Beginner Handgun training for ladies . . . ideas?

R

RamSlammer

New member
I've been teaching my 13 year old daughter to shoot with a .22 single shot rifle for the past few months. She's done very well and is shooting it as well as I do. Continuing on, we're moving to pistols and now her mom and 3 friends are interested as well. So, we're making plans for a ladies day at an indoor range.

By no means am I a shooting instructor, but think I have the knowledge and skills to suffice in training on the basic rules of gun handling and shooting.

My plan was to let each shoot the single shot .22 rifle for a bit while supervising and instructing then switch to my .22 Buckmark pistol followed by a Colt Army Special .38 using light wadcutter loads in order to familiarize them with revolvers.

Other than the jealous glares from the guys there (my wife and her friends are easy on the eyes), what should I expect/be prepared for? The section of the range we'll be using will be closed except for us so no .44 mags going off in the next lane. All ladies have shot a gun before and have varying amounts of prior experience. None carry now and I would like to get my wife at least into that concept.
 
IMHO, look into the basic pistol programs taught by NRA instructors. These programs (I am a certified instructor) are specifically designed to give the beginner a strong lesson in the fundamentals of firearms. Many instructors will give private/semi-private lessons, all the time following an NRA-specified program.
 
To clarify . . .there is one NRA certified instructor in our area who I know and do not consider at all qualified to instruct anyone. Otherwise, I'd have hired him to do this. The next closest instructor is 80 miles away and not willing to come to our range. He also happens to be 24 years old and was asking me for advice on basic things last we spoke.
 
I think you're doing it right. Start them on .22's and gradually move up from there. If you start the off on larger calibers, they might be intimidated at the start and decide it's not for them. Acclimate them first and who knows.....maybe they'll want to try your .44 magnum.
 
I am not a certified instructor either - so my notes are from personal experience only ...but I have 3 grandaughters ...and have helped friends wives, etc ...

1. A .22 is fine / a semi-auto or a revolver ....but they seem to get bored with the .22 pretty quickly...

2. The trick as you move up in caliber - is to keep it with guns that will fit their hands. Not all ladies are petite ....but I usually keep it to a 9mm for most of the instruction / so they feel like they're shooting bigger guns ...and the guns I focus on:

1. a 1911 in 9mm ( I have an alloy frame Kimber tactical pro II, 4", in 9mm - that most of the kids and ladies really like). The grips fit their hands / easy to operate, etc... I have some 5", 1911's in 9mm as well ...and those are ok - but they tend to like the lighter gun.

2. a Sig 239 ( single stack ) in 9mm - they can shoot it Single Action or Double Action ....but again it fits their hands.

3. keep it simple on ammo ( so I don't have to worry about someone having a box of 9mm on a bench / grabbing a .40S&W gun ...etc ) keep any other caliber guns off the benches.

4. since I have the Sig 239 / I will also take a Sig 226 in 9mm ....just to give them a feel for a double stack gun .....most of them won't like it, if it doesn't fit their hands.

5. for something different / a K frame S&W revolver 4" -- and shoot .38 spl's in it ...to keep recoil down ( like a model 19 or 66 ). Keep the loads light ...

Come up with some courses of Fire - so they can have a few laughs -- and compete a little. No drawing from holsters ... but something easy like have 3 cards face down on bench ( draw three 10" circles on a target, label them A, K, Q . Turn over 1 card ( that's the No Shoot ) gun on bench, pickup gun .....put 2 shots in eash of the yes, shoot ......and time them. If they get good at it. Increase difficulty by putting in a reload - (same no shoot idea on one card ) .... but put 2 on each shoot target, reload, 2 more on each shoot target .....and time them.

Teach them how to hold the mag for a reload ....

Mix it up a little ......but any number of courses of fire are good things.

Have some interesting targets ( Zombies, some profile targets - not just 8" bulls-eye targets ...) - and lots of them, so they can take them home if they want....like 10 targets per person ....and "good ear muffs" ....and "good safety glasses" .....so they don't feel like you were not prepared.

