help me get my Girlfriend shooting

[RevolverMan567]

Ok. I am in the process ofapplying to become a LEO and as is the nature of the beast I will be the low man on the totem pole and i am almost assured a position on the graveyard shift. This being said and with all the crazies in the world I want to get her into shooting a little more and becoming proficient with the firearms inside the house in case i cannot be there, and also she needs to havethis knowledgeand skills because i cant always be there. i started her off by buying her a sig trailside that she adores and is a crack shot with if she can take her time. She had also since moved on to a nice Kahr 9mm that i got for her and is decent but is now losing some interest. any tips to get her moving again for the much needed trigger time?

 

[cwmcgu2]

Rent a bunch of those horrible scary movies where the poor girl home alone gets killed, harassed or worse by some invading bad guy. She might want to go shooting more if you do.

 

[Chrome]

I hope you are teasing cwmcgu2. Scare tactics rarely work with anything.

Anyway, start by taking her with you to gun shops to look. Make them brief visits so she doesn't get bored. Ask her which ones she thinks are pretty. My girlfriend took a liking to the Taurus PT-22. Why? Because of the pink mother of pearl grips.

Sounds to me like you got her a gun that YOU liked. Ask her how she feels about trading in the Kahr for something different. If she likes it, she will be more apt to use it.

Later,
Chrome...

 

[fast200]

Hmmm

Have her start shooting a .22 or .32...something with little or no recoil. I made the mistake of letting my fiance try a .40 cal and it took me months getting her back in the range.

 

[Jimmie]

Reactive targets. My wife likes to see things happen when she shoots. She could care less how small or tight the groups are. She wants to see something blow up, disappear, ding, move, something.

 

[cwmcgu2]

I hope you are teasing cwmcgu2. Scare tactics rarely work with anything.

Haha I was. In all seriousness you have to make shooting fun. My girlfriend hates the structured target shooting at measured ranges. She likes plinking and alot less formal shooting. She also especially loves shooting anything that will blow up, break apart and so on. I don't care that she's not measuring groups but i do care that she is getting a good feel for the trigger and learning to aim at a variety of targets at varrying distances.

 

[sm]

One cannot change people, places or things, the only thing they can change is themselves. AA

Introduce her to other ladies at the Dept.
Often times ladies hang out, offer support and assist with the new lady "on the force" too.

Family Support if you will. Husbands, Wives, Kids, family being matriculated just like the Men and Women on the Dept. will be.

Others sharing experience strength hope often times gets the significant other of a officer to take personal responsibility about personal safety - including making the home more secure, and even firearms.

 

[tank mechanic]

I would ask her to wear something provocative to the range and take a whole lot of pictures of her shooting. I did this with a girlfriend and it made her talk about it for a whole week. All of her friends knew about it and wanted to try it out. This made my girl friend want to go again so she could teach them. It worked out for everyone.

 

[RevolverMan567]

Thanks for the input.

A few responces:

first of all your right about gun shops she usually gets very bored with me when I'm looking because we're there too long.

also she actually picked out both the Trailside 22 and the Kahr so i dont think thats the problem.

We will now be using active targets and she likes that idea alot.

Thanks Again and keep em coming

 

[lance22]

"Hey, I'm goin' to the range today, want to come with" ??

Once at the range, SHE CAN DO NO WRONG - though explain handing, finger, et all. Not a lot of lecture but clear on the basics.

As others said, best if you start her on a .22 pistol or something very mild. Don't over do it on the first or second trip .... as Milton Berle once said "Leave them wanting more." Afterwards, take her out to a nice restaurant and really make a special day of it.

Even better if you can get her to someplace outdoors where she can shoot really fun targets - rolls of water-saturated toilet paper, unopened cans of pop, Ice blocks, et cetera ...

 

[zeroskillz]

I'll throw in my 2 cents, I'm with everyone who says start out with a .22 or somthing like that, and if you happen to have a laser on any of your guns, it went a long way to helping my wife feel success at the range.

She wasn't hitting diddly with my 229 her first time to the range (we worked up to it from a buckmark), so I turned on the laser and she punched a few holes right around the center of the target. She turned to me with a big smile.

Now we do the occasional Denton County Date: Dinner and the Range

 

[glassman]

No Tricks

How bout just being straight with her without trickery or subtrifuge. Women can smell manipulation and BS a mile away. What's wrong with coming right out and saying that you care about what happens to her and that her safety is important to you. Spend the time with her and teach her with a .22 and then move up to something in a SD caliber.

 

[10-Ring]

Try a 20 ga shotgun and a few rounds of trap...that's some good fun, or maybe make the day out of it & enter your local IDPA match. Bottomline is to fine something that will rekindle her interest so she wants to go shooting

 

[Zach S]

By a hi point carbine. Ugly as sin, and just as fun.

 

[Kevin108]

Start her shooting empty soda cans with a Red Ryder BB gun. Quiet, small, easy to use, and accurate enough. My girlfriend who "hated" guns a couple years ago shoots BBs with me all the time. She wants to try a .22 next.