NRA Certified Instructor: Which is Most Useful?

[jakemccoy]

I want to have credentials when I invite others to come shooting with me. Mostly, I'll be inviting women who may be anti-gun to come to the pistol range. I'm not interested in secondary income. I'm interested in one-on-one sessions to educate others about firearms.

For my goal, I was thinking that the NRA Certified Pistol Instructor would be the best certification for me to get. What do you think? Here are the NRA certifications...

http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/instructor.asp
BASIC PISTOL SHOOTING COURSE
# NRA Certified Pistol Instructor
# NRA Assistant Pistol Instructor
# NRA Apprentice Pistol Instructor

# BASIC RIFLE SHOOTING COURSE NRA Certified Rifle Instructor
# NRA Assistant Rifle Instructor
# NRA Apprentice Rifle Instructor

# BASIC SHOTGUN SHOOTING COURSE NRA Certified Shotgun Instructor
# NRA Assistant Shotgun Instructor
# NRA Apprentice Shotgun Instructor

# BASIC MUZZLELOADING PISTOL COURSE NRA-NMLRA Certified Muzzleloading Pistol Instructor
# NRA-NMLRA Assistant Muzzleloading Pistol Instructor

# BASIC MUZZLELOADING RIFLE COURSE NRA-NMLRA Certified Muzzleloading Rifle Instructor
# NRA-NMLRA Assistant Muzzleloading Rifle Instructor

# BASIC MUZZLELOADING SHOTGUN COURSE NRA-NMLRA Certified Muzzleloading Shotgun Instructor
# NRA-NMLRA Assistant Muzzleloading Shotgun Instructor

# PERSONAL PROTECTION COURSE NRA Certified Personal Protection Inside The Home Instructor
# NRA Certified Personal Protection Outside The Home Instructor

# HOME FIREARM SAFETY COURSE NRA Certified Home Firearm Safety Instructor

# METALLIC CARTRIDGE RELOADING COURSE NRA Certified Reloading Instructor

# SHOTGUN SHELL RELOADING COURSE NRA Certified Reloading Instructor

# RANGE SAFETY OFFICER COURSE NRA Certified Chief Range Safety Officer Instructor

 

[hso]

Moved from Activism to General

 

[scrat]

from what it sounds like your post gives the answer. Your going to be taking them to shoot pistol. The number one on the nra instructor is basic pistol. So i think that would cover anything you need

 

[jnyork]

You are on the right track, you should also get the Home Firearm Safety and the Range Safety Officer course if you can get it. These are subjects that will always come up when instructing new shooters, especially the ones you described.

 

[thunderstorm]

I would start with NRA Certified Pistol Instructor, then Certified Personal Protection Inside The Home Instructor and Certified Personal Protection Outside The Home. I would not look at it as a second income; you’re not going to be able “make a living off it”. By the time you get past your expenses you will only have a couple of dollars left, that being said I still went through it myself. We need to educate people as to what happens in real life and dispel the fiction that is in movies.

 

[Trebor]

You are on the right track.

Ever since I've become an instructor I've found that people I don't know are more willing to take me up on an offer to go to the range then when I was just "some guy who shoots."

For what you want to do I recommend the NRA Pistol disciplines.

Get training in:

Home Firearms Safety

First Steps

Basic Pistol (Includes First Steps)

That would get you started and would be enough to give you some credentials to get people you don't know to trust your competence to introduce them to shooting.

After that you can get the Personal Protection Inside the Home and Personal Protection Outside the Home classes. They are a logical next step, but are not absolutely required for what you said you want to do.

The nice thing about having the personal protection certs is that if you get students who take an intro lesson, or a whole Basic Pistol class, and then want to take more training in defensive shooting, you can meet that need as well.

I'd skip the rifle, shotgun, and reloading certs unless you really plan to teach those activities. Pistol works fine to introduce newbies to the sport.

For what you want to do look into the NRA's Women On Target program. Once you get certified you could work with a local range or gun club to host a WoT event. That's been a very succesful program in my area.

Two last thoughts:

Get the NRA instructor insurance.

And, if you don't already have one, get a good .22 pistol.

Now, trying to actually make money as an instructor is a whole other issue. I won't go into that here, except to say it's harder then it looks.

 

[Claude Clay]

+1 on all the above.
a s&w 422 is a good, light plinker with iron sights and minimal recoil. very little effort to rake the slide--everyone ( yes, everyone) likes it. for qualifing and beginners training it is a must have. a p229 or 239 in 40 with a 9mm comped bbl is second favorite. if you reload possibilities are many as you can work up from a light 38 to a 357 in the same gun ( s&w 60 -3 or 5 inch and/or 64 or 65 4"). good luck to you.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

First and foremost: Range safety officer.

Then pick the appropriate individual disiplines. In your case, basic pistol sounds the most useful by far.

I'm currently certified as RSO, pistol, rifle, and shotgun. If a local scout troop finds out you're certified, LOOK OUT.

 

[loop]

I've been certified in the basic pistol, personal protection, home safety and RO in one class. It was 24 hours and I took it over two days.

In non-NRA courses I've law been enforcement certified to instruct in shotgun and sub-gun.

If you are just going to take a few people to the range from time to time I'd just get the basic pistol training. Since it rarely works out that you "just take people to the range," I'd make sure to add the personal protection and home safety courses.

My NRA certifications were bundled because they were required to be a CHL instructor. Taking them as a group may not be available to you in your area.

I do feel the basic pistol course is a must for anyone who would teach novices safe gun handling.

