Instructor Spotlight: Larry St. Clair
Larry St. Clair is the owner and lead instructor at Martial Way Legacy. He is a competitor and instructor on a number of skills, including American Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Savate, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, and Filipino Martial Arts known as Kali, Eskrima, and Arnis. Guro Larry also serves as an accountability coach […]
How to Load a Pistol Magazine
New shooters can be frustrated when loading their pistol magazines. In this video Tatiana Whitlock offers some tips and techniques for how to easily insert ammo cartridges into a magazine.
Redefining Plinking
Because the name plinking is derived from the sound a .22 bullet makes on a target, it suggests that time at the range doing this activity is not serious practice time. You may even hear, “I’m just gonna go plink some rounds.” Any time you can get to a range and do live-fire shooting with any gun of any caliber should have some purpose behind it. Without focus you are just wasting ammo and potentially picking up bad habits.
Shooting Steel: Safety Guidelines
Shooting steel is fun! You hear the “ping!” when you hit the target, and can often save you time and money from shοoting paper targets. However, shοoting steel can be dangerous if you use the wrong caliber or shοot at the wrong distance. Here are 6 guidelines to stay safe.
Intimate Partner Violence: Training for the Unthinkable
By Sandra Kozero and Tracy Thronburg. More than half of female homicides are by an intimate partner. Women must have resources and train for the unthinkable. This article lists 10 ways to train against Intimate Partner Violence.
Tatiana Whitlock Is AG & AG Director of Training
A Girl & A Gun is pleased to announce that Tatiana Whitlock has accepted the position of Director of Training. Tatiana is an NRA Mom, certified NRA instructor, nationally recognized independent firearms instructor, speaker, and public figure, who has worked with AG & AG for the past five years. Her predecessor Kathy Jackson announced her retirement in 2017, and Tatiana will continue the work in this role to develop a formal education program to cultivate women firearms educators nationwide.
3 Simple Steps to Improve Your Shooting Skills
A Girl & A Gun facilitators offer “mini-clinics” that cover the 5 Fundamentals of Accurate Shooting at most Girls’ Night Out (GNO) events. In the interest of safety, ladies who attend a GNO receive a whole lot of new information in a very short period of time. Once your facilitator sees that you are consistently safe with your gun handling, it’s her job to be available to answer questions and offer pointers to keep you safe. Your facilitator is a fantastic resource, but making the commitment to develop skills requires that you take three simple steps.
NRA Certification Is a Strong Foundation on Which to Lay Down Tracks
By Heather Eckert. If you want to be a firearms instructor, the NRA Instructor Certification is a great place to start for a strong foundation. My NRA Certification was a respected resume credential that opened doors to new employment and allowed me to advance well beyond basic Pistol Instructor.
Creating a Nation of RifleWOMEN
A dozen ladies from the Austin, New Braunfels, and San Antonio Chapters of A Girl & A Gun came together in south Texas at Lone Star Handgun to attempt to accomplish the prestigious Rifleman badge with Project Appleseed in a Ladyseed two-day class. Project Appleseed assembled a fantastic group of mentors that included a shoot boss, multiple line bosses, instructors, instructors-in-training, and Applecore volunteers, along with the Texas State Coordinator, to teach to basic skills of rifle marksmanship and the rifleman’s role in the United States’ independence from England.
5 Reasons You Don’t Want Free Training
Shooting is an expensive hobby and it can break the bank to buy guns, gear, ammo, and more. As you’re looking for places to cut corners, don’t skimp on a training budget. Even if you’re tempted to solicit firearms instructors to let you audit their classes, here are five reasons you don’t want free training.
Sight Alignment
In order for your shot to reach its intended location on a target, a shooter must have sight picture and alignment. Sight alignment is the symmetry between the front sight and rear sight. Your front sight should be in the exact center of the rear sight, at the same height of the rear sight. Remember the old adage: equal light, equal height.
How do you know if you’re getting good training?
A smart consumer will research options; a good student will, too, when seeking a firearms instructor. Here are names of the best and 9 red flags to watch out for.
Come Shoot With Me! Christi Tate Tells How to Invite Other Women to Shoot
Christi says, “I invited the women to shoot with me. It’ll just be fun, the camaraderie and shooting together again. I wouldn’t know any of these gals if not for the Brownells Fall Fest match. We started getting to know each other on Facebook before we met personally. Now, we have women, most who are members of A Girl & A Gun, coming together from all over to shoot. It just takes being creative and getting the people. Why can’t we do this everywhere?”
