My Fiancee Wants to Learn How to Shoot

[BuffCyclist]

I've been with my Fiancee for almost 2 years now, and have tried to convince her to let me take her shooting. The answer was always "No", so I stopped pushing it, figuring that she'd come to me when she was ready.

That day came when I was on my last work shift. She called me to talk. Long story short, there is a guy at work (student) who has been stalking and harassing her for months now and after reporting him to her supervisor, he stayed away. Then one day, out of the blue he showed up to tell her that he's got asbergers and probably has sociopathic tendencies as well, that he doesn't feel emotion. But he was still hitting on her and trying to be close to her (she kept having to back up away from him). And, living in a small town, it would be pretty easy for him to find out where we live and find out that I go on work shifts where she's home alone.

When she called, she said she wanted to learn how to shoot. I was flabbergasted! I knew she'd ask eventually, but thought it would be years from now!

Once I got home from what work shift, I field stripped my glock and gave her just the frame (as she was scared of it with the barrel in, saying that even knowing it was unloaded and seeing it, she still thinks its loaded, which I said is the first rule of gun safety!). We went over the firearm laws, the basics of a firearm, then I put the frame away and showed her the barrel, slide and magazine.

It may not seem like much, but thats a HUGE step in my opinion! Now I just have to find a nice weekend and get her to the actual range, which even if she doesn't shoot the first time but just watches me, I'm okay with that. She told me that once she gets over that initial fear of shooting a gun for the first time, she's probably going to love it and will want to master it.

Thought a .22 pistol would be best to start her on, but after talking agreed that 9mm would be a good start (already have the lone wolf 40-9 conversion barrel for my Glock 23) and if its too much, she'd get over the recoil quickly.

Any other tips for introducing someone to shooting for the first time?

[Beer]

[02ducky]

Safety glasses and I would double up on the ear protection, a lot of new shooters hate the "bang". Take it slow, encourage her and have fun with it.

[BuffCyclist]

Safety glasses were a given, but I didn't think about doubling up on the ears. Thanks!

A friend also told me to only load 1 round at a time until she gets more used to the feel of the recoil and the trigger. Makes sense, in that she won't have to fear losing control, dropping it and being shot.

[gos]

When my wife first learned to shoot, we did the 1-round-at-a-time thing. It took about 10 minutes for her to say "screw that" and want nothing but full mags she could send down-range.

I couldn't load fast enough, and she shot ~300 rounds in an hour or so.

[Trigger Time 23]

My wife loves to shoot. Gets mad if I go without her. .22's are really great to start out and teach fundamentals with. No recoil, low noise can't go wrong with a new shooter.

[glock21]

Let me come hang out for a week. He wont come around anymore.

[FARM]

Comfort is the key to starting out, not only in the weapon but also the safety equipment. Spend the money on electronic ear protection so when she talks the hearing is "normal" and then when she shoots it automatically protects her. My wife hated learning with ear plugs once I bought some electronic she loves it. We started out with 22's and now she has her own 9mm and has shot everything up to my 357.

[BuffCyclist]

Comfort is the key to starting out, not only in the weapon but also the safety equipment. Spend the money on electronic ear protection so when she talks the hearing is "normal" and then when she shoots it automatically protects her. My wife hated learning with ear plugs once I bought some electronic she loves it. We started out with 22's and now she has her own 9mm and has shot everything up to my 357.

Thanks, I'll have to look into the electronic ears. I've seen them but hadn't ever really given them much consideration mostly because of the cost and not knowing anyone that has used them.

[Mazin]

Start her on a .22, P22, Sig, whatever but let her get use to firing a gun and learining the basics before introducing a bigger caliber with mor felt recoil. Congrats once she falls in love with it (and she will) you will have just doubled your gun related expenses...Ask me how I know lol

[JohnnyEgo]

Only problem with starting with a .22 is that there is no way to go down if she doesn't care for it. With adults who haven't shot before, I like to start with a 6" .357 loaded with .38 wadcutter. Very mild recoil, and sets a reasonable expectation of every other caliber to come. Once she has gotten over the initial sound and fury, you can go to the .22 to practice fundamentals.

Only other piece of advice I have is to take a mutual friend or someone else with you, and let them offer advice and correction. Your only function should be to offer encouragement and support. Otherwise, couples tend to bring too much baggage into instruction, which is both dangerous and counter productive.

