Scaring women away from shooting!!!!

I always wonder why some folks think, "A little payback is in order." Then I wonder who they think appointed them to initiate it.

"One upsmanship", "I'm better than you", "Gotcha",
""Getting even", ... then justifuying the behavior does seem to be a human trait.

My question is how to best approach someone seen practicing this behavior, since it is apparent that most realize it harms the shooting sport. Remember the person that one is looking to correct has a loaded gun in their hand usually.
 
That they prove themselves to be asses in the eyes of most onlookers never occurs to them.
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Well put.

I see these guys every once in awhile at my range. I think, "There's a divorce (or breakup) waiting to happen." If someone is new to shooting, they likely have enough anxiety already. It's an opportunity to introduce another person to the safe handling and use of firearms and help them gain confidence.

Consciously pushing a newbie way beyond their stated comfort level is nothing short of abusive.
 
As a side not it is also not a good idea to select a gun for the significant other, let them chose their own guns. Had to learn that with the wife. She doesn't like muzzle blast or recoil and also has weak hand strength, what I thought would work, she could not pull the trigger. Bill :D
 
As bad as it may be, and I agree with the OP, it's there problem and it's non of my business.

I've let little small/petite women shoot my .357mag with full power factory loads, but these were experienced shooters usually shooting a 9mm, 40cal, or a 45acp.

Then sometimes, I've let small man foreigners rennting usually a 9mm, shoot one full .357s out of my N-frame which makes more louse than it actually kicks, just so they had a story to tell there gunless countrymen that they shot a "Hand-cannon".
 
You know, it doesn't matter if it's a woman, a kid or someone who you may call your friend; if you are trying to hurt them or embarass them - you are a jerk.
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That pretty much sums it up.

I took my 9 year old niece shooting recently. She shot the heck out of my Savage 64F before deciding she would like to try my AR-15. After some careful consideration, and in light of her skills, I agreed under the condition that she only got one round at a time loaded singly into a 20rd mag (so it couldn't run away from her and would lock open every time, making it easier to show clear). It fit her pretty well, ergonomically, and she did fairly well from 25 yards. It's still a bit heavy for her, but she really had a great time with it, and now can't wait to shoot the .50cal muzzle loader her dad got her for deer season (with reduced charges, naturally). Now I've got a new range buddy who is really eager to learn and is a good and patient student! :D

I forget which one of the fine moderators here has the tag line "what kind of ambassador are YOU?" as their signature line. Indeed. We are all ambassadors of the shooting world. Act like a jerk, and we're all jerks. Be a good teacher, and you help ensure the 2nd Amendment sticks around for another generation.
 
Elvishead said:
As bad as it may be, and I agree with the OP, it's there problem and it's non[e] of my business.
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I'll disagree with you here. It's every shooters' business.

Anytime you see this behavior, the proper thing to do is get the idiot aside and tell them they are not helping anyone learn to shoot. Instead, they're being immature, self-centered jerks getting their jollies by frightening people with their big bad guns. They need to be reminded that it is their stupid adolsecent behavior that hurts public opinion of shooting.
 
I have always used small bore when teaching new shooters. In fact just yesterday I was at the range with a new Heratige Arms RoughRider .22lr. A guy showed up with his son and daughter. His daughter had never shot before. I had told her that she could shoot mine if her dad said it was ok. He was thrilled that she wanted to try and quickly agreed. By the end of 2 hours she had outshot her brother and her dad.:eek: Her dad had a huge grin on his face when they were leaving. He happened to ask where I got the gun and how much I paid for it shince his daughter liked it so much and shot so well with it he was going to buy one for her.:D
He offered to pay my range fee next weekend if I would come and give his wife the same instruction that I did with his daugter.:cool: I told him if his wife were willing to come to the range I would do so gladly.
 
+1 Recoiljunkie44

Sadly it's not with just women, but with kids and other men that do not have much shooting experience.

It spills over to a lot of the advice given on different forums, like saying everyone should shoot a .45 or .500 and that 9mm is a sissy round etc.
 
I instructed police and security types in firearms handling for eight years. Overall, my best students were the women. They would listen intently, follow instructions, then blow the pants off the "cowboys" in the classes (the ones who insisted they were born with a gun in their hands and did not need any instruction).

My classroom sessions always included a demonstration of how much recoil the revolver would generate so they were prepared before getting a live gun in their hands. After preparation, none ever complained of recoil and several went on to become gun nutz. And I always taught to shoot double-action only.

