One day Handgun Clinic

[TonyF]

The April 15th class filled rather quickly and we had to turn away a number of people. We decided to add this class in order to accommodate those who wanted to attend the April 15th class. As of 03/28/07 there are four openings available.

Introduction To Handgun Basics

Course Date

April 29, 2007
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Location
Pitcairn-Monroeville Sportsmen's Club
Click here for Directions

This course is designed for people who have no prior formal instruction in the safe handling and use of handguns. It will be held at the Pitcairn-Monroeville Sportsmen's Club, 25 minutes east of Pittsburgh in North Versailles Township. Topics to be covered include:

Safety: Students will be exposed to four universally accepted rules of gun safety which, if followed scrupulously, will prevent unintended discharges.

Gun Handling and Shooting: Safe loading and unloading, correct stance and grip and basic marksmanship techniques are taught. These include proper sight alignment, sight picture, and trigger manipulation.

Shooting Drills: A course of fire has been developed to permit a novice shooter to gain experience with the concepts introduced in the program. We believe a beginning shooter will find this challenging and educational.

Equipment: The instructors will explain how to select a handgun, holster and ammunition, so your equipment fits your hand and your individual needs. This will include a review of currently available handguns, holsters and ammunition. Students will have the opportunity to examine and try out several different types of handguns.

Cost $45.00: This includes range fees, targets, range supplies and handouts. Students to provide their own ammunition, personal gear and meals. There are no discounts applicable to this course.

Course format: Lecture (approximately 2 hrs.), and live-fire exercises (approximately 5 hrs.).

Instructor(s): The instructors and staff are FIRE Institute volunteers who have collectively accrued several thousand hours of formal training from experienced, professional firearms instructors. In addition to their personal firearms training, each of the course staff have attended firearms instructor schools run by professional instructors, including Jim Crews (Marksman's Enterprise) and Giles Stock (Rangemaster, Gunsite Academy).

Class size: Enrollment will be limited to EIGHT students.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites other than the minimum age limit of 18 years old. Proof of no criminal history is required. Please read through our Credentialing documentation and download an Enrollment form.

Deadlines for Enrollment: Applications must be received at least one week prior to the first day of class. If there are not at least four students enrolled one week before the class starts, the class will be cancelled, you will be notified, and all tuition will be promptly refunded. Within 14 days (two weeks) of the class date tuition payment becomes non-refundable.

There is certain equipment which is REQUIRED in every course. One may not proceed in the course without the following:

Ear protection and Eye protection.

Cap or hat with baseball-style bill. This is to prevent ejected brass from another shooter's pistol from falling between your eyewear and your eye, burning you. It is important gear.

Firearm, clean and zeroed. For those who do not currently own a handgun we discourage you from purchasing one for this class. We will make every effort to provide our personally owned handguns available for use. One of the advantages to attending this course is that the student will be in a much better position to make an informed decision with respect to purchasing a firearm. Please call 412.310.7838 to discuss your needs.

At least three magazines or speed loaders. We prefer you have three, in case one malfunctions during the course.

Magazine holster or pouch which is worn on your belt, on your support ("weak hand") side. BDU pockets do not work well.

200 Rounds of "Ball" Ammunition. We recommend students use one brand of ammunition throughout the course. Different brands and loads of ammunition can significantly affect the "zero" of your firearm. We also suggest students avoid the very cheapest ammunition and reloads. While "match grade" ammunition would be a waste of money, your investment in this course does justify the use of reasonably consistent ammunition. No incendiary, tracer, armor piercing, or other exotic ammunition is permitted.

A good quality holster. The holster should be an "open topped" type, worn on the hip. No shoulder holsters, "cross-draw" holsters or "pocket holsters" are allowed. The holster must be of such a type that re-holstering can be accomplished with one hand. Note that nylon or cloth holsters will often close up while the weapon is in use, requiring two hands to re-holster (one to hold the gun and the other to push the top of the holster open).

There is other equipment that is not required, but which we know from experience will enhance your experience of the course. We therefore recommend you bring the following:

Soft drinks or water to drink while down on the range. There is no water on the range itself, and the Club house is too far to run back and forth. No alcohol of any kind is to be consumed within eight hours of the start of any course session or at any time during the course.

Rain gear. The course proceeds rain or shine.

Back-up handgun. A second handgun is also a good idea, if you own or can borrow one. Firearms do break, and we cannot stop the course to make repairs. Even if we had time, parts may not be available, and many repairs cannot be accomplished in the field.

Please note:

Wear substantial shoes and "work clothes", denim jeans or fatigues.

Please transport your handgun to the range in UNLOADED condition.

Please e-mail tony@fireinstitute.org or call 412.310.7838 for course details or if you have any questions.

[D-FENS]

Save me a slot for this one, if you can. I'll put the check in the mail after payday

[TonyF]

I thought you were enrolled in the Apr 15th class?

[D-FENS]

I thought you were enrolled in the Apr 15th class?

I wish, I didn't get my loot in yet.

I've just put my check and application along with credentials in the mail for this class (April 29th) but the site says it needs to be in 30 days ahead, do you foresee any problems with that? If so, just sign me up for the next one at PMSC instead.

[TonyF]

I wish, I didn't get my loot in yet.

I've just put my check and application along with credentials in the mail for this class (April 29th) but the site says it needs to be in 30 days ahead, do you foresee any problems with that? If so, just sign me up for the next one at PMSC instead.

Don't worry about the 30 day deadline. We had so much interest in the 15th class that we scheduled the 29th date less than a week ago so there was no way anyone could have submitted an app to meet a 30 day deadline.

That's just a copy/paste error.

You're the sixth student. That leaves two slots available.

Thanks.

[TonyF]

This class is full.

[27hand]

I stopped by to see the trainers and participants of the latest one day handgun clinic on 29Apr

Tony, Steve and Mark do an excellent job reviewing the basics of handgun manipulation with students who either do not have much experience or want to learn the correct way to use a handgun.

I was actually checking on THC's pistol to verify it was running Ok and low and behold, I was not the only one wearing the new Pafoa gear.

This image hosting stuff takes me much longer than it should (old dog new tricks comes to mind). I have to upload,resize and save the other pics when I have more time.

[Emptymag]

Man... they'll let anyone sign up for that class!
I thought they do a background check?


I missed that class... definitely signing up though.

[budney]

Any more pictures coming?

--Len.

[27hand]

Len, probably a little later this evening. I think I got about 10 shots in some file somewhere .

27