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What do you consider a good class size for initial CHL? What would you consider to be to many for a single instructor?

I've found that the class can be pretty large, you just have to limit the number of people on the firing line at any given time during range shooting. I usually do 4-6, depending on the class behavior during the classroom portion.

I'm not an instructor yet, so if an instructor has a different take, feel free to criticize/correct me.

It's going to depend a lot on the skill level of the participants and the willingness of range staff to pitch in. I've seen as many as 15 on the line with one instructor. There were also 3-4 range officers running around making sure everything was running relatively well. People shot their test, and got their license. I think the ones who really didn't know what they were doing, didn't know what they were doing afterwards either. There simply wasn't ims figured in for any instruction or training during the range portion.

If the goal of that instructor was to get people licensed and the goal of the students was to get licensed, the class went well. If the goal if the instructor was to get students licensed and make sure they were at least minimally proficient in the safe gun handling, not so much. The majority of the people on the line had no contact with the instructor during range time.

I won't get into student to instructors ratios because that decision has a lot of variables. If you make sure you do a good range safety briefing and take the time to make sure everyone knows the commands that will be used, when they can and cannot touch the gun, etc. then you can operate with a higher ratio. I run a much tighter range for CHL classes than I would for an IDPA match. In a match, I know the people involved and there is a Safety Officer within arms reach of the shooter; i.e. a one-on-one ratio. With classes, I don't know the people and there won't be an instructor for each student, so strict compliance with range commands is a must. I'm not a drill sergeant type at all, so I don't mean you should be a jerk or know-it-all to students. Just make sure they fully understand the rules and follow every command to the letter.

Chas.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:I won't get into student to instructors ratios because that decision has a lot of variables. If you make sure you do a good range safety briefing and take the time to make sure everyone knows the commands that will be used, when they can and cannot touch the gun, etc. then you can operate with a higher ratio. I run a much tighter range for CHL classes than I would for an IDPA match. In a match, I know the people involved and there is a Safety Officer within arms reach of the shooter; i.e. a one-on-one ratio. With classes, I don't know the people and there won't be an instructor for each student, so strict compliance with range commands is a must. I'm not a drill sergeant type at all, so I don't mean you should be a jerk or know-it-all to students. Just make sure they fully understand the rules and follow every command to the letter.

Chas.

Charles -- what kind of behavior would cause you to pull a student from the line? Would you give that student a second chance that day?

sjfcontrol wrote:

Charles L. Cotton wrote:I won't get into student to instructors ratios because that decision has a lot of variables. If you make sure you do a good range safety briefing and take the time to make sure everyone knows the commands that will be used, when they can and cannot touch the gun, etc. then you can operate with a higher ratio. I run a much tighter range for CHL classes than I would for an IDPA match. In a match, I know the people involved and there is a Safety Officer within arms reach of the shooter; i.e. a one-on-one ratio. With classes, I don't know the people and there won't be an instructor for each student, so strict compliance with range commands is a must. I'm not a drill sergeant type at all, so I don't mean you should be a jerk or know-it-all to students. Just make sure they fully understand the rules and follow every command to the letter.

Chas.

Charles -- what kind of behavior would cause you to pull a student from the line? Would you give that student a second chance that day?

I haven't had to pull anyone off the line, but if someone were to sweep anyone with their muzzle, then I'd ask them to stand down. During the range briefing, I tell them that if I have to warn anyone more than once, perhaps twice, about muzzle discipline, I'll ask them to stand down and we'll shoot by ourselves after the class. I'm talking about warning someone who merely gets close to sweeping someone, not a student who actually points the muzzle at anyone. If someone had an accidental discharge, I'd have them stand down. There are probably other things that would justify taking someone off the line, but thankfully I haven't had a problem. I attribute that to a comprehensive range briefing and making sure everyone knows what is expected of them on the line.

Chas.

Charles L. Cotton wrote: I'm not a drill sergeant type at all, so I don't mean you should be a jerk or know-it-all to students.
Chas.

My Drill Sergeants were not jerks, they just thought we were all hard of hearing!

I prefer smaller classes, and only run two shooters at a time.

I have been a CHL instructor since the beginning,and it seems that I was told that each instructor could have no more than 5 on the firing line at one time.I limit mine to 3 for teaching purposes and safety.

Rusty, I seem to remember that too, and we have stuck with that. However, they must not be teaching that anymore. New instructors don't seem to have heard this.

Crossfire wrote:Rusty, I seem to remember that too, and we have stuck with that. However, they must not be teaching that anymore. New instructors don't seem to have heard this.

I don't remember them saying anything about range ratios last year. I think I would have remembered. And I can't find anything in the documentation they handed out regarding that, either.

If I am working alone I allow a maxium of four on the firing line at one time. I can watch that many closely and am never more than a step or two away from any shooter. I removed a shooter in one class for shooting their neighbors target.

How about the classroom portion? How many makes it too impersonal to encourage involvement and difficult to handle everyone's questions?
Also, if you shoot in multiple smaller groups, what are you doing with the non-shooters? Video, second instructor?

For the classroom portion I usually like 6-10 and that depends on personalities. I had a class of 15 once and that was a challenge. Not that anything went wrong, it just seemed a little too big to have real interaction. I'm a HS teacher and I can say that anything much over 12 in a class and one teacher struggles to have meaningful interactions. Again, the personality of the class has a lot to do with that also. (Now consider the classes that have 25-30 kids in them...sheesh...but we're saving money...Sorry I digress and that's a whole different topic)

At the range I usually only have 5 or fewer on the line. I might sneak an extra one if the numbers don't work or if I know the person well.

When I did my instructors qualifying the DPS had one officier for every 5 shooters. I figured that was good enough for me. I tend to hover around a student that may be having problems while monitoring the rest of the line. I have any extra students also watch for problems. Some here may take exception to that but an extra pair or two of eyes is always good as far as I am concerned.