I recently went to the range with my girlfriend and her father, he has been shooting his whole life but it was here first time, she started on his 30/30 but after refused to use anything but my .22, see seems like she had fun and I'd like to know if anybody has advice on thing i can do to help her.
Teaching my gf to shoot
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Old krow
Member
This.
Buy more .22 ammo, she'll warm up to more later.
jnyork
Member
.22, .22 and more .22. Lose the 30-30.
Shadow 7D
Member
Be willing to let somebody else (ie professional class) teach her, sometimes GF's and wives have difficulty learning from use. Also don't do any stupid range tricks, major turn off, and be ready when the 'friendly' range junkies come over to 'offer to help'...
Sock Puppet
Member
Agreed. Having a well qualified instructor teach your significant other takes a lot of pressure off both of you.
If she's comfy with a .22 rifle, you could introduce her to a .22 handgun. Show her some magazines, watch a TV show together such as the ccw program on Spike. Take her to a gun shop or a gun show ( for meet n greet purposes rather than a shopping trip). Show her some of these things but don't force it upon her. maybe her interest in shooting will grow.
ArmedLiberal
Member
Lots of excellent information for new gun folk. With a woman's point of view, by Kathy Jackson.
http://www.corneredcat.com/
http://www.corneredcat.com/
Gord
Member
danprkr said:
True in general - not just where guns are concerned.
jhallrv4
Member
You probably don't have one, but think about a "pistol caliber" rifle or carbine. Lot more recoil friendly than a 30-30, but is still a rifle.
Jeff
Jeff
joshk-k
Member
I recently took my GF shooting for the first time in her life. I bought a case of the orange clay pigeons to take with us to an informal site on the Umatilla Reservation. I set up maybe a dozen pigeons on a dirt berm and we stood about 7 yards away. We first shot a fair amount with a .22 pistol (Ruger Mk. III 22/45), and then after about 100 rounds on her part, handed over the old Colt Trooper, loaded with .38 Specials. We backed off to about 50 yards and finished with the 10/22, using the sides of my truck bed as a rest for a standing position. It was great.
The orange targets were nice for a couple reasons: They're pretty good sized, they're bright, they're cheap, they're reactive, and it's easy to pick up their fragments. I didn't want her to stress over things like a bullseye or group size. I wanted her to break something on her very first shot, which she did. And the second, and third, and so on. In the first magazine, I think she missed twice. And she was hooked, just like that.
My Trooper is a stupidly accurate gun, and when fired single action with .38s is pretty tame. I didn't hype up the greater recoil she might expect, and she handled it just fine.
If you have access to a range where you could shoot those clay pigeons, I'd say go for that with the .22s and maybe something with a little more oomph on hand for when she wants it or seems ready.
The orange targets were nice for a couple reasons: They're pretty good sized, they're bright, they're cheap, they're reactive, and it's easy to pick up their fragments. I didn't want her to stress over things like a bullseye or group size. I wanted her to break something on her very first shot, which she did. And the second, and third, and so on. In the first magazine, I think she missed twice. And she was hooked, just like that.
My Trooper is a stupidly accurate gun, and when fired single action with .38s is pretty tame. I didn't hype up the greater recoil she might expect, and she handled it just fine.
If you have access to a range where you could shoot those clay pigeons, I'd say go for that with the .22s and maybe something with a little more oomph on hand for when she wants it or seems ready.
Take her to an Appleseed and let the instructors teach her.
I've seen a bunch of couples at Appleseeds where the girl is a novice shooter, sometimes a never before shooter. The woman always learns a ton. She will listen more to them than to you. Not only is it a good introduction, she will also learn more in a weekend than in months of casual shooting.
I've seen a bunch of couples at Appleseeds where the girl is a novice shooter, sometimes a never before shooter. The woman always learns a ton. She will listen more to them than to you. Not only is it a good introduction, she will also learn more in a weekend than in months of casual shooting.
Yarddog
Member
The first time I took my wife shooting, She was my G/F 30yrs ago, She out shot me & alway has a great knack for handguns & Long guns. Good Luck Stay Safe ; )
Y/D
Y/D
keddie
Member
When my wife started shooting trap with me, the guys at the club offered up their advice. She now has great form and averages low 80's after one season. I've been shooting since I was 10 so I picked up a lot of bad habits that work for me but were damaging to her shooting. The one club we went to had a learn to shoot trap class, the instructors, got her form corrected and still poke fun at my goofy stance!
oldfool
Member
"refused to use anything but my .22, see seems like she had fun'
guessed I missed the "wrong" part
presuming she is a person worthy of respect, you might could allow her to make her own choices, and enjoy shooting whatever she likes to
if/when she mentions wanting to try something other than 22 rimfire, you could suggest something lesser than a 30-30, as could her dad
but unless she asks, no need to push, nor pull
enjoy your time together on the range
let her watch you shoot your other stuff, she probably will ask, sooner or later, but it's her call, friend
if it all works out really well, you both may have several decades of opportunity to tell each other what you each ought be doing.. hope so
PS
there is a really long story about how that sort of thing worked out really, really well for me
37 years and counting
and it only cost me two or three or four 22 handguns, two or three 22 rifles, one 25 acp, one 32 S&W revolver, one 380 acp, two or three 38/357 revolvers, one hi-cap 9mm, one 243 rifle, one 30-30 rifle, two 410 ga, one 20 ga... still got the girl, still got the guns
I call that a big "win-win"
except that her whitetail antlers on the wall are bigger than mine are (and her 31 inch brown trout is bigger than my brown or rainbow), but it was well worth it
guessed I missed the "wrong" part
presuming she is a person worthy of respect, you might could allow her to make her own choices, and enjoy shooting whatever she likes to
if/when she mentions wanting to try something other than 22 rimfire, you could suggest something lesser than a 30-30, as could her dad
but unless she asks, no need to push, nor pull
enjoy your time together on the range
let her watch you shoot your other stuff, she probably will ask, sooner or later, but it's her call, friend
if it all works out really well, you both may have several decades of opportunity to tell each other what you each ought be doing.. hope so
PS
there is a really long story about how that sort of thing worked out really, really well for me
37 years and counting
and it only cost me two or three or four 22 handguns, two or three 22 rifles, one 25 acp, one 32 S&W revolver, one 380 acp, two or three 38/357 revolvers, one hi-cap 9mm, one 243 rifle, one 30-30 rifle, two 410 ga, one 20 ga... still got the girl, still got the guns
I call that a big "win-win"
except that her whitetail antlers on the wall are bigger than mine are (and her 31 inch brown trout is bigger than my brown or rainbow), but it was well worth it
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