When they are done - or tired - call it a day ....... Let them decide .....

Don't get longwinded or boring on ballistics, knock down power ....why its a good gun .... just keep them safe .....and let them shoot. If they ask - keep it short / let them ask again - if they want details ...

-------------------------------
I might have a .40S&W there - if they want to shoot it ( like another Sig )

and maybe a .45 acp as well ....but no .44 mag or anything real big .....
 
Kudos to you for being willing to take on such a challenging a project. It may sound easy but four women, or men for that matter with little firearms experience can be a problem.

Your number one priority will be safety. One way to make things safer is to have only one firearm out of the tote/case at a time. You will be trying to impart safe firearm handling in a non threatening manner while the four of them are making comments or asking questions all at the same time. I would start by giving each of them a one page guide to the basic safety rules. You know the drill, "All firearms are to be treated as if they are loaded at all times even if they are not", etc. etc. Make it short and in fairly large print and go over each rule using one of the guns as an example.

After safety concentrate on fun. They can learn all the ins and outs of shooting at a later date after they have experienced the fun.
 
Four new shooters - one coach

Good luck.

Coaching one at a time - normally the best way to train -- , will mean they will be spending a lot of time spent watching one person shooting.
Any way you can get a second shooter - that you trust not be be a jerk (shooting skill and Jerkiness can coexist).
Failing that -- As soon as possible -- put them on the range with one shooting and one observing/coaching.

Personal peeve:
When it comes to pistols, I don't think standing shoulder to shoulder with a shooter and calling the shots on the target is usefull coaching -- standing to one side and observing their stance, plus reminding them to lower the weapon and take a deep breath every few shots, probably is more helpful.
Beginners, in my experience, tend to hold the pistol out there like its illegal to lower it more than an inch between shots.
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I don't think you should teack more than one beginner at a time. Having a bunch of novices muzzle everyone is a great way to create a bad first experience when someone two stalls down goes off on you/them. You need to be right next to them ready to intervene if they are making a mistake. If you plan on instructing one while the others wait I think they will get very bored.

Recruiting a few helpers off the board might not be too difficult if you post a picture of these women that are easy on the eyes:)

Otherwise I would just take one or maybe two to the range at a time for their first outing.
 
Having taught a number of newbies to shoot, including young women., I think you're right on target with the .22 rifle to start with.

In doing it the same way, I have found the best transition to a handgun is to teach them the Weaver (or modified Weaver is even better) because the stance mimics that of holding a rifle. It's a very easy transition for them.

Later on, after they've mastered the modified Weaver, you can show them the isosceles. Some will prefer that, and others will stick with the Weaver, but you should let them choose what is most comfortable for them.

The advice above about transitioning to a single column nine is good advice. .380's, because they're blowback and usually quite small, have snappier recoil than a nine. The .38 with low-power loads is also good advice.

Judging from your initial post, I don't really think you need any advice. Just keep taking baby steps and don't jump up in caliber/recoil until your student has mastered something smaller.

I really dislike people who drag the GF/kid/wife down to the range and shove a .45 or .357 in their hands to learn to shoot. They're setting up the student to fail.
 
There are classes taught by women, and intended for women. After you've had your day with the ladies you might suggest they get some formal training.

Make sure everyone has good ear/eye protection. With the revolver have them wear shooting gloves in case their off hand moves too far forward.

Have your daughter help walk the other ladies through using the single shot.

If the range allows reactive targets ie plastic milk bottles, bring those along.

The main thing is to have a fun day. Bring along soda and cookies.
 
I'm not a pro, but i've recently taken my two sisters shooting (separately). They each had never fired a gun before. I started them off on 9mm, because that is the smallest caliber pistol that i own. It all went well, but i learned a couple of things with those two experiences.

I'm glad that i made them memorize the 4 golden rules weeks before we went out. I'm also glad i decided to do unloaded 'training' on semi-autos. I briefly explained the theory of recoil & how it operates the slide, etc. They were both surprised by that, nether of them knew 'it moves'. Then i pointed out everything else, "This is the slide, this is the mag release", etc. They both learned to handle a semi-auto, load it (snap caps), rack it, grip it, dry fire it, and re-load empty magazines, all before we went out the range.

