Shooting training for everyone. Learn to shoot – no firearms licence needed.

Shooting training at the WaffenPro shooting sports centre in Zerbst is a structured learning programme with a DSB-licensed coach, open to anyone without a firearms licence (Waffenschein) and without prior experience: on five climate-controlled 25-metre lanes with electronic scoring, you learn the fundamentals of accurate shooting with handguns and rifles – stance, grip, sight picture, breathing and trigger control. The legal basis is § 27 of the German Weapons Act (WaffG), which permits supervised shooting on approved ranges; a valid ID card or passport is all you need.^*

The difference from taster shooting lies not in the facility but in the goal. Taster shooting shows you what a shot feels like. Shooting training shows you how a shot comes about – and what you need to change so that the next one lands better. The coach does not merely stand beside you; they watch your hands, eyes and breathing, read your shot group on the monitor and give you one concrete correction after every string. You leave the lane with a technique, not just a memory.

Three formats bring you to the firearm in Zerbst: taster shooting as an experience, shooting training as a learning programme and coaching as individual performance work with shot analysis. All three take place under the supervision of DSB-licensed range officers, and all three are possible without your own firearm and without a firearms ownership licence (WBK). What sets them apart is depth: from first contact, through clean fundamentals, to the measurable refinement of individual movements.

If you are unsure, start with taster shooting and decide afterwards. If you already know you want to learn to shoot, skip that detour and book the training directly – the safety briefing and firearms handling are included anyway, and the rest of the time belongs to technique. Coaching is the third step for anyone with a specific goal, such as a competition discipline or a persistent fault. You will find the current packages with contents and prices in the booking system; entry starts at €55.

A shooting training session in Zerbst follows a fixed sequence: safety briefing, firearms handling, dry drills without ammunition, shooting in blocks with a correction after each string, debrief and a goal for the next session. The structure is the real difference from free shooting – every block has a task, and only once it is mastered does the next one follow.

The coach always starts without ammunition. Grip, stance and trigger are practised at the bench until the movement is calm; only then is the firearm loaded. On the lane you shoot short strings, see the result immediately on the electronic scoring display and discuss it before the next string follows. The result is not ammunition spent without learning, but a rhythm of shooting, seeing, understanding, adjusting.

The session ends with a short debrief: what has improved, which fault remains, what you will work on next time. The coach names one or two points, not ten – so the task for the next session stays clear and measurable. You take your target home as a record of your progress; if you book several sessions, laying the targets side by side shows how the groups tighten.

• Arrival and ID check, assignment to your coach
• Safety briefing: the four basic rules, range commands, conduct on the lane
• Firearms handling: construction, function, loading and unloading of your rental firearm
• Dry drills at the bench: grip, stance, sight picture, trigger without ammunition
• Shooting in strings with a correction after each one
• Switch to the second type of firearm, if included in the package
• Debrief of your shot group and a goal for the next session
• Wind down in the clubhouse restaurant or the ApexLounge (Thu–Sat from 5 pm)

Accurate shooting rests on five elements, which shooting training builds in this order: a stable stance, a firm and repeatable grip, a clean sight picture, controlled breathing and a smooth trigger pull without moving the firearm. Skip one of them and you will notice it on the target by the third magazine at the latest. The theory behind it is in the guide to hitting better – in training it becomes movement that the coach sees from outside and corrects.

The coach works through each element individually and shows you what it feels like when it is right: hand pressure that does not change as the finger moves to the trigger; the front sight that stays sharp while the target blurs; breath that holds still in the pause before the shot. The hits on the monitor show whether the correction has taken – with no room for interpretation.

Shooting training in Zerbst covers handguns and rifles: rental pistols such as the Glock 17 and 19, HK P30 and USP, SIG Sauer P226 and Walther P99 are available alongside centrefire rifles and precision rifles, shot in calibres from .22 LR to .45 ACP at 25 metres. The facility is approved for up to 7,000 joules and therefore suited to both types of firearm.

