NRA Basic Pistol exam

N

nodule

New member
Hi,

Ive heard at the end of the NRA Basic Pistol course there is an exam. Is
this a pass or fail exam, or does basically everybody pass?

Thanks
 
Very simple. But if you read the first few pages of every chapter in "Basics of Pistol Shooting" you should have no issues.

Kind of like: What is a action? or The barrel is where?
 
Go through the review questions in the student book.

Attitude is the most important factor in passing this course. You could get a 100% on the written test and still not have the instructor willing to issue the certificate with their name as the instructor. Some people take this course to get a FL permit, and an instructor will not sign the certificate if they feel the student has an attitude problem. You will also need to demonstrate that you can handle and fire a handgun safely.
 
You could get a 100% on the written test and still not have the instructor willing to issue the certificate with their name as the instructor.
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If I were to flunk someone out (and I have), it's usually apparent well before the written test is administered. It takes a lot to spur that decision, but it's happened.

As others have said, the written test is easy if the student has paid any attention at all during the class.
 
exam is but one of three criteria

utilzed by instructors in decideing whether or not to iissue a certificate. Knowledge, Skills, and Attitude. Knowledge is shown by the written test, Skills by the targets shot in the live fire requirements, and Attitude by how the student approaches the course and the safety concepts.
 
There is no pass/fail criteria for the written exam.

As others have expressed, I have never seen anyone who sat the class get more than 1/3 of the questions wrong.

For instructor ratings (and for RSO) this is a specific grade point which has to be met as a (one of!) condition for certification.


For me exam results have always been more of a tool for me (the teacher) to assess how well (or how poorly) I was able to convey the subject matter from me to the recipient(s), and not so much about the abilities or knowledge of the person I am working with.
 
what kind of shooting do you need to need to shoot to qualify??

all bulls? anything inside the 8 ring? anything on target??

sorry for wakin up a oldie
 
In my class the instructor didn't have us even touch a gun. He showed us some of his, and talked about how great they were, but that was about it.
Four hours of "President Obama is most likely the antichrist" and "If the cops ever try to take my guns I'll kill them", a round robin verbal test, and we were done.
I'm guessing it varies from instructor to instructor.
 
dayman said:
In my class the instructor didn't have us even touch a gun. He showed us some of his, and talked about how great they were, but that was about it.
Four hours of "President Obama is most likely the antichrist" and "If the cops ever try to take my guns I'll kill them", a round robin verbal test, and we were done.
I'm guessing it varies from instructor to instructor.
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That was not an NRA Basic Handgun class. All NRA classes are standardized and use the appropriate NRA syllabus. NRA certified instructors are required to cover everything in the standard syllabus.

The NRA Basic Handgun class includes live fire.
 
Frank E has it right. The shooting is not dependent on scores. We use the range time to teach safe gun handing drills. We do have each student sign and date a target which we keep as a permanet record. The targets may be needed to prove that the student went thru live shooting drills.:)
 
If dayman was actually issued an NRA Basic Pistol certificate, the NRA will pull the instructor's credentials if they learn of it. It would be a good idea for dayman to tell the NRA if he got one. That would be the ethical thing to do.

The "instructor" was far from ethical. Dayman, you were cheated!
 
It was the NRA class I needed to get my CCW - it might not have been basic pistol specifically. I did send he NRA a letter to complain, but they never got back to me.
 
If it was a NRA course, you should have been issued a NRA Certificate upon successful completion. Were you issued a NRA Certificate for this course? If so, what NRA course is listed on the NRA Certificate?

The current requirements for the NRA Basic Pistol Course is a minimum of 8 hours, and you must shoot a handgun of at least .22 Long Rifle to demonstrate you can safely handle, operate and fire a handgun. There are specific criteria that must be taught in the classroom per the NRA standards. Several people have already posted they are a NRA Instructor. Send them a PM, and I am sure they will contact the NRA.
 
I think I sent the certificate in when I applied for my CCW - it wasn't anything I had any real desire to frame and hang up.
I might have made a copy which would be somewhere inside my black hole of a filing cabinet. I do remember that the course was supposed to be 8-12 hours (it's been a couple years), and all my buddies ho took it - not at the same place - did some shooting.
I got the book when I payed for the class ($85 cash only) - something like a week in advance - so the idea was that I would have spent the missing 4 hours of class time reading. Or something like that.
I started shooting handguns when I was about 12 under the watchful eye of my career military dad, so I wasn't expecting to get a lot of new info from the class per say, but it was still a disenchanting experience.
 
my class was by the numbers and awesome

Thanks, Tacoma Rifle and Revolver for putting it on. A bunch of good instructors, thorough grounding in safe handling, cleaning, and even some instruction in actual shooting.

I know a little about training/instructing in general, and they did great. Little bits, adding on in stages. They started with blank targets, shooting from a rest. Just get the trigger squeeze and grip. If you have a group, great. Then we started with sight alignment and sight picture. Then standing. Weaver, Mod-Weaver, Iso. And all the instructors were sharing their toys. SAR, semis, 1911, modern revolvers... it was all I could ask for.
 
Bear River said:
Frank E has it right. The shooting is not dependent on scores. We use the range time to teach safe gun handing drills. We do have each student sign and date a target which we keep as a permanet record. The targets may be needed to prove that the student went thru live shooting drills.
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Agreed.

NRA Basic Pistol is, first and foremost, a handgun SAFETY course. It is not a "qualification" course. The live fire component is not to see how accurately you can shoot, but to demonstrate that you can safely load, handle, and fire a handgun to a level that the instructor will feel comfortable signing a piece of paper that will allow you to get a license/permit and carry a handgun in public.
 
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