So, today is the day I take the wife to the range, to shoot my guns for the first time.
She has shot rifles and shotguns, 30+ years ago, but never a handgun....She will be shooting my 9mm Shield, .40 Taurus compact, Taurus .357 and a couple 22s.
I have faith that she will have no problems. We spent an hour going over safety and such....if any reason, there is a problem or you don't feel comfortable, JUST PUT THE GUN DOWN.
One of the reason that we are going, she wants to start carrying and we need to find something that she feel comfortable with...Probably a .38 revolver...but we will try a few different models/calibers
....Plus, I am looking for a full size .40 and see what they have I can try out.
Then going to lunch....I figure, this will cost me a few hundred, with range fees, ammo, rentals and lunch, but if I can get a shooting partner out of it, it is monies well spent.

So, who has taken a first time shooter out and how did it go?

-dimwit-

Taken first shooters many times. Newbies usually do very well because they "don't know it all." Women in particular seem to do well because, as a rule, they listen and take coaching well. I like to start people with the 22 LR pistols. When it is over even the skeptics are loving it. Good on you for providing training.

Many times, and it almost always goes extremely well.

To me, the important thing with pistols is remaining steady and not flinching. I always start with a .22 rifle (maybe she's already done that), then a .22 pistol, and then I only move up to something bigger once the person is VERY comfortable with the .22.

And . . . dry-firing. We do a LOT of dry-firing. Dry-fire every gun a number of times before you live-fire it, and make sure the student is rock-steady when dry-firing. Then, load JUST ONE round into the gun, and tell her to do EXACTLY the same thing that she just did when dry-firing. If she does, she will hit the target. Once she hits the target, she's hooked.

Once she's comfortable with one round, go to two. Once she's comfortable with two, then load as many as you want.

Mistakes that I think people make when teaching/learning:

- Not dry-firing, to really get a feel for the gun and to establish a "no-stress" baseline in the shooter's head.
- Loading too many rounds into the gun. If you have a shooter that's new/nervous/bored/whatever, and you have 15 rounds in the gun, the last 10 will probably be wasted and will just develop bad habits, if nothing else.

Kudos to you for taking her out, and to her for being willing! Let us know how it goes.

Note to self... DO NOT BUY ANY .22's FROM Madpick.

I took my former wife to the range her first time about 6 years ago. It didn't go well. I figured, let her shoot the little gun first. So I handed her my LCP in .380. She fired one round, it hurt her hand so she said "I'm done."

After two years of trying to get her to go again, I bought her a Ruger LCR in .22. The no recoil gun gave her the confidence to try my 9mm, and .45.


My advice, PATIENCE. Let her go at her speed and you'll be fine.

Haha . . . if they're not safe to dry-fire, I won't. But many of them are.



LOL . . . one reason I sold my LCP was because of the horrendous recoil.

That brings up a good point, though. Many new shooters, especially woman, ASK to shoot the "little gun" first because they are afraid of recoil. Maybe it's an LCP, or maybe it's that .38 snubnose . . . either way, don't let them fall for that trap. An explanation that bigger/heavier = LESS recoil is good to give, then let them work their way up to the little guns.

Just make sure you stress "thumbs forward" on the semiautos. Most new shooters I take out have a tendency to wrap the off hand thumb around the back of the pistol in the path of the slide. Losing even a small bit of flesh can ruin the experience for the first timers.

They also have a tendency to be really stiff and nervous. Tell them to relax and breathe. Focus on handling and operations before accuracy. All the rounds went down range? Good job honey. Ready to shoot some more? Make it more fun and rewarding than classroom environment.

Good luck. I took the wife a while back. She didn't mind it but has no ambition to go back.

SHE DID GREAT!!!!
She shot 8 different guns.....she LOVED my Browning Buckmark and the .357

Thanks guys for all the input.
She was a little nervous about shooting the .357, but realized, after she shot it, that it had less kick, than the smaller guns.
She tried 3 revolvers, Taurus 605, Ruger lcr and a S&W (don't remember the model number)...She liked the Taurus the best, less kick and more comfortable in her hand.
She ended up talking to one of the guys behind the counter...Howard, for about 40 minutes, while I did my own thing. He walked her through the basics of dos and donts of a EDC gun.
He showed her the Ruger LCR w/crimson trace laser....and of course she loved it. Once she found out that the grip is an extra $150-$200, she says " I dont need no stinking laser"
She wants to go again, probably next weekend and try some semi autos.

@MadPick, I stared her off with the 22s and then the .357 (it has a 6.5 ported barrel) with .38 sp loads. Then the 9mm shield and the compact .40. I let her shoot the smaller ones, with one round each, a couple times and then loaded the mag.

-dimwit-

It sounds like you both nailed it!!!




Well done!

Nice job! I know taking a person 2A virginity is always stressful, even more so when it's one who you have to live with!

That is why I like to take new shooters to a indoor range with rentals. Rent the 9mm CZ's, Beretta 92 etc as the 1st gun bigger than 22 for them. Basically the biggest heaviest full size rental they have. I hate the recoil of the LCP and trigger, will never own one and would not want a new shooter to experience one in a first outing, quick way to turn them off to shooting.

Weelllll . . . yes, the rental aspect is great, no doubt. I agree with that.

My problem with indoor ranges, especially for new shooters, is that they are LOUD. HORRIBLY LOUD. This makes it difficult for us to talk, and I think it's also intimidating for new shooters. I think we've all been there with the guy in the next lane shooting a .44 Magnum....

My personal preference is to go to an outdoor range, in an area as quiet and as far away from other shooters as possible. Yes, this means that I am forced -- for the good of others, of course -- to own a good variety of training firearms, since I don't have the luxury of the rental counter when I do this.

IT is a terrible burden to bear I know, but sometimes we all must suffer and endure such burdens for the benefit of others...

True about the indoor range. I was lucky enough to take the wife out to a quiet wooded area her 1st day shooting. Then 6 mos later went to a range and only stayed 30min as the concussion was getting to her, should have taken her to a range with better accoustics setup.

A good way to get around the LOUD aspect is to always double up on the ear protection. And make sure you have th better ear muffs (i.e. the 30 db rated ones!)
AND try to get as much hair out of the way! That is usually why it seems so much louder.