 

[Trebor]

Don't get RSO first. Get your instructor cert and then you can get RSO as a home study course instead. It's just easier and quicker that way, and probably less expensive as well.

 

[okey0]

what is the approx cost of b ecoming a certified pistol instructor?

 

[thunderstorm]

Instructor training ranges from free (MO department of conservation use to have free class all you had to pay for was materials ) to $125 and as much as $500 (and up) depending on who, where, how may class they teach together.
To get you certificate from the NRA you need to also send them $10 to $30 to register yourself for each discipline.

Then you need insurance, training materials and equipment, a place to hold classes, advertising, and so on.

 

[Javelin]

I would start with NRA Certified Pistol Instructor, then Certified Personal Protection Inside The Home Instructor and Certified Personal Protection Outside The Home. I would not look at it as a second income; you’re not going to be able “make a living off it”. By the time you get past your expenses you will only have a couple of dollars left, that being said I still went through it myself. We need to educate people as to what happens in real life and dispel the fiction that is in movies.

I agree 100%. Thats what I did. And you can deduct a pistol or rifle a year from taxes due to being used as training aids....

 

[BHPshooter]

I agree with Ben -- RSO is probably the most important.

They're all good classes, though. I've been through about 2/3 of that list, and I haven't regretted taking a single one.

Wes

 

[langenc]

Once you get an instructors card Ruger offers 'deals' once in a while. Perhaps others, also.

 

[thunderstorm]

Here is a link to the special offers.

http://www.nrahq.org/youth/specialoffers/

All in all I would encourage get your certification, you will work away with a vast knowledge that you can use not only in the shooting sports but in day to day life.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

The reason I posted RSO first is it's universal nature. It applies to all the other certifications, it drops insurance costs, and looks better to folks that are on the nervous side and new to guns.

 

[SoCalShooter]

I would not get the Pistol course before you get RSO, the fundamentals of handling a firearm and the safety issues involved in my opinion are just as important as knowing how to use the weapon.

 

[Mickstix]

Mostly, I'll be inviting women who may be anti-gun to come to the pistol range.

Good idea you dirty dog!! (or should it be "Lucky" dog)

 

[Pat-inCO]

I had five certifications at one point and have let two of them lapse. I still carry Home Firearm Safety, Basic Pistol and Personal Protection. For your use, I recommend all three. Let me explain:

1) Home Firearm Safety covers firearms in general and how to safely handle them in your home (DUH). Think about how that might be useful for a new shooter.

2) Basic Pistol is more specifically oriented to the pistol (another DUH) and includes live fire.

3) Personal Protection has all of the elements of Basic Pistol but also has items they may(?) need to think about, if the need to use this information should ever present itself.

If you have all three, you not only have a well rounded education but you have been introduced to teaching all of that material. If you get questions that cross course boundaries, you are better prepared to answer them.

 

[Ghost Walker]

I'm currently certified as RSO, pistol, rifle, and shotgun. If a local scout troop finds out you're certified, LOOK OUT.

Are the Boy Scouts still teaching riflery and shotgun?

I agree with Trebor: First get your Home Firearm Safety and Pistol certifications. (Which many Training Councilors will offer as a package deal.) Then pursue Range Safety Officer training on your own.

Years ago when I got my certifications I shopped around until I found a TC/police trainer who agreed to provide all 5 basic certifications for one lump sum which he, also, agreed to reduce according to the number of people in the class. I contacted every serious shooter I knew (including a local range owner and his staff) and put together an 18 person class for him. The man was as good as his word; and, he gave me all 5 certifications for the approximate cost of just 1 certification, today. ($300.00)

It was a long, 8 to 10 hour, 2 day course that was divided about 80/20 between classroom and range. It really really helps if you purchase all the texts and course materials about 3 months in advance. That’s what I did; and, I read all of those manuals from cover-to-cover, at least, twice before the class began. The exams appeared to be deceptively easy and were open book; but, in fact, they were quite tough enough.

(There’s a heck of a lot to understand and remember; and the right answers are well-buried inside pages and pages of text. If you seriously screwed up on the range, our TC made it very clear that he would refund all monies, except the initial deposit, and immediately wave bye-bye!)

I should tell you this: When you’re an NRA Instructor, there’s your opinion and your way of doing things, and there’s the NRA way. You will be strictly required to keep your methods and opinions to yourself, and do everything the NRA way – No joke! Sometimes this can be a little frustrating; but, you always need to remember that YOU might have to answer for what you teach. NRA pistol training is NOT combat handgunning!

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Yeah, the scouts still have a rifle and a shotgun merit badge. The varsity scouts do muzzleloaders and skeet shoots as well.

ALL these events require, by BSA guidelines, an NRA instructor to be present. Not a bad idea to step in......you want them playing X-box? Or pulling a trigger?

 

[rc109a]

Can any of this course work be done online? I am a Police Firearms Instructor (DCJS) and would like to carry some of this over to help teach some of the NRA courses. I went to the website and it was a little vauge. I agree with getting a basic pistol since that appears to be the biggest question I am asked when i talk to people about firearms in the line of duty.

 

[thunderstorm]

It’s my understanding that you can complete the “Range safety officer”, and the “Reloading” courses as "home study' only after you are a certified instructor. I suspect that because as some have already stated the NRA courses are to be taught the NRA way, weather you are a instructor training students or a Training Counselors teaching Instructors, classes are not offered online. If someone knows of online courses please let us know.

 

[Guntalk]

Is there a renewal requirement on the instructor certificates?