I’m a big fan of Airsoft Glocks in dry for the initial gun handling and magazine administrative stuff.Originally Posted by Tensaw
I’m a big fan of Airsoft Glocks in dry for the initial gun handling and magazine administrative stuff.
Shooting has its own vocabulary. I see a lot of instructors trying to explain basic nomenclature and manual of arms at the indoor range. All that is best covered before you ever step on the range, without the distractions of other shooters and gunfire, when you can communicate without ear pro getting in the way.
You can get a lot accomplished with dry fire. Blue guns, SIRTs, and dummy rounds are all useful.
When I cover safety, one thing I specifically talk to new shooters about is the potential for hot brass to end up down your collar, and however unpleasant that sensation is, you must maintain proper control of the firearm. I tell new shooters to wear long sleeve shirts and baseball caps to mitigate some of the potential for hot brass causing a problem.
On the range, electronic ear pro is helpful if you have extra sets. Hard to instruct or provide guidance if the student can't hear you.
Generally, I like to start off with a long arm on a table with new shooters firing from a seated position. Much harder to get into trouble that way. I agree with one round at a time until they demonstrate they are ready for more.
"When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."
You're absolutely right to have a serious discussion about gun safety before even thinking about going to the range.
Part of that should include instructing new shooters that, when at the range, if something goes "wrong," to keep the muzzle pointed down range, and ask for/wait for help. People are used to turning to face people to talk with them, and turning the whole body to do it, especially when seeking assistance. That can translate into turning the firearm away from the downrange area, if they haven’t been told they can’t do that with a gun in their hand. Make sure they are clear that when at the range they can't turn to talk with you, and must keep the firearm pointed downrange.
Second, after getting all the safety issues discussed, I would recommend "dry fire," before going to the range, to cover both safe gun handling, and the fundamentals of gun handling/shooting. The range, while wearing ear pro, and likely with the distraction of other shooters, concerns about noise/recoil, and eagerness to see their shots on target, makes the range a lousy place to sort out the fundamentals. Remember, about 90% of what they are going to do is occurring when the gun is NOT cycling in recoil, so you can teach a lot in “dry fire,” before adding in all the other hinderances to learning that will be on a live fire range.
Third, I would advocate for starting new shooters on a .22, they still get to experience the noise, and a little bit of recoil, but it's not as intimidating as more powerful centerfire guns. Then they can quickly move up to a centerfire gun, after they experience the minimal recoil of a .22.
Also, I would suggest starting the new shooters on a "red dot." It will encourage target focus, and gives visual feedback to the shooter, that is not possible with “iron” sights. Also, conventional wisdom is that people who start on “red dots” have a relatively easy time learning “irons,” while the reverse is not true.
Finally, and after the safety issues, the most important thing I can recommend, is to resist the urge to “data dump.” Your goal should be to set a foundation of safety, and start them on the fundamentals of shooting well, not to transfer everything you know about firearms, in one session. A great analogy I heard, and wish I could remember where, is you may have a 55 gallon drum of knowledge to share, but it’s likely the student only has a 1 gallon pail to carry anything away. You didn’t fill your drum in one session, neither can the student. If you dump several gallons on them, it will splash and spill over, and they will retain very little. If you carefully select what to share, and carefully fill their one gallon bucket, they will retain a good foundation for the next time they show up, with a new bucket ready to fill.
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"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am. Send me." - Isaiah 6:8
Exactly. I started new folks on a full sized revolver with a mild, single round. Then moved up. Later, if we went to semis - again - one round in the magazine. I racked the very first time for them. Also before shooting, lessons on loading, unloading, racking with dummy rounds.
All the safety rules, etc. A local range officer compliment me on my thoroughness as I told them I was intro-ing two newbie relatives. I wore a Glock Safety Officer hat that I had. Their SO was having a heart attack with an old guy who couldn't follow instructions and keep the muzzle safe.
One thing, my daughter pointed to the ceiling right above the bay - and the holes. I said - Yep, that's why the lessons.
I concur with all the legal and SD hints. Just read a story how a guy saw his car being broken into and ran out. Shot several times. In San Antonio, years ago a guy saw that and ran out with his boy and arrow, worked for Green Arrow, not for him.
Cloud Yeller of the Boomer Age
You all are amazing.
Thank you.
