Girlwithagun
Member
I just attended a "Women on Target" pistol clinic for the first time. I thought I would give a little review of it for all the women of THR or the men who are trying to convince a woman to learn to shoot. 
The clinic was $20 and included 1 hour of classroom instruction and roughly 2 hours of range time. Ammo was provided if you used the guns they had available, but there was also the option of bringing your own gun and ammo, which I did. Also, the attendees were given packets with safety information and such in it and at the end, door prizes were given out.
At the beginning of the clinic, we all stood to say the pledge of allegence. What made me feel bad was that I realized it had been over 5 years since I had said the plegde (back in high school). It was a proud moment though.
The classroom instruction covered the basic parts of both a revolver and a semi-automatic and the different parts of a cartridge. They also stressed the 3 (?) NRA safety rules, which threw me a bit because I was wondering what happened to the 4th rule. We were also taught techniques for accurate shooting such as stance, breathing, etc. The classroom instruction was definitely review for me so if you are a really experienced shooter, you won't really learn much from it but you may be able to help some of the first-timers learn. A few people there were asking about the best way to keep your gun for home defense. People brought up keeping it in a safe, loaded or unloaded, keeping the magazine separate etc. but for some reason the obvious answer wasn't brought up. Wear it silly! Unfortunately, I am shy sometimes so I didn't say anything but I wish I would have. More women should carry at home. It's for the children!
The range time followed the classroom instruction. I was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face as my instructor- it was fellow THR member MikeK! I also got a chance to talk to a newer member, Molon Labe. THR people are everywhere! Watch out!
Now here is the bad news: The 1911 that I was getting pretty good at at 25 feet was pretty bad at 25 yards. Still low and to the left but lower and lefter than usual.
I tried some different things but it was a bit embarrassing to shoot and not come close to the bullseye. The good news is that this gun is my home defense gun and at no point in my home will I have to shoot 25 yards. Still, I would really like to be able to be accurate with it- how else am I gonna shoot all the rounds through the center and leave the guys speechless.
At the end of the range instruction, there was a competition shoot. Participants were given 10 minutes to shoot 10 rounds. I chose to enter with my 1911 when most people used a .22 but I won't say how miserably I did. Shhh...MikeK won't say either.
All in all it was a fun clinic and I would recommend it for other women, particularly ones who have never shot a gun before. More information on the clinics and locations are available at:
http://www.nrahq.org/women/wot.asp
MikeK: I'll get out my 1911 and dime tonight (after I am done cleaning her of course). Thanks for the help and I will work hard to get better!
The clinic was $20 and included 1 hour of classroom instruction and roughly 2 hours of range time. Ammo was provided if you used the guns they had available, but there was also the option of bringing your own gun and ammo, which I did. Also, the attendees were given packets with safety information and such in it and at the end, door prizes were given out.
At the beginning of the clinic, we all stood to say the pledge of allegence. What made me feel bad was that I realized it had been over 5 years since I had said the plegde (back in high school). It was a proud moment though.
The classroom instruction covered the basic parts of both a revolver and a semi-automatic and the different parts of a cartridge. They also stressed the 3 (?) NRA safety rules, which threw me a bit because I was wondering what happened to the 4th rule.
We were also taught techniques for accurate shooting such as stance, breathing, etc. The classroom instruction was definitely review for me so if you are a really experienced shooter, you won't really learn much from it but you may be able to help some of the first-timers learn. A few people there were asking about the best way to keep your gun for home defense. People brought up keeping it in a safe, loaded or unloaded, keeping the magazine separate etc. but for some reason the obvious answer wasn't brought up. Wear it silly! Unfortunately, I am shy sometimes so I didn't say anything but I wish I would have. More women should carry at home. It's for the children! The range time followed the classroom instruction. I was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face as my instructor- it was fellow THR member MikeK! I also got a chance to talk to a newer member, Molon Labe. THR people are everywhere! Watch out!
Now here is the bad news: The 1911 that I was getting pretty good at at 25 feet was pretty bad at 25 yards. Still low and to the left but lower and lefter than usual.
I tried some different things but it was a bit embarrassing to shoot and not come close to the bullseye. The good news is that this gun is my home defense gun and at no point in my home will I have to shoot 25 yards. Still, I would really like to be able to be accurate with it- how else am I gonna shoot all the rounds through the center and leave the guys speechless. At the end of the range instruction, there was a competition shoot. Participants were given 10 minutes to shoot 10 rounds. I chose to enter with my 1911 when most people used a .22 but I won't say how miserably I did. Shhh...MikeK won't say either.
All in all it was a fun clinic and I would recommend it for other women, particularly ones who have never shot a gun before. More information on the clinics and locations are available at:
http://www.nrahq.org/women/wot.asp
MikeK: I'll get out my 1911 and dime tonight (after I am done cleaning her of course).
Thanks for the help and I will work hard to get better!