Grandma's Got a Gun!

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Bear2000

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Thought I'd share some pictures of my 84-year-old grandmother, who until yesterday had never fired a gun in her life. I brought her to the range and had her shoot my Ruger Mark III Hunter. She did pretty well, and after the first three shots pulled the trigger as fast as she could with a devious little grin on her face as she filled the human silhouette up with holes. She also shot my XD9, but that was a little too much.

As we were leaving, she said, "Now, I want a little revolver for myself."
 

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Great job introducing Grandma to firearms/target shooting :)

I especially like the third pic as it caught the bolt in motion and the little cloud of smoke from the muzzle

So, what do you think Grandma's going to get for her first gun, a Single Six perhaps?
 
Nice job! We need people like you reflecting positively on gun ownership. We had an older woman taking lessons at my local gun range, it was delightful to see all the support and encouragement from the folks there.:)
 
I especially like the third pic as it caught the bolt in motion and the little cloud of smoke from the muzzle

Not to mention her expression!

Good job though! :cool:

Coincidentally, I took my cousin and her husband to the range today for their first firearms experience. Good times were had by all, and they were already wanting to go back when we left!
 
Good stuff right there. Congrats to the both of you.

May I suggest some eye protection the next time you two shoot?
 
Well, good on you and granny. I've got kind of a similar story (no pictures, dane it.)

I had gotten out of shooting for many years, it wasn't a big priority for me for a lot of years. I kind of thought I had fired enough rounds in Uncle Sam's Fun Field Trip To Southeast Asia I was lucky enough to be a part of. After the Clinton Gun Ban expired, I started shooting again occasionally, it became more fun and I shot a lot more. But my wife didn't like guns too much, and refused to go shooting, she didn't even want to see guns, let alone hold one.

Fast forward to New Years Day 2009. There had been a murder of a young mother a few blocks from our house over the holiday. My wife spends a good bit of time home alone, as I drive a truck for a living. I'd heard a little about this murder before I left, but no details, just that a young woman had been found murdered in her home.

I got out on the road and my wife called and asked if I'd heard about this crime, and I told her I'd heard early reports, but nothing more. She filled me in on details, and told me she was a little scared. I reminded her that my pistol was up in the small safe beside the bed, she knew the combination. It had one loaded in the chamber. She was worried she didn't know how to use it right, so I told her to get my old Ruger Service Six out, she had seen it and knew how to load it, even if she didn't want it near her. She got it out and loaded it, and said she felt better.

Got back home and told her it was time for a range trip if she expected to have a gun handy to defend herself. I took her over, and with the help of one of the range instructors (more from him than me) she got started shooting at age 70. She'd never shot in her life, but within the first cylinder she got on target with them out to about 25 feet. After going through a 50 round box of ammo, she was shooting the center out of the target at that same range. I can't remember seeing her any happier than when she was blazing away at that piece of paper.

She's been shooting better than a year now, she continues to improve, and is shooting at longer ranges than 25 feet, she's not bad doing the 10 meter course at our range these days. Age is no obstacle to learning to shoot.

You're a good grandson, tell granny I'm proud of her taking responsibility for her safety, and to keep shooting!
 
We tried eye protection but she claimed she couldn't see through it. "Get these damned things off of me!" I was wearing my glasses. I'm just glad she wore ear protection!
 
We tried eye protection but she claimed she couldn't see through it. "Get these damned things off of me!" I was wearing my glasses. I'm just glad she wore ear protection!

Figured you would have. It would just be a shame to have her get turned off now for something like that.

Good job.
 
Oh My......

She's 84??? Wow, she looks great, and good for her she's shooting! As said before, you really are a good grandson, I'm sure there is much love there:):)
 
It's nice as children (theirs anyways) to be able to give back to our parents and grandparents every once in a while.

When they were dating, my mom had a bad experience shooting with my dad, so she never really got in to it until much later in life. She would take my brother and I out shooting enough that she eventually asked us to show her the ropes. She was really intimidated by them at first, so we started slow. My brother and I went together and bought her a nice little Ruger Mk II with a TacSol upper and a Sightron red dot on it. She had bifocals that always gave her problems with iron sights. But she had good initial success with that little Ruger setup, and it was both accurate and fun. She was hooked, and looked forward to every occasion she could get to go shooting with her boys until she passed away a few years later. Now looking back, my brother and I are even more happy we had the patience and took the time to teach her. Glad you took the opprotunity with your grandma.

My grandma is a crack shot too. She just can't shoot much since her open heart surgery.
 
Those are great pictures. Thanks for sharing. Ruger Mark 3 looks cool.
 
My grandmother is 82, she isn't crazy about guns but insists on keeping one in the house as she lives aone in a rural area, she hanles a variety of handguuns quite wel!
 
TNboy - my mom is the same. Her dad tried to get his "tomboy" daughter to shoot when she was young. That's about the only "boy-ish" thing she would NOT do. About 5 years ago, when she was 77, her husband was dying and she wanted something for around the house. We stopped at a little gunshop about 40 miles away that has a range on their back lot. They had a used SP 101 that fit her hand well (she's 5' 1") and that they would let her shoot, so we went out back. The first shot at the target about 25' away was on the paper and we all coached her of the sights and grip. Shot #2 was in the 3" bullseye! She was hooked.
We had been practising earlier in the summer with my .22 revolver and .380 auto, but she couldn't pull the slide, hence the 101.
She will be 82 in a couple of weeks and still is in her own house, feeling safer now that she's a "pistol packin' mama"!
 
Great job! We don't see enough of that kind of thing. Tell grandma we're all proud of her... and you for helping her and for sharing it with us.
 
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