Tips For Getting Your Firearns license on the first try?

[greywolf67nt]

When you do your practical portion, pick a break action shotgun. They're the easiest thing on earth to prove safe. Look down the barrel....yep....unloaded and safe. Done.

I have now sat through the course 3 times (helping instructor not taking it) and it is "please pickup the bolt action rifle" "please pick up the semi automatic shot gun" "please pick up the lever action rifle". You ACTS and PROVE the gun when you pick it up and again when you set it down. You will have to demonstrate how to load each gun. ONCE IT IS LOADED PUT ON THE SAFETY.
You need to know how to ACTS and PROVE all of them but it is covered in the course and you do get to practice with each kind before hand.
Know how to read your head stamps and data stamps.
You will also have to demonstrate a couple of shooting positions (kneeling and standing) and what to do if you have to cross a fence. ACTS and PROVE the gun when you set it down and AGAIN when u pick it up. Even though you just did it when you set it down it is a mark against you if you don't check when you pick it up just in case "something accidentally got in the barrel or action". ALWAYS leave the action open when you are setting down an ACTSed and PROVEd gun.
The 2 HUGE things is pointed in a safe direction and finger off of trigger and outside of trigger guard and as mentioned before talk your way through because even if you don't completely properly demonstrate what you are doing the examiner will still know what you are attempting to do.

[RangeBob]

Dear original poster :

as mentioned before talk your way through because even if you don't completely properly demonstrate what you are doing the examiner will still know what you are attempting to do.

Yes.
The 2008 manual had a full page repeating ACTS & PROVE only on every 10th page or so.
During the practical test, mumble out the phrases for each letter of ACTS & PROVE as you're doing it, to explain what you're thinking as you move your hands.
And of course, do the correct things with your hands -- no touching the trigger, no sweeping the instructor.

[lone-wolf]

And of course, do the correct things with your hands -- no touching the trigger, no sweeping the instructor.

Back when my dad got his license, they had actual range time shooting. Some guy there sweeped everyone on the range!

[blacksmithden]

I have now sat through the course 3 times (helping instructor not taking it) and it is "please pickup the bolt action rifle" "please pick up the semi automatic shot gun" "please pick up the lever action rifle". You ACTS and PROVE the gun when you pick it up and again when you set it down. You will have to demonstrate how to load each gun. ONCE IT IS LOADED PUT ON THE SAFETY.
You need to know how to ACTS and PROVE all of them but it is covered in the course and you do get to practice with each kind before hand.
Know how to read your head stamps and data stamps.
You will also have to demonstrate a couple of shooting positions (kneeling and standing) and what to do if you have to cross a fence. ACTS and PROVE the gun when you set it down and AGAIN when u pick it up. Even though you just did it when you set it down it is a mark against you if you don't check when you pick it up just in case "something accidentally got in the barrel or action". ALWAYS leave the action open when you are setting down an ACTSed and PROVEd gun.
The 2 HUGE things is pointed in a safe direction and finger off of trigger and outside of trigger guard and as mentioned before talk your way through because even if you don't completely properly demonstrate what you are doing the examiner will still know what you are attempting to do.

Back when I did it......after letting my FAC expire for many many years, they just told us to pick a gun out of the pile. Perhaps the test has evolved since then. Perhaps it was because I was talking to the instructor before the course started and they got the point that I wasn't there to learn base level stuff about guns. I managed to sit through the first 15 minutes of a video and asked to challenge the example. Passed both the restricted and non restricted with 100%. I remember the only thing that I got wrong was when they held up a 22lr cartridge and asked me what kind of "bullet' it was. I said 'hollow point ?'.....I couldn't actually see the tip. Nope. I said 'round nose ?' Nope.....it's a 22 long rifle. I said '°You asked what kind of bullet it was, not what kind of cartridge it was'. Still marked me wrong...dumb twit.

[Laicosin]

When I did it there was no option in my area to just challenge the test, it was conducted in 4 (I think) classes and then the exam day. So 5 sessions in total (if I recall correctly).

Anyway, the first half of the classes was just going over the material covered in the book. The book is where all the information on the written portion of the exam comes from. From what I remember, the questions for the written portion are all multiple selection and they are all stupid simple. Just read through all the answers twice before selecting the right one. There were no trick questions and I think there was only one trivia sort of question. Something like "To what distance is a .22 LR lethal?" and even though it seems like a sort of trivia type question, the answer to that question and every other one is taken directly from material in the book. My instructor loaned books to us if we needed them, I don't know if that is standard practice for all instructors.

The second half of each class was dedicated to practical aspects of firearms. We were shown actual (deactivated) rifles and shotguns and took turns handling them and practicing the normal safety procedures. The standard sequence was this:
1)The instructor designates which direction is down range.
2)You select the action you want to learn more about.
3)The first thing you do after picking up the firearm is ensure that the muzzle is pointed down range.
4)Ensure the firearm is unloaded. Open the action and inspect the bore, then leave the action open while still keeping your muzzle pointed down range.
5)Read the barrel of the firearm to determine its caliber/gauge and the type of ammunition it is chambered in.
6)Select the correct ammunition from a pile by reading the bottom of the cartridge/shell.
7)Load the firearm while keeping the muzzle pointed down range and put the safety on after it is loaded.
8)Unload the firearm and leave the action open, then set it on the table with muzzle still pointed down range.
*Note* At no point does your finger ever go inside the trigger guard. Ever. At all. There is no time throughout the entire experience from starting to finishing the course that your finger enters a trigger guard.

Throughout the instructor may ask questions.Things like what is the model of the firearm, or what type of safety it has, or even what type of sights it has. The actual practical portion of the exam is entirely based on safety and no trivia about sights of model numbers will be tested (as far as I know).

It really isn't a difficult exam, I got 100% on both written and practical. Just make sure you are familiar with the 5 different actions, and if you get the opportunity to handle the test firearms beforehand then you should. The deactivated firearms we were shown in class were the same ones used in our exam, so if you have the option of class sessions then you should go to them.