The Lady in your Life

[Doc Holliday 1950]

I was at my range yesterday and in the booth next to me was a young couple in their early 20's. I had all my guns plus my wife's SR22. I noticed that no matter how hard this young woman tried, she could not handle her boyfriend's 9mm & she was getting frusttraded.
I pulled the young man over & told him that his girlfriend could shoot my wife's SR22. I explained that if he wanted her to enjoy going with him and shooting to let her try out the 22. Once she got the hang on it , he could get her to try something bigger but to take small steps. Well she shot the SR22 & immediately had a great big smile & her BF was ecstatic. I let her shoot another full mag and her response was the same. My point is that some of our lady friends are not as strong as we are and if it's important to you & she to be part of your shooting that this might be one way to get there. My wife will be 68 tomorrow & now she actually likes coming with me but prefers the outdoor ranges because there's less noise and less cordite smell in the air.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

That's great. Remember one male trick is to have the little lady fail at shooting the gun. That is to show how manly you are. In one case, this resulted in her not handling the recoil of a 44 magnum well and putting one on the 2nd shot recoil flinch into Mr. Macho's noggin.

It's been done with evil intent in shotgun training in the earlier resistance to female officers. The male instructor would shoot a shotgun with a powder puff load and then give the female trainee a big old super duper magnum.

Good job, Doc!!

I started my child on a 22 LR SAA Bearcat. Now she can shoot G19s and 38 SPL revolvers quite well.

[Targa]

Excellent that you most likely got another shooter in the ranks, I always like hearing that. It's kind of funny though, I absolutely love .22's, my wife on the other hand, from the very first day I got her into shooting couldn't care less about shooting the .22's. In her words, I want a gun that feels like your shooting something. To this day, when I am shooting my .22's she makes fun of me with peww peww sounds and then starts blasting away with the .45 1911.

[mehavey]

I have a (now) 14-year old granddaughter who really enjoyed shooting... until some blithering idiot summer camp "coach" put a 12ga into her hands at age twelve and said "don't worry it won't hurt"

It's taken me two years to partially recover her to point that she was at age 10.

Don't ask me what I'd do to that "coach" were I to find him....

[TunnelRat]

It's not just women, it's younger people as well. A lot of people do a frankly poor job at introducing others to the shooting sports.

[Brit]

My Wife has a CCL, and will not carry! "I am always with you, and you are always armed!"
But in trying her out with the two Pistols my Son bought me, a Glock 42, then a Glock 43.

She much prefers the .380. She can handle the 9mm, but would never carry it.
What the heck, she will not carry the G42 even!

[arquebus357]

Of my 9mm's, My wife only enjoyed shooting the 34 oz Star BM. She said the lighter ones would "ring" her hands and arm. Her logic would make the S&W Ladysmith a man's gun.

[Areoflyer09]

My wife started on my SR22, loves the .22 but not the SR22. A year later she has moved on to having her own .22, 2 9mms and if I’m not careful she’ll swipe my 10mm as well.

She did have some frustrations when we both got into 9mms because she went with the PPS instead of something larger. I had my suspicion that the PPS wasn’t the right choice, but some things must be experienced and she was set on the PPS. A few months later the PPS was sold and my PPQ became our PPQ, now it’s her PPQ. The PPS has a noticeably sharper recoil than the PPQ and she wasn’t having fun. With the PPQ the recoil no longer bothers her and she is having fun.

That said she is just happy plinking away with her Victory as she is working with the PPQ & Pavona or giggling as she blasts away with 10mm Witness.

Lesson learned was the platform is every bit as important as the round.

[gnystrom]

As a range officer and instructor I see this every day I am on duty. "Here honey try my .357 mag". My Ruger MK III has over a hundred thousand rounds fired by new shooters, young shooters, wives, girlfriends, and students.

With the help of Volquartsen innards, it takes just a few minutes to get them to to become very comfortable with a small caliber handgun. I take special delight when most of them go home with a target that is perfect for hanging on the outside of their front door. I love donating my 22 ammo to people like this.

