Kistler Shooting School

About the school

Dave Kistler

Owner, Instructor

Looking to get your License to Carry (LTC) or your Firearms ID (FID) card? Located in Leominster, which is geographically situated in North Central Massachusetts, Kistler Shooting Schools is here to help you with meeting the requirements to achieve both.

Need help with improving your rifle or pistol marksmanship, get better scores at skeet, trap or sporting clays? Kistler Shooting Schools provides coaching and instruction for individuals and groups that will give you sound understanding of what it takes to bring your game to the next level.

We will help you develop the skills, knowledge, and attitude towards a lifetime of safe handling of firearms and instill proper fundamentals for excellent shooting technique. Through careful and thoughtful instruction we can help you realize your shooting goals for many years of enjoyment in the shooting sports.

I have over 40 years of experience in multiple shooting disciplines, hunting and safe firearm handling. I know I can help you reach your goals and maximize your potential.

Safe Shooting!
Dave Kistler

Mass State Police Certified
Mass Basic Hunter Education - Volunteer Instructor
Mass Trapper Education - Volunteer Instructor

NRA Certified Instructor
NRA Certified CRSO
NRA Certified Hunter Clinic Instructor
NSCA Sporting Clays Instructor

NRA Pistol Coach
NRA Rifle Coach
NRA Shotgun Coach

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Hi Dave,

Thank you for the most-thorough and outstanding training session on the trap field yesterday.

Since that session, I have been totally absorbed with the results and have thought about nothing else.

From the first shots to the pattern board to the “final exam” across the five trap stations, your methodical approach and your attention to the fine details made all the difference in putting new confidence in my ability to shoot. I can’t wait to hit the field again to translate this new knowledge into a lot more broken clays!

But the best part which I am taking away from our session yesterday is the now the ability to now diagnose every shot and self-correct when needed. I’m hoping we can get together for another session in a few weeks for go over additional and advanced refinements as I put your knowledge (now in my hands) into competitive practice.

Hope to see you soon! And thanks again for the great work in a brief, but highly productive hour on the trap field!

Kind regards,

Steve Brousseau

Member, Leominster Sportsmen’s Association

~ Steven

Hi Dave,

This is just a quick note to thank you for the one-hour of training on shooting competitive .22 rim fire at the LSA indoor range. From the initial standing position and the grip hold on the pistol to the breathing and trigger squeeze…you covered it all! But most importantly, I’m now able to dry-fire practice at home to develop the muscle memory to execute each good shot consistently on the live range, and hopefully in future competitions. My confidence

is way up and with continued practice, so will my scores.

Keep up the great work in helping shooters like me get past the rough spots!

Kind regards,

Steve

~ Steve

Hi Dave,

I shot my first match with the pistol team on Monday night. I shot a 235 the first time out.

I’ve been practicing slow fire and scored an 84, but I had two shots out of bounds on the

rapid stage. So this is where I now need more practice. I’m really happy with the results the first time out on the line. I wouldn’t even be close to this kind of score without the training I received from you.

Kind regards,

Steve

~ Steve

Hi Dave,

I just wanted to provide you with an update on my shooting abilities and the progress since

our training sessions.

I’ve been shooting with the pistol team on Monday nights. I’ve shot four matches with the

scores getting better with every match. So far…235…239…245…274. I surprised everyone with the 274 this week. I did it with a Ruger MKIV with an Ultradot. But I continue to practice with open sights for steadiness, along the dry firing at home. It all seems to be working!

On the trap range, I’ve only shot one round of trap since the training, but I smoked 20 out

of 25 on Saturday afternoon. I did contact Bud about the stock modification and will try

to get up to NH in the next few weeks. On the misses, it was just a matter of not keeping

the gun moving with the clay. We saw that this was something I was doing during training.

We’ll keep working on it.

Kind regards,

Steve

~ Steve

Hi Dave,

Here's a final update for my first season of competitive Bullseye pistol shooting.

Much to my own surprise my final scores in the remaining weeks were consistently in the

260 to 270 range (had one 277). I made the team seven or eight times during the season.

And I'm really looking forward to next season.

I just want the emphasis the practice (4 to 5 hundreds rounds per week) and keeping with

your fundamentals. This has kept me from formulating bad habits and bad shooting. I can now shoot multiple pistols (not at the same time!) and get the same consistent results using both optics and open sights.

Looking forward to more training on the trap and skeet field this summer!

Keep up the great work with your students!

Steve

~ Steven

Many thanks for the lesson in preparation for an upcoming pheasant hunt, Dave. It was just what needed—not only the practice shouldering and shooting from a ready position but also how to approach when a dog is pointing. Needless to say my shooting was much improved (83% success) over previous outings (about 25%). What’s more I was pretty relaxed and did not feel like I was aiming as much as pointing. I hope to get to the trap range in coming weeks for that challenge…. I’ll see how it goes but might be in contact for some pointers on that.

~ Richard

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