axeman_g
Member
Yesterday in a thread started by Jacobus Rex about his experience taking his wife to range I mentioned that I would be doing the same thing Sat night. This is that story.
I have been shooting for years, owned guns since my teens and been with my wife for 15 years (married almost 6) and have been pestering her for years to learn to shoot. But many factors have worked against me, she has never held a loaded gun, first time she held a unloaded gun was a few weeks ago (you would have thought it was a dirty diaper), she was schooled in Quaker elementary schools, has a very anti violence tilt, works for a government organization that works dilligently against teen violence, is a NJ Democrat that happens to live in Atlanta and has been pregnant / nursing for the last year and a half.
Finally convinced her to go before we went to dinner on one of our first nights out since our second child was born. See, we had recently moved from the far suburbs of Atlanta into the Atlanta city limits to reduce our commute times/stress and spend more time with the boys. The elevation in criminal activity in the area has raised my level of awareness and I believe hers also. She actually raised the issue a few weeks ago, but it was a reluctant request followed by an almost complte retreat on her part. But the door had been cracked and I had to bull my way through it. If she wanted to go out to a couples dinner, she had to learn to shoot first!
Off to the range. On the way she announced "Lets get this over with." That did not give me a good feeling, she was nervous and did not know what to expect. I tried to reassure her, but I was getting the sinking feeling this might be a bust. The guys at the range were great, made her laugh, tried to set her at ease. We rented a .22 S&W and purchased some .38s for the GP100, and got some bullseys targets (I decided to save silhouettes for later... if ther was a later). I gave her some tips at the line, she was nervous, shaking slightly and anxious. Perfect time for the guy three rows done to open up, rapid fire with a big bore pistol. She shook it off and started hitting paper with the .22. Not bad shots, not great. We had to find her style, she is left eye dom and right handed, so we went with two handed grip and bot eyes open. She started relaxing, loading the cylinder between strings. I handed her the GP100 and discussed the recoil of the .38 versus the .22. Not a problem, she started getting more confident and hitting better. The power of the DA pull on the GP hurt her accuracy, she has the smallest fingers of any grown woman, then hit just fine with SA. I then got her to try some .357 mag. I explained that they would be a lot sharper and louder. She was a little amazed at the difference but handled them well after a few shots. We discussed the differences in caliber and stopping power between the .38s and .357s. She agreed that the house gun should be loaded with the mags. We then tried my new SIG 228, I think I just lost it to her. She was hitting 6/10 shots in the 10ring. She loved the lighter feel and the SA pull.
The dinner sucked, but the earlier part of the evening was great.
I have been shooting for years, owned guns since my teens and been with my wife for 15 years (married almost 6) and have been pestering her for years to learn to shoot. But many factors have worked against me, she has never held a loaded gun, first time she held a unloaded gun was a few weeks ago (you would have thought it was a dirty diaper), she was schooled in Quaker elementary schools, has a very anti violence tilt, works for a government organization that works dilligently against teen violence, is a NJ Democrat that happens to live in Atlanta and has been pregnant / nursing for the last year and a half.
Finally convinced her to go before we went to dinner on one of our first nights out since our second child was born. See, we had recently moved from the far suburbs of Atlanta into the Atlanta city limits to reduce our commute times/stress and spend more time with the boys. The elevation in criminal activity in the area has raised my level of awareness and I believe hers also. She actually raised the issue a few weeks ago, but it was a reluctant request followed by an almost complte retreat on her part. But the door had been cracked and I had to bull my way through it. If she wanted to go out to a couples dinner, she had to learn to shoot first!
Off to the range. On the way she announced "Lets get this over with." That did not give me a good feeling, she was nervous and did not know what to expect. I tried to reassure her, but I was getting the sinking feeling this might be a bust. The guys at the range were great, made her laugh, tried to set her at ease. We rented a .22 S&W and purchased some .38s for the GP100, and got some bullseys targets (I decided to save silhouettes for later... if ther was a later). I gave her some tips at the line, she was nervous, shaking slightly and anxious. Perfect time for the guy three rows done to open up, rapid fire with a big bore pistol. She shook it off and started hitting paper with the .22. Not bad shots, not great. We had to find her style, she is left eye dom and right handed, so we went with two handed grip and bot eyes open. She started relaxing, loading the cylinder between strings. I handed her the GP100 and discussed the recoil of the .38 versus the .22. Not a problem, she started getting more confident and hitting better. The power of the DA pull on the GP hurt her accuracy, she has the smallest fingers of any grown woman, then hit just fine with SA. I then got her to try some .357 mag. I explained that they would be a lot sharper and louder. She was a little amazed at the difference but handled them well after a few shots. We discussed the differences in caliber and stopping power between the .38s and .357s. She agreed that the house gun should be loaded with the mags. We then tried my new SIG 228, I think I just lost it to her. She was hitting 6/10 shots in the 10ring. She loved the lighter feel and the SA pull.
The dinner sucked, but the earlier part of the evening was great.
I "lost" my S&W 386PD the same way, it was well worth it.