NRA Metallic Cartridge Reloading Course.

[USSR]

Taught my 2nd NRA reloading course this year. I only offer them in the winter time, since guys seem to have more free time on their hands at that time of year. Had 5 students, with 6 being the maximum for the course, since it is hands-on training and not just book learning. While it is extremely rewarding to pass on knowledge for an enjoyable hobby, it is also extremely tiring. A lot of prep goes into it, and standing and talking for 8 hours is tough on an old guy.

Don

 

[Chainsaw.]

Nice Don. Its very rewarding to pass on knowledge. And very rewarding to reload, so win win. I've always wanted to teach this NRA reloading class, along with some other training. Good on ya, appreciate your hard work.

 

[hdwhit]

USSR wrote:
A lot of prep goes into it, and standing and talking for 8 hours is tough on an old guy.

It's tough on anyone. Congratulations on having the stamina to make it through.

Having learned from a manual and a lot of mistakes, I have never taken the NRA class. I assume it is done with a brief opening lecture to explain the course objectives and that the rest is a combination of group observation and hand-on reloading. Have you thought about giving your feet a break by setting up a stool where all the participants could see you from their workstations and when you reach a point where you have to make a point you want everyone to get or you have to explain how to avoid an error - points you want to make sure everyone pays attention to - calling a halt to the class, taking a seat on the stool, changing your voice intonation and cadence, and then making the point? This would give you a short break and it would quickly teach the class that when you took to the stool, their attention needed to shift to you and not all the interesting machinery and components in front of them.

 

[USSR]

Guys,

The way the course works is as follows: each student has a book with chapters on things like reloading equipment, reloading procedures, reloading safety, reloading rifle cartridges, and reloading handgun cartridges. We spend about 3 hours going over the chapters in the book. The remaining 5 hours (it's a full day class) are spent getting hands-on experience at the portable reloading table that I bring to the course. The NRA specifies that the course be taught using a single stage press. While progressive presses are nice, they are much too confusing for someone just starting out. Since this is a basic course, all I'm really hoping is to give them the confidence that they can do this and take the steps to start reloading on their own. Let's face it, reloading is a lifelong learning experience.

Don

 

[Metal god]

Don , How much better did the second class go then the first ? I have to assume much better . You not only are teaching but you your self are learning how to teach at the same time .

I my self have learned that being very good at something does not make me a good teacher of said thing . I've found that when teaching someone something . It's important that I understand how important it is I take the teaching it self serious and really understand how to present something in a way that others understand it . I've been running my own construction business for about 20+ years . In that time I've gotten very good at some aspect of building homes . More specific , finish work . Somewhere between 5 and 10 years ago I realized that many things I thought were common sense where actually years of experience just seeming like common sense .

There was a time where when I showed a new employee how to do something , then realize I was leaving out half of what I should have told them because it all was so simple and seemed like common sense to me when in reality it was my experience and muscle/mind memory taking over . I'd just blow though the explanation not realizing there was much more to it .

It's easy to say first you do this then this and last you do that . I've found that instead of starting at "first you do this . I start at , "first" there's a first step and the reason there's a first step is this . It's like giving them a back story as to why there's a first step in the first place . I then , when possible do that at every stage/step . IMHO it gives them a better foundation to work with . When they get stuck and or confused they not only have the technical knowledge how to do the first step but why the first step is first in the first place . This often allows them to correct the problem them selves .

Anyways I guess my point to that is knowing "how" to teach is harder then simply knowing what you're teaching .

Thanks for doing this . I'm sure many will benefit from your classes .

 

[USSR]

Don , How much better did the second class go then the first ? I have to assume much better . You not only are teach but you your self are learning how to teach at the same time .

You bring up a very good point. Knowing something and knowing how to pass knowledge on are 2 separate things. The first class of the year is always the tough one. I tend to be critical of myself and readily admit where my shortcomings were at the conclusion of a class. For example, at the first class a student broke a decapping pin in a .30-06 resizing die. Think I had a replacement pin with me for that die? No. Since I had a .308 die set and brass, we simply switched to that. Actually, the preparation for the course in making sure you have everything you will need for every possible scenario is the worst part of it. Nobody wants to stand up there and say "well, if we had this part this is what we would do". I have a checklist that I go over when packing all the equipment up, but there's always that nagging feeling that you will forget something.

Don