[TFOGGER]

Only problem with starting with a .22 is that there is no way to go down if she doesn't care for it. With adults who haven't shot before, I like to start with a 6" .357 loaded with .38 wadcutter. Very mild recoil, and sets a reasonable expectation of every other caliber to come. Once she has gotten over the initial sound and fury, you can go to the .22 to practice fundamentals.

Only other piece of advice I have is to take a mutual friend or someone else with you, and let them offer advice and correction. Your only function should be to offer encouragement and support. Otherwise, couples tend to bring too much baggage into instruction, which is both dangerous and counter productive.

Even an air pistol is good for getting over the initial willies. My wife's ex was a cop, and thought it would be funny to teach her to shoot with a .44 Mag. It's taken me 10 years to get her to unlearn the bad habits that taught her. Now I have her convinced to take a CCW course, but I will not be in the room when she takes her class. [Help]. She's much more accepting of instruction when the teacher is anyone but me. [LOL]

[sniper7]

lots of great info! All I can say is to have fun and be safe!

[Mazin]

Only problem with starting with a .22 is that there is no way to go down if she doesn't care for it. With adults who haven't shot before, I like to start with a 6" .357 loaded with .38 wadcutter. Very mild recoil, and sets a reasonable expectation of every other caliber to come. Once she has gotten over the initial sound and fury, you can go to the .22 to practice fundamentals.

Only other piece of advice I have is to take a mutual friend or someone else with you, and let them offer advice and correction. Your only function should be to offer encouragement and support. Otherwise, couples tend to bring too much baggage into instruction, which is both dangerous and counter productive.


Just offering advice from First hand knowlege from my own wife and other women students that I have taught.

[dwalker460]

Second the .38 with wadcutters. Revolvers are good to learn on too as there is no racking of the slide etc., just load, point, shoot.
However, I have started female shooters with .22 before and depending on the personality involved may be a good way to go. Once they get over the recoil and the report of the weapon most women make excellent shooters, but in the beginning if they are really scared by excessive recoil/report then they can easily lose interest or get frustrated quickly.
My quick rules for teaching an adult new female shooter are-

low recoil
low report- longer the barrel the better, lower power target ammo is better
simpler the operation the better- working slides and decockers and etc. overwhelms a new shooter and while they may not complain it does not make anything easier.
stay away from liteweight carry guns intitally. It might seem counter-intuitive but a 1911 steel frame pistol loaded with .45ACP target rounds has a manageable recoil because its a heavy ass pistol. The same round in a Glock or similar polymer compact pistol with a 3" barrel will not be a pleasant gun to learn on.A medium frame revolver with a 6" barrel shooting .38 wadcutters is the same thing, easily managed and easy to come to grips with.
If starting with a .22 make sure you have another gun available loaded with medium power ammo for them to step up to.
An indoor range is better. Crowded is not a bad thing. It really can help to see that there are so many other shooters out there and it really helps remove a lot of the stigma associated with guns and shooting.

My own wife has gone to the range with me, and previously she did not "get" my gun hobby much at all. When she saw other shooters out having a good time, smiling, out with thier whole families including sons and daughters, it all made a lot more sense to her and really removed a lot of the "guns are evil and only for the authorities" mentality she had. Incidentally she shot my .22 SIg Mosquito and moved right up to the Beratta PX4 Storm in .45, and she has handled but not fired my AR's and understands how they function and how to use them correctly.

[xring]

Humans have the ability to sense real threats.

I am guessing that she senses this individual is a real threat based on her wanting firearms training. Ask her " what does your gut tell you is this guy a threat?"
If she replies in the affirmative i would take it very seriously but thats just me.

Have somone else train her. You might want to get her able to shoot but get her trained by a profesional ASAP. She must be trained emotionally to respond appropriatly as well as learning how to shoot.

http://www.rmcat.com/node/4

I recomend this training. The springs is not that far away. If you cant wait ask them for a associated school in NM. Until she is trained she is at risk.

[ray1970]

I prefer that my woman doesn't shoot. For one, it tends to cut into "guy time" if she tags along.


