Taking wife shooting for the first time--which guns?

[MLeake]

To be fair, I did it to myself once. Not the shirt, but I wore some Reef sandals one day, and got a hot 9mm casing between my toes.

Ear plugs and muffs, eye protection, and sensible clothing and shoes may matter more than your choice of handguns (within reason).

[power5]

Of those, the AR would be the easiest for her to shot comfortably. All the other ones can be "uncomfortable" for regular shooters.

[b.thomas]

My wife had no troubles at all shooting my Ruger p95, so I'd say go with the 9mm. A handgun that can shoot .22 long rifle might be a good one to start out with, if you have one or can rent/barrow one??

[TRex99]

First handgun my wife fired was my Smith 586 loaded with .38's. Once she got a feel for it, she tried a few of my semi autos. Hated my Glock 23 but loved my Sig 220. She now carries a Sig P238.

[bikerbill]

My wife has tried most of my guns, but always prefers to shoot my Smith 22a ... she's not a fan of recoil ... since she's not a real shooting enthusiast, I don't argue with her (wouldn't anyhow, since I prefer to sleep in our bed rather than the sofa) and she's an excellent shot with that gun ... I figure the idea is to make sure she enjoys what she's doing and maybe she'll want to shoot something larger in the future ...

[P5 Guy]

My ex-wife said the slide coming back on semi-autos freaked her out and that was why she preferred revolvers.

[SFsc616171]

Dear Mike Goob,

Since you have a "38/357 snubby", this is my suggestion.

Load it with 148 grain .38 Special full wadcutters. Why?
1. It's the least load employed by the 1st Gen. Air Marshals and the old Civil Defense department, as well as most plainclothes police from the 50's, forward.
2. It is a viable SD load, without any argument of a hollow point, with low flash, and won't hurt her ears, in the middle of the night.
3. If she likes that, THEN, move to 158-grain semiwadcutters, without the hollowpoint. Just a little bit more, just as functional, and accurate.
4. Both loads will NOT bust your wallet!!

[pete2]

Get a .22 such as a Ruger auto or a S&W K22 for starters. And a .22 rifle. Leave the big bore stuff til after you teach her to shoot.

[marine6680]

This is an older thread... I wonder how it turned out?

As far as some recommending revolvers because they are simpler, and those that complain that a woman can understand complex things just like a man...

It has nothing to do with the woman's ability to understand complex things, its more about intimidation. If you are already nervous, knowing that mishandled a firearm is dangerous/deadly, adding in all these rules about safety and range regulations, instruction on how to aim and sight picture, proper trigger pull... then on top of that, you throw in the added complexities of semi-auto manipulation, and you get a recipe to overwhelm and lock up the mind. It doesn't help that when talking about things we are passionate about, people have a tendency to talk faster and throw out info too quickly before what was said before has time to sink in, adding yet another difficulty.

The same applies to men who are new to shooting as well.

My fiance loves shooting, but it took a while for her to learn things like single vs dual action, action types, and other things like that.

Just like in school, learning any subject, like math, you start simple with the basics and work your way up to more advanced things. At each step you take what you learned before and use it as a base for what comes next. The same formula works when teaching someone to shoot.

[BigD_in_FL]

Starting a NEW shooter with anything other than a .22 - both rifle and/or handgun - is a HUGE mistake. Between the shock of the noise, the recoil of your current guns, you will do more to turn her off than anything. Snub nose guns are some of the hardest to shoot period, let alone with any degree of accuracy; 9mm can be snappy to a new shooter; forget the others as well.
Once she gets used to shooting the .22, THEN move up the ladder with the biggest guns she can handle shooting the lightest, least recoiling loads that work the gun.
JMO, YMMV

[Cosmodragoon]

It looks like most of your collection is CCW stuff. The Sig calibers may be a little snappy but what size is it? In my experience, you want:

- lighter rounds;
- a smooth trigger that's not too tough to pull;
- the largest gun she can comfortably grip;
- the longest sight radius she can keep stable;

Basically, you want her to have fun. That means reliably hitting targets and not being blown away by more recoil than she can handle. Get a good balance for her and let her explore the experience. Once she seems to have the hang of it, then you can change it up a little. Once some comfort and confidence is built with a .22, .32, or .38; it can be a lot of fun to playfully introduce a full-power magnum. Whatever the case, if she enjoys the experience and wants to do it again for her, instead of just to make you happy, this will be the start of something beautiful.

[4V50 Gary]

Teach her the following at home first:

1) Firearms safety. Make sure she knows the rules and can demonstrate them.
2) Handling. Make sure she knows how to use either a revolver, pistol or both. This should be done with empty guns at home. She can build her confidence and competence in handling them so when she does go to the range, she's familiar with them.

