Smaug
Member
When I first met her about 3.5 years ago, she was pretty anti-gun. I explored that delicately when we were dating, and decided it is more of a lack of gun education than anything rational.
Over the years, she has asked questions that I've answered, and she slowly built up a low level interest. One time, I mentioned I'll take her shooting with me, and she was really happy and excited. She was happy that I didn't just consider it a "Guy Thing" that I would rather leave her out of.
A few weeks ago, I took her to the range, where I had her try my Ruger Mk. II Target model. She liked it, but thought it was too heavy. She could cock it; only flinched a bit, which we worked out pretty quickly.
Next, I let her shoot my Hi-Power. She REALLY likes that one, but hasn't got the hand, arm or chest strength to use it independently. She COULD do it, but had to struggle and messed it up about half the time.
Then, she said she wanted to try my new carry gun, the Sig P365. She was refreshed, saying "Oh, this is nice and light!" I said: "Yes, but it also kicks harder because of that. It won't hurt you, but it'll jump quite a bit more in your hand than the Hi-Power." I don't think she really believed me until she shot it. That one, there was NO WAY she could rack the slide; just couldn't grab on.
When the day was done, she said she had fun and was happy I was so patient with her.
I mentioned maybe she's a revolver gal, and told her there's no need to rack the slide or keep one's elbow and wrist locked for it to work right.
I mentioned it here in a thread somewhere, and some helpful member recommended a S&W Shield EZ. The local shop has one in 380; that slide is REALLY easy to rack, and has the protruding ears on the back to make it easier to grab ahold of. I showed her a pic of it, and she was: "Meh." I brought her in to look at it in person, and she liked it a little better. I wish they had one in 9 mm. The shop owner said the slide is only a smidge harder to rack on it, compared to the 380.
Fast forward a few weeks and I brought her shooting with me again yesterday, when we shot only revolvers. When I was packing up the guns to take, I showed her all my revolvers:
Other thoughts?
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In other news, I took the class and applied for my CC license. It should come in a week. I tried to get her to take the class with me, with the understanding that I would not necessarily expect her to carry; I just wanted her along for the education part. She didn't want to.
I think I'm going to buy her a gun training package from the local place that's geared toward women. (she's a girly girl, before you start telling me how your wife doesn't need girly stuff to succeed at shooting, hehehe) It's 4 or 8 hours worth of class, followed by a trip to the range supervised by the co-owner of the shop, who is a woman. She speaks Womaneze, so that my wife just follows immediately and doesn't feel intimidated.
Maybe I'll confirm if it's refundable in case she decides she doesn't want to go...
What do you think of that plan?
******************************************
I'll update this thread as things progress. Maybe it'll help someone else, too...
Over the years, she has asked questions that I've answered, and she slowly built up a low level interest. One time, I mentioned I'll take her shooting with me, and she was really happy and excited. She was happy that I didn't just consider it a "Guy Thing" that I would rather leave her out of.
A few weeks ago, I took her to the range, where I had her try my Ruger Mk. II Target model. She liked it, but thought it was too heavy. She could cock it; only flinched a bit, which we worked out pretty quickly.
Next, I let her shoot my Hi-Power. She REALLY likes that one, but hasn't got the hand, arm or chest strength to use it independently. She COULD do it, but had to struggle and messed it up about half the time.
Then, she said she wanted to try my new carry gun, the Sig P365. She was refreshed, saying "Oh, this is nice and light!" I said: "Yes, but it also kicks harder because of that. It won't hurt you, but it'll jump quite a bit more in your hand than the Hi-Power." I don't think she really believed me until she shot it. That one, there was NO WAY she could rack the slide; just couldn't grab on.
When the day was done, she said she had fun and was happy I was so patient with her.
I mentioned maybe she's a revolver gal, and told her there's no need to rack the slide or keep one's elbow and wrist locked for it to work right.
I mentioned it here in a thread somewhere, and some helpful member recommended a S&W Shield EZ. The local shop has one in 380; that slide is REALLY easy to rack, and has the protruding ears on the back to make it easier to grab ahold of. I showed her a pic of it, and she was: "Meh." I brought her in to look at it in person, and she liked it a little better. I wish they had one in 9 mm. The shop owner said the slide is only a smidge harder to rack on it, compared to the 380.
Fast forward a few weeks and I brought her shooting with me again yesterday, when we shot only revolvers. When I was packing up the guns to take, I showed her all my revolvers:
- 5" S&W 625 in 45 ACP (too big, she doesn't like it)
- 4" S&W 19 in 357 Mag. Gunsmithed. (ugly; too big)
- 3" Ruger SP-101 in 357 Mag. (she likes the look of it, and it's our home defense gun, so I packed it)
- 7.5" Ruger Redhawk in 44 Mag. (she dislikes it; way too big and heavy. I packed it anyway, to help illustrate that big/heavy can be a benefit and doesn't always mean hard to shoot)
- 1.75" Ruger LCR in 38 Spl. (I packed it because she likes how light and small it is)
- LCR, as predicted: She likes the gun, but not actually SHOOTING it.
- SP-101 with 38 +P level reloads. "This is OK, but not easy to hit with."
- Redhawk with 44 Spl "-P" level reloads. She thought I was trying to prank her to see her react to heavy recoil. I assured her it wasn't the case. She shot it and really struggled to hold it up, but she did GREAT with it. Complained that her arms are sore from holding it up.
- Rent the Shield EZ in 380 that one local shop/range has and a box of ammo and let her shoot it. See how she likes it.
- See if they have a small or medium framed S&W or Colt revolver for rent, but not as small & light as the LCR. Maybe like my SP-101, but with a better trigger?
- Bring the S&W 19 next time we shoot. I think maybe it's on the big side for her hands and it's the square butt version, so there's not much more I can do, grip-wise.
Other thoughts?
****************************************************
In other news, I took the class and applied for my CC license. It should come in a week. I tried to get her to take the class with me, with the understanding that I would not necessarily expect her to carry; I just wanted her along for the education part. She didn't want to.
I think I'm going to buy her a gun training package from the local place that's geared toward women. (she's a girly girl, before you start telling me how your wife doesn't need girly stuff to succeed at shooting, hehehe) It's 4 or 8 hours worth of class, followed by a trip to the range supervised by the co-owner of the shop, who is a woman. She speaks Womaneze, so that my wife just follows immediately and doesn't feel intimidated.
Maybe I'll confirm if it's refundable in case she decides she doesn't want to go...
What do you think of that plan?
******************************************
I'll update this thread as things progress. Maybe it'll help someone else, too...