[gthrift]

First of all, my fiancee understands that I enjoy shooting, knows it's good to have guns and supports my hobby but never wanted to partake. I would always ask her to go to the range with my and just try it out but she never would until last week. Thursday she asked if I would teach her how to shoot. So of course I said yes and on Friday I taught her the safety rules, taught her the basics of how guns work, how to hold one and how to address any problems such as FTFs when shooting.

I then took her to the range Saturday morning where she started out with my Sig 226 with the 22lr conversion kit and she really enjoyed it. She shot about 100 rounds of 22 and everyone of them were inside the silhouette. I had to correct a few issues where she was pulling the trigger with her joint, adjusted her stance and her grip. She is anticipating the shot and it looks like she may be pushing the gun forward and down as she pulls the trigger.

After that, I then moved her up to the 9mm on the 226 which she enjoyed that as well. She got more comfortable, moved the target out further and even started going for head shots and trying to place shots. She shot out of the silhouette at this point but still did great for a 1st time shooter. We just need to work on her anticipating the recoil and the shot.

At some point the guy in the stall next to us started unloading with his .44 mag revolver which scared her and made her jump. He did feel bad so he offered to let her shoot it. After some convincing from me and the other shoot she did take 5 shots with it. The kick, the blowback and the long trigger pull made her nervous but she did well. Did didn't really like the recoil from the .44 mag but she said she would shoot it again.

Overall, I'd say she shoot about 175 rounds and put about 165 of them in the black. She had some failure to feeds, failure to fire, and failure to ejects which she handled really well. She always made sure to take her finger of the trigger, drop the mag and clear the round. She also had a piece of brass come off the divider and go down her shirt but she kept her cool, put the gun down first and then jumped around like crazy trying to get it out. Over all, She did great and has now asked a couple of times if we're going back this weekend. She even met the guy that did my CWP class and wants to know when she can take hers!


Now for the questions. I've never taught anyone to shoot except for myself. How can I help her tighten her groups? How can I get her to stop anticipating the recoil? Are there any other tips to help make her a better shooter?

 

[coach482]

Focus on breathing and relaxing.

 

[m2jordan]

^ and lots of dry firing with a centerfire pistol, concentrating on site picture and trigger control.

 

[nlghthawk]

I taught my girlfriend to shoot and my daughter and I would say they are both good shots.

A couple of things I mentioned to them...take it for what its worth.

Stance, feet comfortably apart

Grip, I have them hold the gun with their shooting hand, then use the other hand to wrap around it and secure it. Cup and Saucer I think is more natural but I don't feel it provides a solid platform. FTF, FTE, etc can be because the blowback doesn't get a full cycle because of limp wristing.

Trigger Pull, I tell them to "slowly pull the trigger and let it surprise them". Eventually that will become second nature and they won't be shocked by the bang and recoil.

I went over all of that with my daughter and she shot a dead center bullseye with the .22 her very fist shot ever.

My GF can now punch the center ring out of the target at 10yards after only shooting about 2years total. She now owns 2 guns and will try anything!! Its a blast having a partner who enjoys what I enjoy.

Lastly,

There was a gentlmen in the stall next to ours Saturday and he was using a Laser he just purchased for his XD40. I was watching the laser line up dead center on the target and then when he squeezed the trigger he would anticipate the shot and it would drop 3-4 inches on the paper. He did this for a whole magazine and I finally told him what I was observing and suggested he just squeeze the trigger and let it POP!! He nailed the bullseye his very next round!!

Free advise, you get what you paid for it...I hope it helps!