Hello Happy Old Sailor,
Thank you so much for your kind comments and I couldn’t agree more about letting the ladies make their own choices. Over the years I have taught many women to shoot, although my numbers undoubtedly pail in comparison to yours as I only did so on a one-on-one basis.
In every case the process was the same. I would ask quite a few questions up front regarding their concerns, past firearms experience, reason(s) for buying the gun, and what kind of budget they had to work with to name a few. When it came time to shoot I would normally have a selection of firearms ranging from small to medium frame revolvers and autos ranging from .38 Special/9mm Parabellum and up. I’d also include some higher power firearms like the .45s my current student is in love with and even the higher power models like several 10mm pistols and some magnum revolvers as many of the women were curious about the heavier calibers and often wanted to see them demonstrated or in one case fire them as well as what I carried. My purpose in this latter point was subtle though. In the case of new shooters, I found that by having the higher power firearms that I carry available to them they felt a level of respect that they may not have thought possible before coming to the range. If for whatever reason the lady would like to actually shoot one of these guns, I kept both high and low power loads on hand as well as a recoil glove for them to try them with. It also helped to reinforce their final choice of gun/caliber as they knew roughly where their upper limit was at this point and time.
Many of my past female students did not want to become recreational shooters initially and chose practical firearms. Mostly small to medium frame .38 Special/.357 Magnum revolvers loaded with .38 Special +P usually as well as compact to service sized 9mm pistols. Lots of Khars, Glock 19s, and especially Browning Hi-Powers in this group but no pistols in 40 S&W were ever chosen. Many liked the .45 ACP, but felt it was a bit much for them unless they were going to commit themselves deeply to practice. The taller athletic women often liked the .45 ACP especially. Soft hands were often a reason given for disliking the .45 ACP and .40 S&W, but the latter got most of the female ire from my students.
In my current student’s case, I have allowed her to fire everything I have from anemic .38 Specials up to full house .41 Magnum loads out of my Model 57 (without the recoil glove). She now has a realistic idea of what she can currently handle and what she feels she can learn with the amount of time and practice she is willing to put into this endeavor. For her, that equation works out to be the superb Glock 30 with 230-grain hollowpoints. She put about 150 rounds through that Glock 30 last Saturday and I’ll tell you I would hate to be the scumbag trying to break through her door!
