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Kaiser7

What gun to teach my girlfriend to shoot on?

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My girlfriend has been asking me to take her shooting, and after I get my tax return, I'm planning on getting a SJSC membership, and taking her. However, I've run into a bit of a problem. She's 5'2, maybe 110 lbs. I initially thought using my Savage MKII in .22LR would be good. It's short, light, and wouldn't have the recoil to scare her off. However, I hadn't shopped around for .22LR in a while, and didn't realize it was still really hard to find/expensive.

I'm now not entirely sure what to do. I load .223 for my AR, and have a decent bit of ammo for that, but it's a relatively long, heavy gun (as far as ARs go). I don't think she'd be able to handle my M1911 in .45ACP, and I'm pretty sure my 8mm Mauser VZ24 would send her flying.

She's actually lives in PA, and has expressed interest in applying for a ccw at some point in the future. (Riding SEPTA, and talking to me has really changed her mind on defensive weapons). Anyway, I think it would be good to teach her on something easy and fun to shoot, just to get some of the basic safety stuff down, and basic techniques, but I'm not sure what to train her on.

Related note, if anyone knows any deals on .22LR, let me know, even if its online. We already decided that we could order it and have it shipped to her since she lives in America.

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Watch the Hot Deals section of the forum. Also, Heritage Guild in Easton usually has Winchester .22lr (333/box) for $20. It's the same stuff someone here is selling for $33.75/box. But HG has a 1box limit.

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

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Oh and if you are worried about the recoil for her just load one round at a time until she gets comfortable

I always do that with a new shooter. I learned that from an instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. He called it the "Barney Fife Drill" and would start with gun in holster and one round in the shirt pocket.

 

Before you take your GF to the range sit down with her and explain how each gun works. My wife didn't like the possibility of her thumb getting caught by the slide and the brass ejecting. She liked my Model 10 S&W and it became hers. She's the same size as your GF and recoil wirh std velocity loads was not an issue.

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I'm a little confused and you may be all over the place.  Does she and you have interest primarily in rifle or handgun?

 

What ever the case 22lr is my first choice IMHO.

 

A 22lr rifle should be fine under any circumstances.  That's where I'd start.

 

Then 22lr pistol.

 

Please impress the lethality of the diminutive 22lr cartridge.

 

If she's thinking CCW 22lr conversion on a center fire handgun always works.

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Always start a new shooter with a .22 rifle, regardless of what their long-term shooting interest might be.  You can't beat it for teaching fundamentals of safety and marksmanship, and the shooter won't develop a flinch (which can be extraordinarily difficult to unlearn down the road).

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One of the best guns to learn on is a spring powered air rifle. Here's the reason:

 

The gun operates by releasing a compressed spring which pushes a piston which compresses the air which pushes the pellet. There is alot of movement before the pellet starts its journey down the barrel. If she can master the trigger control and follow-through to shoot this accurately she'll be able to shoot just about anything.

 

Also pellets are really cheap, and you can build a backstop for your back yard or basement fairly easily so there's much more opportunity for practice.

 

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

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If she's in PA you could go to heritage guild. No membership needed and they have 22lr in stock ever time I'm there. My fiance started out on my M&P22. I also have a few 50rd boxes or 22lr. I'd be willing to give you one to support the cause of introducing a new shooter.

 

 

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1 round at a time is how they did it at my NRA Basics class many moon ago. I agreed with their one major explaination point... better to drop an unloaded gun than a loaded one (if that first shot freaks the shit out of you.) :)

 

For shooting virgins that first shot can cause all kinds of brain farting to go on.

 

Oh, and as for a first gun to shoot, it's part of the reason I got an SR22. Well, that and it turns out it's a ton of fun to shoot! ;)

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I've taught 2 young ladies and my wife the basics of firearm safety and shooting with a .38 snubby loaded with some wadcutters one round at a time.I don't see the need to start out with some underpowered 22lr round and then progress from there as it wastes time and ammo. Yes the first round is usually a shock and that's why you load one  at a time at first but by the 10'th or 12'th round you've already progressed far enough for the basics of shot placement,dump and reload and perhaps even the basic mechanics of a speed loader drill.With a semi auto I stuck with a polymer 9mm model to keep the weight  down again loading one round at a time until the young lady built some confidence,then a full mag and told her to go to town to get used to the recoil and diminish flinching....After that it was all about stressing the fine points of accuracy,trigger control and safety.

At the very least I've found that if the young lady is receptive, she had learned the basics of gun safety,control,shot placement and reloading after the first session with a effective round and that, in my mind is a win.