But, I was being paid to teach effectively, not to show off my character flaws.
 
I have seen there are apparently a fair amount of women involved in CAS type sports, maybe it is because they use "cowboy" lighter loads, they are shooting for fun and accuracy, not max penetration, expansion, or the thrill of a front sight in the forehead. Same for some of the smallbore target disciplines. And in shotgunning, target loads.
 
I don't see why the same wouldn't be said of ANY new shooter.

I know there are things about guys playing tricks on each other, that I can't even pretend to understand -- but to me, this falls into a category of stupid.

OTOH, perhaps the most respectful thing is informed consent, and just ask? (Want to start with something easier and get the feel of it?)

Though I'd shot maybe 10 rounds through a .22 rifle some years ago, I basically had zero firearms experience until recently.

I started with a .38spc, moved to 9mm and only today, finally shot a .22 handgun for the first time.

But in starting with that .38spc, the key thing is, no one was trying to trick me, harm me, or humiliate me.

OTOH, I had need to figure out a 9mm or 38spc that is probably not typical of first shooters.
 
Stupid guy tricks...

Kayla, in my experience the mixing of ammo types is common among two basic groups:

1) Prior or active Military and LEO (for whom this joke has been around forever, and it is played either on people who are well-liked, in fun, or on those who pretend to be much more than they are, in an attempt to shut them up).

2) Idiots, who play the joke on anybody they think they can, especially anybody perceived as somehow weaker.

I'll plead membership in group 1, for the few instances I've pulled this prank, and in my case it's always been on people who'd previously done it to me, but whom I liked anyway. I only pick on people "my own size," or bigger. This can be looked at in terms of mass, relative age, relative mental capacity, or relative experience.

OTOH, I have allowed a loudmouth who wouldn't listen to the instructor to learn the hard way, when he failed to properly shoulder a 12ga at the security range. He was told that he was holding it too loosely, but as he wasn't doing something that would endanger others, and the environment was controlled, he was allowed to bruise his shoulder and knock himself on his butt. (It was a pump; we wouldn't have let him do this with a semi-auto, out of fear of inadverdent secondary discharge.) Some people can only learn via their own experiences, and for some reason cannot listen to others to save themselves some pain. So this incident wasn't a prank, but a teaching method used by a USMC Gunny and ok'ed by the young Ensign.
 
start,em easy

MY MOM packs a ppk or 38 special.ive got my wife and daughter
up to 22lr daudhter is 11 my 6 year old son shootes a bb gun
 
Years ago the first pistol I shot was a S&W M&P 38 spl. I found it easy to shoot and was not affected by recoil. Later I went out with a guy who had a new S&W .44 magnum. He handed it to me loaded, saying it was loaded with .44 spls. The first five were spls, but he put a magnum in the last chamber. When I hit that, the revolver darn near hit my head. Would have liked to have rammed it down his throat. Fortunately, it did not put me off shooting.
 
The only really legitimate use for mixing magnums with specials

is that it can be used to help a new magnum shooter work on getting rid of a flinch. However, that should be done with the shooter's consent.
 
Somtimes its not that people let them shoot those large guns, somtimes they chose to shoot the larger calibers, Recently I had my buddy at the range with me and I brought along my .06, .22 and my shotgun, first thing he wanted to shoot was the .06 and there was no talking him out of it, so i showed him how to hold it and told him to what to expect, of course he didnt listen and proceeded to get wacked right above his eye and shocked the hell out of him needless to say he smartened up when he got ahold of the shotgun
 
Thanks overkill556x45

I thank you for being a great ambassador for the sport of shooting. I try to do the same even though I am not a very experienced shooter myself.
 
Prior or active Military and LEO (for whom this joke has been around forever, and it is played either on people who are well-liked, in fun, or on those who pretend to be much more than they are, in an attempt to shut them up).
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The worst part is that it's STILL funny!:)
When I was home on leave, my uncle took me out shooting. I thought I was a bada** with a rifle, and outshot him with my 22. So he said we should try his Marlin. Now I didn't really have any experience with any firearm that isn't in use in the Army. So I said sure. He pulled out his .444 marlin, along with some of his target handloads. He loaded a his high power stuff first, then a few of the target loads. I cocked the rifle (levered?) and shot the first round. Pretty soft shooting. So now I think I'm god's gift to cowboys too. So I start jacking rounds through it, til I get to the last round and BOOM! I had a bruise from that hot load for a week and a half. I think my uncle peed himself laughing.
 
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