Practice

Jim,
You were there, Mo's Dad isn't always as involved.
You started your daughter with a .22, Mo won't be doing that.
You moved up to a 9mm, Mo won't be transitioning that way.
Your daughter won't be trying to shoot a 1911 exclusively, as her only pistol, on an ongoing basis. Mo is trying to do that.
You were shooting guns that you own & understand yourself, that's not entirely the case with Mo's father.

And presumably, you took & will continue to take the time to be there & coach her as she learns to shoot.
Mo's Dad may or may not be as actively involved, and he may or may not have sufficient experience with the 1911 to truly teach Mo what he needs to know on that pistol.

As I said- in Mo's position, not a good choice.
Denis
 
I've shot one pistol in my life, funny story behind that by the way. It was my dad's .22 Semi-Auto. I was hopelessly confused. Of course, I was 7. I had seen on my video games that the pistols went up in the air when you shot them (my perception of recoil) so I intentionally pulled the gun up as I fired, at the end of that little session, the target was still in tact and the leaves in the trees had holes punched through them :D.
 
Ignore everyone but yourself.
If you want a 1911, get a 1911.
In the final analysis, the choice of gun isn't all that important.
Not nearly as much as the skill of the one using it.
All skills are acquired the same, old fashioned way - from a good teacher and lots of practice.
You can learn on any gun.
And the airsoft will indeed help.
I use mine all the time.
 
I'm not really sold on the training capabilities of compressed air guns. in the navy we used laser guns with compressed air to simulate recoil to get us ready for live fire training but really, it didn't seem like a feasible training aid to me. I would think the airsoft gun would be much the same. I shot a lot of airsoft and paintball as a teen and it gave me a lot of bad habits, the mentalities kindof negate eachother, the "toy" side fosters spray and pray mentality, while the firearm side fosters, well placed shots.

a real gun is going to behave completely different in your hands and the trigger feel is going to be completely different. it may be useful in the same way that dry firing is useful but I really wouldn't use it as a primary training aid once you have the gun on hand.
 
Mo start w light reloads and you'll be fine. My son is 15 and will only shoot my 1911s. Not interested in anything else. Practice safe gun handling skills as you would with any gun. 1911 or 357 or 380, are all equally dangerous if not handled properly. Exercise proper safety and good judgement. Dry fire and handle the gun as much as possible. It's no more dangerous then any other gun.
 
You tend to see things from something of a "That's COOL!" viewpoint, and without having any real knowledge of what's involved you get impatient & try to go for what appeals.
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e sees these things from a "I haven't bought the wrong gun and resold it for a few hundred less than I paid or now it gathers dust in my safe" perspective. Give him time.
If you are going to go with a 1911 I think the RIA is the best choice. You won't get burned too bad if you try to sell it for tupperware or something a little more up to date as it isn't that expensive to begin with.
 


My just turned 15 year old daughter on a Sig M11-A1.
From Ruger 10/45 to Sig P220 .45 in a hour.
The .45 her favorite.
 
It's great when the kids join you.
What's the saying, "The family that shoots together stays together?"
But her grip could definitely do with improvement.
(Now I'm really gonna' get it - sorry).
A good teacher is paramount, and that's not always Dad.
 
My 14 year old 80lb daughter loves my Witness .45. Basically a CZ 75b clone in polymer .45

My 20 year old 100lb daughter, not so much.

I think .45 is more forgiving, more traditional.

I see no real difficulty with .45 as a choice.

Get what you really want.
 
I never understood the .45 recoil bogey man.

As G W pointed out my daughter is having a bit of a struggle ( her grip ) with the double stack 9mm Sig. The M11-A1 9mm can be difficult to grip high with smaller hands.
I think that may be why she liked the P220 .45 single stack.
 
I wouldnt say that getting a 1911 as a first semi auto handgun would be a bad start. You just need to learn how it works and that's it same as any gun. Nothing huge.

