Trying to show my mother how to shoot, any pointers?

[gjohnsoniv]

My mother recently decided she wanted to learn how to shoot and wants to get her carry permit. I rebuilt a pistol for her and was just going to take her to the range to show her the basics. I'm by no means a teacher, any ideas or pointers?

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Let her watch you for a while. Go over the basics of safety and function. Let her have a shot or two, afterwards, and see if you can

get the gun out of her hands. My wife picked up so fast and is a great shot. You'll be pleasantly surprised how fast she picks up and

runs with it.

[gjohnsoniv]

She's shot before with dad many, many years ago so she understands enough to be dangerous, but not enough to be good I suppose.

[tyguy]

This may be considered a silly point, but when helping someone not familiar with handhuns I always load only one round (especially autos). I explain this up front and it's a lot less stressful after the initial shot. Probably should have prefaced with the golden rules, including always treat the weapon as if it were loaded.

I took some Japanese coworkers shooting. One guy had especially weak wrists. The first round of .45 darn near caused him a facial wound.

I've also had both men and women try to turn around after the first shot. Sometimes just to grin and say awesome, forgetting the rule about pointing downrange.

If your mom is squeemish about it you might consider. 22 to start with. Even if it means borrowed or rented.

Some really experienced and smart folks will be along shortly to share a wealth of knowlege and ideas.

Good luck and have fun!

[daddyo]

I'd get her signed up for a class. I'd rather a qualified instructor teach anyone I care about.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Trust me, if she wants to, she will pick up quickly. You don't need to be a teacher, either. Take her out and let her watch.

She'll let you know when she wants to give it a shot. Women pick up on things differently from men. I couldn't come close to

explaining why, but they do. When they reach that comfort level, they grab the bull by the horns. At least that's what I've seen.

It ought to be fun!

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Nothing wrong with a certified instructor, either. She will do that later. Right now it's family. They can have fun doing something

together, just as safely.

[gjohnsoniv]

I was considering grabbing the .22 revolver to start but she went shooting with a neighbor and shot several different things without problem. So I don't see any problem there.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I got my wife, her mother and my brother's wife Walther p-22's one year for Christmas. Mammaw used to sleep with a

loaded Luger under her pillow. She took to the Walther very well. She's 89. My wife did, also, but now prefers the Sig

p226 and is a damned good shot with it. Sister-in-law is a great shot, too. None of them have any kind of professional

training. Mammaw probably won't bother with a course, but the other two have expressed a desire to get a permit.

I trust their knowledge and ability to handle a handgun safely.

[Jonnin]

pick something simple to operate and gentle to use. Like a .22 revolver or simple .22 auto.

Go over your favorite 3-4 safety rules... always loaded, pointed in a safe direction, finger off the trigger, know what is behind the target sorts of things.

Show her how to operate the gun before you go, let her dry fire it and get a feel for it.

Bring extra ear and eyes

get some simple, large, no frills target. Get something with a point of aim, not just a gigantic man target or a black blob, but something with a bullseye to at least try to aim at it.

Show her, maybe on paper, what a sight picture is supposed to look like.

Demonstrate.

Let her have a go, and so long as she is safe about it, just let her shoot out 2-3 mags before you even think about offering any corrections. She needs to feel the gun and become comfortable with the noise, flash, recoil, and overall experience for a few rounds.

Keep it simple and slow for a few range sessions, then slowly guide her toward point shooting or front sight only shooting, draw and presentation and stance stuff, the basic core of self defense.

Work with her on situational awareness. Go with her to a store or shopping or something, and get her to SEE who is around her and TAKE NOTE of what they are doing in a full 360. Try to encourage her to always be aware of everything as best she can.

[peejman]

I'd get her signed up for a class. I'd rather a qualified instructor teach anyone I care about.

This.

And this... http://www.corneredcat.com/Contents/

[RWF]

Make it fun!

in augest take her to rockcaslte Pro/Am 3 gun there lots of things for the both of you to do, and some that you have not done before. it is open to the public some of the side matches were free but never paid more than $10 to try one. all the networks will be there if she ever wondered how some of the filming was done for shows, etc. be there friday or early on Saturday. last year LaRue was free there instructors, guns ammo and spotters. but they did run out of ammo by Saturday afternoon.

[Guest nowheretobefound]

She's your mother, that means she has wiped your bottom...she's not going to listen to you!

But really, find and pay a LEO or retired or active (and older) military person (ones of course that are very proficient) to do an afternoon of one on one with her. She'll learn more than a weeks worth of any type of classes.

Edited June 2, 2012 by nowheretobefound

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Bring her to Norris... let us know when and we will be there.. I get her hooked

[gjohnsoniv]

She's planning on getting a membership out there in July. Took her out the other night and she did quite well.