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My wife is of a similar size to your girlfriend. I got her into shooting by starting out with a .22 AR with a red dot sight shooting from a bench rest. The red dot helped her with her accuracy and she was pumped when she started blasting steel targets. One round loaded at a time like every one else suggested. Then from there I moved her to my 1911 with a .22 conversion which she really liked. From there she graduated to shooting a .223 AR and .38 out of a 6" revolver. Now she shoots my 1911 .45 with no problem. I did make the mistake of letting her shoot some .380 and 9mm subcompacts in the beginning which she did not like at all because the guns were to light to tame the recoil. I figured a small gun would fit her hand better. She now has no problem with the recoil of 12g 2 3/4 bird shot its just the gun is to heavy for her to hold up for any length of time. In my opinion start with .22 even though its a bitch to find right now and get her shooting some sort of reactive target until she gets into it and then you can get her into improving her accuracy with paper targets. 

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I'm a little confused and you may be all over the place.  Does she and you have interest primarily in rifle or handgun?

 

What ever the case 22lr is my first choice IMHO.

 

A 22lr rifle should be fine under any circumstances.  That's where I'd start.

 

Then 22lr pistol.

 

Please impress the lethality of the diminutive 22lr cartridge.

 

If she's thinking CCW 22lr conversion on a center fire handgun always works.

^^^^^^^  This......

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So my father and I recently took my younger sister to shoot for the first time.  I say younger, shes just a hair under 30 so not a kid. 

 

My father is a retired police high ranking police commander who absolutely amazes me with his handgun shooting.  He just shrugs his shoulders like, "No big deal, I had 35 years of mandatory practice?" but while I am pretty awesome with a combat shotgun and pretty handy with a rifle I can't compete against him with a handgun in the least.

 

he suggested we give her a .38 revolver to shoot first. (I really wanted to start her with .22) --- She absolutely hated it.  Almost did not want to shoot anymore.  Didn't like it in the least.  I was busy getting one of my .22LR rifles ready when he insisted she try a 9mm Glock, because it would be much easier, that was the claim.  *STILL* did not like it at all, caught some slide bite and basically said, I'm done, I don't want to do this anymore.  You could see she did not enjoy being there and doing this.  I guess the combination of 'recoil" and muzzle climb, with the boom, for someone who wasn't prepared for it, just really bothered her.  Was about to go wait in the car when I insisted she try my Remington 597- a scoped, bipod-rested semi-auto .22LR . I told her to trust me, it would be both easy and fun and if she didn't like it she could then leave.  I wouldn't let her get hurt or upset nor would I steer her wrong.

 

 

 

The .22lr changed everything.  After a shot or two to realize there was not going to be any recoil or any serious BOOOOM, she was moving that rifle around, messing with the scope, trying to shoot out the #'s on the targets, and smiling like anything.  Then it was, "Can I try those handguns again?"  And very shortly after she was blasting away with the new Benelli 12 gauge.  After that she wanted more of the .22 and was having accuracy contests with my father and they're both like, "You mind loading magazines??? We're  trying to have some fun here.  thanks!  And hurry up!"

 

 

the point of this was, crawl before you walk, walk before you run.  Will everyone be like this?  Absolutely not, I shot my first shots at the age of 6 *on that very same .38 Chief's special* she was using.  And I absolutely loved it, never looked back, the boom just gets my blood pumping.  For others, it can be a very scary and difficult experience.  *but once they realize it can be both lots of fun and pain free/shock free*, you can just see the tension go away and the fun start flowing. 

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My girlfriend has been asking me to take her shooting, and after I get my tax return, I'm planning on getting a SJSC membership, and taking her. However, I've run into a bit of a problem. She's 5'2, maybe 110 lbs. I initially thought using my Savage MKII in .22LR would be good. It's short, light, and wouldn't have the recoil to scare her off. However, I hadn't shopped around for .22LR in a while, and didn't realize it was still really hard to find/expensive.

 

I'm now not entirely sure what to do. I load .223 for my AR, and have a decent bit of ammo for that, but it's a relatively long, heavy gun (as far as ARs go). I don't think she'd be able to handle my M1911 in .45ACP, and I'm pretty sure my 8mm Mauser VZ24 would send her flying.

 

She's actually lives in PA, and has expressed interest in applying for a ccw at some point in the future. (Riding SEPTA, and talking to me has really changed her mind on defensive weapons). Anyway, I think it would be good to teach her on something easy and fun to shoot, just to get some of the basic safety stuff down, and basic techniques, but I'm not sure what to train her on.

 

Related note, if anyone knows any deals on .22LR, let me know, even if its online. We already decided that we could order it and have it shipped to her since she lives in America.

