Training Complete Newb vs. Semi-Newb

[Cosmoline]

I recently had occasion to supervise and provide very basic rifle and handgun training to two new shooters. One was *completely* new to firearms and came from urban Australia where even being near one is impossible for most people. The other was from NYC and had a little experience with .22 rifles.

The difference in results was very stark. The Aussie was careful and listened to my descriptions. He asked some questions. Then he shot, and within a few rounds he was zeroing in on the bull at 25 yards with iron sighted rifles and at 10 feet with SA and DA revolvers.

The east coaster was at first more confident, but had a lot of problems over-gripping and jerking the firearm. Esp. the revolver. Of interest, I found the laser sight on the LCR to be helpful at diagnosing his problem. We could see the dot jerk down fast with recoil anticipation. But unfortunately there wasn't enough time to work on fixing this. He asked no questions and needed a lot of repeated correcting just to stay on target.

Is this a pattern others have seen before as well?

 

[HankR]

I notice this difference when teaching men vs women (or boys vs girls). The girls are willing to take direction, and end up out shooting the boys. On a recent church outing, for college kids from more urban areas, one girl was intimidated by the fact that the boy claimed to know all about everything I was teaching them. I let him go in front of her, and told her that the men normally missed really fast and the girls took more time and hit the target. He rapidly sent 15 rounds down range for zero hits (stationary clay pigeon, maybe 30 feet away w/ a AR pattern rifle in .22 lr). The next lady broke all 6 w/ 7 or so shots and asked what she should shoot at w/ the rest. The lady I held back developed a big-ole-grin and quite a bit of confidence (and was breaking targets later that day).

I think the boys _think_ they know how to shoot, since they are "men" and they've seen it done on TV. The ladies are willing to follow direction.

 

[Skribs]

Coming into this thread as a gamer, there are two types: newb and noob. Newbs are inexperienced, while noobs are arrogant beyond their skill level. Sometimes people are both. Being a newb can be easily cured with training and practice. Being a noob requires a reality check that you actually need to learn, at which point you can cure with training and practice.

 

[Warp]

I recently had occasion to supervise and provide very basic rifle and handgun training to two new shooters. One was *completely* new to firearms and came from urban Australia where even being near one is impossible for most people. The other was from NYC and had a little experience with .22 rifles.

The difference in results was very stark. The Aussie was careful and listened to my descriptions. He asked some questions. Then he shot, and within a few rounds he was zeroing in on the bull at 25 yards with iron sighted rifles and at 10 feet with SA and DA revolvers.

The east coaster was at first more confident, but had a lot of problems over-gripping and jerking the firearm. Esp. the revolver. Of interest, I found the laser sight on the LCR to be helpful at diagnosing his problem. We could see the dot jerk down fast with recoil anticipation. But unfortunately there wasn't enough time to work on fixing this. He asked no questions and needed a lot of repeated correcting just to stay on target.

Is this a pattern others have seen before as well?

Well, an LCR is probably the last gun I would ever use for instruction of a new shooter.

In general people who think they know what they are doing, or who previously learned/taught themselves bad habits, are the most difficult. This is why some people say women are easier to instruct/train than men. They don't think they know, they don't have bad habits, and they have a teachable attitude.

A lot of Americans learn about firearms through video games, TVs, and movies...and we know where that gets you.

Your results are not at all surprising, though the n=2 sample size doesn't get us very far


Also...newb and noob are indeed different. A newb is fine, you just have to remember to start with the VERY BASICS. Make no assumptions, at all, about anything. Don't tell them keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, because they don't know what a muzzle is or what a safe direction is, but once you tell them they should be able to do it. Noobs...be ready to grab that gun or their arm to force them to stop pointing it at somebody because they aren't listening.

 

[tuj]

A lot of Americans learn about firearms through video games, TVs, and movies

Completely agree. What do you see most actors doing with their guns? FINGER ON THE TRIGGER BEFORE THEY ARE READY TO SHOOT! And that's the most common problem I find with new shooters; they want to establish the trigger as part of their grip because they feel like that's how you should hold a gun. Plus our fingers naturally want to all curl when we grasp something.

Sometimes when a shooter is doing this, I will let them *try* to shoot my benchrest smallbore rifle which has a 2oz trigger on it. Usually this results in an ND (although not to worry too much, gun is in a rest, pointed down-range at the target before they start) because they touch the trigger before they are ready to shoot. Usually 1 ND is enough to scare someone away from the rifle and hopefully correct a bad habit.

 

[Cosmoline]

Well, an LCR is probably the last gun I would ever use for instruction of a new shooter.

Yes, in fact it *WAS* the last firearm. I started them on a single shot rifle, then moved to a carbine with one round at a time, then a few rounds, then shifted to the handgun range and started with single action revolvers, double action, then ended with the LCR.

This time I also started with black and moved to smokeless for both long and short guns, which provided for a nice little history demonstration.