I'll have to borrow a revolver to practice then. Had to practice with a rented 357 magnum for the boston LTC moon island test, so 22 should be easier
thanks for the replies guys, more reassuring. Thought they'd make us know how to field strip EVERYTHING and all the technical intricacies.
You should own a couple of revolvers if you are going to teach anyway. You might as well get them now.
My suggestion is that you get a 5 or 6 inch .22 single action revolver and a 4" double action .357 magnum revolver. (Not that you will be shooting .357s in it. But light .38s are nothing out of a solid full underlug .357)
My suggestions for guns are
.22
if you want to do it right a Ruger Single Six or Single Ten.
If you don't have much money, these work well for about $150 I have one and the students love it.
http://lipseys.com/itemdetail.aspx?itemno=HERR22B4
For .357, I'd suggest a S&W 686, a used S&W 66, or a Ruger GP100 for a bit less money.
For .22 semi-autos I use a Ruger 22/45 with a red dot and a silencer, Browning buckmark, and a Glock 17 with a .22 kit. You could get by with any one of these.
Stick with .22s for most of the class. Most new shooters start to push or flinch within 1 mag of centerifire. They do not learn anything shooting centerfire other than what recoil feels like and the fact that they don't really know much. .22 is the way to teach marksmanship.
For semi-auto I use Glock 34 and 26 to demonstrate how size changes recoil and stress that they should get a range gun (which can also function for home defense) before they get a carry gun.
I will do the same thing with revolvers if time permits. 6" 686 vs an aluminum framed (11 ounce) J frame. We shoot light target loads. Typically they do great with the 686 and can't hit the broad side of a barn with the J frame. My point here is to impress upon them that the smaller a gun gets the harder it is to shoot. That they need to resist the urge to buy the smallest, most powerful gun they can find.
Lately, I've been letting them shoot a few rounds from my Glock 42 with a +2 round grip extension. Everyone does well with this.
Then I stress that they have not really learned enough to carry effectively. I go into all the things that we have not covered. Holster selection, concealment, draw from a holster, shooting and moving, reloading on the move, dealing with malfunctions, use of cover, etc.
Don
p.s. I do this for enjoyment. So my classes are all private or small private groups. We get a lot of time to shoot. So we have time to go over all of these guns.