selection suggestions for teaching a new shooter?

[Erik Jensen]

so, my friend Rachel called me yesterday. she wants me to teach her to shoot, and she's thinking of buying a gun herself, maybe even getting a CCW. the problem I've got, is all I own handgun wise is a Beretta 92F and a Kahr MK40. I haven't had her handle the 92F in person yet, but i have a feeling that the grip will be too large for her, and I'm sure the MK40 would kick a wee bit too much for a new shooter (of any gender). so, I'm thinking I should rent a few (make her pick up some of the tab, of course. ) so, what would y'all reccomend? my local range has a pretty good selection.

I'm thinking along the lines of:

Ruger MKII or some .22 revolver

once she's comfortable with that,
4" .38 wheelgun, or a hi-power or something?

then, of course, let her try the fit of everything in the case until she finds something that she likes the feel of. (I'll try to lead her to a 1911.. )

any suggestions? am I thinking correctly?

 

[P95Carry]

This is a common and popular subject .. naturally.

I will always suggest .. start small and work up ....... that helps avoid early generation of things like flinch habits ...... teaches good firearms handling and safety disciplines ... IMO the priorities.

A .22 is fine, if not probably the ideal .... and many of us here will suggest MkII Ruger (or 22/45 in my case) ... or of course a good .22 revolver such as Single Six perhaps.

Once the control, safety, some accuracy and confidence developed ... onward and upwards!! To find the optimum ... for them..... along with budgetary constraints too of course.

BTW, we have some kids at one local club .., they are ''teething'' on air weapons ... they are shooting very well and are soon to ''graduate'' to .22's .... that ain't a bad way to go .. even if this is for kids specifically.

 

[Erik Jensen]

well, I actually thought about the Airsoft angle. my buddy has a airsoft beretta that's almost exactly like my real 92. i thought about bringing it by her house to get her comfortable handling a gun. her parent's are pretty liberal jews, and might object to me bringing over a real gun right away. also, she can see if the beretta fits her hand. if it does, then we won't have to rent something after the .22 stage... the beretta's a pretty soft shooter, afterall.

 

[P95Carry]

Something to be said for at least trying the fit of a repro like an Airsoft .. yeah that'll help re hand fit.

We could say too ... that until the heavier cals are tried out ..... and thus leaving significant recoil outa the equation ... shooting - is shooting - is shooting ....

In as much as .... control of eye focus and sites and target ...... control of breathing and trigger action .... stance .. etc ... is not gonna be too different.

Let's say .. unlikely time would be wasted with an intro, even at Airsoft level .. safety rules are same regardless (or should be!!) ........ after which comes the more complex mechanics of the firearm per se .. as ever tho .. build and build ... and work the way up ... if patience permits, then .. way to go.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I've never introduced anyone to shooting with anything but a .22. If the person is keenly interested, seems to have mastered the safety fundamentals, and really wants to step up, I'll let him or her fire a few center fire rounds toward the end of the first trip to the range, but I think it's important to go slowly and safely.

 

[C.R.Sam]

Agree with the Upright Wolf.

Safety, fundamentals, .22.
Onward and upward after the .22 is workin for them.

Sam

 

[sm]

Agree with Standing Wolf and Sam

 

[ceestand]

Beretta92F, I think it's a great idea to have a new shooter handle a gun (or guns) before shooting. The range can be intimidating at first, better to learn the operation of a gun at home, comfortable.

 

[Alerion]

I always start people out with a .22! In my case, a Ruger MkII 22/45 because it duplicates the control positions on many of the other semi-autos I own. (One of which will probably be what the newbie wants to try next.) .22's are great in that they have few bad habits for a new shooter to deal with. Plus the biggest thing that a new shooter needs is practice and a .22 is about the only caliber out there that someone can shoot 500 rounds for $10. Even with a 9mm it's hard to keep the price down to much under five times that. (Also important if you provide the ammo for the first lesson like I do!)

After she's mastered the basics on the .22 and wants to move on to a centerfire, there aren't many better choices than your Beretta 92. For taming recoil (and not scaring a new shooter off) there's nothing like a full-size gun with a full-size grip on it firing a relatively mild round. Whatever you do, don't let her start out firing hot rounds out of a compact gun! I have one friend who wanted to learn to shoot a couple of years ago but refuses to even consider trying it again. Why? Because he thinks every handgun is like the one that he fired (literally) once. A ported, two inch, Corbon-loaded, .357 snubbie (with wood grips no less) that belonged to a well-meaning, but idiotic, friend.

BTW, if she wants to try a wheelgun, there's nothing wrong with a full-sized .357 but load it with .38's. Preferably one with rubber grips and just say no to porting until she's comfortable with the noise level. Long barrels are nice both to tame recoil and help her get on the target.

After she's got the basics down, she can experiment with a few guns (the joy of rentals!) and then you can take her gun shopping to get something she likes. If there's any romantic interest it could be the perfect date! A trip to the gunshop, reading the manual together, the initial familiarization over a bottle of Hoppes, a chance to fire a few rounds, and if there's enough time left, maybe even a trip to the range.

Tom