Handgun training in DC area?

[Geenie]

Gentlemen,

can anyone recommend a good handgun training school in the DC area? I am here for an internship (visiting from Germany) and would really like to learn how to safely operate a handgun while I'm here.

It seems DC itself is problematic with regard to schools and I may have to go to VA or MD.
While it's easy to find schools online that offer introductory handgun classes, my ability to gauge their quality is limited.

I'd be very grateful for any advice or recommendations on instructors or schools. The closer to DC the better; I don't have a car.

Thank you.

[Buffalobob]

A couple of places to look.

First is Md Small Arms Range, its a little hard to find because of the road name and number.

http://www.msar.com/home

They claim to rent pistols. There is a guy listed under training by the name of Thompson. He is a nice guy and easy going. African American IIRC but I am not much concerned with such issues so he could be from Jupiter or some other solar system and I would not take much note of it.

Mid Atlantic is a good organization and did what I paid them to do. Their range is about an hour away.

http://midatlanticfirearmstraining.com/default.aspx


I do not know the people well but I used to shoot at Cresap a lot and they have training but I do not know about pistol rental. Its at least an hour drive from DC and not at all easy to find.

.http://www.cresaprifleclub.com/

Depending on where you live, I would guess that Thompson and Maryland Small Arms would be a reasonable thing. Once you feel trained you can then go and practice there.

[Slantwire]

NRA runs classes at their range in Fairfax VA. You generally need to have your own gun, but they might have something for their very basic intro class.

I took a class years ago at Blue Ridge Arsenal in Chantilly, VA. The range's website lists its own training courses, but nothing on the calendar. IIRC, they rent.

Springfield VA has a place called Sharp Shooter's. I haven't been there since it was called Gilbert's Small Arms. They rent handguns, and I think they offer some instruction, but you probably need to schedule that in advance. They require you to buy a membership (min 1 month) to use the range.

There's a place called Silver Eagle in Ashburn VA, but I've never been.

[Dusty]

Don't they teach horizontal presentation in DC?

[Geenie]

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. I will check those resources out.

I also found this website: http://safepistol.com/ and was thinking about signing up for one of their classes. In your opinion, do they look like an OK school? Unfortunately they don't list any bios for their instructors.

[Buffalobob]

Didn't really want to start a new thread so I will just put this announcement here on this thread.

Quantico Shooting Club is having an introduction to handgun competition shooting on Sunday. Following registration there will be classroom instruction on different types of competition and then after lunch there will be some actual shooting. The Marines don't give a rats tail about congress and are going to have the base open and business as usual.

So if a person is interested they can go up on QSC website and click the calendar and follow instructions. It will be a good opportunity to learn with beginners.