Cool Story Teaching my wife to shoot

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withoutink

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I posted this on another forum, but felt it may be inspiration for everyone here too =)

About 2 or 3 weeks ago, the wife asked if I would go shooting with her. I've suggested it before, but was turned down in the past so we never went. Not sure why she had a change of heart, but its good she wants to learn now.

Over, the past two weeks I have been acquainting her with my guns. Explaining safety, operational controls, safeties (or lack there of), basic principals of how they work, proper holding technique & sight acquisition. I let her hold each firearm and get comfortable with the grip, weight, controls etc...

I field stripped each weapon a number of times and explained ammunition types FMJ/JHP, the importance of proper cleaning, storage, muzzle velocity, trajectory, over penetration, various calibers etc...

Last night, I met her at the range. I brought with me my Ruger Mark III, KT PF9, Glock 26, and HK USP 40. I brought about 200 rounds of 9mm and a fresh box of 333 .22lr. Before she got there, I loaded each magazine prepped targets etc...

She came in to the range about 30m after I got there, and the place was starting to get busy. She was slightly nervous and excited all at the same time. She jumped a few times as a dude was shooting his 45.

I explained to her range safety rules, and what to do if there is a FTF, FTE etc. I explained that brass may fly over from the shooters next to us. That the shells may be hot, but dont worry too much about them. I told her to try and block out the other noise of the other shots being fired. I set up a silhouette for her. Showed her each of the guns explaining what to expect as far as kick etc. Ran through proper control function and safety one last time.

We started first with the Ruger Mark III. I shot off a few rounds, so she could see the tiny recoil/kick it produces. That eased her a bit. I then loaded one round into a magazine for her, and let her drop my used mag, pop in the new one, release the slide & safety. I explained breathing technique one last time, and proper sight alignment. POP she fired, and hit just a little to the right of the bullseye!

She seemed uch more comfortable once she saw how easy it was to shoot, and that she hit the target... very well I might add. We loaded the mags up and she shot about 100 rounds. 90% of them were in the center area of the silhouette, she had a few fly aways and some off center stuff. But all and all, she did amazingly well for a first time shooter.

From there I did the same thing with the Glock 26. I shot a few rounds so she could see the difference in noise and kick. Then loaded one round up for her and she shot again, very well. I loaded up a 15 round mag and let her go to town.

Then we moved to the PF9, I explained that even though this shoots the same 9mm round as the Glock, its harder to shoot. I showed her the DAO trigger pull and explained it feels like you are driving into another zipcode. Take it slow and easy. I also expressed that the kick is much worse on the PF9 than the Glock due to its diminutive size and weight. Loaded one round up for her and she shot, about 2-3" low and to the right of the center. Not bad specially with that PF9.

Lastly we moved up to the USP 40. I told her it has a bit more punch, but since its a much bigger gun. The kick feels less than the PF9. Again she did a great job. I think she hit near the bulls eye the first shot on the 40 as well.

Then I let her go to town on the Ruger for another 100 rounds. She did great, the last couple mags she felt much more confident and shot them rapid fire. She loved it.

Now she understands to respect guns, but enjoy them and how fun target shooting is. I explained that little 22 will allow her to become a great shooter if she chooses to continue down this path with me. It will allow her to hone her technique and style. She also now understands, why people buy more than one gun.

I used the analogy of cooking with her. I said, just like a recipe the outcome changes when you vary one of the ingredients. Same with guns. Different model, caliber, ammo type / weight, causes a different experience. Each item has its own specialty or property. I explained the PF9 might not like a certain manufactures ammo, while the Glock wont care what you feed it.

BTW When we were leaving she told me get a few more guns, and sign us up for an annual membership =)
 
Nice. Several years ago, I convinced my wife to attend with me a two-day basic handgun course run by InSights Training. She learned a lot, and really enjoyed it. Shooting has never interested her as a hobby, but she is comfortable around guns, and still shoots occasionally. Wish she were more interested, but glad she's okay with my interest.

You did good! Good write-up, too.
 
Fantastic...congratulations on a job well done!

I'm still working on it. My wife (who initially was adamantly against my taking up forearm ownership) has indicated she would be willing to give it a try. Just now, after reading this, I asked her if we could go to the range some time soon so she could familiarize herself with my revolvers. I mentioned that I would feel safer if she at least knew how to handle them. She said "OK" - so now it's up to me to make it happen.

How far did you set the targets for her first session?
 
Thanks for all the replies. I set her up with larger targets at about 7 yards.

This is the first target I setup for her... with the 22. This is the first time she ever fired a gun before....
5481993762_ee9b64185b_z.jpg

Here is the first time she shot my Glock & PF9...
5481994270_4b3a6bb0fc_z.jpg

Here is another target we setup for her with more .22 action... She even went for some head shots =)
5481394661_c09ef21964_z.jpg

I like how she started to tighten up a bit and get control better as she was shooting =)
 
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