October 16, 2025 20:55
5 Views
Every three years, I need to re-qualify to retain my Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor credentials. The last time I did this, they said 1000 rounds was the handgun course requirement. I burned through 2000 rounds in the five days of the course. When you get an opportunity to learn from some of the best firearm instructors in the country, you take every possible opportunity to get as many extra reps on the gun as possible. This time I’m qualifying on the patrol rifle and the requirement again is 1000 rifle and 200 pistol rounds. I intend on putting as much work as possible so I picked up an extra thousand rounds to go with the 1000 I already had just in case, and I figure 1000 rounds of pistol ammo should do it.
The takeaway from putting in that much work over five days is that you come away exponentially better at running whatever platform you are training on, and a brain full of fresh knowledge and ideas on how to teach others.
For those who own guns, training is absolutely necessary. Find a good instructor that takes his or her time to teach you from where you are at and is willing to work with you to get where you want to be. Invest in training periodically as all firearm skills are perishable if not practiced consistently. Your goal should be to stay familiar with your weapon so you are safer and more proficient, just in case you need to use it at some point to defend yourself.
My keys to being the best instructor I can be:
- Become a humble and teachable student so you can be a better teacher.
- Look for the lesson in every experience.
- Have patience.
- Everyone has their version of how to do things, and they will tell you it’s the best way and why. Learn as much as you can and consider every tactic or technique as another tool in your toolbox, but in the end, decide what works best for you and master it.
- Train, train, and then train some more. There is no such thing as too much experience with firearms. Plan what you want to learn or master, then tailor your training to learn and master that skill, technique, or tactic.
- Be fanatical about safety.
- Remember that the ultimate goal is to win a gunfight if you are forced into one. Prepare yourself mentally as well as tactically.
I get all my guns and ammo from Shawn at Firearmguy.com
categories
This Week