I'm at SJSC too and since you're in the area, just a heads up, Bob's Little Sport Shop has some 22LR, was in there yesterday. 

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A Savage Mark II will work very nicely. 

 

As far as handguns go, the Ruger Marks and .22/45s are nice for a beginner.  My choice would be a Ruger Mark III 22/45 Lite.   Although it has a tad bit less weight as the all-steel varieties, it is still very manageable and able to keep on target easily, it's accurate, and it isn't too heavy.  The ONLY gripes I might have are in cleaning it (and that's not too bad), and sometimes for some it is a little difficult pulling the bolt back, as it could have a little more meatiness.  An alternate would be the S&W M&P 22, which is actually my favorite non-revolver .22LR.  The Ruger SR22 might be nice as well.

 

Has anybody had any experience with the S&W M&P Air pistol?  And, can you get easily get NJ compliant BB magazines?  That would be an affordable addition to the .22LR long gun and you wouldn't have to worry about .22s.

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I think the Ruger MKIII is a great entry level and beyond handgun.  It's excellent for those just breaking into the sport.  Little, if any recoil and provides and lot of bang for little buck.  Field stripping for cleaning can be somewhat complicated the first time, but any weapon can be that way right out of the box. 

 

Just my $.02

 

 

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Kaiser,

 

Once you get your ammo together, if yer willin' to do the drive, I'll guest you two into OB's outdoor range (as I've mentioned before).  I have a K-.22 Masterpiece and some Duppie-inspired wad-cutters to shoot in my 4" Model 586.  Move on up the ladder from there......  And try yer hand with your rifles at 100 yards.  The more, the merrier, lol!

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Kaiser,

 

Once you get your ammo together, if yer willin' to do the drive, I'll guest you two into OB's outdoor range (as I've mentioned before).  I have a K-.22 Masterpiece and some Duppie-inspired wad-cutters to shoot in my 4" Model 586.  Move on up the ladder from there......  And try yer hand with your rifles at 100 yards.  The more, the merrier, lol!

There you go Kaiser.....couldn't ask for a more qualified and patient instructor as Rosey .

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Thank you all for the suggestions! I'll give a little more info on what I have, to get some more suggestions on like, .22lr conversions.

I know the first gun I shot was my savage MKII, Bob's little gave me an hour of range time when I bought it, and while in retrospect, I feel like I should have gotten a levergun for .22 (feel like the bolt pull is a pain on such a short round) I think it's a fantastic gun to learn on. Perhaps Ironically, I have several hundred rounds of 8mm mauer ammo, several hundred .223 I've handloaded, some .45ACP, some 12 gauge, but I don't have a single .22LR round.

Now, I have a Remington R1 Enhanced M1911, and an AR15 I built, but I'm not sure what .22 conversion kits run, or what are compatible. I think I'd like to have her shoot the 1911 in .22, and use the Savage for rifle. Later on I'll let her try some of the other stuff, but she lacks upper body strength, so I know I think my AR build would be too heavy.

But I really appreciate all these suggestions. I've been shopping around the past few days for .22 online, didn't realize how expensive it had become, and how rare. I remember paying about $0.04 a round, some places are charging almost $0.34! School has kept me busy, and a bit out of the loop I suppose.

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Kaiser,

 

Once you get your ammo together, if yer willin' to do the drive, I'll guest you two into OB's outdoor range (as I've mentioned before).  I have a K-.22 Masterpiece and some Duppie-inspired wad-cutters to shoot in my 4" Model 586.  Move on up the ladder from there......  And try yer hand with your rifles at 100 yards.  The more, the merrier, lol!

 

 

There you go Kaiser.....couldn't ask for a more qualified and patient instructor as Rosey .

 

Oh yeah! I've meant to ask David about this! He's going to teach me blackpowder too!

 

We're planning to go in April or May, depending on school stuff.

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I'd say stick with the .22 pistol and the .22 bolt rifle, also I find that sometimes a used .22 pistol is cheaper than a conversion kit so something to think about. I got a can (yes a can with pull tab and all) of federal .22 from bobs not to long ago maybe they have more?

 

 

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Kaiser- If you want to let her shoot a 1911 with a .22 conversion and you want to come out to EFGA I would be willing to guest you two in and you can use my conversion on your 1911 or mine. I am only free Fridays and Saturdays though. I also have an .22 AR, and a Lever .22, and a Walther PP .22 that your welcome to shoot as well. Also if my friend comes he can bring his sig 229 .22. Shoot me a PM if your interested and we can set something up. If you want to do it on a Saturday maybe my wife will come so your girlfriend does not feel like its a boys only thing.

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