Handgun training, some thoughts

A few things I thought I'd share, after years of training military personnel, patrol & SWAT cops and plain ol' people how to shoot a handgun.

1. Safety first.
2. Get the basics down before trying the high-speed/low drag stuff.
3. Many people, particularly if they haven't been athletes of some sort, don't take quickly to pistol shooting. Be patient.
4. Truly. Seriously. Strongly. Consider a .22 or an air pistol to start with.
5. Concealment handguns - those lightweight, hard-hitting guns all us gun nuts like to buy and carry... Things that don't weigh much, conceal easy and pack a big punch. Yeah, like that one you never leave home without... Those things are TERRIBLE for a new shooter! :mrgreen:
6. Talk it all through first. Do some repetitions with dummy rounds/snap caps. THEN move to the real stuff.

Yeah - I've taught some classes lately with a bunch of brand new shooters, and I'm learning more about them. It's been about 50 years since I was a brand new shooter, and I forgot some of the feelings of being intimidated by the mere presence of a gun and being asked to shoot it.

Interesting. Am learning to take it real slow and easy with first time shooting students. That was obvious, but it's even more important than I thought.

FWIW, Guy

Great points Guy.

JD338

Awesome points Guy. I tend to no be a very patient guy, and I need to when in this situation.

Thanks for the reminder!

Excellent and thoughtful matters to weigh as new shooters are introduced to the sport.

Most of the women I've coached over the years have been police officers, or Marines.

When I started teaching other non-cop/non military ladies to shoot the handgun, I learned that many are not strong enough to grasp the slide of a typical semi-auto and pull it back without Major Effort on their part. This surprised me.

Also ran across one gal in her 50's who absolutely loves shooting my son's .45 Ruger Blackhawk with factory 230 gr .45 ACP ammo in it. She's getting one of her own. Cool. I was just using it as a training tool, to show people how to use a single-action revolver. She loves shooting that .45 Ruger! I thought that was very cool - and unexpected.

The .22 Ruger target semi-auto has been a big success too, as expected. Easy to shoot, accurate and not intimidating.

The problems that came up with lightweight self-defense type semi-autos and little J-Frame .38's were kind of amazing.

With the autos, it was mostly a problem with pulling the slide back, without the muzzle wandering all over the place.

Also some of the autos were .40's - and a .40 S&W in a lightweight, short-barreled semi-auto is NOT an easy thing to shoot... :shock:

With the J-Frames, the standard .38 Special training ammo didn't sting too bad, but any warmer ammo proved to be a bad idea, particularly if the revolver had an aluminum frame...

Then there was the whole issue of the double-action trigger pull. Some can't even pull the trigger all the way through the cocking/release point. Let alone keeping it on target while doing so. I was surprised at that.

We did good though, and we're getting everyone through the courses - it's just a real good thing that I have a decent .22 pistol and a fair stash of .22 long rifle ammo on hand!

Guy

Guy, I bet a ton of dry firing drills before a round is ever fired will fix alot of issues before they develop. You'll get a picture of the trigger control and their stance. I agree, the boomers aren't great to learn on at all. I imagine a good 22 is worth it's weight Nosler bullets!

Much like "snapping in" on the infamous white barrels...

Yes sir! You read my mind Major Miner!

Nothing makes a more proficient shooter than alot of dry firing...

Guy,

Kathy Jackson over at Cornered Cat has some good articles on women shooters and one of them has to do with manipulating the slide. You might want to send the ladies there to read some of what she has to say. Also, you may want to take a gander at it yourself for some ideas sir.

Vince

Good intel, Vince. I've forwarded the site to my daughter. For those who are interested: http://www.corneredcat.com/.

Guy Miner":yv1p105b said:

Much like "snapping in" on the infamous white barrels...

Click to expand...

That's a second Yes Sir! How many hours did we "snap in" behind those barrels? However many hours it works! And a 22lr pistol is an invaluable training tool for new shooters. We always have five or more of our own for classes.

Thanks Vince, and Dr Mike. I hadn't known of that web site before. Pretty doggone good resource!

Yes, big believer here in "dry fire." I have a small mountain of dummy rounds/snap caps for the guns I use to train people with. Good stuff.

Guy

Guy,
Good stuff you're doing there.
The fact you're aware of it and researching is a fine thing IMO .
Some of the 38 WC rounds are pretty tame and help. If you have access to a 327 they seem to fit some ladies nicely and you can shoot 32 longs in it to really make it tame. Gives a step up from the 22 without the "bite".
I spend some time on eye dominance w them also. Funny the left eye dominant people I find.
If you have anything in a wheel gun w laser grips its pretty interesting to see dry fire and show movement potential and keeping on target in dry fire da practice.
Loading when they have a wheel gun is instructive also.
Geez, sorry for the ramble. :lol:
Dewey