Basic handgun training manual

Causes of firearm accidents. Storage of firearms. Lesson II - Ammunition. Components of a cartridge. Rim-fire and center-fire cartridges.

Firing sequence of a cartridge. Cartridge designation and identification. Storage of ammunition. Cartridge Malfunctions — misfire, hangfire, squib load. Sight Alignment. Sight Picture. Hold Control. Arc of Movement. Breath Control. Trigger Control. Demonstrations and practical exercise. Range Safety Briefing B. Introduction of Range Safety Officers, staff and other personnel C. Range layout and limits D. General safety rules E.

General range safety rules F. Hygiene guidelines G. Site specific range rules H. Range Commands I. Load J. Commence Firing K. C ease Firing L. Firearm problems.

Lesson V — Firing the First Shots. Demonstration of the Benchrest Position. Align the position with the target. Practice the position dry-fire at the target. Live fire single- shot exercise 10 times at 15 feet. Evaluation of Shooting Practice. Live fire five-shot exercise 2 times at 15 feet.

Live fire single-shot exercise 10 times at 15 feet. Scoring of Targets. Factors in pistol selection. Cleaning and caring of the pistol discussion only. Cleaning equipment, best practices and procedures. Cleaning - Practical Exercise. Repairs only by the factory or experienced gunsmith. Keep up on your shooting skills — Go to the Range. Join the NRA if you are not a member — benefits of membership. Keep current on local and national NRA news and events. NRA Training Opportunities and programs.

Competitive Shooting. NRA Clubs. The are no prerequisites for taking this course, and the course and material is accessible to appropriately supervised mature children. When you're out on your walk, look at how the earth naturally forms gullies and troughs. These can be useful in taking immediate cover. They can also leave you exposed to attacks from other angles. Pick a direction and imagine that bullets coming from that direction.

Walk over to a suitable place where you believe you could readily take cover. From this place, look around to see where the next, nearest point of cover is. Your goal should always be to move away from the source of gunfire. Walk over to the next place where you believe cover may be obtained. Is this location as suitable as you thought it would be?

This is a real issue that affects those who've been in firefights. Often times, a place of cover or concealment may appear to be more appealing than it actually is. Also, because you're in nature, notice the sound your feet make as you walk to your next point of cover. Just the simple act of movement probably did a lot to give away your position. So, you'll see, movement comes at a price: it can potentially reveal your position to a shooter and it can cause a lot of commotion.

But, if you stay in your old spot for cover, your attacker may move in and try to take advantage of that. So, there is a sacrifice that must be made. Food for thought. In a firefight, you need to keep moving away from the action whenever possible.

There are two basic types of movement from cover:. You should never leave a place of cover unless you are moving to another point of cover. Staying out in the open and leaving yourself exposed is a very bad idea. Sprinting from cover is fast but at the sacrifice of exposure to your enemy.

Crawling is slower but minimizes yourself as a target. Ideally, you should have identified precisely where you intend to move. By the time you finish saying that sentence, you should be on the ground or where you intend to take cover.

This is not a firm rule but a light guideline. For this last piece of the puzzle, we're going to dedicate a section to home defense. This is by far the most likely place you will encounter an actual self-defense scenario. It only makes sense to both prepare a plan and practice that plan to ensure the safety of yourself and your family. Realistic expectations : At the conclusion of Part 5, you should have the basics you need to continue training to suitable proficiency in concealed carry firearms.

Movement around your own home is imperative in a self-defense situation. If you have family members located in adjacent sections of your house, make a plan for them that covers two basic situations:.

Determining whether movement is necessary will be largely determined by whether the active threat is inside the house with you. In close quarters, it may not make sense to have your children or other occupants move to your location and take shelter. If the threat is not yet inside the house when it is detected, you have initiative.

Thus, if it makes sense, move your family to a central location that is defensible. Develop call words and strategies to communicate quickly and efficiently — much like a quarterback calling a play. The worst thing that can happen is for them to hear gunshots and you rush back in the room only to inadvertently get taken out. When practicing home defense drills, always visually and manually inspect your concealed carry handgun to ensure that it is unloaded. Teach those around you to also do the same to ensure everyone's safety.

