Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

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mloamiller
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Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#1

Post by mloamiller »

As far as I know, there are no DPS requirements as to when the proficiency is done - before the classroom instruction, afterwards, or in the middle of.

Is that correct? If so, what are your thoughts as to the best time to do it?

On one hand, it seems to make sense to do it after the classroom part, because you can set it up in the classroom - review safety rules, discuss the course of fire, etc. On the other hand, it's probably easier to get range time at a public range if you show up first thing in the morning, and do the classroom portion afterwards.
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#2

Post by SIRIT »

Our instructor did it first thing. The class starts right after an IDPA match so a couple guys stay to act kind of like range safety officers and keep an eye on folks. Plus I'm sure they get a kick out of some of the shooting they see. One lady actually shot and broke the cable that runs the target out during the qualification! She got maybe 10 rounds within the target zone and most of those were at the closest position.
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Breny414
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#3

Post by Breny414 »

Shouldn't matter since the student should already be familiar with their firearm. We had time to talk range safety and etc beforehand and get all of the shooting in before 9AM, when the range opens to the public.

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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#4

Post by howdy »

Like it was already said, it does not matter according to DPS. I like to go over MY rules for the range so I prefer have a few minutes prior to the range time. It really depends on the time the range gives me.
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#5

Post by WildBill »

If the range qualification is done first, maybe students who were apprehensive about passing will pay more attention during the classroom portion.
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#6

Post by jason812 »

WildBill wrote:If the range qualification is done first, maybe students who were apprehensive about passing will pay more attention during the classroom portion.
This is the reason my instructor gave for shooting first. That and we shot before the range was open to the public.
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#7

Post by SoloXCRacer »

I don't think it matters and I'm not aware of a rule that says one has to happen before another. When I took my class and proficiency exam, it was on the same day, and the shooting proficiency was done first thing in the morning (8:00am). I appreciated this because this was in the middle of the summer (July) and we took the shooting test at an outdoor range. We took a break for lunch and then took the class. It worked out well and taking a shooting test in the middle of the afternoon in July would probably have been rather uncomfortable. So I guess it just depends on your circumstances.

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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#8

Post by Mike S »

mloamiller wrote:As far as I know, there are no DPS requirements as to when the proficiency is done

Is that correct? If so, what are your thoughts as to the best time to do it?
All good answers so far to your questions. You are correct in that there is no requirement for one to preceed the other.

Normally I will conduct the classroom portion first, and include a fair amount of dry fire practice as well as reloading techniques & correcting malfunctions using dummy rounds. Using PowerPoint works well for me to teach some of the topics, however some things are (in my opinion) better done hands-on for skills retention. In the end, you'll have to weight what works best for your teaching methodology, client base, & range coordinations. I'm (usually) able to use a private range, so deconfliction with other instructors or the general public rarely is an issue. However, there have been times with other non-CHL courses that an impending thunderstorm resulted in a classroom-range-classroom flow.

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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#9

Post by TexasSully »

When I took the class, since it was a weekday class, the instructor had us meet at the range to do the proficiency first. Worked out great since we had the range to ourselves and the range was about 25 miles from the classroom.
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#10

Post by cbunt1 »

The state doesn't care what order you do it. In fact, its not unheard of to do ONLY proficiency or ONLY classroom at any given time.

Historically I've always done proficiency after the classroom, so I can do a range and safety brief first. I've done a couple of classes lately where we did the proficiency first due to timing constraints.

Frankly, it worked well and the students were a little less apprehensive about whether they'd pass overall.

I do a number of small or one on one classes, so I sometimes take students in that context I wouldn't in a larger setting...in those cases, we always qualify at the end, after some hands on work.

But I've found range qual first can work favourably for all involved.
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#11

Post by mloamiller »

Good information; just what I was looking for. Thanks for the replies.
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#12

Post by mot7981 »

When I took my class we did the shooting proficiency after the classroom portion. It didn't work out very well as the range was crowded with lots of folks - including a group of Japanese tourists that had never fired a gun before. Yikes! I like the idea of going to an empty range before it opens if it can be arranged.
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#13

Post by Papacub »

It all depends on the weather, I've held the proficiency portion first, middle and after the classroom portion. My standard is after the classroom.
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#14

Post by jmorris »

mot7981 wrote:When I took my class we did the shooting proficiency after the classroom portion. It didn't work out very well as the range was crowded with lots of folks - including a group of Japanese tourists that had never fired a gun before. Yikes! I like the idea of going to an empty range before it opens if it can be arranged.
I'm trying to imagine why a group of Japanese tourists were taking a LTC class.
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mot7981
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Re: Proficiency before or after classroom instruction?

#15

Post by mot7981 »

That's just it. The Japanese group wasn't taking the class. We went to a range during regular hours and it was crowded with all kinds of folks. Not the best situation.
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