[SA1911]

Women can fire large caliber handguns w/o issue. I've found it rare or nonexistent that they couldn't. I've taught a woman who had never fired any gun with my P229 with 180 grain factory ammo. She had it wired within 2 mags.

[TunnelRat]

I think the point is every shooter is different. Yes there are some shooters that jump right into centerfire just fine; others don't.


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[Longhorn1986]

That's why my wife shoots 9mm and I shoot .45 acp. I just need to find her a lighter weight carbine. She doesn't like shooting my AR or AK because of the weight, especially on her support hand.

[TailGator]

It's just more fun to hit what you are aiming at, too. A little early success with a .22LR provides the encouragement some people need to keep shooting and keep progressing.

[JohnKSa]

It's not so much whether a person is male or female, or strong or weak, it's more to do with their motivation.

When I started shooting, I was highly motivated. Frankly, it would have taken a LOT to dissuade me from the process. I bought a .357Mag revolver for my first gun and shot mostly full power loads. I don't recommend that as a way to start into firearms, but it worked for me because I really wanted to shoot. The recoil and muzzle blast wasn't going to deter me from it.

Not all folks start out with a strong desire to shoot. If you take someone like that and hand them a magnum handgun with full power loads for their first shot, that may be the last shot they ever fire. But if you give them something that's a little less intimidating and that's more fun to shoot then you may have just helped create a new shooting enthusiast. Maybe they'll eventually get to the point where shooting a magnum handgun is fun for them too, but even if they don't, they can still get a lot of enjoyment from shooting throughout their life, while also learning a useful skill.

[dsk]

I pulled the young man over & told him that his girlfriend could shoot my wife's SR22.

Good thing it was you at the range. If it had been anyone else they'd have said "Here, let her try my ported .500 S&W Magnum. Now wait a minute... let me film this so I can post it on YouTube later..."

[SauerGrapes]

Give my wife a 22 pistol with a red dot, she happy as a clam.

[brian33x51]

My 7yro son goes to town with my mkiii 22/45. If only it weren't a chinese puzzle to reassemble.

He doesn't have the strength to cleanly pull the triggers on any of my 9mm pistols. I'll have to check how well he can handle my wife's bersa 380 trigger.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by SA1911

Women can fire large caliber handguns w/o issue. I've found it rare or nonexistent that they couldn't. I've taught a woman who had never fired any gun with my P229 with 180 grain factory ammo. She had it wired within 2 mags.

I can fire large caliber (and large power) handguns w/o issue, too. But why? It's not fun. Every shot is punishment. My personal limit is .45 ACP in semi-auto and .45 Colt in revolvers. I own a .44 magnum but I only shoot .44 Special through it, and I may try loading up some .44 Russian just for giggles. I'm not Dirty Harry, I'm not going to ever carry "the most powerful handgun in the world," so I don't feel any need or urge to try to "prove" myself.

[JC57]

Yeah, OK. You haven't met my wife. She is a natural sniper with a handgun. I don't think she had been out to the range in about 10 years but I took her along with me when I was getting back into guns myself a few years ago. She brought her gun with her, a S&W Model 66 2.5" with 38 +Ps.

As she was setting up for her first shot (double-action, of course) at the 15 yard line I opened my mouth to say something, since I had been practicing a bit for a few months.

First shot, dead center of the X ring on a bulls-eye. I sat there with my mouth still hanging open, and the next two shots made that one hole into a three-leaf clover. I shut my mouth and went over to my lane.

She shot my new Glock 22 Gen 4 that day, .40 S&W. I think she ran about 3 mags through it. Good tight groups, though not as tight as she shoots with that revolver. It was her first time shooting a Glock since a Gen 1 in the late 80s.

Another example. I took her out shopping for a new gun, hoping she might find something smaller than the S&K K-frame that would make for easier carrying. There were two guns she wanted to look at - a Ruger Alaskan in .44 Mag and a Para Warthog double-stack .45.

I ended up getting a S&W 642 that I thought she might like. But nope, she likes bigger guns. So I ended up with the 642 and she still carries that Model 66.

