HOw to become a firearms instructor
turn your passion into a part or full-time career
Become a leader in your community and help us raise the industry’s standards by becoming a Tactical Hyve Certified Firearms instructor. With our certification program, you’ll gain the knowledge and experience to teach our industry-leading standards of instruction and shooting performance.
Become A Tactical Hyve Certified Firearms Instructor in 3-Steps
Apply for Level 1 Certification
The first step is to complete our short application, which you can access here. We want to make sure you’re a good fit for the program and that the program is a good fit for you. Select applicants will be contacted to schedule a Firearm Instructor Certification Interview.
Pass Our Online Certification Program
If you qualify for instructor certification, you will get access to our comprehensive online certification program that covers our methodology, core programming, performance standards, and how to teach students effectively. We also share business best practices.
Pass Our 2-Day In-Person Instructor Evaluation
After passing our online program, you’ll be invited to take our in-person evaluation, where we test your ability to meet our shooting and teaching standards. After successful completion, you’ll receive your instructor credentials and certified instructor welcome kit.
Why You Should Get Certified By Tactical Hyve
Become a firearms instructor with a brand synonymous with excellence in firearms training.
Be recognized for meeting the highest standards of firearms training and instruction. Only qualified, experienced applicants get into our program, and only the most dedicated will pass. You will be certified and qualified.
You’ll learn the what, when, how, and why of every principle and technique, allowing you to shortcut the learning curve for all students. Our acclaimed firearms instructor course is second to none and continually updated.
Many certification programs aren’t covered. Our program is. Enjoy the peace of mind that comes with up $1 to $2 Million in liability coverage, ensuring you are protected as you pursue your passion for teaching.
What You Get with Level 1 Certification
Not only do you get a certification known for high standards, you get a whole lot more…
Proven Program
Our program is meticulously designed to encompass online and in-person training modules, ensuring a comprehensive learning experience. You’ll be immersed in our teaching methodology, which has garnered acclaim for its effectiveness and clarity. You will grasp the intricate details of pistol marksmanship principles and master techniques that set you apart from other firearms instructors.
New Income Stream
As a certified instructor, you gain exclusive permission to teach our highly sought-after Cheat Codes of Shooting™ 1 class, using the class name and our exact curriculum that consistently sells out. Leveraging the popularity of our class, you can unlock an additional income stream, boosting your financial stability. (Teaching the class is not mandatory. It is available for you to teach if you’d like to.)
Affiliate Opportunity
Certified instructors have the unique opportunity to apply to become affiliates, allowing you to represent our esteemed brand officially. This includes rights to use our name and logo, becoming an official member of our instructor cadre, and unwavering support in marketing your business.
Teaching Opportunities
You don’t need to start your own business to teach if you don’t want to. As a certified instructor, we may ask if you want to teach our Cheat Codes of Shooting™ 1 class in your area. We will market and fill the class for you, and you’ll get paid to teach. All you have to do is show up and teach the class!
Website Listing
Get exposure on our website! You’ll be listed as a Tactical Hyve certified instructor on our site, and we’ll link out to your business website. Visitors will know you’ve passed our high-performance standards and can teach others well.
Instructor Community
You’ll get access to a private community with all of our certified instructors so you can network with one another. Discuss challenges, business best practices, ranges, ways to improve, etc., with instructors who understand you.
Vetted Status
Get the coveted “Vetted” badge in our firearms training directory. Vetted status means we have personally trained with you and vouch for your ability to teach and shoot.
Class Discounts
As a certified instructor, we want you to gain more knowledge and experience to continually improve. To help, you get 50% off any of our in-person classes in any location.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, experience is required. This is a train-the-trainer program. Ideal candidates will have extensive shooting and teaching experience and will most likely already be certified through a different organization.
Our certification program is not for new shooters or beginners, nor is it a program for individuals with no teaching experience.
That said, we care less about how long you have been shooting and teaching and more about whether you can shoot and teach others at a higher level than commonly experienced in the industry.