At the range:

3) Let her choose which one to take to the range. What feels good to her hand? Which one does she feel more confident and comfortable in handling.
4) Don't forget to have her clean them when she's done. It's part of the training.

[temmi]

my wife started with a 45 1911

did real well

Snake

[JERRYS.]

I would recommend a .22lr of some sorts for her first time out. ammo is cheap enough for plenty of practice on the basics such as grip, trigger control and sight usage. recoil wont distract her nor intimidate her.

once she has learned the basics of gun handling safety and marksmanship she can move on to other guns and shooting drills.

[ClydeFrog]

Id tote the .38spl snub with the CT grip & the Kahr 9x19mm.
Use mild, low recoil target rounds with low muzzle flash. Let her build up into the more powerful & larger caliber pistols.
You want her range trip to be fun & educational. Loud noises & flashes can turn some people off. They develop a flinch or become leery of the noise, blast & recoil.
I can literally shoot all day long but many of my friends & relatives who carry guns or hunt just shoot 100-300rds then stop.

Clyde
PS; teach her how to field strip & clean a gun too. It takes the "power" & "mystique" away when you tear it into pieces. She'll be more confident and have better shooting skills.

[TxFlyFish]

Kahr CT, the snubs are more difficult to master even with seasoned shooters and might be reinforcing bad habits

[Kirby8604]

9mm and light 38 special. Don't give a bad first impression with heavy recoil unless she specifically requests it. Hope she has fun!

[pilpens]

From the choices -
1. 38 snub with the mildest ammo you an get
2. 9mm Kahr if it is the size of CW9 or K9. any smaller may not be fun for first day.

Most important - Have fun.
If it is fun, she might want her own gun.
Do not make it too fun for she will want a 1911 in 9mm with FO front sight and reloading equipment.

I may have been pushing it a little bit on the reloading equipment.

[b.thomas]

A .22 and a 9mm would be my suggestion...................my wife handled both easily. .22 was 617 revolver and ruger p95.................she did better then I can with 9mm p95?

[Jammer Six]

.22 Ruger.

And let someone else teach her.

[bedbugbilly]

A couple years ago I finally got my wife of 40 years (at that time) to go to an indoor range with me to try shooting. I started her out on a 22 Super Bearcat. She liked it and so i consider it her gun now. She calls it her "pop pop gun".

She has no interest in shooting a semi - doesn't like the slide coming back nor the spent shell flying. I have a number of 38 spls. and she has no interest in them as they make too much noise/recoil.

Regardless of if someone has grown up in a family of shooters or not - if they have never shot a gun they are a beginner. To me, starting anyone out on a CF, whether it be .380, 38, 357, 40 or 45 is the best way to scare them off so that they won't want to shoot again. A .22 is a good beginner gun - no recoil to speak of, they learn the basics of gun safety and shooting and then, as they get used to it, if they want to go to a larger caliber, more power to 'em.

Starting someone out on a firearm that is loud (even wearing hearing protection) and a hefty recoil is sort of akin to starting a young kid out hunting pheasants or shooting clays with a 10 gauge.

[Auto5]

I like the idea of starting with a .22, then moving up to a .mild .38 target loads. Even when she's comfortable with the .38, resist the temptation to slip a .357 or +P into a cylinder full of wadcutters. It won't seem nearly as funny when you're sleeping on the couch.

[Cosmodragoon]

Auto5 wrote:

Even when she's comfortable with the .38, resist the temptation to slip a .357 or +P into a cylinder full of wadcutters. It won't seem nearly as funny when you're sleeping on the couch.

It could be far worse than that. The last thing you want to do to someone holding a hot weapon, especially a very inexperienced shooter, is to violently startle them. Think about it. Would you walk up behind someone at the range and let off a firecracker next to their shoe? It is the same principle and a very bad idea.

[focodude]

I agree with those recommending a .22 pistol and rifle for 1st time shooters. Also, I think an all steel full sized 9mm gun, such as a sig p226st, would be a good gun to have a new shooter try because the extra weight helps dampen the recoil. I've heard some women such as Erika Maxwell from the Cory and Erika YouTube channel mention how a lot of people steer women to the subcompact guns and how this can actually be discouraging since these guns tend to have more recoil. Erika recommends starting small on caliber but not on the size of the gun. She said she's glad she learned to shoot on a full sized gun (in her case a 9mm G17).

Here's a link to a "choosing a handgun" video she posted for women. Hope this helps.

http://youtu.be/vH9lNyhSYV8