As soon as a break-in is suspected, don't wait for visual confirmation. Immediately contact emergency services. The sooner the call goes in, the sooner the timer starts for police to arrive. In the meantime You've got a plan. If you call a word and there is no answer from inside, you can't assume the person inside is a bad guy.

On the same token, you cannot assume the room is safe, either. You should see that there's immediately a problem that presents itself — you can rarely achieve both alone and at the same time.

That's why it's important to encourage sheltering in place and taking up defensive positions inside rooms until police can arrive. This is the path of least resistance. If you have someone in your household that can cover you while you clear a room, that at least improves chances you can respond adequately to an active threat.

Clearing doorways and darkened areas is extremely tense. This is made all the more tense if you can't see what you're aiming at. Using a flashlight is important but it's also important to practice using it. If you're in the living room and someone breaks in through the back door, find the easiest way to achieve concealment and still cover their likely approach with your field of fire.

Ideally, it's an area 15 degrees or less to either side of you. If your positioning were like the face of a clock and 12 o'clock is directly in front of you, you want your field of fire to ideally be no greater than 11 to 1 o'clock respectively. To truly embody this, you need to figure out how you would break into your house. Knowing the likely routes you would take will help you figure out how you can respond to them.

In turn, armed home invasions can happen at any hour. So, practice different variations from places such as the kitchen, living room, study, or bedroom. This will help you get a better understanding of your vulnerabilities in responding to a home invasion scenario — and hopefully turning them into advantages. In a home defense situation, you're going to want to move fast.

But you don't want to be careless. If you're injured or killed, you can potentially jeopardize the rest of your household's ability to defend themselves. Practice slow, deliberate movements no matter how rushed and fast you want to go.

Your muscle memory will ultimately be the clincher in your ability to prevail in an actual home defense scenario. Practicing steady movements, adhering to safety, and having an understanding of the layout of your home and location of your family will all prove to be just as pivotal as your practice with your firearms.

In conclusion, if you've followed this guide all the way through, you likely have the basics you need to feel confident and competent in concealed carry practices. Make sure to attend any firearms courses you feel will best help you learn more advanced skills such as scenario-driven events, vehicles, et cetera. It's impossible to be prepared for everything, but if you've trained and you're carrying your concealed handgun, you'll at least be able to respond to the emergency.

He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and private defense contracting in Afghanistan. My Cart. Most Orders Ship Within 2 Days. Shop All Holsters. Concealed Carry Holsters. Shop All Concealed Carry Holsters.

Shoulder Holsters. Pocket Holsters. Ankle Holsters. Belly Band Holsters. Open Carry Holster. Shop All Open Carry Holsters. Drop Leg Holsters. Backpack Holsters. Chest Holsters. Hunting Holsters.

Tactical Holsters. ShapeShift Holster Series. ShapeShift Core Carry Pack. ShapeShift Expansion Packs. Duty Holsters. Women's Holsters. Holster Deals. Mag Carriers. Holster Shells. Car Holsters and Mounts. Gun Mats. Holster Gear. Gun Belts. Gift Card. Track Order. Product Testing. International FAQ. Shapeshift Release Calendar. CCW Map. CCW Resources. Handgun Comparisons. Demonstrate reloading while concentrated on the threat and not the weapon.

Gripping: using sufficient strength to hold a weapon on a plane so that the projectile will travel on a line to the target. Lifting: having adequate strength to lift the weapon to eye level while maintaining safe control. Range of vision: should be such that a person can focus on one object sights and still see an image of the target.

Strength: overall strength should be a minimum of being able to perform normal task without fatiguing quickly. Breathing: holding breath for a minimal time in order to complete the task of firing the weapon. Cover mode: finger outside the trigger guard until you are on target and have decided to fire.

Demonstrate shooting positions using handgun, rifle, shotgun, crowd control gun, and impact weapon. Safety procedures for weapons on and off the range and while on duty. Identify drills and techniques for when the trigger is pulled and the weapon does not fire. Qualify on one of the below selected courses with approved targets under daylight conditions using issued ammunition, weapon, duty belt and holster:. Reduced light practice and qualification courses with time limitations and distances will be established by the training academy.

Fire using strong and weak hand as appropriate standing. Apply the general principles of personal safety and security along with physical and mental awareness before, during, after an active shooter incident.