You must have teaching experience to be considered. As an instructor program, our teaching evaluation is more difficult than our shooting standards. In terms of shooting, to be considered, you must be able to shoot the following drills:
- Take 10 shots from 4 yards at a 1-inch square. You must consistently hit 8 out of 10 shots.
- Take 10 shots from 25-yards at a 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper. You must consistently land 8 out of 10 shots on paper.
- Starting from the holster, on the buzzer, draw your pistol and engage an A-Zone target from 25-yards with 10-shots. You have 20 seconds. You must consistently hit 8 out of 10 shots in the A-zone.
If you have teaching experience and can shoot the above drills with 80% accuracy, our Level 1 qualification standards will be within your reach.
We focus heavily on marksmanship at a much higher level of on-demand performance. Many programs cover safe weapons handling but spend little time on proficiency.
We also take a mastery approach to shooting instead of teaching you what’s ‘good enough.’ Regarding our shooting instruction, instructor candidates have remarked that our program “starts where other certification courses stop.”
Level 1 Certification investment is $2,000 which can be paid at one time or split over four monthly payments using Klarna. Every two years, instructors must revalidate their certification for $200.
Yes. Every year, you must attend a virtual/in-person instructor summit covering yearly updates to our programming. This is completely free. In addition, there is a revalidation test every two years to ensure you maintain our teaching and performance standards. The cost is $200.
Our instructor certification gives you the recognition of meeting our high standards of shooting and instruction. We will list you on our website as a certified instructor; however, you are responsible for promoting your classes and/or your business. Affiliates, on the other hand, are official representatives of Tactical Hyve, and we will help promote their classes.
You are allowed to say you are certified to teach Tactical Hyve’s Cheat Codes of Shooting™ 1 class and advertise that you are Tactical Hyve Level 1 Pistol Certified. However, you may not use our name or logo for any other purpose. Use of our name and logo are reserved for our affiliates.
Both are connected with Tactical Hyve. Certified instructors have passed our strict standards of performance and teaching. No limits exist to how many people can be certified in a given location. In contrast, there are only 1 or 2 affiliates per designated market area. Affiliates are the official faces of our brand. They must be certified and go through a separate application evaluation process. They can use our name and logo, and they are listed on our website as official cadre members.
You must first be a Tactical Hyve Certified Instructor. Then, you can request to become an affiliate and more details will be provided to you.
There are six certification levels now, three for pistol and three for rifle. Level 1 Pistol Certification is the starting point for anyone interested in being certified by Tactical Hyve.
We cover our teaching methodology, core programming, performance standards, and how to teach students effectively. We also share business best practices. You will learn everything you need to hold our widely popular Cheat Codes of Shooting™ 1 class and much more. Although this is our Level 1 certification, if you’ve trained with us, you know there is nothing basic about our Level 1 programming.
Qualified applicants will get access to the online course component upon enrolling. Students have three months to complete the online course. After the online course, they have a full year to attend one of our 2-day in-person evaluations that are held throughout the U.S.
Applicants who become Certified Instructors will maintain access to our online course as long as they maintain their certification.
In-person evaluations are held in different cities in the U.S. throughout the year. Check our evaluation calendar for current dates and locations. We continually add dates throughout the year.
No, our program isn’t about concealed carry permits and approvals. This is not a concealed carry license program nor do we certify you to conduct concealed carry permit approval classes.
If you would like to run classes where you approve concealed carry permit applicants, please check with your state for specific licensing and/or certification requirements.
Yes, absolutely. Many of our candidates are already certified by other organizations, and we prefer candidates who already have teaching credentials. Our program will take your knowledge to a whole new level.
Hear What Candidates Have to Say
Our program raises the standard of marksmanship instruction and shooting performance one instructor at a time.
Ready To Take The Next Step?
If you’re ready to take your teaching career and skills to another level, we invite you to apply to become our next certified Level 1 Pistol Instructor.
Together, we can create a ripple effect of excellence and dedication across the firearms training industry.