Becoming an NRA Basic Pistol Instructor

[wwhite72082]

I'm a competitive shooter and enjoy USPSA. I'm fairly new (July will make 1 year that I've been shooting USPSA) and was hoping to take an NROI Range Officer Course this year. Unfortunately, none of the clubs in my area are hosting a seminar.

Because I wanted to take some sort of safety class/seminar, I've been thinking about possibly becoming an NRA Basic Pistol Instructor. I know that being a USPSA RO and an NRA Instructor are wildly different, I just would like to take some sort of course to get more involved in the shooting sports.

My thought was that with an NRA Instructor Course under my belt, I coud offer classes to friends and family. I don't want to make a business out of it, but getting a few bucks here and there to re-invest in shooting certainly wouldn't hurt.

I've looked over the NRA Instructors website and have found 2 classes in the general area. One has a cost of $325 and the other is $400. From what I can tell, these classes appear to be one day of instruction.

If I were planning on becoming an instructor and actively promoting a business, the $400 seems like a great investment. In my situation, I'm wondering if I would be better served going another route (40 Hours of Defensive training with Massaad Ayoob is $800 - if the NRA class is in fact 1 day, it seems like an awful lot of money).

If you were in my situation, would you consider signing up for a course? If you have taken the instructor course, what were you impressions?

Thanks

[Pacer]

NRA Range Safety Officer is 10 hours

NRA Instructor discipline is 6 hour "policy" (Basic Instructor Training) PLUS various hours per discipline (like 11 for pistol, 14 for Rifle, 11 for shotgun, 14 personal protection inside the home, 14 for personal protection outside the home ).

Their courses of instruction for you to teach as an instructor are BASIC (fundamental) courses. All focus on safety, their way!

B
Pacer

[wwhite72082]

Thanks for the information. For whatever reason, I always just assumed that the NRA Range Officer Course was the most intense of the classes offered (in terms of length and such).

I looked back over the two courses I found yesterday and it is starting to make sense now. First you take a BIT Course, then additional training is required per discipline (in this case, Pistol).

17 Total hours at $400 is easier to swallow but I'm still not sure what I want to do.

[DaveM55]

There are thousands of NRA certified instructors out there.

I am a NRA Law Enforcement instructor certified in handgun/shotgun.

My thought here is don't expect to make a dime being an instructor, especially as a new instructor.

Best of luck.

[Pacer]

There are thousands of NRA certified instructors out there.

I am a NRA Law Enforcement instructor certified in handgun/shotgun.

My thought here is don't expect to make a dime being an instructor, especially as a new instructor.

Best of luck.

Ditto!

You do it for passion!

Also LE instructor, to support my TEMS unit. Training counselor for the civilian side in all disciplines, for 7 years so far, and almost broken even on my expenses, less value of my time in other pursuits!

[wwhite72082]

I understand, I didn't want to do this as a source of income. I just thought it would be nice to have an "Official" service to offer friends and family that were interested in learning about firearms.

Making a couple bucks here and there would be nice, but considering who I'd be offering the service to, it would probably translate to "In the end, costing me a couple of bucks".

A few years ago my wife and I took an NRA Basic Pistol class and we both enjoyed it. The class was very basic and I'm confident that I could teach the level of skill that we were taught in that class. Plus, the idea of introducing friends/family to guns sounds like fun. I suppose I don't really need the NRA Certification, but a refresher for me and a piece of paper for them sounds like a good idea all around.

[Hawk]

I don't place much value in NRA Instructor certifications anymore. I've held several for 6 years now. They seemed (at the time) a good idea to obtain them as credentials, but now a days (to me) they are just slightly more than worthless. The only NRA course that was worth the time and cert was the RSO course.

If you really want to teach others basics just start learning everything you can from books and web resources and range practice. If you have the cash, take some "real" courses from "real" instructors.

[steel6whiskey]

$400 is a rip off. My rifle instructor cert was $150 and my pistol instructor cert in June is $150.

Whoever is doing that is raking in the cash!

[DaveM55]

I don't place much value in NRA Instructor certifications anymore. I've held several for 6 years now. They seemed (at the time) a good idea to obtain them as credentials, but now a days (to me) they are just slightly more than worthless. The only NRA course that was worth the time and cert was the RSO course.

If you really want to teach others basics just start learning everything you can from books and web resources and range practice. If you have the cash, take some "real" courses from "real" instructors.

The exception in my book are the law enforcement certifications. The class for handgun/shotgun was five days and it wasn't the easiest course I ever took. They are well worth the money and I plan getting other certs NRA LE next year.

[Hawk]

The exception in my book are the law enforcement certifications. The class for handgun/shotgun was five days and it wasn't the easiest course I ever took. They are well worth the money and I plan getting other certs NRA LE next year.

Sorry Dave,
My post was referencing the basic and typical NRA Instructor certs. I didn't mean to include the Law Enforcement certs (since I have no fist hand knowledge of them). Hope this clarifies my post.