What class(es) should I take?

[Ukraine Train]

I've been shooting rifles for a few years but just started with handguns. Ohio CCW goes into effect in April and the classes should become available sooner. Should I take something like the NRA basic pistol course before the CCW course? Or perhaps something else?

 

[Evil_Ed]

I'll field this one... Yes, the NRA basic pistol course is a good start on getting familiar with pistols. I would also pick up a copy of your state's "Law Enforcement Handbook," to read up on laws involving weapon and self defense (usually can find it at any college with a Criminal Justice program or Police Academy attached). Next step would of course be to take the concealed carry specific class as soon as it becomes available. Then I would recomend picking up a small library of books on self defense starting with "Real World Survival" by Walt Rauch, a former Secret Service/Military Intel/Philly Cop with many years of experience surviving bad situations (some more examples below). Finally I would recomend getting into a full self defense course focused on using your pistol (check around the local area and you should be able to find some sort of hands on course). Since you already are involved in shooting as a hobby you might want to consider competing in the IDPA matches or starting an IDPA group at your local range. IDPA is similar to IPSIC but is focused on using real world guns instead heavily modified weapons. IDPA is a great way to have fun competing in a sport you enjoy and learn real world skills at the same time. If you decide to get into IDPA check out another Walt Rauch book on the rules/regulations of the sport entitled "Practically Speaking." http://www.eastontacticalops.com/rauch/

Other Authors to try:
Mossad Ayoob http://www.ayoob.com/
Paxton Quigley http://www.paxtonquigley.com/
Chris Bird "The Concealed Handgun Manual" (book available on Ayoob's site)
Curt Rich "Drive to Survive" about the best defense of not being there (getting out of a situation in your car) can also be found on Ayoob's site.

 

[tetleyb]

Evil Ed gave you some good advice. I'm going to chime in too.

First, ask yourself what are your goals? What do you want out of handgun shooting? Fun, just to plink? Or are you looking for a home defense weapon? Do you want to shoot competition? Once you answered those questions, you can go from there.

My personal area of "expertise" is in tactical/defensive shooting. So I shall speak to that end. Get some good quality training under your belt. I've said this before: You can't go wrong going to one of the big schools out there. Gunsite, Blackwater Lodge, ThunderRanch, etc. Having said that, I URGE you to check your ego and not try to enroll in an intermediate or advanced class. Start with a good basic course and go from there. With as much training as I have, I never go to someone's advanced course. I always start off low and work up at a new school. Everyone has their own subtle changes to the basics. I hate being behind the power curve.

After that, practice. LOTS and LOTS of practice. Doesn't have to be live fire. In fact, I generally use a ratio of 70% dry fire to 30% live fire. A high speed shooter is merely someone who has mastered the basics and can perform them in a compressed time frame, under stress/duress.

Continue to train with competent, solid instructors, whenever you can. I strongly urge you to conduct background checks on your instructors. By that I mean, check into their qualifications. Were they really a Navy Seal? Where they really a "black op" CIA agent? Did they really win the gunfight at the OK Corral? If they are a former police officer, find out why? There could be a myrid of reasons; however, some of them are bad reasons.

Ask for a copy of DD214's (military discharge papers). Ask for a copy of the police reports for all the "bad guys" they have killed. If they can't provide said information, I would take a good hard second look (think BS). No use having been taught by some yahoo and ending up in court. Said yahoo aint going to be there to back you. Do your homework. You'll look alot better for it.

Finally, you can keep somewhat up to date with internet boards, such as this. Books, videos, etc are good. However, NOTHING beats real training from a solid, well rounded instructor.

Oh, by the way, did I mention PRACTICE???

 

[444]

I can't urge you strongly enough to get some good quality professional training. I realize that it costs some pretty serious money, but it is worth more than money. I happened upon formal training long after I began my shooting career. I owned my first handgun at the age of nine. Since that time I have shot hanguns pretty regularly for the next 29 years. I have shot IDPA, IPSC, Bowling pins etc. I had a CCW......................... all before I decided to seek professional firearms training. I can't tell you what a difference it made to me. I took a basic defensive handgun course just a week or so ago and got an incredible amount of information out of it even though I have taken classes just like it before.
I personally don't care about the instructors credentials. I primarily train at two schools and have taken multiple classes at both schools. School #1 has a bunch of honest to goodness high speed, low drag operators. Guys that are world famous. School #2 is just the opposite. Pretty much all the instructors work full time in a different field and only work at the gun school part time. None of the ones I have met mentioned anything about being in combat or special ops or SWAT or anything. I got a lot out of both schools. I feel that I learned just as much about shooting at school #2 as I did at #1. I suppose if I was getting into a higher level of course that dealt primarily with gunfighting tactics and stradigies I might be more interested in someone that had been there/done that, but for a basic defensive handgun class, I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference. It would matter more to me what kind of instructors work there and if they can effectively get the information across.

 

[Trebor]

Take the NRA Basic Pistol course now. It's a good basic foundation. Then take the Ohio CCW classes when they are available. Don't take one now as there is still some info that is needed to make the class acceptable that is not currently available. (I believe it's a pamphlet on Ohio laws).

After that, advanced training is a good idea, but get the basics rigth first.

Oh, and practice, alot.

 

[444]

I am a firm believer in getting the basics right first. In fact, as the saying goes: Excellence is the basics, mastered. Super fast, accurate shooting is nothing more than performing the basics at speed.
I have never taken an NRA pistol course, so I have no idea what is taught in it. But, in the basic pistol courses that I have taken at the shooting schools, the material covered is just what the name implies: basic pistol skills. These basic skills are taught with a very strong emphasis on basic handgun skills in a defensive environment. This is not about bullseye shooting. You train hard on shooting at close range, flash sight pictures, malfunction clearance drills, your presentation from a holster (both concealed and not concealed), your presentation from the ready, legal and moral issues with the use of a firearm for self defense, shooting in low light, shooting with a flashlight, along with some very basic tactics involving a single person (not a team).
For someone thinking of carrying a gun for self defense, I can't think of anything that could be a better knowlege base. Learning sight alignment, sight picture and trigger press are certainly the basics and need to be understood for any type of handgun shooting, the key however is to be able to use these basics in a defensive situation.

 

[ctdonath]

LFI-I.

40 hours of comprehensive training, including tactical, logistical, legal, psychological, physical issues. Worth every penny and minute (travel time included).

 

[Gocart]

If you are going to carry for personal defense, take a class that teaches you to win the fight. Yes, you must know the laws, and you need to know safe gunhandling practices, but beyond that, you need to learn and perfect techniques that will give you the edge in a lethal force confrontation.

There are several school available that do this in a two-day tactical pistol class. Tactical Response is one, and if you set up a class for us to come to you, you can train for free. Check our site for details - the link is in my sig line.