For another thing, it's just safer. [Coffee]

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/18672577/girlfriend-shoots-kills-boyfriend-in-franklin-county

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_hillsborough/deputies%3A-girlfriend-shoots-boyfriend-after-argument%3B-shows-and-tells-witness

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=8753802

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/state/cops%3A-girlfriend-shoots-boyfriend's-dog-because-of-an-argument-

[BushMasterBoy]

The original spelling of woman in Old English was "woeman"...[ROFL1]

[SAnd]

Make sure the sights on all your guns shoot high and to the right. That way if she ever gets mad enough you can go low and left.

Have fun. I hope everything works out and you have a new shooting companion.

[xring]

Make sure the sights on all your guns shoot high and to the right. That way if she ever gets mad enough you can go low and left.




Better high than low[Tooth]

[cstone]

Great to hear she wants to learn. Spend lots of time on safety and basic technique.

Have you talked to the local PD or prosecutor about a Protection or Stay Away Order for Mr. Asbergers? Get her a small air horn and some pepper spray. Teach her situational awareness. 1. Know where you are at all times. 2. Know who is in proximity to you as much as possible. 3. Know where you are going to and at least one alternate way of getting there. Teach her to trust her instincts. If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't, so don't go there.

It is always better to avoid a confrontation than to be prepared for one. We prepare for the times when the confrontation can't be avoided.

When she is really comfortable with her shooting, make certain she works on some visualization of shooting a real live, breathing, sweating, aggressive human being. It may or may not help if she is ever in that situation. You don't know till you find out.

Be safe.

[BuffCyclist]

Wow! Tons of great info!! Thank you everyone for replying, I'm sure more people will have other stuff to say too, but I'll respond to some stuff now.

Foxtrot, I hadn't thought about her being sore the next day. Though now that I think about it, I know that my hand always tends to hurt a bit whenever I take my Ruger LCP out, just hits right on the base of the thumb muscle.

Tfogger, I've got a Sigma type airsoft pistol that weighs as much as a real sigma, so I could use that to teach her the fundamentals of various parts on the pistol.

dwalker460, I wish I had a .22 pistol to let her shoot, even thought about buying one recently (still considering a cheapo Heritage Rough Rider for $140), but she wants to shoot the smallest I've currently got. When she gets better, I told her we'd take her out and find her a pistol that would be her gun and fits her. I know about staying away from lightweight guns, partly why I'm not letting her shoot my LCP. The size is better for her than my Glock 23, but in my opinion, the LCP kicks a lot more than my G23.

xring, She mostly senses a threat with this guy because he has these mental disorders, and kept pursuing her when she told him no. He kept calling her at work, stopping by, talking to coworkers trying to get information about her. He is even married and is trying to get her to go on a date with him. He's also ex-military (can't remember what branch) but she said that he is also twice her size and if he ever got her alone, she could be in serious trouble. I spoke with my CCW instructor about this, and he offered tons of solutions for her, group class vs one on one, (with me present or not, her choice), tons of things to think bout as well. We spoke about it and she said if she took a class with him, she'd be required to go to the range immediately after the classroom work. She said that she'd rather go to the range on her own time, shoot it first to see what its like, and then take the training course. I may look into my trainers calendar to see when he's got a class open and see if she wants to take it. Also, I don't' live in Colorado anymore, so I can't do any training up there, but thanks for the link!

ray1970, HAHA! I can see what you mean about her cutting into guy time, but honestly, I love her dearly, and would be ecstatic if we could go to the range together (as it is, we don't share any hobbies or extracurricular activities).

BushMasterBoy, HA! I'll consider that.

SAnd, Thanks, I hope we can start going shooting together too!

Keep the advice/tips coming!

[ChadAmberg]

I would say 99% of the time it's a bad idea for someone to teach their wife/girlfriend how to shoot. If it's possible, have her go to a class with a disinterested third party.

For the immediate future, you're doing ok. But don't spend a lot of time. Maybe 2-3 magazines worth. Let her do just about everything herself. Don't try to teach when she's actually shooting, just let her experience things. Only step in for a safety issue. After she's realized how it won't hurt her and how much fun it is, sign her up for a class.

Try not to say "this is the gun you will use" or anything like that. Try to get her in a situation with other shooters with various guns next. Let her shoot various automatics, revolvers, etc. What works for you is almost guaranteed not to work for her.

