I want to take the course and was wondering how the usual routine goes? How many hours is the class? When do you go to the range? Those type questions. Thanks in advance.

It will be the hardest thing ever
All kidding aside, it will depend on your instructor. I would think they have their own style of delivery but you will have to have so much class time and so much range time and qualify with the pistol. If you carry a revolver, you will only be able to lawfully carry a revolver. If you use a semi auto pistol, you will be able to carry either one. You will need to carry at least a .32 caliber(the best i can remember) for semi auto.
If i am wrong about the caliber, someone please chime in.
But anyway, i don't own any guns but this is what i heard.

Its extremely long. Informative, but very long. Shooting is fun though.

I don't have one, well, not the kind you are talking about.

I hear it is almost impossible to fail the class.

I met a guy a couple of years ago. an older gentleman, that had a CHL. He was legally blind.

That should tell you something.

Real long, but important stuff. If you fail the shoot test, turn in your guns to the nearest precint!!

They let a woman do it three times in a row my first time, until she passed. That was when they scored scored them. Last time I renewed they didn't score it with points, just pass or fail.

I really depends on the instructor. Mine was an ancient good 'ol boy retired DPS officer and did a very no nonsense class that was still very imformative. He also kept it interesting enough that I didn't even notice how long I was there.

On the other hand I was at the local gun range one afternoon paying for a lane and heard the instructor giving a class there. This guy was very tactisexy-esque and was interjecting his personal opinions of the law instead of just reciting the wordage. Just picture discussing CHL laws in person with some of the internet lawyers on here whose only response to any question is "you will get arrested and go to jail" no matter how right someone might be or how simple the question.

Best advice in this endeavor is to ask around (like on here) for a good teacher and don't cloud your mind with endless speculation about tactics and law. You could find yourself second guessing yourself/thinking too much if faced in a situation where split seconds count. Find a good lawyer and bend his ear for a bare bones educational conversation.

If I remember right class is 10hrs. It should go pretty fast as long as you dont too many of those what if poeple that will throw out every scenerio they can think of with out stoping to think about what the teacher has already taught. (end of rant)

Its a long day but the shooting is fun, and you will get alot of good info. Like DevilDog said ask around and find a good class.

It can be really boring or really exciting depending on the instructor. The spectrum of good-to-bad classes is very wide.

The instructors at Bullet Trap in Plano are great!

During one of the 'proficiency shoots' on the range, our instructor pulled two people off the range and 'FAILED' them.

They had borrowed semi-autos from friends to try and qualify for the proficiency shoot on the range as they had no idea how to load & lock the 'loaned' weapons.

Good call Bullet Trap!!

Like everyone says, it's a very long class and I'd find a good instructor. My instructor told so many lies about his background and thought he was Larry the Cable Guys brother. Let's see, my instructor was in law enforcement, ran a private security firm with shooters all over the world, purchased helicopters, bought truck loads of ammo, tazed a guy the day before he taught my class and the list of his accomplisents went on and on. Bottom line is that I was ready to shoot myself before the class was over.

the class will be 8-10 hours, the instructor makes all the diff.
we did the shooting first i think if you don't pass that no need in sitting thru the rest. the shooting is the easest you will ever have. the class i had was really fun the instructor would come up with senerios and kind of act them out and that stuck in your mind for the test which was easy also

i had to requalify a couple years ago and there was another guy there that had to requalify too, come range time he had a complete melt down. couldnt operate his gun, went to shaking and sweating. wasnt a medical reason, he just melted on the line. after seeing his shooting, i felt that maybe i needed to protect myself from him instead of the bad guys...i was completely in shock after watching that.

boorrinngg

Just imagine that guy gets to pull his gun and shoot it under real pressure. Hope im not around.

In my renewal class last year I watched the instructors teach a woman how to operate her gun and how to shoot. She was clueless to even the basics. I really don't get why these people aren't failed. They have no business walking around with handguns and one day their ineptness is going to be used against CHL laws by the liberals.

But to the point made above, if you fail this course you are a water head of epic proportions.

Yep I had women in my class who couldnt shoot too. Didnt know how to load a magazine, tried to put the magazine in backwards, and plain out couldnt shoot. I wish you really had to show proficiency in EVERY instructors class.

If you can pay the state fees, and pull your slide back you will be fine.

my class was taught by a 70 year old woman, who was an amazing shooter. She was funny, kept the class interesting, informational, and she even fed us lunch. She actually failed a guy in our class after he caught the web between his thumb and index finger not once, but twice, when the slide came back forward, then proceeded to flag the guy next to him.

My class was 8 hrs. but it went exceedingly fast because the instructor was a Vietnam combat vet with a son that had been wounded by an IED in Iraq and had photos of both to break up the monotony of the legal jargon.The only bad part was there was only two "students",myself (56yrs.old) and a just turned 21 gang-banger who admitted he had already been caught with a gun at 17 and now wanted to carry legally{charges were were dropped).He shot a full-sized Taurus .45 auto and barely scraped by,the exact words of the instructor were "Well,you passed).Then he wanted to know something about AK47's,probably if he could carry in the front seat,I just don't remember.He was legally entitled to the instruction and the license but something about it just seemed wrong to me.I got my permit to protect myself and my family;what he got his for is probably something else.

you can carry a ak47 in the front seat!lol

As everyone has said before, the class is pretty long and if you have a bad instructor can be boring. It's easy(too easy IMHO) and you'll do fine. We had both men and women who had *never held a gun* even once, take the class and pass. The distances you shoot at are very close range(like most encounters) and you *should* have passed the shooting part by the time they move you back to the farthest distance, 20 yds if I remember correctly. I think that was when most people had the most misses. Your trigger control just needs to be spot on when you start moving back.

We only had one numbskull in class. On the first set of targets, the instructor told us to shoot "one round in 3 seconds". Apparently the guy thought he said to shoot "one round *every* 3 seconds" and proceeded to empty his magazine. This set off the rest of the class who heard the continuous firing and proceeded to do the same-presumably they thought they had heard the range command wrong.

LONG DAY, BUT WORTH EVERY PENNY AND MINUTE,, ONLY PRBLM W/ THE CLASS WAS THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO CAN NOT SHOOT SURPRISED ME.. $$$$$$ SOME PEOPLE LOVE TO SHOOT GUNS AND ARE AT LEAST PROFICIENT,, AND OTHERS NEED TO OWN AND LOAD THEM AND HAND EM TO THOSE OF US THAT DO SHOOT..

a CHL class is NOT a defensive training / tactics class
it's a basic run down of the law and a rudimentary "test" on shooting.

Personally, I think anyone that is going to carry should have more advanced training..

I am one of those guys who "has been shooting since I was a kid", hunt, do some competition, etc..
I fought taking classes because of my ego "I don't need to be taught how to shoot a damned gun!"

Good classes are an eye opener and highly recommend people seek out quality training.. may keep you alive should the proverbial [censored] hit the fan

I went with Karl Wren at KR Training just east of Austin
HIGHLY recommended