truck driver
Ammo Smith
- Mar 11, 2013
- 7,199
- 728
I took my 40year old daughter to the pistol club this morning after she came to me and asked me to teach her to shoot a handgun.
I asked her why she wanted to learn since it was the first time, she has ever showed an interest in shooting any gun.
She is a first responder and 911 dispatcher who has delt with some troublesome calls, she also has a neighbor who has been arrested twice for drugs, so I loaded up some 38spl and .45acp ammo to take to the range.
I started here out with a 1911 .22 Marvel conversion to ease her into the larger calibers and to familiarize her with the 1911 platform.
The .22 Marvel conversion is a great training tool since it converts any 1911 into a .22 rim fire pistol and is very accurate.
We had our PPC range set up for canceled carry training, so I started her out at 7yds on the B27 target.
After instructions on proper sight picture alignment, how the pistol operated and how to stand using a modified Weaver stance I had her load the pistol and proceed to shoot. I let her do it her way first and she surprised me by keeping all shots with in the 10/X ring. She was a little off balance, so I adjusted her stance and how she was holding the gun making for a more solid shooting stance and she reworded me with a nice tight group still in the 10/X ring. 50 shots of .22 ammo and she was read to move on to something bigger so out came the model 14 S&W 38spl. which has been set up to shoot EIC CMP matches. The grips were uncomfortable for her since she has small hands and was having trouble reaching the trigger but still wanted to give it a try so after some hold adjustment I had her on the trigger I showed her how to stage the trigger for a clean break and she fired her first shot double action which was a center of mass hit, the next five stayed in the middle bet were spread out so I showed her how to cock the hammer and shoot single action. First shot took the X out of the target and the next five were on a nice cluster but she didn't like the extreme light trigger pull and said it scared her when the pistol went off, so she went back to double action and was able to hold the 10 ring.
She was soon read to move on to the .45 and I warned her it wasn't easy to shoot since it took a strong grip to hold it and shoot it well.
I had loaded up some 185gr cast bullets over 4.5grs of Solo 1000 which is a nice target load but still with some recoil to work the action with a 12lb spring. Right off the bat she was having failure to cycle, and one piece of brass went down her back which got her attention quickly. I told her she was limp wristing the pistol and adjusted the way she was holding it; no more problems and the gun ran like it should, she also was cutting the 10/X ring with most of her shots and seemed to take naturally to shooting a handgun.
Moved her back to the 15yd line and she soon learned that it wasn't going to get easier and was shooting a little low like in the 9 ring with a few in the 8. Once she figured out where to hold the front sight, she was shooting groups again.
I didn't take but a few Factory loaded rounds with me so she could feel what the recoil was like compared to my reloads but the big gun was wearing her out so we packed up and came home with her target so she could show it to her husband.
All in all a good day and a happy shooter and instructor.
Sorry no pictures since I forgot to take my cell phone along.
I asked her why she wanted to learn since it was the first time, she has ever showed an interest in shooting any gun.
She is a first responder and 911 dispatcher who has delt with some troublesome calls, she also has a neighbor who has been arrested twice for drugs, so I loaded up some 38spl and .45acp ammo to take to the range.
I started here out with a 1911 .22 Marvel conversion to ease her into the larger calibers and to familiarize her with the 1911 platform.
The .22 Marvel conversion is a great training tool since it converts any 1911 into a .22 rim fire pistol and is very accurate.
We had our PPC range set up for canceled carry training, so I started her out at 7yds on the B27 target.
After instructions on proper sight picture alignment, how the pistol operated and how to stand using a modified Weaver stance I had her load the pistol and proceed to shoot. I let her do it her way first and she surprised me by keeping all shots with in the 10/X ring. She was a little off balance, so I adjusted her stance and how she was holding the gun making for a more solid shooting stance and she reworded me with a nice tight group still in the 10/X ring. 50 shots of .22 ammo and she was read to move on to something bigger so out came the model 14 S&W 38spl. which has been set up to shoot EIC CMP matches. The grips were uncomfortable for her since she has small hands and was having trouble reaching the trigger but still wanted to give it a try so after some hold adjustment I had her on the trigger I showed her how to stage the trigger for a clean break and she fired her first shot double action which was a center of mass hit, the next five stayed in the middle bet were spread out so I showed her how to cock the hammer and shoot single action. First shot took the X out of the target and the next five were on a nice cluster but she didn't like the extreme light trigger pull and said it scared her when the pistol went off, so she went back to double action and was able to hold the 10 ring.
She was soon read to move on to the .45 and I warned her it wasn't easy to shoot since it took a strong grip to hold it and shoot it well.
I had loaded up some 185gr cast bullets over 4.5grs of Solo 1000 which is a nice target load but still with some recoil to work the action with a 12lb spring. Right off the bat she was having failure to cycle, and one piece of brass went down her back which got her attention quickly. I told her she was limp wristing the pistol and adjusted the way she was holding it; no more problems and the gun ran like it should, she also was cutting the 10/X ring with most of her shots and seemed to take naturally to shooting a handgun.
Moved her back to the 15yd line and she soon learned that it wasn't going to get easier and was shooting a little low like in the 9 ring with a few in the 8. Once she figured out where to hold the front sight, she was shooting groups again.
I didn't take but a few Factory loaded rounds with me so she could feel what the recoil was like compared to my reloads but the big gun was wearing her out so we packed up and came home with her target so she could show it to her husband.
All in all a good day and a happy shooter and instructor.
Sorry no pictures since I forgot to take my cell phone along.