[Holger Danske]

Agree with Chad, a couple of mags to get her past her anxieties and then get her some formal training especially if you can find a good female instructor. If you want to score points, LISTEN when she tells you whar she learned (even if you already know it). Take her to the gun store and let her hold a lot of guns. She will figure out what she likes. Also, can she get a restraining order against the guy.

[BuffCyclist]

stone, good points. Technically, the stalker hasn't done anything to warrant a restraining order, its a college campus that she works on and he is a student, so he has every right to be there. But her supervisor is aware of the situation and has made it clear to him that he is stalking her and if he continues, they will expel him. She is learning more about knowing where people are and looking around to monitor things wherever she is at.

ChadAmberg, I brought that up to her, that I'd rather be a third party in a class and have someone else teach her. However, she said she wants to go shooting first, then take a class. I didn't think about how I was going to do it, was planning on shooting a magazine or two and have her watch what I do, then hand it over to her. I've already taught her the firearm laws, might be a good time to quiz her on them and see if she remembers. I will definitely let her do things her way and only step in for a safety violation (or if I see her about to do one). Very good point, thanks for bringing that up!

Holger_Danske, that was kind of the plan. Just take her out, get her over the initial fear of pulling the trigger, and get to know what the recoil feels like, then get her into training.

I'm mostly asking for tips/advice here because I absolutely do NOT want to screw this up. I want to make it as comfortable, relaxed and safe of an environment as possible so she feels at ease the first time she shoots. The plan (that she doesn't know) was to get her into a class, have her start shooting, take her out "shopping" to find what she likes, and then surprise her with a gift of her own pistol after she tries out a lot and really knows what she wants.

My CCW instructor has at least 20 guns he brought to my CCW class for anyone to try out. I may see if he could do something familiar with her.

He was very generous too in saying if we get her into a class, that he'll let me take the class with my fiancee and be right beside her, as a little support, and that he wouldn't charge me to take it. He said that in his experience, some women WANT their husbands to be there, others insist that their husbands are NOT present. My fiancee has already said that she wants me to be there no matter what, even if we have to pay for it (which luckily we don't). I think for her its more of a physical presence that would put her at ease. I don't plan on doing any teaching during the course, just letting him teach her entirely (but answer a quick question if she asks and didn't hear what the instructor said).


At the moment, she is applying to a different job which would get her out of the situation, as well as getting her out of her high stress job (as of the past 6mo). Not to mention, if she got the new job, she'd not longer be working on a college campus and could carry a concealed pistol with her at work. When I brought that up, she was rather intrigued by the thought.

[Holger Danske]

Have her read this http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/ayoob63.html. Its an article called Armed and Female

[xring]

xring, She mostly senses a threat with this guy because he has these mental disorders, and kept pursuing her when she told him no. He kept calling her at work, stopping by, talking to coworkers trying to get information about her. He is even married and is trying to get her to go on a date with him. He's also ex-military (can't remember what branch) but she said that he is also twice her size and if he ever got her alone, she could be in serious trouble. I spoke with my CCW instructor about this, and he offered tons of solutions for her, group class vs one on one, (with me present or not, her choice), tons of things to think bout as well. We spoke about it and she said if she took a class with him, she'd be required to go to the range immediately after the classroom work. She said that she'd rather go to the range on her own time, shoot it first to see what its like, and then take the training course. I may look into my trainers calendar to see when he's got a class open and see if she wants to take it. Also, I don't' live in Colorado anymore, so I can't do any training up there, but thanks for the link!



Look ill repeat this because ive known plenty of crime victims.

The circumstances are clear but what does her gut tell her?

Find out, its vital to assess the situation IMHO

The title of your post is incorrect it should read "My fiance may be at risk of violent crime what should I do?"

Cstones advise is excellent.

The main focus should be to get this guy to get lost. This is a very complicated subject. A restraining order is not neccesarily the best option. A nutcase reads a restraining order as a wish to continue contact. What comunicates no to a normal person may comunicate yes to a nutcase. Search for help with a psychologist who has a background in threat assesment and take his advise

I am not a lawyer I am not giving legal advise.

Consider this,

Where do you think a attack would be likely?

Say he shows up as shes entering the house.

