Instructor Qualifications: All AFT instructors have either NRA Instructor certifications in the disciplines they teach in, police or military experience, or have gone through an internal instructor training course defined by our Instructional System Design documents. You can see specifics on our instructor biography page. We are very careful in who we choose to be instructors. The key word is “instructors”. We look for a minimum level of competency and expertise but what we value the most in a potential instructor is formal instruction in coaching, mentoring and other instructional disciplines. Experience as instructors, corporate or government trainers is sought. We can train instructors to the knowledge and skill levels we need if they have a good foundation but we can never train an instructor to enjoy coaching and mentoring if they are not so inclined to it. Subsequently a successful history of coaching and mentoring combined with a patient personality defines our instructors.
History: Atlanta Firearms Training was started in 2009 by two airline instructor pilots who were upper level IDPA competitors and is currently owned by Chuck Marable. We have, as of January 2025, trained over 3500 students.
Location: We do not have a brick and mortar location. We decided to organize the business around a consultant model to keep our prices affordable. Our primary training locations are South River Gun Club about 30 miles east of Atlanta, Bullseye Gun Range in Lawrenceville, and Gunsite Hills about 70 miles east of Atlanta in Lexington GA but we can set up private or group sessions at nearly any range complex near you. Pistol Classes, AR-15, Shotgun, and Level 1 Long Range Rifle Classes are held at South River Gun Club, Level II Long Range Classes are held at Gunsite Hills.
Class Content: Depending on the course, courses have a day of classroom instruction and a day of shooting. Textbooks are provided (electronically in some cases) . Advanced courses or one day courses which concentrate on just shooting skills presume that the student possesses all relevant knowledge and basic precursor skills and do not include a classroom day or textbook.
Training Philosophy: Our core values are to convey at least a basic level of proficiency in every class we offer. The original owners, being formally trained airline instructor pilots, bristled at the courses they took coming up in shooting. Many of these courses we took are as much entertainment as they are training – lots of exercises but minimum round count per exercise. Adult learning principles teach us that proficiency requires practice and repetition. Sports kinesiology teaches us that to master a skill between 1000 and 500 repetitions are required. To that end we have designed sufficient round count into each skill to provide for a minimum level of muscle memory which we hope will follow the student home. Subsequently you may notice we teach fewer skills per class than some other training providers – proficiency is the reason. We also design our basic level courses with a full day of classroom work to provide a comprehensive education of the discipline being taught
Business Hours: We are a part time business and all instructors have full time jobs in other fields. We offer classes primarily on weekends and occasionally private instruction during the week. We can be best contacted by email. We will respond usually within 24 hours of your query. On our available days we generally answer the phone between 0900 and 1800 as we can. Otherwise phone calls will be returned as we become available. We appreciate your patience in this.
Payment Methods: We accept payments through Square, which means we accept major credit/debit cards. We do not use any other payment method (not under any circumstances).
Refunds & Cancellations
Refund Policy:
It takes a tremendous amount of planning and coordination to get the resources in place to conduct a safe and effective firearms training class. Please be sure that you can commit to taking your scheduled class. Our classes require full payment at the time of booking. ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS or credits will be issued for reschedules, cancellations or no-shows, regardless of when the cancellation is made.
Rescheduling Policy: If notification is received at least 14 days prior to the scheduled course date, you can reschedule for the same course at a later date, subject to availability and a $75 change fee.
Course Cancellation Policy: If for some reason the course is cancelled (e.g. dangerous weather, disaster), we will reschedule you in the next available course, subject to availability. No additional fees will be assessed.
Are we hiring?: The short answer is “no”. We generally are available only on a weekend basis and offer classes about every other weekend. All instructors are contractors – there are no full time employees. We select our instructors primarily for their ability to coach and mentor others – NOT necessarily for their skill level with a given weapon. Subsequently we must have either personal experience in shooting with prospective instructors or have strong recommendations from current instructors. We occasionally will contract with instructors who were prior students if they have a formal training or teaching background.
Contacting Us: We can be best contacted by email. We will respond usually within 24 hours of your query. On our available days we generally answer the phone between 0900 and 1700 as we can. Otherwise phone calls will be returned as we become available. We appreciate your patience in this.
Inquiries: Email Chuck: chuck@atlantafirearmstraining.com