Trip to the range today...

[drt]

Well I headed out to the range today and had some fun with the HK's. A bit different this time as my girlfriend, who had never fired a gun in her life, decided it was time she tried shooting. She told me in advance so I had a few days to teach her as much as I could at the house. Trigger control (dry firing), posture, the 4 basic rules of gun safety(1 always assume loaded. 2. never point the business end at anything you dont intend to destroy. 3 never touch the trigger until your sights are on target. 4. always be aware of what is beyond your target), etc.


So, knowing in advance she wanted to shoot, I went out and actually got a really good deal on a Sig Mosquito 22 pistol to start her out with. Plus with ammo prices the way they are, I might just take it out and shoot the crap out of it myself. Then the plan was to move to the P7 in 9mm, and then on to the HK45. I skipped my .40 USPf. I figured if she can handle the .45, the .40 wont be much different.

Anyway, we get to the range and I go back over all of the safety stuff I had been hammering into her brain for the few days before today. Then it was time to shoot. We were probably 18 to 20 feet from the targets. Ladies first so I had her load the 2 mags for it, chamber a round, safety off and here we go...

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s28/drtp7/1stshotsever.jpg

Not bad at all! I was as surprised as she was. The more she shot that little gun the tighter the groups got and her smile got bigger. She seemed to shoot that Sig much better than I did. So after about 45 minutes of us passing the sig back and forth, I decided it was time to put the P7M8 in her hands.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s28/drtp7/snp7.jpg


I had gone over with her how the gun worked and differed from most she has and will see so she knew how to manipulate it just fine. Put it in her hand, checked her stance, had her chamber a round and BANG.....

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s28/drtp7/sp71stshot.jpg

I sh*t you not. I did not shoot this shot. It was not staged or some other BS. This is the first round of 9mm this girl has ever shot and good god was it on the money. She put the other 7 shots well inside the 3 ring with most in the 2. She was a bit taken back (naturally) of the larger caliber handguns recoil and report but wasn't scared by any means.

Then she asks, can I shoot that big motherf***er now? Referring to the HK45. "Ya damn right you can!" came my response. Had her load 2 mags, slap one in, rack the slide, safety off and here we go with the .45.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s28/drtp7/snhk45.jpg

This one I am kicking myself for not more pics of. She shot it well. You cant really see very well, but she is shooting the top right target. Out of the 2 mags, 20 rounds total, I'd say maybe 4 or 5 rounds in the 3 ring, and the rest mostly in the 2 ring. The look on her face after the first round downrange with the HK45 made the whole trip. Reminded me of a kid that just got off their first roller coaster and slowly started to realize how badass it is and CAN WE GO AGAIN PLEASE! She loves this gun. Every time I'd ask which she would like to shoot next it was almost always "The 45".


So now its my turn to fire off a few with the HK's. And if any of you guys are thinking I was worried about being out shot by my first time shooter girlfriend .... your damn right I was. lol

If any of you out there are thinking about getting a P7, do it and thank yourself every time you go to the range...

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s28/drtp7/mep7.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s28/drtp7/p7rocks.jpg

Then it was my turn on the HK45 and it did exactly what it does. Kick ass.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s28/drtp7/mehk45.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s28/drtp7/10rnds.jpg

Man we had a blast today. I am extremely impressed with my lady's shooting for her first time (hell, any time for that matter), and proud of the way she handled herself and the weapons throughout the day. Hope you guys enjoy the pics and the read.

[HKCHEF]

Very impressive, what are you feeding that girl, what ever it is she sure shoots straight. \:p I have been in the process of trying to teach my girlfriend how to shoot, and I hope to have the same results you did with your lady.

[Sobriquet]

OK, if she either (1) can cook; or (2) laughs at Monty Python... marry her. Immediately.

[Malakai]

Or at least don't piss her off! Nice shooting always good to see a new shooter join the club..

[spyder1439]

wow yeah you definately dont want to piss her off. lol nice shots.

[halo2304]

Don't forget about Blazing Saddles! Any woman who likes Blazing Saddles and guns is a keeper in my book!

[Rayden]

My wife still can't shoot straight. Maybe I should've started her with a mosquito :(

[Bolted]

Girls always show us up. Happened to my buddy at the range today too.

