Newbies to the range...

[Sota 1,191]

Decided to start documenting my adventures of taking newbies to the range for the first time.

 

2014/05/29

Guy and Gal pair. (call them D and T.) He was French military back in the 70s, now a U.S. citizen for a couple decades. He bought a Sig Sauer 1911 recently. She's never fired a gun before in her life.

First thing I noticed... low experience new gun owners, don't clean and lube their guns after buying them. The 1911 was gritty and balky due to being practically dry. I didn't notice this until after he'd shot a couple mags and was having problems, and I investigated more thoroughly. I showed him how to properly disassemble and lube his 1911 a couple days later (thanks youtube! ) He had no interest in shooting anything but his own gun.

The lady I started off with the Ruger SR22. Easy opening firearm, went over all the basics, the controls, how not to point it at anyone, etc. She did pretty well. Her POI wasn't stellar, but as I expressed to her many times it wasn't about making her into a super marksman the first time but rather getting comfortable with handling and operating a firearm. She took to that very well and as I found out at the end it alleviated several of her fears... including the concern that a gun could go off on it's own. I know, the rest of us will all laugh about that but it's obvious to me that a large number of people do honestly expect a firearm to just jump up and start shooting people. I would state she was enthusiastic if only because she put 50 rounds through the SR22 before she felt comfortable moving on.

Next up was an HK P30. About 15 rounds through it and she was done. I noted some physical constraints on her part (lack of grip strength resulting in some difficulty in racking the slide.) She did however give it a good try, the same with the HK45. It at least demonstrated to her the difference in firearms and ammo types.

In the end she was very pleased with the whole experience and has stated she wants an SR22 as her first firearm.

[Candyman87 10]

Cool! I think I might start doing the same thing!

[Howard 538]

You my friend are a total liar, I have read hundreds of times in such high quality papers such as the Star Ledger and NYT that guns are dangerous and are killers and many times just up and shoot people on their own.  How could you teach this poor woman that they are safe.  Shame on you      

[Sota 1,191]

2014/06/10

Guy friend only this time. We'll call him B.

B's never seen a gun in real life before, much less shot one. Went over the usuals... 4 rules, range etiquette, etc.

Started on the SR22 again. His first words out of his mouth after shooting his first shot... "Wow! It's louder than I thought! I thought it would be like a BB gun!" I have to work on my poker face when I take new people... they say some shit and you just want to go "how fucking stupid are you?" but then you remember, they only know what's in the movies and TV, and I just replied... "Nope. It's louder." Didn't wind up shooting a lot... he has bear paws for hands so the 22 was kind of small, even with the "big" grip on it.

We then went to the P30 and HK45, each time he was surprised at the noise and the increasing level of recoil.

I think the reality of it all surprised him more than anything else.

A lot more conversation rather than shooting with him than with the lady (T) from last week.

He wants to file the paperwork and get his own firearm soon; apparently there's been some robberies in his neck of the woods.

 

Important things I learned...

* work on my poker face

* bring the backstraps for the P30 so I can dial it in better for someone with MUCH larger hands than me... or plan on bringing another one already set up that way. maybe I'll setup the P30L with bigs all around.

I'm already bringing 4 firearms with me, (Ruger SR22, P30 9mm, P2000SK 9mm, HK45) so I need to either ditch one or get a new case to carry more.

[Sota 1,191]

2014/06/19

 

Took T back to the range again today, to work on some of the issues and items we discussed here.

With some practice she was able to manipulate the slide. She'll need some practice time with that and I recommended she get a squeeze ball to work on some hand strength issues.

During live fire she was having problems with spent cases consistently flying back at her instead of ejecting to the side; recoil control issues. So counter intuitively I switched her from the P30L to a P2000SK which is a lighter and smaller. Ejection issues went away and her muzzle control greatly improved. Then the real kicker happened.

She was asking me about shooting one eye or two eyes open. I explained it's mostly a personal preference and to use what ever works. That's when she said if she shuts her left eye she can't see out of her right eye. She's right handed and supposedly is right eye dominant. I suggested she try and cross eye shoot and see what happens. It was like Jesus walked on water... she put 5 right in the black at 7 yards, and a grouping of only 2" (1.5" if you take away the one flyer at the end.) Before she was barely hitting the paper or the cardboard. She mentioned just having gotten new contacts... we both wondered if there was something wrong with her right one. She was very pleased at this point to finally making holes in the right places.