There have been two cases where she needed to grab a gun in a hurry - where she came into the house only to discover, after she was already inside, that there had been a break-in and she didn't know if someone was in the house. What she chose to grab from its hiding place was that Glock 22 before retreating outside to wait for the police.

Turns out that at least some women who understand WHY they want a gun, want a pretty effective one. She told me about a co-worker of hers, a grandmother in her 60s, who got a handgun carry permit. Her choice was a Glock 19.

When women make the choices on their own, they usually go with something that'll do the job. It's like JohnKSa pointed out - it depends on the motivation. If someone (male or female) is motivated from their own internal desire or imperative to learn to shoot and master a firearm, they'll take care of business and learn it.

[Saurdaukar]

Suppose I got a bit lucky with mine.

Still working with her on some minor adjustments, but she eats it up and is always ready to go.

No fear of recoil, either. Quite the opposite, actually; always looking for something bigger. Says she likes the "power" of that feeling; especially as it relates to rifles.

Started her off with a well worn in, very easy shooting 1911 and a single round at a time. Used to instruct many moons ago and the basic idea behind that approach is that aiming and trigger discipline become the mental priorities, removing the subconscious anticipation that, after the round is fired, a loaded weapon has to be brought back on target, post recoil. She took to it well. Steadily increased round count and she shoots very well for her level of experience. Still has difficulty loading magazines, though.

Had to laugh... she was blessed, early on. Most people here, I would assume, have probably had ejected brass come straight back into their forehead, at some point, after a few thousand rounds, right? Happened to her the first time I took her to the range, not once, but twice, and drew blood both times.

Talk about a champ - she smeared some of it on the target, which she, of course, wanted to keep, it being her first time, and all. Still has it on the fridge.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Just to follow up on the warning about giving beginners a powerful gun for a laugh or to teach a young one to 'harden' up. A few years ago near Bastrop, TX - a young boy was given a 454 Casull to shoot. It recoiled back such that it hit him in the head and killed him.

Starting light is the way to go, then work up. Yes, young people of either sex can do it but one needs a reasonable training plan.

[5whiskey]

My wife, God bless her, doesn't really care for shooting with me. She finds it boring. She would go with me when we were younger, and I can tell you she is a natural born shooter with almost zero practice. She has shot guns before I met her, but very infrequently. One of our range sessions with a pistol she would make head shots on a B27 target with my .357 Security Six at 10 yards. First with .38+p loads, then with mid .357 loads. Still have a picture with her standing next to the target. She is not recoil sensitive at all.

My eldest daughter has been shooting 9mm since she was 10. She is going to hunt with a 12 gauge this year at 13 years old. She doesn't like .357, but she can control it. I guess it is "different strokes," but don't always assume the lady friend needs a dainty caliber. .22lr is great for an introduction if you're with someone who has never fired a gun before, but don't be afraid to introduce heavier calibers (even early on) if they seem comfortable. Of course, work your way up. Don't jump from .22 to heavy .357 loads in a light revolver.

[DAVID NANCARROW]

Reloading has really helped my better half. She wanted to shoot my 1911 so I started her out on powder puff loads-enough to reliably cycle the action. As she gained experience I stepped up on the power to where she can handle factory and plus P loads on occasion. In addition to carrying a Government Model as her EDC, she also reloads ammo.

[tony pasley]

Where I grew up girls shot as much as boys, Ever month we had a school shooting, as long as Ms. Goodale was not shooting anybody could win. I did start my children with .22 cal. then moved them up to center fire.

[kmw1954]

A year ago my wife never shot a gun. Today she owns her own, a XD Mod2 4.0 9mm in 2 tone.

She was at 1st reluctant and a bit afraid. Her first experience also did not go well because we were at an outdoor range that was packed and over crowded. To be honest even I felt a bit uncomfortable with the conditions.

Second trip was to an indoor range and we found a time when it wasn't busy which helped and she did much better.

This summer we went to a meet'n greet with another forum group to an outdoor range and she had no trouble shootin up her share of ammo. I was teasing her about her happy trigger finger. She had a great time even though she was the only female there.