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This weekend, after her second time ever shooting my wife was frustrated. She did not feel like she was progressing and getting better. Neither of us wants me to try teaching her too much beyond very basic safety and make us both miserable. Realistically, I think she is doing pretty well for only her second time out with no experience at all. She would like to take a basic pistol course preferably in a women-only setting, so I am looking for recommendations. Her goal is to become more comfortable and confident shooting safely, and have the technical shooting ability to pass the target portion of the carry class if she wants to pursue it. FWIW, we went to Bills the first time and BPR the second and she liked the calmer atmosphere at BPR much better. Not super concerned with cost variables, a couple hours at the range + ammo + babysitter makes almost any class seem like a bargain.

TTS here on the board does them. I am sure a couple others here as well. SAM did a few PTC classes for women only a while back.

I think the big issue is scheduling. An instructer can't really build a class schedule with sporadic interest.

If anyone knows of an upcoming schedule or a link to signup, just let me know.

gdubya wrote:If anyone knows of an upcoming schedule or a link to signup, just let me know.

http://www.mnguntalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=43031&p=460570&hilit=wot#p460570 ... this may 'er may not be what yer lookin for ... but for the money, it might be a good start!

gdubya wrote:This weekend, after her second time ever shooting my wife was frustrated. She did not feel like she was progressing and getting better.

What gun and how many rounds is she shooting each time?

I also highly recommend the NRA Women On Target clinic. It will introduce women to rifles, shotguns and handguns.

Don is a great instructor. He does classes at BPR also. "Don L" on this forum.

brad3579 wrote:

gdubya wrote:This weekend, after her second time ever shooting my wife was frustrated. She did not feel like she was progressing and getting better.

What gun and how many rounds is she shooting each time?

First time, we started with my "twins", 6" S&W revolvers in .22LR and .357 that I have used to teach a few people the very basics and give them a progression of calibers. She personally shot 100rds of .22, then 50 rounds of .38, then 50 rounds of .357. Then she shot about 25rds of .45 through my S&W 4516 compact, which she did not enjoy shooting because of recoil (but the .357 was fine for her, go figure). She shot the .357 rounds best of all, was able to keep almost on the paper of a 25yd pistol target at 15-20ft with a lot of vertical variability but put about 50% of her shots in the black area.

Second time out, she shot about 75 rounds or so through our new SAR K2 9mm, got pissed, then put 20 rounds or so through the 4516 before giving up, very frustrated. Personally, I loved the K2, and was surprised how well I shot it based on my own ability. However, she struggled in getting more than 3 or 4 shots per 17rd mag in the black rings on a 25yd pistol target even at 15ft, and had trouble getting more than 50% of her shots even on the paper at 15ft. I tried to give some advice, but that actually seemed to make it worse as she was thinking about it too much. I think she was putting pressure on herself to do well, and especially to shot the new gun. I know she wants to succeed partly for me, and I think my being there adds to the pressure.

For me and I think most people, handguns are a very personal choice. One size DOES NOT fit all. A handgun that feels comfortable and shoots well for one person may be terrible for another person. (eg: 1911 vs Glock)

If she is comfortable shooting a 357 Magnum, she can handle recoil. Just let her shoot a lot of models of handguns and let HER pick out the one SHE likes.

From what I am reading it sounds like she is frustrated with the accuracy of her shots. I had my wife shooting 22lr until she was keeping pretty much all shots within a 8" pattern at 7 to 8 yards. I then started having her shoot 250 to 300 rounds 22lr each time out before shooting the 9mm and worked her up from about 30 to 80 rounds of 9mm.
She kept a pretty good attitude as she was having a lot of fun with the 22lr and being pretty accurate.
If you are on the North end I would be more then willing to meet you at a range sometime and bring a few guns with that she could shoot, say maybe a S&W 22A, M&P 22 and a G 17 to see if they might fit her better.

I may be reading this wrong but it looks like you may be shooting handguns at 25 yards. This is tough for a beginner. Move the targets in to 15-25 feet until you both are comfortable with it.

Countryfried Frank wrote:I may be reading this wrong but it looks like you may be shooting handguns at 25 yards. This is tough for a beginner. Move the targets in to 15-25 feet until you both are comfortable with it.

No, no. 15ft and 21ft range for her. We just use the standard 25yd pistol target size because it is large, and shoot and see stickers cover the center nicely. I will usually take some at 50ft and 25yds at the end of a session.



Thanks everyone for the great recommendations, support, and generous offers in this post and via PM. She is looking over some of the info and thinking about how she wants to best approach it. She sure liked the thought that it might be not warming up with .22 or that the particular gun(s) didn't fit her.

http://www.mnguntrain.com/class-i-teach ... ly-pistol/ is my personal recommendation. High quality instructors. My wife agreed to go, but didnt want to. Came back eager to try out my pistols and even having an idea of what she wants for herself. Made a world of difference for her.

Last night, my wife went to the Ladies Pistol Night event at Bald Eagle Sportsman's Association in Hugo, run by Terrie Williams and had a great time, was able to get assistance with a couple minor miscues and get some great instruction in a supportive environment, and saw a marked improvement in her shooting. She admitted being really nervous beforehand, going alone, but came back excited at her improvement and deservedly proud to show me her targets. She even wanted to know how to clean the guns she used which she has not had any interest in before. We did it together. She really enjoyed Terrie and the whole environment and will definitely go back, perhaps even with our 10 y/o daughter in tow.

gdubya wrote:Last night, my wife went to the Ladies Pistol Night event at Bald Eagle Sportsman's Association in Hugo, run by Terrie Williams and had a great time, was able to get assistance with a couple minor miscues and get some great instruction in a supportive environment, and saw a marked improvement in her shooting. She admitted being really nervous beforehand, going alone, but came back excited at her improvement and deservedly proud to show me her targets. She even wanted to know how to clean the guns she used which she has not had any interest in before. We did it together. She really enjoyed Terrie and the whole environment and will definitely go back, perhaps even with our 10 y/o daughter in tow.

Yeah, my wife loves Terrie too, same reason. My wife went to Women on Target @ BESA run by Terrie first, but a ladies' night or two and some private instruction followed, and she gained a load of confidence and skill as a result. Having attended one of the private sessions with my wife, I can wholeheartedly recommend Terrie to anyone, especially beginners, as I think she's got a real gift for introducing newcomers in a way that generates enthusiasm and enjoyment.