"hey suzy q whats shakin" as he approaches

Shes going to have to get the weapon out, give verbal commands, and lighting him up if he doesnt comply in a pretty timely fashion. Whether that will be considered self defense will be up to your local DA and possibly a jury.

I will throw a opinion out, many disagree with me on this.

In somways a edged weapon can be easier to use with training. Once you learn the basics of escaping from grips. It can be more intuitive to use because there is no shoot/no shoot decision. It is more intuitive because you are(can) attack the limb that is attacking you. It is more intuitive because the veneer is off, a attack has begun, the attempt by the criminal to control verbally is over, and his attempt to use physical force has begun and it is apparant that a appropriate response needs to be made. (opinion only I am not a lawyer ) A edged weapon can be concealed in the hand with a reverse grip and the blade behind thehand or the hand behind the body until it is needed. This falls more in the martial arts area than firearms, but many women train up real quick with edged weapons and a competent instructor.

These new serrated knifes are somthing else.

Nothing says no like a gushing artery.

Inside the house sure lock n load. Im assuming that if he shows up inside the house she intends to respond appropriatly.

All of these things need to be drilled in with realistic scenario based training with adrenaline present or there is a strong possibility her attempt at self defense will fail. Realistic scenario based training that includes adrenaline produces individuals who have the possibility of appropriate response to a attack. No disrespect to your ccw trainer but is this the type of training he will provide? If it is great!! If it isnt still get her trained with him to start her education. I said it before and ill say it again the springs is not that far away, and the cost of the courses are lot cheaper than 5 years of therapy if she survives should a attack occur. Sounds like a romantic weekend to me. Its a lifetime investment. I wish it was easier. I wish it was nicer. I wish it was quicker. Your having to reprogram two decades of non physical responses to sane people and my or your wishes wont keep her safe but doing the work might.

[BuffCyclist]

xring, very good point. However, she has said she has wanted to me to teach her to shoot at some point, but that she isn't ready. She has had several students during the past 2 semesters (she teaches a college class in addition to working for the college) who don't understand the word no. They have continued contact when she has said it is inappropriate for what they are doing/saying, coming to her office during her regular job hours and attempting to chat her up with nothing related to the class, flagging her down in the parking lot (her biggest fear, but they've stopped doing that entirely), going to a coworker friend of hers and getting as much info as he can about her (asking him questions about her and the things she likes and whatnot). This guy with asbergers had made her a little more uneasy, just wondering what could happen if he showed up after class one night, when campus security is gone and she's the only one on campus. Or, if he found out where we live and started watching our house for her, various things like that.

She took taikwondo as a kid and is interested in learning jiu jitsu, saying that she wants her body to be a weapon. I've supported that and she is trying to get into a local class to test the waters before paying for it. They've been VERY accommodating to letting her sit in on the classes and watch, even get up and try it out. But after she brought up jiu jitsu, she came to me and said that she wants to learn to shoot. That even if she masters jiu jitsu, if she had access to a firearm in the house and didn't use it, and something horrible happened, she'd never be able to forgive herself for being too scared of guns to learn how to shoot it.

The student who was stalking her only got her to think about the possibility that an attack could be possible, that even if she knows other means to protect herself, having a firearm in the home that she knows how to use could be a safer thing to use. I brought it up that what if someone comes into the house, with 4 of his friends. That no matter how much martial arts she knows, she could still be overpowered, that a firearm would at least give her a better chance of taking one or two down before either they fled or restrained her.

Its all about mindset. I've tried to get her to think about preparing for bad situations for quite a while, since we're living together and I have a bedside pistol (soon to be shotgun) that would be the way I'd protect us. Having a plan is being prepared, and she seems to be seeing that just because she knows how to shoot a gun, doesn't mean that she will (or be required to) reach for it unless the situation calls for it.

[xring]

xring, very good point. However, she has said she has wanted to me to teach her to shoot at some point, but that she isn't ready. She has had several students during the past 2 semesters (she teaches a college class in addition to working for the college) who don't understand the word no. They have continued contact when she has said it is inappropriate for what they are doing/saying, coming to her office during her regular job hours and attempting to chat her up with nothing related to the class, flagging her down in the parking lot (her biggest fear, but they've stopped doing that entirely), going to a coworker friend of hers and getting as much info as he can about her (asking him questions about her and the things she likes and whatnot). This guy with asbergers had made her a little more uneasy, just wondering what could happen if he showed up after class one night, when campus security is gone and she's the only one on campus. Or, if he found out where we live and started watching our house for her, various things like that.

