Last weekend I took Indy Gun Safety's NRA Basic Pistol Course as both a refresher course and as a pseudo-audit of Mr. Dewitt's teaching as well as the material covered in the class, to see if I want to take some of his other courses.
As I said, the class was more of a refresher course for me than anything else. But it was good to go through all the basic fundamentals of shooting as well as guns and gun safety again. The first day was all classroom learning where the second day was all hands-on learning out on the range. The NRA Basic Pistol Course covered everything a new shooter needs to learn. Mr. Dewitt took the time to cover the different types of handguns and their parts, as well as different types of actions of several handguns and explained the differences of each. He also covered the parts of handgun cartridges and explained how they work. He covered gun safety, safe gun storage, safe gun cleaning, and safe shooting. Mr. Dewitt taught the class basic range commands, how to properly hold and shoot a handgun. We even practiced acquiring a target, while using the NRA's breathing techniques, firing the handgun using snapcaps, follow through, and returning back to the half-ready position; just as we were to shoot on the range the following day.
When we got to the range the second day, Mr. Dewitt made sure we all had eye and ear protection before heading out to shoot. We had to qualify using his .22 caliber handguns by putting 15 rounds on a nine inch target at fifteen feet. Mr. Dewitt used the same range commands on the range, that he used in class the day before, which he covered again before we even went down to the target area. Everyone had to shoot both a .22 caliber revolver and a .22 caliber semi-auto. After we had qualified for the course, if we brought our own handgun, we were allowed to start putting rounds down range with it. Everyone passed the class, and thanks to Mr. Dewitt, there are a new group of knowledge-able and safe shooters joining our ranks. Mr. Dewitt is a great teacher and definitely knows the material.
I, for one, am glad I took his NRA Basic Pistol Course. We keep reading and looking for new ways and new tactics to improve our shooting. Whether it be new stances for defensive shooting, or breathing techniques, or whatever, that many of us seem to forget the basic fundamentals of shooting. It was nice to be able to re-learn the basics and slow down while target shooting. What I mean is, the shooting on the range was nothing more than standing with both feet about shoulder width apart, keeping the gun in the center of your body, bring the gun up from holding it facing downrange with your arms down and elbows bent about 90 degrees to up on target, taking a deep breath while bringing up the gun, letting your breath half out while acquiring your target, squeezing the trigger, holding the gun up for a second or two for a follow through, and lowering the gun back to the half ready position. That was a nice and slow, relaxing time of shooting to just enjoy shooting and for me to focus on groups, rather than trying different things and not getting any good groups or decent results. I recommend this class to anyone who feels they want to go over the basics again, or to any new shooter who wants some information to go with their new firearm. I am going to take his Advanced Pistol Class when I get the chance and I'm also going to recommend his Basic Pistol Course to my girlfriend and to anyone else who may be new to shooting or to anyone else out there who wants to take a refresher course as I did.
As I said, the class was more of a refresher course for me than anything else. But it was good to go through all the basic fundamentals of shooting as well as guns and gun safety again. The first day was all classroom learning where the second day was all hands-on learning out on the range. The NRA Basic Pistol Course covered everything a new shooter needs to learn. Mr. Dewitt took the time to cover the different types of handguns and their parts, as well as different types of actions of several handguns and explained the differences of each. He also covered the parts of handgun cartridges and explained how they work. He covered gun safety, safe gun storage, safe gun cleaning, and safe shooting. Mr. Dewitt taught the class basic range commands, how to properly hold and shoot a handgun. We even practiced acquiring a target, while using the NRA's breathing techniques, firing the handgun using snapcaps, follow through, and returning back to the half-ready position; just as we were to shoot on the range the following day.
When we got to the range the second day, Mr. Dewitt made sure we all had eye and ear protection before heading out to shoot. We had to qualify using his .22 caliber handguns by putting 15 rounds on a nine inch target at fifteen feet. Mr. Dewitt used the same range commands on the range, that he used in class the day before, which he covered again before we even went down to the target area. Everyone had to shoot both a .22 caliber revolver and a .22 caliber semi-auto. After we had qualified for the course, if we brought our own handgun, we were allowed to start putting rounds down range with it. Everyone passed the class, and thanks to Mr. Dewitt, there are a new group of knowledge-able and safe shooters joining our ranks. Mr. Dewitt is a great teacher and definitely knows the material.
I, for one, am glad I took his NRA Basic Pistol Course. We keep reading and looking for new ways and new tactics to improve our shooting. Whether it be new stances for defensive shooting, or breathing techniques, or whatever, that many of us seem to forget the basic fundamentals of shooting. It was nice to be able to re-learn the basics and slow down while target shooting. What I mean is, the shooting on the range was nothing more than standing with both feet about shoulder width apart, keeping the gun in the center of your body, bring the gun up from holding it facing downrange with your arms down and elbows bent about 90 degrees to up on target, taking a deep breath while bringing up the gun, letting your breath half out while acquiring your target, squeezing the trigger, holding the gun up for a second or two for a follow through, and lowering the gun back to the half ready position. That was a nice and slow, relaxing time of shooting to just enjoy shooting and for me to focus on groups, rather than trying different things and not getting any good groups or decent results. I recommend this class to anyone who feels they want to go over the basics again, or to any new shooter who wants some information to go with their new firearm. I am going to take his Advanced Pistol Class when I get the chance and I'm also going to recommend his Basic Pistol Course to my girlfriend and to anyone else who may be new to shooting or to anyone else out there who wants to take a refresher course as I did.