AG & AG Releases 2017 Shooting Journal
While there is evidence that journaling has a positive impact on physical well-being, there are also practical applications for documenting shooting sessions. This journal thoughtfully combines ballistic data collection and professional training documentation with worksheets to log thoughts, emotions, and experiences as a woman’s empowerment and success from shooting translates into other areas of her life. The Journal refers to this hybrid experience as “Tactical Foo-Foo.” With a different monthly focus, the Shooting Journal provides dry-fire and live-fire drills along with guided discussions to inspire women to achieve shooting and personal goals.
4 Components of a Cartridge
There are several different words used to describe ammunition: bullets, shells, projectiles, rounds, shot, slugs, cartridges, munitions, etc. In reality anything can be used as ammunition, whether it be a stone you are throwing or words you are using in an argument. In the world of firearms it is most commonly referred to in the informal context as “ammo.” Many people call them bullets, which to some is like nails on a chalkboard because the correct term for firearms ammunition is “cartridge.”
How To Be An Effective Learner
5 Fundamentals Of Pistol Marksmanship Partnered with 5 Key Points of Effective Learning If you’ve ever tried to teach someone how to shoot a handgun, or tried to learn from a friend or family member, it may not have gone as smoothly as you expected.Over the last 11 years Julianna Crowder has taught thousands of […]
How to Find a Firearms Instructor
The first step to learning to shoot a gun is to find a good instructor. Learning correct marksmanship skills and creating good habits from the start will give you a solid foundation for success and confidence at the range. Here is how to find the right firearms instructor.
Semi-Auto vs. Full-Auto
The terms may be confusing to some people, but semi-auto and full-auto firearms are very different from each other.
Gun Safety Rules
When manipulating a firearm, there are four universal safety rules that must ALWAYS be obeyed. When these four rules are followed, accidents can be minimized. Negligent discharges of a firearm can result in death or serious injury when these rules are not followed. Every shooter should know and be able to recite the 4 Rules of Gun Safety.
How to Manage Recoil
Managing recoil is done with your entire body. A proper stance gives you a stable platform so that your gun can function. It is important to keep your weight forward on the balls of your feet. Even while standing practicing with static target shooting, your posture should be forward, aggressive, and ready to move.
How To Fit Your Hand To Your Pistol
size/shape of your hand + how to fit checklist + size/shape frame/grip = right gun for you! Trying different handguns is like trying on shoes: You may wear a size 8, but not all size 8s fit the same — only you know if it’s “right” for you and absolutely love it… or not. Similarly, many […]
5 Tips for Women — Choose A Gun For Self Defense
When selecting a firearm that you will depend your life upon, there are 5 very important factors to consider: #1: RELIABILITY Your gun must work each and every time you reach for it. This means having a gun of good craftsmanship (you get what you pay for), and remember KISS– Keep It Simple Sister. Don’t […]
League City Chapter Holds First Movie Night
The League City Chapter of A Girl & A Gun tried something different; they got together off the range for a movie night in the home of member, Donna Smith. Even though they weren’t shooting, the night still involved firearms. For the first movie night, the video from the Personal Defense Network titled, “Defensive Firearms […]
4 Factors When Buying a Carry Gun
When selecting a firearm that you will depend your life upon, there are four very important factors to consider: RELIABILITY Your gun must work each and every time you reach for it. This means your gun must be of good craftsmanship (you get what you pay for) and remember KISS – Keep It Simple Sister. […]
Training, Training, and More Training
Firearms Safety and Range Etiquette are the highest priorities of A Girl & A Gun Women’s Shooting League. Through numerous avenues we offer members the ability to learn more about safety, skills, and techniques to improve accuracy. Here are some of the ways our members receive training: 1. Training Slides. We created simple slides for […]
Houston Members Look Beyond CHL
Five Houston Chapter AG & AG members participated in Beyond Your CHL – Women’s Defensive Handgun presented by Safety and Defense Solutions. Tracy Hughes, Houston Chapter Facilitator and the instructor for this course, led the gals through skills such as drawing from the holster, shooting on the move, and an introduction to low light. The […]
Cornered Cat Facilitator Development Program
On May 2-4, 2014, Cornered Cat firearms instructor, Kathy Jackson, rolled out a specialized training program for AG& AG facilitators at a 3-day training session in Austin, TX. A majority of facilitators around the country will soon be graduates of the Cornered Cat Facilitator Development Program, which reflects the organization’s mission to provide ongoing advanced-level […]
