a range story

[Diane]

I don't post on the forums often, but I do read them on a reqular basis, so I know what I witnessed is not the "norm". I went to the range yesterday morning. Besides myself, there were 2 men at the other end and what I supposed, a boyfriend / girlfriend in the middle and myself on the other end. It was obvious that it was the girl's first visit to the range cause she looked very nervous and the bf was showing her how to stand, how to hold the gun, etc. Now I'm hardly an expert, but when she started shooting, I could tell that the gun was way too much for her. Her shots were all over the place. Her boyfriend then starts yelling at her to keep her eyes open and her hands steady when she fires! She gets upset and puts the gun down and steps back. He picks up the gun and you can tell he's pissed off, and starts shooting and then turns around and tells her 'that's the way you do it' and wants her to try again. She refuses. So I'm thinking to myself, what a bad experience she just had . I thought back to my first range experience and what a difference! I was nervous just looking at a real gun, holding it and firing it for the first time! Wow! My former friend had patience and explained everything to me and as I took my first shots, he stood close behind me and actually had his hands on top of mine, to keep them steady, letting me feel the recoil, but keeping the gun steady. Then he let me shoot by myself and I liked it so much that I now own 2 guns. As I left yesterday, the bf was shooting away and the gf had the look on her face that she was NEVER gonna do this again. It's unfortunate that what should have been a whole new world opening up for her, probably left a very bad taste in her mouth.

Diane

 

[Highland Ranger]

That's sad. Should have started with a 22 and worked up. Perhaps not being a jerk would help too.

 

[Shootcraps]

That is sad. I've trained lots of women and sometimes you gotta be super patient to get them started right. But it's so neat when they get over their initial fear and really have fun with it.

 

[Gary Brommeland]

I've trained a fair number of women to shoot, too. They tend to have better eye/hand coordination that men, and they CERTAINLY follow instructions better than most guys.
Like anyone who is new to the sport, it can be a bit intimidating to have this thing go "boom" and jump in their hand. As Highland Ranger pointed out, a new shooter should be taught the basics with a .22, and then gradually moved up the caliber foodchain.
A new shooter NEVER benefits from being yelled at. This is the mark of a child (supossedly) in a mans's body playing instructor.
I agree with Shootcraps - when you see a newbie finally "get it" and things all come together for them, it is something beautiful to behold.
I sure hope this young lady has not been permanently turned away from the shooting sports because of her "boy" friend.

 

[Amish_Bill]

People like that are the reason for professional instruction in just about any field. :-(

Did you have the opportunity to say something to her about that NOT being the way it should be/ can be/ really is? It's too bad no-one was there to talk to her and let her try something easier to shoot. At the least a few calm words of encouragement would have helped.

Saw a "Start Them Young" version of this one day... Dad was there with Son and Daughter. Both maybe 12? Dad was paying lots of attention to Son, but basically ignoring Daughter. Poor little thing was just standing there looking dejected. (better than being screamed at, I guess... )

During a break I walk over and ask, since he's putting so much concentration on the boy, can his girl step down and work with the selection I had... Without much thought he says "Yep."

Well... skip ahead... Daughter has become comfortable with the small pistols and has even let the AR15 put a big smile on her face. Dad is still trying to get Son's little hands properly wrapped around his S&W 9mm.

Maybe in a few years Daughter will be the one on the range trying to teach her date how to shoot? I'd like to think so.

 

[grislyatoms]

Nicer boyfriend

Had a similar experience several weeks ago, however the boyfriend was patient and kind. This girl (20 something) was shaking when the boyfriend handed her his pistol (some type of polymer something). She was so afraid of it after watching him shoot she didn't even want to touch it. I volunteered my Buckmark, telling her it was not as loud and didn't "kick". I showed the boyfriend where the safety was and the slide release, and explained it's operation. I watched them for a few minutes to make sure they were safe, and let them get to it. That girl was grinning ear to ear when she was done, and the boyfriend thanked me and asked a zillion questions about the Buckmark. Made me feel pretty good!

 

[Amish_Bill]

If you have the means, it's a good idea to keep a buckmark, MkII, 22/45, etc. and a small stack of ammo in your range gear. You never know when you may be called on to assist a new shooter...

I'll have to start doing that myself.

 

[shep854]

Gristlyatoms, you just sealed it; my .22 will go with me to the range each trip, just in case.

Thanks

Sooner or later, the girl will get smart and dump the jerk. Then, hopefully, she'll learn to shoot. Be a nice thumb is his eye, wouldn't it, if she outshot him?

 

[spartacus2002]

RULE NUMBER 1 OF TEACHING SIGNIFICANT OTHERS TO SHOOT:


Have someone else do it. The chances of getting frustrated with each other are just too darn high. Give a good friend who's an experienced shooter a couple of boxes of ammo in exchange for an hour or two of his/her time, and don't hover!


I concur with the observation that women tend to be natural "out-of-the-box" excellent shooters. No idea why; maybe because us men get too stressed about how dumb we will look if we aren't a perfect shot first time every time?

 

[4v50 Gary]

The "boyfriend" may be able to shoot, but he can't teach. His "attitude" is likely to turn her off from guns. Way to go Dude. If she is interested in learning how to shoot, I hope she finds a better instructor.