[TomN]

Let this be a lesson to you. Do not EVER make your girlfriend mad while she has access to any firearms!

That's some fine shooting!

[Turbodreams]

nice, I myself took my fiance out today also. Let her shoot my 9, didnt wanna try the .45 as she can barely grip it. She did surprisingly well. Was her second time shooting, and the first time was about 10 months ago.

[GARY1911A1]

OK, if she either (1) can cook; or (2) laughs at Monty Python... marry her. Immediately.

Agree, do you live near Southern Ohio and does she have a single sister?

[carboncycles]

This result of women shooting better than guys doesn't surprise me anymore. I think guys get accustomed to "expected" recoil from all the tv shows we watch and playing we did; think about how you used to recoil your hand after saying bang. Well all this "play" gets finally translated into our subconscious whereas women never played with guns (unless they were a total tom-boy...nothing wrong with that, well if they can wrestle and pin you down, that's another thing...i digress) so the recoil is absolutely unanticipated. Additionally, there are the bonehead guys out there that shoot calibers way larger than necessary to prove their manhood is really smaller than their IQ, which wasn't high to begin with. YMMV

[drt]

Thanks for the kind words fella's. Talking with her last night and she is ready to go again next weekend. I think this may become a bit expensive... good thing I bought that little .22.

Sobriquet: Yea man, this one is a keeper. Been together for about 4 years now. She can cook and loves anything Monty Python.

Malakai:Yea no doubt, and I shall lock them all up come that special time of the month. hehe. Thanks also for the words of encouragement.

spyder1439: Thanks man!

halo2304: Oh yea! Blazing saddles is great, we watched it on cable the other night as a matter of fact.

Rayden: YMMV of course but.. She told me what helped her the most was the dry firing practice around the house. I taught her how to control her breathing in combination with trigger control and had her practice that for about an hour a day before we went. You've probably already tried this with your wife, but if not you might want to give it a go. Cant hurt anyway. Good luck!

Bolted: A few more range visits and I believe she might just start doing that to me. lol

TomN:Thanks man, appreciate the kind words. I'll be sure to show her this thread so she can see the support of all of you.

Turbodreams: Thats great man. Shooting is a great activity to do together. A good break from the normal routine of movies, dinner, etc.

GARY1911A1: Haha, actually we are in Lexington KY so not that far away. But you are a bit late on her sister, she just started dating a guy. Ill keep you informed. ;)

carboncycles: You do make a good point there. Also, I dig your avatar. I'm an ubuntu user. Got a link to the full size image?

[rkwallace]

After she had shot the three in comparison did she seem to favor one versus another? My wife can't decide if she likes shooting or not and I wonder if it may be due to the larger calibers we typically shoot.

[Rico.]

Very impressive shooting ! :)

BTW: Here is the Ubuntu picture you were asking for.

http://mayeco.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/ubuntu_511.jpg

[glock56534]

great shooting, dont piss her off

[drt]

rkwallace: To be honest, I think starting out with the .22 was a good idea. Once she fired that and realized that it wasn't gonna blow up in her hand, kill 14 innocent children, the recoil pulling the gun out of her hand and throwing it at her face, and all of the rest of the BS that you hear associated with guns, I could see her "lighten up" almost instantly. The recoil is more than manageable, isn't hard to load, etc. I also went with the Sig because it has all of the controls of the other pistols I own (minus the P7). External hammer, manual safety, decock, etc. But, after shooting all of them I would say she favored both the .22 and the HK45 with the P7M8 running a close second to the 45. Really she liked them all.

I'd recommend putting a .22 in her hand and have her try shooting for accuracy. Since there is very little recoil with a .22, she can focus on accuracy. Once she gets used to it and starts getting accurate with it, I betya she will start having fun with shooting instead of being intimidated by recoil, if thats what has her on the fence now anyway. Good luck man, I hope she comes around. Shooting is more fun, IMO, if you can include your family/significant other.


Rico.: Thanks for the kind words and the link to the pic. Boobies are neat. hehe.


glock56534: Yea man. Thats exactly what I thought when she put the first shot dead on with the P7. lol

[weasle]

I too must second that comment. If you start your female companions w/smaller calibers the tend to enjoy it more with less recoil. Once they over come their fear of guns they tend to want to play with what the boys play with. IMO.
Chris