She took taikwondo as a kid and is interested in learning jiu jitsu, saying that she wants her body to be a weapon. I've supported that and she is trying to get into a local class to test the waters before paying for it. They've been VERY accommodating to letting her sit in on the classes and watch, even get up and try it out. But after she brought up jiu jitsu, she came to me and said that she wants to learn to shoot. That even if she masters jiu jitsu, if she had access to a firearm in the house and didn't use it, and something horrible happened, she'd never be able to forgive herself for being too scared of guns to learn how to shoot it.

The student who was stalking her only got her to think about the possibility that an attack could be possible, that even if she knows other means to protect herself, having a firearm in the home that she knows how to use could be a safer thing to use. I brought it up that what if someone comes into the house, with 4 of his friends. That no matter how much martial arts she knows, she could still be overpowered, that a firearm would at least give her a better chance of taking one or two down before either they fled or restrained her.

Its all about mindset. I've tried to get her to think about preparing for bad situations for quite a while, since we're living together and I have a bedside pistol (soon to be shotgun) that would be the way I'd protect us. Having a plan is being prepared, and she seems to be seeing that just because she knows how to shoot a gun, doesn't mean that she will (or be required to) reach for it unless the situation calls for it.

I understand its tough. Her job situation makes it tough too. I have been saddened over the years by women that I knew that were clearly at threat but could not bring themselves to train. Some did though. You cant push especially if you are in a relationship. Its frustrating, the person you want the most to be safe you cant train. It sounds like you are doing all you can. Best Wishes

[BuffCyclist]

Thanks, just got a hold of her for the first time tonight. I went on a work shift this afternoon, gone until Tuesday, and apparently she went to the jiu jitsu place tonight. It was supposed to be open mat and she was going to watch, but some guy wanted to try it out so they held a formal class. I asked how it went. Her reply: "AWESOME!". She's signing up on Monday.

So, I brought it up to her about shooting, asked her if she'd like to go to the range next weekend after our engagement photo shoot (that we've put off for about 6mo). She said she'd love to, that she was actually going to ask me when we were going to the range.

She is going to research firearm and other tips to learn to shoot tomorrow and we'll talk about it a night or two this next week when I get home. I told her that if she didn't want to go, thats fine too, but I'm going no matter what, because I should be picking up my new shotgun on wednesday and I want to shoot it! lol

[DD977GM2]

I havn't read any replys or much of the original post by BuffCyclist,
but the pics of his fiancee are not loading to prove he actually has a significant other[ROFL1][ROFL2][ROFL3][LOL]

[BuffCyclist]

I havn't read any replys or much of the original post by BuffCyclist,
but the pics of his fiancee are not loading to prove he actually has a significant other[ROFL1][ROFL2][ROFL3][LOL]

Really? You need PROOF that I'm engaged?! Okay okay fine. I'll post a picture of us. Was going to upload a different one, but facebook wouldn't let me download the original so it was like 200x250pixels. This one is better, but not the best picture of us.

[O2HeN2]

You like caves? You've gone up three notches in my book! :)

O2

[BuffCyclist]

You like caves? You've gone up three notches in my book! :)

O2

Oh yea? Am I at notch 1 now? [ROFL1]

That was our first trip to Carlsbad (its 3hrs from where we live). We had a ton of fun, but didn't get to spend that much time inside the cave. We showed up a little late to our paid tour and only had about 35min to see the rest of the cave, so we went to the natural entrance and basically ran down to the bottom for our tour. We really want to go back and do the other paid tours, just to be able to see all of the cave.

The boy scout troop I was in (Troop 381) growing up LOVED caving, we probably went on weekend camping trips to go caving about 3 times a year. Went on monthly camping trips, but caving usually had the highest turnout.

We even produced 2 videos to caving "A Scouting Approach to Wild Caves" (http://www.amazon.com/A-Scouting-Approach-Wild-Caves/dp/B000RB8T3W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349496018&sr=8-1&keywords=a+scouting+approach+to+caving) and "A Scouting Approach to Advanced Caving". I LOVED caving (and still do), because of our videos, we were able to get permits to a lot of caves in Missouri and Arkansas that were off limits to the public. But all of the caves we went into were completely undeveloped, so no stairs or railings like in Carlsbad (though a couple of the paid tours are wild). My fondest memory was having to chimney down roughly 50ft to get to the main floor where we could explore.