 

[Momto4luvs]

Bad range experience

If my first experience had been like that I don't know that I would ever have wanted to go back. That is definately sad. My husband was very patient with me on our first trip! I was deathly afraid of guns and anti up until that point. My shots were all over the place the first time too. It took time and practice and now I can shoot a nice little grouping, but to expect someone to be dead on their first time is just unrealistic.

 

[spartacus2002]

Buddy of mine taught my wife to shoot yesterday...turns out she's a natural. Even shoots my beloved 1911 better than me (although she says she doesn't like it).

She's not scared of recoil, so we're over that hurdle. Now it's just a matter of practice, practice, practice.

 

[Diane]

Amish-Bill,

I seriously thought about talking to her. I had a 228 & P22 with me and that would have been perfect for her to try, however, I could tell she was upset and her boyfriend was still rather pissed and yes, he was a jerk, and I could feel my Irish / Italian temper start to rise and thought it better to stay out of it.

Diane

 

[carp killer]

If the "boyfriend" had that attitude in public. Imagine how he treats her in private. I wonder how women put up with it?

 

[bendable]

took a g f to shoot w/ a .38 spec, she had fun,

did really well,
(not a suprise)

plates are good ,
ding,

 

[mattf7184]

I actually can relate to the guy....

Women are frustrating...I've taken my gf a few times and she doesnt like to listen to me period sometimes, but then I'll tell my friend to show her and then she will listen. Women are weird...lol If I tell her to hold the gun this way she will get mad because I SHOULD HAVE said my love, this is how you hold the firearm so your beautiful self can shoot the bad target better and you can show everyone how good you are.

My lovely pain in my ass lol:

 

[JohnKSa]

RULE NUMBER 1 OF TEACHING SIGNIFICANT OTHERS TO SHOOT:
Have someone else do it.

As with any rule, there are exceptions. But this one is something that guys, especially, should keep in mind.

 

[mustanger98]

Elmer Keith and his wife Lorraine come to mind. When they met, she was the schoolmarm. He taught her to shoot. She became about as big a hunter as he was.

My sister- four years younger than me- learned to shoot .22 rifles at the same time I did. I was nine and she was five. Thing is, while I learned how left handed to accomodate my dominant left eye, my sister also is left eye dominant but crosses up right hand and left eye so her nose is over the comb of the stock. Drives me crazy to watch her, but she hits everything she shoots at. I tried to work with her patiently about going left handed and both eyes open like I do, but she won't do anything different. Oh, and she's been known, with .22 rifle and .38 sidearm, to outshoot her then-boyfriends who break up with her soon afterward.

 

[manwithoutahome]

I ran into that problem while I was at Moody AFB in GA. Was at the river shooting and a g/f b/f team showed up and he only had a .44mag with him. He fired off a couple of rounds and then gave to his g/f. She fired once and backed down, afraid of the recoil. He started in about this and that and she ended up crying.

I then just gave her my Buckmark .22 and two full mags and told her to to to town, more ammo was in the bag on the ground.

She fired over 500 rounds of .22 ammo that day and she loved it.

Boyfriend was a real jerk. Wanted to fight but I had my USP .45 on my hip and he didn't like that (he made some remarks) and then he "felt" that I was was trying to take his g/f and had even more to say when I told him that I would be more interested in him then her if I was interested in them at all (I'm gay). He didn't like that, g/f thought it was funny.

At the end of the session, b/f was really really pissed, g/f was just as pissed at b/f and they broke up right then and there. B/f said that he would kill g/f and then I called the cops.

I don't know what happened with them, if they are married and living or what but b/f went to jail for awhile, and if I were straight, I may have been married by now.

Wayne

 

[4v50 Gary]

Manwithoutahome (Wayne) said:

and then I told him I was more interested in him than her

Betcha his jaw dropped with a distinct thud on the ground.

 

[Exposure]

Wow, what a sad story Diane. I had shot for years when my wife said that maybe she would be interested in coming out with me. I took my wife, my Marlin Model 60 and my 1911. She was (is) an astounding shot on her first try but the recoil of the 1911 was more than she cared for.

Two weeks later we had a Walther P22 which she really enjoys shooting as well as a Mini-14 with which she is an excellent shot! She outshoots me with it, and that is with open sights.

I never get frustrated while at the range. Rule number one when we go shooting is to have fun. And if we manage to improve our accuracy in the process then that is just gravy!

It's a shame when you see someone turned away from this sport due to a poor teacher.

 

[FRIENDLY]

training new shooters

The reason many ladies are better shooters if trained by proper trainers is that they dont have to unlearn bad habits to start with. Surprises many people but it is true.The trouble with a lot of men is that they have forgotten just how bad they were when starting shooting(convenient memory)

 

[firearms_instructor]

"If you have the means, it's a good idea to keep a buckmark, MkII, 22/45, etc. and a small stack of ammo in your range gear. You never know when you may be called on to assist a new shooter... " - Exactly. I keep a MkII and a S&W 17 on hand just for this. It's good to start newbies on .22s. Cheaper, also.

 

[Shootcraps]

I taught my wife to shoot and she really likes it. Funny what she likes too. She doesn't like autos cause they are too complicated with things moving and flying about.

But she loves a .357Magnum revolver with full power loads.

 

[Amish_Bill]

...Funny what she likes too...

Probably the only thing I've ever figured out about women... You're never going to figure out exactly why they do or don't like something, so when she winds up liking something interesting, just smile a lot and run with it.