operating double and single action revolvers
  • Ammunition fundamentals
  • Popular pistol cartridges
• Fundamentals of Pistol Shooting
  • Fundamentals of pistol shooting
  • Fundamentals of pistol shooting positions
  • The benchrest position
  • Standing pistol shooting positions
  • One-handed shooting position
  • Common pistol shooting errors
  • Clearing common pistol stoppages
• Pistol Maintenance, Selection and Use
  • Selecting pistols, ammunition and accessories
  • Cleaning and maintaining your pistol
  • Pistol shooting activities and skill development

The NRA Basic Pistol class is the cornerstone of all my Handgun classes and satisfies the need for at least three of the five major topics described below.  For new shooters, we highly recommend taking the NRA basic pistol class first and then the South Carolina Concealed Weapons Permit class.

Reloading is fun, it can save you money, it saves wear-and-tear on your firearms and is absolutely required for long range precision shooting.   The basic reloading course is designed for students who have no experience with the topic.  The topic covered in the basic metallic cartridge reloading course are:

• Safety while reloading
• Components of a centerfire cartridge
• How to use the reloading manual and reloading data
• Equipment for reloading centerfire cartridges
• The process of reloading
• Reloading exercise
• Examination

The basic course covers the essential process and the specific points that should be observed during the reloading process.  More advanced courses are also available if the student is interested in precision shooting.

Goal- to introduce students to the knowledge, skills and attitude necessary for owning and using a rifle safely.

During the NRA basic rifle class the student will learn;

• rifle parts and types of rifles and safe gun handling
• ammunition and fundamentals of rifle shooting
• fire the first shots from benchrest and free standing positions
• how to score targets
• selecting and maintaining a rifle
• course examination

The NRA Personal Protection Inside the Home builds on the skills learned in the NRA Basic Pistol Course.  Students shold be experienced shooters.  The topics covered in the course include:

• introduction to defensive shooting including mindset and levels of awareness; mental preparation
• basic defensive pistol skills such as defensive accuracy, flash sight picture, cover or concealment, kneeling while shooting and point shooting
• firearms and the law- taught by a law enforcement professional
• selecting a pistol for self-defense including criteria for selecting the pistol and ammunition
• sport shooting activities and opportunities
• course review and examination

 The NRA Personal Protection Outside the Home class is considered an intermediate level pistol shooting class.  This course exposes the student to new shooting techniques and builds on the lessons learned the the NRA Personal Protection Inside the Home course.  Accordingly, the Personal Protection Inside the Home is recommended as a prerequisite.  The topic covered in the Personal Protection Outside the Home course are:

• concealed carry safety and the defensive mindset
• self-defense and concealed arry including the importance of mental preparation, avoiding life-threatening situations, psychological/physiological changes during an attack,  controlling and responding to a violent encounter as well as the emotional and legal aftermath
• legal aspects of concealed carry and self-defense (taught by a legal professional)
• carry modes and concealment
• presenting the pistol from concealment as well as positioning and movement
• special shooting techniques including speed reload, movement, use of cover, turning  to engage targets and low-light shooting
• sport shooting activities and opportunities
• course review and examination

• How is the class conducted?  At this time, small class or one-on-one instruction occurs in my home with range time at a nearby indoor shooting range.  The student is responsible for paying the range lane fee which is approximately $20-25/hour. However, depending on the class, I do have a small range on the property that can be used at no additional cost.
• Do you supply the targets,  firearms and ammunition? I supply the firearm, ammunition, targets, eye and ear protection for the firearms training class Basic Pistol, if needed.  Please notify me if you will need a firearm, ammunition and eye and ear protection provided. I do not provide these items for the CWP class as discussed below.
• How is the South Carolina CWP class given?  The South Carolina CWP class instruction is given in my home. Following that, we will drive to a local range to do the live fire portion of the application.  The live fire is performed with the student's handgun and ammunition.  The student will need a good quality strong side outside-the-waistband holster and at least 50 rounds of quality factory ammunition as well as eye and ear protection.