One sister has sweaty palms, and i was completely unprepared for that once we got to the range. I don't have sweaty palms, so it never occurred to me to even ask someone that, but i will from now on. Why? Well she got so sweaty that she wanted to stop shooting in fear of the pistol flying out of her hands... she just couldn't maintain a grip. Lesson learned! After that i bought some walmart baseball batting gloves for my range bag. They came in handy for sister #2!

1st sister got to shoot a whole magazine right from the get go, which went well, but then i read that others only load one round for a newbie. I liked this idea, and had sister #2 do that.

I also read that new shooters may benefit from doubling-up on ear protection (less BANG may make for a more enjoyable experience). I will adopt that with the next person i take out that has never shot before.

That's all i can think of... hopefully it's some more food for thought.
 
I give a very quick second to the recomendation that each of the women go to the corneredcat.com. Next is a second on the doubling of hearing protection for calibers above .22lr. For some reason many ladies get the trembles from the loud bang. 9mm has little recoil, yet many will tremle, and flench due to the loud bang, and muzzle flash at first. The thing I have seen that helps with this is ear plugs, and earmuffs.
One of the things I do is start a new shooter off with a single action .22lr for a few shots at least. Then move up to the larger calibers. One thing I see women do more than anything else is not take thier finger out of the trigger guard, even worse than that few men that know way better never offer correction to break that bad habbit while they are starting out.
I want to mention also make sure they know to wear closetoed shoes, and no cleavage showing garments. Since a semi auto was mentioned to be uses one hot case in the cleavage and that woman will probably never shoot that gun ever again. I have seen more that one time a lady do the hot brass dance while hoding a loaded weapon, with finger on the trigger.
 
My only contribution is very limited experience....


First thing I did with my daughter is to teach her the 4 rules of gun safety. I drilled her on this randomly throughout the week until she could recite it to me reliable.

I would then randomly test her. I would hand her the unloaded gun in BAD / POOR form and would not let her touch it until she recognized what I was doing wrong. ( where was I pointing it ? , was the slide locked back as I handed it to her ? Was the clip in it ? ) Mostly making sure she respected the law that EVERY gun is ALWAYS loaded and to never point the muzzle at anything you didn't want to destroy. Once in her hand I would monitor over time that she was following the other two rules of never putting finger on trigger and seeing what's behind your target.



For my daughter ( at the time 11 yr old ) She did great starting with a Walther.22 When I tried to move her up , she didn't like the kick.


With my GF , who previously loved .22's .... never had this training and she ND'd a single action firearm at the range one day do to unfamiliarity with the SA sensitivity ( broke two of the rules ) and thank god no one was hurt. She also had a hard time moving up to a 9mm. ( polymer ) But I think most of that was the DAO Sig she bought.


So my suggestions...... Make sure they know and practice the safety rules first and foremost. Then gradually move them up in calibers to make sure they are comfortable and confident in the perceived recoil as they go.

Often making them uncomfortable or losing confidence is a big reason why women try it then quit quickly ( not all women , just the less competitive and/or nervous ones )


Eitherway , Awesome job in getting them all involved.
 
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I was really lucky with my wife - but I made having fun the priority - right after always being safe.
I bought her a semi-beater S&W Model 10, which I consider THE best beginner's handgun, and she took to it like a duck takes to water. I just had to work on a few safety aspects, and she was off and running.
She now shoots 200-300 rounds a session, has no problem with .44 magnums (but not a lot at one time ;)) and we have a great time shooting together.

The MOST IMPORTANT thing: make sure she's having fun. I've seen women sitting in cars waiting for their husbands to finish shooting. Inevitably, the guys always say something like, "I wanted make sure she did it right," or some such crap.
Who cares if they hit the bullseye? Just make sure they're being safe, and let them have fun!
 
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