[Byte Stryke]

I am going to say something some might not like, but I see some have already mentioned

Do not teach her yourself.
less emotional attachment and distraction.

I do practice what I preach as when Mrs. Byte went for her handgun classes she went to RW Firearms training (http://rwfirearmstraining.com/)

Highly recommended as he uses MANY different calibers and types of guns during his class.
His classroom is a private range... not a section of a big box sporting goods store.

[Great-Kazoo]

I am going to say something some might not like, but I see some have already mentioned

Do not teach her yourself.
less emotional attachment and distraction.

I do practice what I preach as when Mrs. Byte went for her handgun classes she went to RW Firearms training (http://rwfirearmstraining.com/)

Highly recommended as he uses MANY different calibers and types of guns during his class.
His classroom is a private range... not a section of a big box sporting goods store.


I second this. Even though i am a firearms instructor, i sent the wife to someone else for her hand gun class.
ANYTHING YOU SAY is not a suggestion but CRITICAL OF HER, BECAUSE YOU NEVER SUPPORT ANYTHING SHE DOES. Sound familiar ??

There are numerous instructors here,unfortunately you're in NM. Cover my fuel expenses and i'll come down there.

[DD977GM2]

Really? You need PROOF that I'm engaged?! Okay okay fine. I'll post a picture of us. Was going to upload a different one, but facebook wouldn't let me download the original so it was like 200x250pixels. This one is better, but not the best picture of us.


Hey your a great sport so I will post a pic of my Hot Lil Hole in appreciation!!!!!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb116/DD977GM2/0906001418-1.jpg

[BuffCyclist]

We were scheduled to have our engagement photo shoot Saturday morning, but the plans changed to later that afternoon so we went to the shooting range early. Friday night, I went over the full operation of my Glock with her, explained how it worked and she took it all in and got her hands on it too.

When we showed up at the range, we got a 45yd general purpose lane just for us with very tall berms (she said she felt much better with it being only the two of us in there). I offered to shoot first so she could watch me, she said she'd rather just jump right in and do it.

I loaded one 9mm round into a mag, handed her the pistol (with 9mm conversion barrel) and slide locked back, then the mag. She put the mag in, slowly pulled the trigger then jerked it at the last minute and missed the target. She was shocked at the recoil, but eagerly asked me to load another round. Second time, at about 5yds, she put the round 1in below the bullseye. Next shot, 0.25" next to that one. Her groupings were awesome! After I loaded the mag up a few times with just 1 round, she grabbed the mag and started loading it on her own, the most she would load at a time was 4rds though. She REALLY picked it up fast, she wanted to move further back, so I moved her back to 7yds and she kept getting excellent groupings.

She took a break, so I broke out my new Remington 870 Tactical with Ghost Ring sights shotgun (YAY!) and blasted a target apart in about 3 shots with #7.5 birdshot. After I shot the third shell, she told me to move aside so she could keep shooting. Naturally, I moved out of the way as fast as possible, she WANTED to keep shooting and I wasn't going to stand in the way of that!

There was a huge grin on her face the entire time we were there, and she said she definitely wants to learn more about it and keep shooting. We talked about a class and will sign her up for one soon, and then we'll be looking for a pistol for her.

Her facebook status when we got home: "Bucket List--shot a gun for the first time today, and loved it! :)"

Gotta say, all in all, it was a very successful experience for the both of us! I'm happy that I now have a new shooting partner! And she's excited to take a class, we've already gone over a few of the class descriptions but will probably email the instructor to figure out what would really be best for her. She's already even talking about getting her own pistol someday! We'll make sure we get her to test out A TON of pistols first though. My Glock was way too big for her small hands, she had to use her left hand to press the magazine release, and she couldn't operate the slide stop lever with either hand.

[dwalker460]

Excellent!

[Holger Danske]

Awesome shooting by the GF!!! Good job for you getting her over her fears.

[ChadAmberg]

That's wonderful that she did so well! Glad she loved it..