[graycrait]

I recently took my 80 yr old mother in law to the range for her first time ever shooting a handgun and second time shooting any gun. She lives 700 miles from here so it ain't happening often. She is not some doddering tiny weak lady. She is a fit active and strong 80 yr old. We spent a good 30 minutes at home with a .22 pistol she could handle to get safety and sight picture initiated. Then we went to the range. I've worked with a number of women on shooting techniques and seem to have a knack for not giving too much advice and enough to let them have fun - my wife is the exception, although we do work on it. I would try and get her to get a decent stance and lean into it, but that might not happen and don't press it. Get a reliable .22 pistol, with enough mags and load for her initially so she has fun shooting. This is her time, not yours. 45 minutes and then end it on a positive note, then leave the range. Don't have her fire centerfire for a while until her safety techniques and basic handling skills are decently set up.

Watch the range lizards. They can make shooting uncomfortable for women. You know the type, guys who start to come around and gather where any women with a gun looks like she "needs" unsolicited advice and close contact. Sounds funny but detracts from a beginner's training session and puts pressure on the woman where pressure should not exist. I took two of the vet techs who have handled my dogs and cats for years to the range. One is married and the other divorced, both lookers. They weren't looking for a date on the range, However, every nimrod on the range who hadn't had or couldn't get a date in years and couldn't shoot any better than me thought they needed to prance around the ladies talking some of the dumbest gun talk I have heard and I hear a lot. The married guys were just as bad. I should have videoed the whole experience and blackmailed dudes for new guns.

[gjohnsoniv]

Hooray for "Ladies Night" at Coal Creek. Though I think me being behind her was enough to keep the guys away, and being in the corner of the range. She about 200 rounds from my CZ 82 and after about 50 rounds had it pretty well zeroed in at seven yards. I'll see if I can't upload a picture here in a minute.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Awesome...

And yes..Range lizzards..lol

I was at a range last year shooting my .45ACP boltgun..as soon as I stopped shooting..McNoseypants Knowitall came a runnin and told me promptly that I needed a scope on that and needed to tell my husband to put one on there.At that time I had an AR style front sight and a Williams ghost ring rear...

Yeah..that didnt go so well for him..lol

[Dolomite_supafly]

I'd get her signed up for a class. I'd rather a qualified instructor teach anyone I care about.

+1

Professional instructors have seen problems and mistakes you have not seen and can foresee them before they happen. Professional instructors have taught enough people to have it down to a science. And I am not talking about the instructors that teach the HCP courses as most of them are an assembly line. I am talking about a seperate handgun course that is in no way affiliated with a HCP course. I would also recommend the HCP course put on by the KCSO officers, that is a very detailed course taught by those who live the law day in and day out.

And in the event she is involved in a self defense situation it is better for her to be able to say a professional taught her than her son.

Take her out and show her the basics. Let her get used to the gun but leave the actual instruction about self defense to professionals. I recommend this is friends all the time even though I could teach them myself.

Here is some basic stuff I show new shooters:

Make sure the gun is unloaded!

Start her out with a basic instruction of the features of the gun. Show her the safety, the trigger, the magazine release and the slide release. Show her, with a drawing, the proper sight picture. Here is a good example: http://brasstard.com...t-alignment.jpg

Then have her try dry firing the gun a few times to learn how the trigger pull feels. Most people don't do this and the new shooter is startled when the gun unexpectedly goes off. And then from that point forward they are going to anticipate being scared again and this leads to them jerking the trigger. Some will just decide they don't want to be scared again and never pick a gun up again. And then as she is doing the dry firing excercises explain to her the trigger should be pulled to the rear using the tip of her finger and not jerked. Jerking the trigger is the number one problem most shooters have, both new and old. And jerking the trigger is an indicator that they anticipating being scared of something. Have her dry fire, place emphasis on sight picture, at least 25 more times. It may seem like a lot but this is the basis for making her a great shooter.

And from my experience women tend to be better shooters than men. Men have bad habits from childhood while most women are a clean slate.

This is based on semi autos, sorry I have never taught anyone with a revolver.

Then after the interations of dry firing load a single round into the gun. Fire it with the magazine in so the slide locks to the rear. Then have her drop the empty mag to the ground and have her insert a fresh magazine, again with a single round. Then have her use the slide release to drop the slide or have her rack and release the slide, whichever she feels most comfortable with. Make sure she drops the empty magazine to the ground otherwise this will become part of her muscle memory. And if she ever does have to reload under stress she will be trying to catch the empty magazine with the hand that should be grabbing the fresh magazine. And after about 10-15 single rounds then start to do the same except with 2-5 rounds per magazine. This is so she doesn't anticipate when the gun will go dry. Continue to do this for the next 100 or so rounds.

I hopes this helps. There is a lot more to it and a lot more that can be said but I don't want to get into it here. That is for the professionals in a more personal course.

Dolomite