Given a written or practical exercise, identify personal safety and security precautions along with physical and mental awareness before, during, and after an active shooter incident, have knowledge of basic first aid, and recognize signs and systems of posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD. Identify active shooter incident s and possible mental and physical related issues. Identify behavioral health issues pre and post to an active shooter incident. Identify potential life threatening dangers to staff during a potential use of force incident.

Need for continued continual active shooter training. Identify and demonstrate the use of hearing protection; eye protection; hat; and other safety equipment.

Consequences, hazards, injuries that may result from not using approved hearing, eye and head protection. Identify consequences, hazards, injuries that may result from not using approved hearing, eye and head protection.

Identify techniques to reduce personal risk and injuries while on the range. Identification and implementation of approved dual hearing protection while on the range. Identify unapproved and inadequate stand alone ear plugs worn while on the range. Demonstration and implementation of eye protection by officer while on the range:.

Identify and demonstrate control techniques to maintain possession of agency assigned weapon and equipment. Apply techniques to maintain possession of weapon against physically attacking inmate s. Apply techniques to subdue an attacking inmate s. Techniques to maintain possession of assigned weapon against physically attacking inmate s. Demonstration of offensive active countermeasures designed to neutralize aggressor for de-escalation of situation.

Magazines shall be loaded to their full capacity. Range instructor shall determine when magazines will be changed. On command draw and fire 1 round in 2 seconds or fire 2 rounds in 3 seconds, repeat until 6 rounds have been fired, scan and breathe. On command fire 2 rounds in 3 seconds, repeat until 6 rounds have been fired, scan and breathe. On command fire 6 rounds strong hand and 6 rounds weak hand in 25 seconds scan and breathe; make weapon safe and holster.

On command draw and fire 1 round in 2 seconds or 2 rounds in 3 seconds, repeat until 6 rounds have been fired, scan and breathe. On command fire 6 rounds in 15 seconds, scan and breathe; make weapon safe and holster. On command draw and fire 12 rounds standing strong hand, and 6 rounds standing weak hand, and until 18 rounds have been fired in 90 seconds , scan and breathe; make weapon safe and holster.

The order of position is optional with the instructor. B21, B21X targets - use indicated K value with a maximum points divided by 3 to obtain percent. Q target - 5 points inside the bottle, 3 points outside the bottle on the target. Divide by 3 to obtain percent. On command at the 7 YARD LINE, draw and fire 12 rounds strong hand 25 seconds and 6 rounds weak hand 15 seconds; scan and breathe; make weapon safe, holster.

On command draw and fire 12 rounds in any sequence, i. B21, B21X targets-use indicated K value with a maximum points divided by 3 to obtain percent. Q targets - 5 points inside the bottle, 3 points outside the bottle on the target. On command fire 6 rounds, combat reload, then fire 6 more rounds in 25 seconds; scan and breathe; make weapon safe, holster. On command, fire 3 rounds in 4 seconds total of six rounds ; scan and breathe; make weapon safe, holster. On command, draw and fire 3 rounds in 4 seconds total of six rounds ; scan and breathe; make weapon safe, holster.

B21, B21x targets-use indicated K value with maximum points divided by 3 to obtain percent. Q target-5 points inside the bottle, 3 points outside the bottle on target, divide by 3 to get percent. Skip to main content. Performance Outcome 9. Training Objective Related to 9. Given written exercises, identify nomenclature of weapon handgun.

Criteria: The trainee shall be tested on the following: 9. Identify the correct terms to identify weapons and parts of weapon handgun 9. Demonstrate prescribed procedure to prepare weapon for cleaning 9. Remove magazine or empty cylinder 9. Remove round from chamber 9. Double check weapon to make sure it is empty 9. Identify weapon cleaning equipment handgun 9. Demonstrate the use of weapon cleaning equipment handgun 9.

Field strip weapon 9. Clean components 9. Inspect for damage and imperfections 9. Lubricate 9. Reassemble 9.

Safely test for proper function Lesson Plan Guide: The lesson plan shall include the following: 1. Remove magazine or empty cylinder b. Remove round from cylinder c. Double check weapon to make sure it is empty d.

Safety precautions 3.