I wouldn't recommend the caliber to start out with either. larger bullets cost more. If I was learning to shoot today I could barely afford .22 ammo I doubt i could shell out 50 bucks for a mere 100 45acp rounds.
 
this is why i almost always say "yes" if someone at the range asks if they can shoot whatever i'm shooting. great way to learn.

if you have a bad attitude, then it likely will be a NO.
 
If it was a CO2 pellet gun with decent sights, it'd do nicely for training sight picture, trigger control and breathing.
Airsoft guns, on the other hand, are toys and have nothing whatever to do with real firearms or training for real firearms. Not much to do with good air powered pistols either. You'll note there are no Airsoft Olympic medals. There are for air pistols.
"...never understood the .45 recoil bogey man..." Absolutely. It comes from the olden days(40 years ago) in the gun rags. I clearly recall the assorted gun rag writers, that mush mind Cooper included, carrying on about what a great, big, ferocious, gun a .45 Government is. Don't think there's any pistol that is more comfortable and pleasant to shoot with any ammo. The only thing that maters is how well it fits your hand. The .44 DE I shot at Second Chance long ago was so big for me it was funny. Trigger finger didn't come close.
 
Jim, the picture warms my heart. My 11-year old daughter LOVES shooting with me, but only for about an hour at a time, while my 15-year old simply can't find even a smidgen of interest. When all three of us go to the range, my older daughter is very accommodating and happy to sit in the clubhouse with a book or her Nintendo.

Picture of your daughter could be staged for the purpose of showing off a great day. If not, I'll be the first to nicely suggest that gun folks pick apart pictures and your daughter has no eye protection in the photo. ;) Please get some on her 100% of the time, or save yourself the grief of internet picture sleuths who will notice it in the picture and make the same suggestion. :D

Do not want her smile to look like this guy --> ;)
 
Since it will be several months before I get the actual gun, I figured this would be a good way to practice in absence of an actual firearm. I have this all-metal 1911 Co2 Airsoft gun with (pretty much) all the function of the RIA 1911, Grip Safety, Ambi-Safety, Slide-Stop, and it is blowback, so the slide actually serves a purpose. I got it when I was younger, and I was wondering if this would be good practice before I got the actual gun. I'd like your opinions on this, thank you.
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I don't think that shooting it in any manner is going to give you much practice in what it'll be like in shooting the Rock Island 1911 in .45 ACP. However, holding it and pointing it and making your hands familiar with getting the same, repeatable, comfortable quality grip on the pistol and the muscle memory and practice is a fine idea. I would only suggest that you look at the airsoft pistol and compare it to the pistol you hope to get and ensure that BOTH have the same shape mainspring housing, either flat or arched, as the two feel WILDLY different, IMO. And for the record, I much, much prefer the feel and grip (and looks!) of the flat MSH.

If you would like a method of becoming a better handgun shooter before you actually get your pistol, or even while you own it when you aren't able to shoot it, get yourself a decent air pistol, and not an airsoft, something that shoots .177cal lead pellets.

For an air pistol that is accurate enough to help make you a better handgun shooter for low dollars, I recommend the pneumatic Crosman with the big long barrel and the bit (fake) wooden pump handle underneath. Yes, you've got to pump for each and every shot and it's a single shot affair, but for the $50 or $60 that it costs, you blow no money on CO2 and you get a very accurate rig that will translate to better handgun shooting even though it's absolutely NOTHING at all like a .45cal 1911 pistol.
 
Picture of your daughter could be staged for the purpose of showing off a great day. If not, I'll be the first to nicely suggest that gun folks pick apart pictures and your daughter has no eye protection in the photo. Please get some on her 100% of the time, or save yourself the grief of internet picture sleuths who will notice it in the picture and make the same suggestion.
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Ugh!
That picture was not staged.
I was so focused on weapons safety, her handing the weapons--
I didn't notice she had taken the safety glasses off.
It's a range rule.
I know why she did it. Very uncomfortably hot and they steamed up.
The temp was 90* and HUMID.
Thanks, that won't happen again :)
 
personally.... well over 50% of my shooting is done without eye safety, the only time I wear it is when I'm at a range that requires it.
 
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