New shooters spazzing at sound of first shot?

[MatthewVanitas]

Lots of good points brought up so far. Always glad to hear from the composite experience of the board.

I haven't had anbody cry yet, that'd be new to me. I suppose so long as they're pointed downrange, it couldn't hurt.

I do realize that sight alignment should be covered for everybody, just to be on the safe side, but easily 90% of our newbies understand sights, for whatever reason. It's that other 10% that tends to hit target carriers, so I suppose it can't hurt to review it with everybody.

Waitone brings up a great point: there's a bunch of new crap to keep in mind when shooting for the first time. I have an ongoing internal debate as to what is absolutely critical for the first time (4 Rules, etc), and what isn't necessarily going to get anybody killed and can wait until next time (breath control, etc). I have taken to warning about keeping the thumb out from behind the slide; I've never seen anyone actually get smacked by the slide yet, but I'd assume they might act most unsafely if they did get railroad-tracks cut into their paw.

That might be a good subject for another thread: what does a noob asbolutely need to know the first time, and what should be left to cover at some future point.

It's kind of odd how some people are minimially phased by ongoing smallarms fire, despite having zero experience, and other people are horrified. I guess it's not so much the fear as the lack of personal control during the fear that concerns me. When I have in Drivers' Ed, our teacher told of taking a student onto the Interstate for the first time. She was feeling very nervous driving at high speed, and had a close call during a lane-change. Upon nearly hitting another car, her gut reaction was to shriek, let go of the wheel, and cover her eyes. You'd think that trait would have been cleared out of the gene pool a few thousand years back, when gene-carrier shrieked and covered his/her eye when approached by a leopard...

Thanks for all the info thus far.

-MV

 

[peteinct]

Lots of mis information in the world

Matthew, I think people come to shoot for the first time full of wrong info from movies and TV. When I first began shooting it was a real surprise how hard it is actually hit something. Now I still don't hit much but am not surprised about it.

I came to guns as an adult. I had no familiarity and was very nervous when I first tried shooting. I have brought new shooters to the range and tell them that everything they have seen in the movies is basically wrong. One guy had a bad flinch but I let him use my radian earmuffs and the noise reduction seemed to help.

My take on what to tell new shooters is to keep it simple. Keep the muzzle downrange. Grip like a handshake firm, not weak or crushing.Keep the muzzle downrange. This is what a proper sight picture is and by the way keep the muzzle downrange.

I think that letting the student see/hear a shot before she shoots would lessen some of the surprise which may be a prolem and indoor ranges can be loud good ear protection is needed even for 22s.

pete

 

[The Scandinavian]

When introducing real 'newbies' I take the first shot myself so that they know what to expect.

 

[Rumble]

My first experience followed a cursory explanation on the function of the firearm (a Beretta 92). I just loaded up and started shooting. My then-girlfriend (now-wife) provided additional coaching beyond the rangemaster's instructions (maybe he just thought I looked like I'd do it right).

I was a little surprised by the noise (louder than I expected), but the recoil was no problem. I've given a couple people some basic instruction, and none of them have ever freaked on me, though one of my brothers found the whole process to be unpleasantly similar, in his words, to a car accident (one minute it's all fine, and an instant later there's a bang, a flash, recoil, flying stuff, etc.). He hasn't expressed any interest in doing it again, which is a shame, because for his first time, he was rather good.

I still jump involuntarily when something big goes down next to me. Not too long ago, I was next to an AK at an indoor range, and every time it fired I wanted to roll onto my back and pee. Sucker was loud.

 

[XD Fan]

I was the first person to ever take my wife shooting. I tried to prepared her well for what it would be like, and she handled it beautifully. I think that was our second date. She is not a gun nut (I am!) but she does like to shoot occasionally. She really likes firing large caliber handguns. She does not want to shoot them a lot, buts she likes to be able to brag that she has fired a (you insert the larger caliber.).

We were once visiting a friend that owned a beautifull .44 mag. He asked my brother and I if we would like to shoot it. Now who is going to turn down that invitation. My wife of course did not want to be left out. Another friend of hers also wanted to go along. To make an already long story short, my brother, my wife and I each enjoyed our turns with this gun. The other friend that wanted to come along then decided that she wanted to shoot it. When she pulled the trigger, I think she almost wet her pants. She squealed and began spinning around with her finger still on the trigger. The rest of us were diving for cover. We got her calmed down and got the gun from her with no harm done, but...scary crap.

Lesson learned? As has already been said, never let a new shooter fire a gun with more than one round in it.

 

[Steamship Trooper]

Good ideas.

For new handgunners, I use my Smith 66.

I always give them a few minutes to get used to the sound by having them watch me shoot a few (12-18) times. I then let them try a few times, then we work on stance, etc. I also shoot a few .357 rounds to get them use to the idea that there is a substantial difference between that and .38.

For rifles, I use a bolt .22. They step up only as they feel ready.

And always, if possible, I take them through the four rules, loading, unloading, misfires, and dry fire drills before we even go to the range. Gets them used to the weight and the feel of the operation.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

IRT single-shot bolts. We have many of them at the UT range, but it comes down to making the most of the limited attention/time the newbies have.

Same reason that I don't like starting out newbies on airgun: most of our newbies come to the range ONE TIME, for about an hour. My main priority is to teach them the Four Rules, and allow them to have a "fun gun experience."

Not a whole lot of hardcore teaching, just basic safety and "yay! you hit the paper!"

If they want to learn more, they're welcome to sign up for the club, and our salty experienced members will rig 'em up in a shooting jacket and Olympic rifle and drop them down into the prone.

It's a different dynamic from taking a buddy or sibling shooting, who might come out with you every other month or so in the future. For college newbies, who might be having the only firearm exposure they'll ever have, the focus is safe --> fun --> out the door.

-MV

 

[pax]

Matthew ~

Here's my take on what a newbie absolutely needs to know in order to be safe: http://www.corneredcat.com/Newbie/Newbie.htm

Obviously geared toward taking friends/relatives to the range with handguns, but there are parts that may give you food for thought.

pax