Dulvarian
Member
Moral: Just because she is a lady and new to shooting, please look at the size of the hands compared to the size of the gun for new shooters. It made a huge difference when they shot a larger frame gun. Moral first due to Wall of Text.
I got off early today, and the wife and kids were out of town, so I went to go shoot instead of going to see Vanilla Ice with a friend of mine...
Anyway, in the lane next to me were two women. A mother and daughter. Daughter was wearing a local college T-shirt, and the mother was appropriately aged. Anywho, it was their first time shooting, and I listened to one of the RM's teach them how to use the rented P222 they were shooting.
They were doing fine, but when the RM stepped out, I told them that if they needed anything, just ask. So I would peek over and watch as they were shooting and reloaded mags. I helped clear a ftf, etc. Well, she thought it failed to fire. I wasn't actually watching, but she racked the slide enough to cock it, but not enough to chamber it.
The mother was hilarious because she shot the crotch out of the "bad guy" so I asked why they were shooting. "Self defense". So I kindly directed them back to good ol' center mass. Which they both did. Mom braved up and fired a round out of my .45. While she didn't like the kick, she was very into the larger frame. It was also the best shot she had the entire session, dead center bull. The biggest problem she was having with the P222 was that her hands were too big for (she had really long fingers). She shot and very much enjoyed my Beretta Neos (she really liked the holosights).
We left the firing lanes together, and I showed them all the different calibers. I talked them out of a .22LR for self defense. I don't care if it's a 9mm, .40, or .45, .357, 10mm, .50, I wouldn't let my wife use a .22LR for self defense. They were also both pretty interested in CCW. At first the mother was like OMG a 9mm is so big, and then I pulled out a .45 and showed her that she shot that one just fine. So she checked out about 12 or 15 different 9mm's. This was not the whizzing match over best caliber, which I explained to them. When they asked me what I recommended, I told the same thing I tell everyone: The largest caliber that you are comfortable shooting, in a gun that fits your hands.
I was just kind of appalled at the fact that the RM had walked them through a .22LR that was SO small, without even looking at the ladies' hands. I get the whole 'they wanted something small', but that was ridiculous. Mom was about 5'6" and daughter was about 5'11". And mom's hands fit perfectly on a G21. The daughter, who was obviously attending a local college, told me that she was totally unadventurous and wouldn't shoot it, but she handled it and the size fit her hands as well. For both of them, their pinkies were coming down under the magazine and they had trouble fitting both hands around the pistol they had rented. It was so bad, that the mom's middle finger was hitting the mag release every time she fired. The RM couldn't figure it out, because he didn't pay attention to how jammed up her hands were on it. I really wished I had brought one my wife's XD-9 with me that they could have tried. I almost did, but left it because my range bag was getting kind of cramped.
Anyway, look out world, there are two lady shooters headed out there. One of the biggest questions they had was how long it was going to take to get comfortable shooting. They are definitely going to go back. They listened, asked intelligent questions, and did rather well. Some of the best shooting, and most interested shooters I have talked to in a long time, and it was literally their first time ever shooting a handgun.
And if my wife had been home, I might have invited them over for a lesson on cleaning, because they asked about that too. And I feel sorry for any bad guys that get too near mom when she's armed. Her best group was in that target's crotch.
I got off early today, and the wife and kids were out of town, so I went to go shoot instead of going to see Vanilla Ice with a friend of mine...
Anyway, in the lane next to me were two women. A mother and daughter. Daughter was wearing a local college T-shirt, and the mother was appropriately aged. Anywho, it was their first time shooting, and I listened to one of the RM's teach them how to use the rented P222 they were shooting.
They were doing fine, but when the RM stepped out, I told them that if they needed anything, just ask. So I would peek over and watch as they were shooting and reloaded mags. I helped clear a ftf, etc. Well, she thought it failed to fire. I wasn't actually watching, but she racked the slide enough to cock it, but not enough to chamber it.
The mother was hilarious because she shot the crotch out of the "bad guy" so I asked why they were shooting. "Self defense". So I kindly directed them back to good ol' center mass. Which they both did. Mom braved up and fired a round out of my .45. While she didn't like the kick, she was very into the larger frame. It was also the best shot she had the entire session, dead center bull. The biggest problem she was having with the P222 was that her hands were too big for (she had really long fingers). She shot and very much enjoyed my Beretta Neos (she really liked the holosights).
We left the firing lanes together, and I showed them all the different calibers. I talked them out of a .22LR for self defense. I don't care if it's a 9mm, .40, or .45, .357, 10mm, .50, I wouldn't let my wife use a .22LR for self defense. They were also both pretty interested in CCW. At first the mother was like OMG a 9mm is so big, and then I pulled out a .45 and showed her that she shot that one just fine. So she checked out about 12 or 15 different 9mm's. This was not the whizzing match over best caliber, which I explained to them. When they asked me what I recommended, I told the same thing I tell everyone: The largest caliber that you are comfortable shooting, in a gun that fits your hands.
I was just kind of appalled at the fact that the RM had walked them through a .22LR that was SO small, without even looking at the ladies' hands. I get the whole 'they wanted something small', but that was ridiculous. Mom was about 5'6" and daughter was about 5'11". And mom's hands fit perfectly on a G21. The daughter, who was obviously attending a local college, told me that she was totally unadventurous and wouldn't shoot it, but she handled it and the size fit her hands as well. For both of them, their pinkies were coming down under the magazine and they had trouble fitting both hands around the pistol they had rented. It was so bad, that the mom's middle finger was hitting the mag release every time she fired. The RM couldn't figure it out, because he didn't pay attention to how jammed up her hands were on it. I really wished I had brought one my wife's XD-9 with me that they could have tried. I almost did, but left it because my range bag was getting kind of cramped.
Anyway, look out world, there are two lady shooters headed out there. One of the biggest questions they had was how long it was going to take to get comfortable shooting. They are definitely going to go back. They listened, asked intelligent questions, and did rather well. Some of the best shooting, and most interested shooters I have talked to in a long time, and it was literally their first time ever shooting a handgun.
And if my wife had been home, I might have invited them over for a lesson on cleaning, because they asked about that too. And I feel sorry for any bad guys that get too near mom when she's armed. Her best group was in that target's crotch.
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, and because of that I'm glad that I at least took the precaution. I've seen people (well, at least videos of them) accidentally bump-firing a second or even third round wildly when they couldn't handle the recoil, and that's just scary.