[magnawing 5]

My contribution to this effort began with the Shotgun Shootout a couple months ago...my friend inherited a pre-WWII, single shot .410 when his father passed away.  He had never so much as even held a gun, let alone shoot one.  He asked me if I could teach him how it works and how to shoot it.  I invited him out to the shootout in Clinton and he joined us.  Drez spent a pretty good amount of time with him familiarizing him with the range rules, the intricacies of his gun and general firearms safety.  He insisted I shoot his gun first because he wanted to "see" how it fired.  I took the first shot (had been shooting 12 ga all day, felt like a .22 in comparison).  He took over and you couldn't have pried the grin off of his face with a crowbar.  He continued on with the .410 and then put on his big girl panties and gave the 12 gauge a try.  It almost knocked him on his ass...he wasn't expecting that much recoil...he was ready for the "kick" of a .410.  After a little more instruction on the proper stance and how to shoulder the gun, he did pretty well.  We've been out a couple times since and last time, he brought his brother.  Brother is already a shooter so he was extremely happy to see his "big" brother enjoying a pastime that, previously, he was only able to share with their other brother since their dad passed away.  He's looking into getting his FPID but is leery because of some past issues created by a $#!tstorm of losses in a brief timespan (three deaths and a divorce all within a 4 month timeframe)...time will tell.

[Sota 1,191]

2014/07/08

Had two this morning... A (woman) and B (man.)

A had last shot a .22 rifle of some form and a 30-06 back in the early 80s in Tennessee (she's a Tenn. native.)

B I've had to the range before. Older (mid 70s) gent.

Did the usual routine...

safety talk (4 rules, safe direction, range etiquette, protection, don't try to catch a falling gun, etc.)

Ruger SR22 to start off, P30, P2000SK, HK45 in that order.

all went pretty well. once she got over the initial "fears" she started getting some nice groupings within the first mag or 2.

put about 100 rounds down range, mixed among .22lr, 9mm (115gr, 124gr, 147gr), 45acp

she had a good time and is going to file her papers to get her own now.

 

B was an interesting story. I've brought him once before. He bought a Glock 21 years ago and totally drinks the Austrian Kool-Aid. Said "well it's what my friend at FBI said I should get!" Also 45acp will crush you soul. Ok B.

Anyway, B is older (mid 70s as I said before) and has some old man "issues"... namely lime disease screwed up some of his finger joints pretty badly. His trigger finger for example bends almost 45 degrees DOWN between the first joint and tip. It's pretty bad, so much so that shooting the 21 causes the finger to bleed from rubbing raw on the trigger guard after only a mag or 2. He saw that I brought the HK45 and wanted to try it... well flaming kittens if the shape of the guard DOESN'T cause his finger to hurt! Then he tried the P30 and discovered that 9mm is easier for an older guy to control. I'll wait while everyone picks their collective heads up off their collective desks.

By the end of the session he's decided he's selling the 21 (*koff* anyone interested? it has maybe 200 rounds through it. *koff*) and is going to seriously look into a P30 or an HK45, after he coon fingers a Walther he's been salivating over.

 

Overall I was happy, A was extremely happy (hugs and cheek kisses and "thanks for a great time! it was awesome!") and everyone went home with no extra holes.

[Sota 1,191]

Boy it's been a while. Busy as hell recently.

 

3rd trip to the range with T. Went to RTSP this time, her treat (she signed up as a member.) Shot all my stuff once again and she just couldn't make a choice. She went out to Efingers some time after that and she found they had a VP9 in stock and fingered it. Discovered something that in hindsight I should have seen ahead of time... the charging wings on the damn slide worked PERFECTLY for her!

 

So congrats HK! Your design idea works fantastic for middle/upper-aged women with hand strength issues.

Oh and she bought the gun. Forgot the exact price but it was the 3 mags kit and it sounded in line with what can be found out there.

[Sota 1,191]

Oh and D from the D&T pair, is hating on his Sig Sauer 1911. thing is apparently a temperamental witch.

[gleninjersey 2,141]

Are these friends of your's that recently found out that you enjoy shooting?

[Sota 1,191]

Friends or clients. I've decided to not be shy about my firearms proclivities. It's the only way in my mind to get people who've either never thought about firearms or thought negatively about them to come to the side of Right and Truth.

 

Yes I've considered the possibility it might damage or end some friendships or client relations. So be it.

[DeerSlayer 241]

Im never shy to anyone customers, family members, friends, or a stranger to express my love of firearms. I go one step further sometimes and express my love of killing my dinner with them as well. People that are offended that I'm a gun owner I don't need in my life. I don't fault people for not agreeing with hunting, as long as they don't have a problem with making it my choice of how I feed my family. Its not for everyone. But in my opinion if your not a lawful gun owner, your not a good American either.