Schaefer Academy: 512-785-4800
5 Star Reviews
Course & Certification Instructors
Tom Schaefer
Tom owns and operates the Schaefer Training Academy, a private training facility on his ranch near Lockhart and Dale, Texas (Austin suburbs), and the Schaefer Leather Company where he manufactures custom leather gear.- Certified Texas Concealed Handgun License Instructor
- NRA Instructor in Home Firearm Safety
- NRA Pistol Instructor
- NRA Personal Protection Instructor
Experience/Achievements:
- Tom retired as a Sergeant Investigator with 27 years credited service with the Austin Police Retirement system. In addition to his experience as a detective and patrol officer, he has also instructed cadets at the APD academy in firearms, defensive tactics, and high speed pursuit driving as well as criminal law enforcement. While on active duty he was a competitor on the APD Police pistol team in the sport of Police Pistol Competition (PPC). Tom's CHL/PTC class was featured in "The Texas Solution", a documentary about Texas CHL/PTC and the reduction in crime rate that occurred when CHL was enacted. The documentary was shown on the BBC.
Training:
- Extensive law enforcement in-service training, as well as degrees in psychology and criminal justice.
Certifications:
Gary Smith
Gary Smith is the founding publisher of Handgun Hunter Magazine and has been hunting with handguns since the late 1970's. More than 30 years later, Smith has hunted in Africa on multiple occasions and has taken two of the Big-5 with a handgun in addition to numerous plains game species. He has also taken many animals in North America with a handgun including deer, bear, elk, pronghorn antelope and numerous Texas exotics. He has also worked as a hunting guide in Texas and has witnessed many animals taken with centerfire rifles, bow and arrow and muzzle loading firearms providing the opportunity to observe the effectiveness of hunters and their equipment in a wide variety of situations.
- NRA Certified Range Safety Officer
- NRA Instructor in Home Firearm Safety
- NRA Pistol Instructor
- NRA Personal Protection Instructor
Experience/Achievements:
- In addition to founding Handgun Hunter Magazine, Gary has also written articles on the subject for other national publications and has collaborated on two books, "Big Bore Revolvers" and "The Gun Digest book of Ruger Revolvers". He is also a Life Member of the Dallas Safari Club, a Life Member of the National Rifle Association and a certified handgun instructor and range safety officer. Gary instructs individuals interested in shooting and hunting with big-bore revolvers and other specialized handguns. He was recently invited to speak at a meeting with the Government of Namibia on the merits of handgun hunting so that their laws could be changed to allow the use of handguns for trophy hunting in that country. We are pleased to speculate that it will be allowed within 12-18 months as the effort is progressing nicely.