Corpral_Agarn
Member
I host a weekly women's shooting event every Thursday night (going on 5 years!). It's free and we get a lot of new or "I haven't shot a gun in years" folks.
It is one of my favorite events to host. Very low key and seeing a very apprehensive person go from "I'm afraid it's going to kick" to "I got a bulls-eye!" is incredibly rewarding. And I get to participate in building the community.
Guy brought his wife down last night.
He wanted her to come down and get instruction because "she don't listen to me. Anybody else says the same thing, that's fine! but not if I say it."
I'm picking up that maybe this guy is kind of a jerk but I am all about the customer service.
I address the woman and jokingly say "Hey no sweat that's why we are here. who knows by the end of the night you might be out shooting him!"
They showed up just a little late so they rented the gun on their own (I usually make suggestions for the new folks to avoid any J frames making their way into new shooters hands).
She gets out to the range and I go over grip, stance trigger, what to do about the recoil, etc.
We are about to load her magazine and I notice it's a 40.
Me "Mam do you know this is a 40? We usually recommend 9mm"
The guy leans in: "I want her to have a 40."
Me: "Is this gun for you or for her?"
Him: "it's for her."
Me: "The 40 isn't recommended for new shooters. The 40 has a lot more recoil for not much gain. We like to focus on outfitting folks with guns they can use effectively over the effectiveness of the gun. Many experts on the subject even go so far as to say that the 9, 40 and even 45 have similar performance anyway."
Him "an extra 300 ftlbs of energy on target. And I'm a vietnam vet, I know what a 45 will do to a person."
Me "that's fine. I'm just letting you know that 40 simply isn't a magic bullet and is not recommended."
Him "I want her to have a 40."
I am not getting any help from the woman and she says she wants to shoot the gun her husband wants her to shoot.
So I shrug and we get her loaded.
So I start giving pointers her grip and how important the left hand is going to be and the guy literally leans over/between us and says "make sure her thumb is off the slide" (she had her left thumb in the proper position but it was contacting the slide a little. Not critical, IMO).
I stop.
I turn to him and say "do you want to teach?"
Him "no no."
Me "then let me."
Her first round is pretty centered on the target.
Her second shot (and subsequent shots) were flinching so bad she isn't hitting the 8.5x11 target at 5yrds.
Meanwhile the two brand new ladies in the lane right next to her are shooting the same gun in 9mm and just destroying the center of the target.
The guy turns to me and makes some noise about 40 again and I point out those other two ladies "These two are the same experience level as your wife. First time shooting a handgun today. They are shooting 9mm. Starting with a high recoil gun will develop real bad flinch habits that will be extremely hard to overcome down the road."
Every time I came over to their lane, he was in her lane 'instructing'.
At that point I just let them do their thing. These weren't going to be the customers I was going to reach this night.
End of the night there was maybe 5 holes on the bottom left edge of the target. She shot 50 rounds.
As an instructor (part time) the reason I do the job is because it's very rewarding to see the improvement and the leaps forward in skill levels early on.
This exchange just... rankled me.
And that's my rant LOL
It is one of my favorite events to host. Very low key and seeing a very apprehensive person go from "I'm afraid it's going to kick" to "I got a bulls-eye!" is incredibly rewarding. And I get to participate in building the community.
Guy brought his wife down last night.
He wanted her to come down and get instruction because "she don't listen to me. Anybody else says the same thing, that's fine! but not if I say it."
I'm picking up that maybe this guy is kind of a jerk but I am all about the customer service.
I address the woman and jokingly say "Hey no sweat that's why we are here. who knows by the end of the night you might be out shooting him!"
They showed up just a little late so they rented the gun on their own (I usually make suggestions for the new folks to avoid any J frames making their way into new shooters hands).
She gets out to the range and I go over grip, stance trigger, what to do about the recoil, etc.
We are about to load her magazine and I notice it's a 40.
Me "Mam do you know this is a 40? We usually recommend 9mm"
The guy leans in: "I want her to have a 40."
Me: "Is this gun for you or for her?"
Him: "it's for her."
Me: "The 40 isn't recommended for new shooters. The 40 has a lot more recoil for not much gain. We like to focus on outfitting folks with guns they can use effectively over the effectiveness of the gun. Many experts on the subject even go so far as to say that the 9, 40 and even 45 have similar performance anyway."
Him "an extra 300 ftlbs of energy on target. And I'm a vietnam vet, I know what a 45 will do to a person."
Me "that's fine. I'm just letting you know that 40 simply isn't a magic bullet and is not recommended."
Him "I want her to have a 40."
I am not getting any help from the woman and she says she wants to shoot the gun her husband wants her to shoot.
So I shrug and we get her loaded.
So I start giving pointers her grip and how important the left hand is going to be and the guy literally leans over/between us and says "make sure her thumb is off the slide" (she had her left thumb in the proper position but it was contacting the slide a little. Not critical, IMO).
I stop.
I turn to him and say "do you want to teach?"
Him "no no."
Me "then let me."
Her first round is pretty centered on the target.
Her second shot (and subsequent shots) were flinching so bad she isn't hitting the 8.5x11 target at 5yrds.
Meanwhile the two brand new ladies in the lane right next to her are shooting the same gun in 9mm and just destroying the center of the target.
The guy turns to me and makes some noise about 40 again and I point out those other two ladies "These two are the same experience level as your wife. First time shooting a handgun today. They are shooting 9mm. Starting with a high recoil gun will develop real bad flinch habits that will be extremely hard to overcome down the road."
Every time I came over to their lane, he was in her lane 'instructing'.
At that point I just let them do their thing. These weren't going to be the customers I was going to reach this night.
End of the night there was maybe 5 holes on the bottom left edge of the target. She shot 50 rounds.
As an instructor (part time) the reason I do the job is because it's very rewarding to see the improvement and the leaps forward in skill levels early on.
This exchange just... rankled me.
And that's my rant LOL