The handgun is the classic learning ground: grip and trigger decide almost everything, faults show immediately and can be pinpointed precisely. Training usually begins with rimfire .22, because recoil and report are low and your attention stays entirely on technique. Once the movement is solid, you move up to 9 mm or a larger calibre – and feel that the same technique holds there too.

The rifle asks something different of your body: shoulder mount, cheek weld, points of support, calm breathing through a longer aim. Many participants find that one of the two types suits them noticeably better. The combination training is therefore for anyone who wants to get to know both before committing to one path in the club or at the firearms school.

Shooting training is built in three levels: beginners' training with no prior experience, advanced training for shooters with sound fundamentals, and individual coaching with shot analysis by the Mantis X10. Each level builds on the previous one; if you already shoot, you join where your shot group suggests. The coach proposes the level after the first strings – not based on self-assessment, but on what the monitor shows.^*

Beginners' training focuses on safety, firearms handling and the five fundamentals – the goal is a controlled, repeatable shot group. Advanced training is about accuracy under conditions: strings within a set time, switching between targets, shooting from different positions, preparation for the DSB and BDS sporting rules. Here the shot group tightens and the eye for detail sharpens.

In coaching, the Mantis X10 takes on the role of a second pair of eyes. The sensor on the firearm records movement before, during and after the shot and shows in real time whether the trigger pull is dragging, the grip is giving way or the firearm is breaking out at the report. The coach translates this data into concrete drills. The system is available on site; how to complement it at home is described in the guide to dry-fire training.

Every shooting training session in Zerbst begins with a safety briefing, and throughout the session a DSB-licensed range officer stands at your lane, stepping in before a mistake happens. The four basic rules – muzzle in a safe direction, finger on the trigger only when firing, treat every firearm as loaded, follow commands immediately – are not explained once but carried through every drill.

In training, safety is also technique. If you lower the firearm in a controlled way after the shot, rest your finger outside the trigger guard and never let the barrel leave the direction of the target, you will end up shooting better too – because your movements become calmer and more predictable. The facility does its part: extraction right at the firing point, a climate-controlled hall, electronic scoring instead of changing targets in the danger zone. Complete sobriety is required before and during training.

Shooting training is aimed at anyone aged 18 or over who wants not just to try shooting but to understand it; under § 27 WaffG, young people train with air guns and certain rimfire firearms under supervision and with the written consent of their legal guardians. No prior experience is needed, and athletic experience or strength play no role – shooting is concentration and repetition.

Typical participants are beginners who want to continue after taster shooting, couples and friends learning together, prospective sport shooters before joining a club, hunters in preparation and WBK holders who want to shake off a persistent fault. People who feel a certain respect for firearms also find the right setting here: the coach sets the pace together with you.

As a gift voucher, shooting training is a gift with a sequel: the recipient takes home not just an afternoon but a skill that is still there on the next visit. The voucher arrives digitally within seconds by e-mail or as a high-quality card by post, the value is freely chosen; the recipient books their own appointment online and redeems the code at booking. Adjacent lanes can be booked for couples and friends.

The WaffenPro shooting sports centre is at Bahnhofstraße 55 in Zerbst/Anhalt and can be reached from Magdeburg in 30 minutes, from Dessau-Roßlau in 25, from Halle in 55, from Leipzig in 60 and from Berlin in 90 minutes; free parking is right outside, and Zerbst railway station is a short walk away. Training takes place Monday to Friday from 8 am to 3 pm, on Tuesdays and Fridays additionally from 6 to 9 pm, and on Saturdays by arrangement.

A training evening feels like this: you arrive at around 6 pm out of the rush-hour traffic, the hall is cool and evenly lit, the coach still remembers your target from last time. The first strings are repetition, then comes the new task – and at some point a five-shot group sits on the monitor tighter than you have ever managed before. That is the moment you take home.

Or into the ApexLounge next door, open Thursday to Saturday from 5 pm – with your target on the table and the question of what will change next time. If you want to train regularly, the club offers unlimited lane use without compulsory training and ammunition at club prices; all further course formats, from the firearms certificate to competition preparation, are listed in the course overview.