Got a few queries about this, on and off the BB, so....
Many of us have seen someone on a firing range trying to teach a new person to shoot. Maybe a girl friend, wife, child or SO of some other sort.It might be for defense, or the person has expressed an interest in joining a shooter in their hobby. Anyway....
Our Hero hands the newbie, who is half his size, a shotgun with a stock way too long for her,and a handful of shells. They might be 3" mags, 00, or 1 1/4 oz pheasant loads. Or, mercifully, they might be light target loads. In either case, our Hero shows her how to load up, tells her to stand up straight,shoulder the weapon,press the trigger,and mere milliseconds later, a flinch is born. She hurts, but is game, and shoot again. This time, the butt has left the shoulder and is out on her upper arm, and the bruise will be there for a week or so. About this time,she decides that shotgunning is not her thing,hands the shotgun back, and we ALL lose.
Or, our Hero wants to do the right thing, knows that stock fit is important,and has had someone that knows what they're doing fit the stock on a shotgun to the rookie in question. This means not only shortening the stock, but making the butt conform to the ins and outs of that particular person. Usually, with women, this means a bit more pitch, maybe a touch of toe out, and a rounding of the toe. Also, since shorter means lighter here, and lighter at the rear gives more of a muzzle heavy feel, adding a bit of weight to the stock under the pad keeps the piece balanced. Muzzle heavy shotguns are de riguer for trap, but a struggle to hold up for the newcomer.
(An old thread here about proper mounting technique may be useful at this point).
And, while our Hero does OK in the field and smokes some clays, he's no expert, nor is he a teacher. So, off she goes for a short but intensive lesson on mounting and swinging from someone who knows both shooting and teaching.
Finally, she's using shells made as light and slow as possible. If it's a 12 ga she's using, it may be a good idea to find some of the Brit loads that come as light as 15/16 oz and a velocity of 1100 FPS. As near as I can tell, the Brits make these just for those little game guns with 2" chambers, and those run very light indeed. These shells can be hard to find and more expensive than dove loads from Walmart, but it's money well spent....
Otherwise, use the lightest loads you can find or make. Dropping the velocity AND the weight will produce the best results. A loose rule here might be to load as if for the next common gauge down, like a 1 oz load(16 ga standard) for a 12, a 7/8 oz load for a 16, 5/8 or 3/4 for a 20....
So now, our Heros' SO has shot a little, not gotten hurt and has broken a few clays placed on the backstop or thrown Frisbee style. She's having fun. So our Hero stops the shooting when she tires, and that's that.Both walk away smiling, and not from relief that it's over.
So how long do you keep her at this level of involvement and shell power?
As long as she wants to. Meanwhile, let her look over various shotguns and explain the up and down of each type, gauge and "Feel". Then, if she wants her own, get it and give it with a smile. Or resign yourself to giving up one of yours.
And while I've used a female for an example here,all this applies to males also,even grown up, testosterone oozing he-men.
Hope this helps...
Many of us have seen someone on a firing range trying to teach a new person to shoot. Maybe a girl friend, wife, child or SO of some other sort.It might be for defense, or the person has expressed an interest in joining a shooter in their hobby. Anyway....
Our Hero hands the newbie, who is half his size, a shotgun with a stock way too long for her,and a handful of shells. They might be 3" mags, 00, or 1 1/4 oz pheasant loads. Or, mercifully, they might be light target loads. In either case, our Hero shows her how to load up, tells her to stand up straight,shoulder the weapon,press the trigger,and mere milliseconds later, a flinch is born. She hurts, but is game, and shoot again. This time, the butt has left the shoulder and is out on her upper arm, and the bruise will be there for a week or so. About this time,she decides that shotgunning is not her thing,hands the shotgun back, and we ALL lose.
Or, our Hero wants to do the right thing, knows that stock fit is important,and has had someone that knows what they're doing fit the stock on a shotgun to the rookie in question. This means not only shortening the stock, but making the butt conform to the ins and outs of that particular person. Usually, with women, this means a bit more pitch, maybe a touch of toe out, and a rounding of the toe. Also, since shorter means lighter here, and lighter at the rear gives more of a muzzle heavy feel, adding a bit of weight to the stock under the pad keeps the piece balanced. Muzzle heavy shotguns are de riguer for trap, but a struggle to hold up for the newcomer.
(An old thread here about proper mounting technique may be useful at this point).
And, while our Hero does OK in the field and smokes some clays, he's no expert, nor is he a teacher. So, off she goes for a short but intensive lesson on mounting and swinging from someone who knows both shooting and teaching.
Finally, she's using shells made as light and slow as possible. If it's a 12 ga she's using, it may be a good idea to find some of the Brit loads that come as light as 15/16 oz and a velocity of 1100 FPS. As near as I can tell, the Brits make these just for those little game guns with 2" chambers, and those run very light indeed. These shells can be hard to find and more expensive than dove loads from Walmart, but it's money well spent....
Otherwise, use the lightest loads you can find or make. Dropping the velocity AND the weight will produce the best results. A loose rule here might be to load as if for the next common gauge down, like a 1 oz load(16 ga standard) for a 12, a 7/8 oz load for a 16, 5/8 or 3/4 for a 20....
So now, our Heros' SO has shot a little, not gotten hurt and has broken a few clays placed on the backstop or thrown Frisbee style. She's having fun. So our Hero stops the shooting when she tires, and that's that.Both walk away smiling, and not from relief that it's over.
So how long do you keep her at this level of involvement and shell power?
As long as she wants to. Meanwhile, let her look over various shotguns and explain the up and down of each type, gauge and "Feel". Then, if she wants her own, get it and give it with a smile. Or resign yourself to giving up one of yours.
And while I've used a female for an example here,all this applies to males also,even grown up, testosterone oozing he-men.
Hope this helps...