Amen! This is one of the reasons I bought a Ruger No. 1 rifle, chambered for .357 Magnum. (I already had three No. 1 rifles, but they were chambered for buffalo-sized critters, so, not beginner firearms.) With a Ruger No. 1, or other single-shot firearm, there is no way for cartridge, or a loaded magazine, to “sneak in there.” (I think it was the guy with the USOG channel on the you-tube, who stated it that way, and it has stuck in my memory, as a useful teaching tool.) Starting a beginner with a long gun provides the instructor with more leverage and surface area to manipulate, if necessary. I like that one can see daylight, all the way through an empty chamber and barrel, with this particular rifle, without having to disassemble anything.
With handguns, I am less certain. With DA revolvers, an open cylinder is the ultimate safety device. As with a many single-shot rifles, one can see daylight through the chambers, when the cylinder is open. OTOH, a DA trigger stroke seems to defeat so many folks, who lack adequate hand strength. I helped a couple of beginners, who started with adequate hand strength, start with DA revolvers, and they were up to speed before the end of the first lesson, but, two is not enough of a sample size to mean anything.
Typing this reminds me that I should resume my search for a falling-block, single-shot pistol. They exist; I simply have not found one available at the same time I had money in my pocket. Break-action pistols do exist, of course.
Before the “Four Rules,” I emphasize that a trigger is NOT A Carry Handle. Of course, this is an aspect of one of the four rules, but stated in a way that might resonate with some folks.
I am not any kind of expert, and have never been a “firearms instructor.”
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
"Part of that should include instructing new shooters that, when at the range, if something goes "wrong," to keep the muzzle pointed down range, and ask for/wait for help. People are used to turning to face people to talk with them, and turning the whole body to do it, especially when seeking assistance. That can translate into turning the firearm away from the downrange area, if they haven’t been told they can’t do that with a gun in their hand. Make sure they are clear that when at the range they can't turn to talk with you, and must keep the firearm pointed downrange."
Very much this.
There are some jerks who are just congenitally unsafe, but for people who are trying to be safe, turning around gun in hand ("I hit the target!!"), or point it every which way trying to figure out a malfunction is about 98% of the problem IMHE. I'd explain this to them up front: "the most likely mistake you will make is ..."; forewarned is forearmed.
If the place you are going doesn't have a bench, try and bring a table or something. You want the newbie to be able to pick it up from the bench, shoot, and put it down. No futzing with turning around to put it on a tailgate or whatever.
At least initially, only have one new shooter on the line at a time; the other one ought to be well back, so there aren't any distractions. You want to be the only person the newbie is interacting with.
We normally don't like to be overly close to, or touch people, but as an RSO it's your job to be Right There ready, for example, to block swinging the muzzle somewhere it shouldn't go. You should explain this up front: "I'm going to be right next to you. If I see something unsafe, you'll feel my hands on your forearm. If that happens, stop whatever you are doing and listen to me and do whatever I say, which will probably be to put the gun down on the bench". I'm usually standing right by their strong side, well within arms reach. Don't get distracted looking through a spotting scope or going to fetch another box of ammo or whatever.
This doesn't have to come across as you being a control freak... if you are a student pilot and the IP says 'I've got it', you let him have the controls.
Using chamber flags can help with the 'make sure it's unloaded' part.
I agree and have done this. I think this also nets early success, and if they struggle with the centerfire gun you can refer back to the 22 success and underscore that they have already proven they can do it. Seems like people are too willing to admit defeat (Oh well, I cannot shoot) and it is more difficult to cop out when you can point to the 22 target they shot.
Lots of good stuff here.
I will add that I think an indoor lane rental range is a tough place to instruct. You can't get at your student. The paid classes at the indoor range here start in a classroom setting with dummy guns and pictures. But I don't have access. An outdoor range during off hours is better, you can get him at a bench or table and spread out (empty) guns, diagrams, and such.
Anecdote Alert: A friend and I once had a school teacher take an interest, she saw him watching a video on reloading.
So we provided range side lecture on safe handling, then nomenclature and operation of the double action revolver. When that seemed to have been absorbed, we hung a target and I handed her the M18 and one .22 short at a time. She looked at that little cartridge and said in a quavering voice, "This is the Real Thing." But she got them in the cylinder and fired them all off, and more beside. By the end of summer vacation, she was shooting .38 Specials, almost entirely double action. Back to school, I never saw her again. I figure that was her Summer Adventure in lieu of a continuing education class or time on a beach. Likely did something else the next summer.
I have seen others take shooting as an "Adventure Sport" with the same attitude you might approach the stuff advertised for cruises and resorts. Fun and intriguing in the short run but nothing to keep on with.
Code Name: JET STREAM
Sounds like you're doing the right things.
I'll add: safety issues at home are way more important than at the range. An ND at a range isn't nearly as serious as one in a residence.
“There is no growth in the comfort zone.”--Jocko Willink
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
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