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Fun day with the wife

mobiushky

Regular Member
Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
830
Location
Alaska (ex-Colorado)
We took the NRA basic pistol course so we can get our CCW permits. Good classroom time. Then a good 3 hours on the range. We had a small class, only 3 of the 8 showed up. So the instructor spent a lot of time working with my wife one on one to teach her how to shoot. He even let her shoot his Glock 26. She decided that she wants one for her carry gun later. Then he goes anyone want to shoot a machine gun? Uh yeah! So he went and got his M4, full auto. Everyone got to try it out. It's a pretty custom job, suppressed and tweaked. Never thought I'd ever get to shoot full auto, let alone my wife. I'm telling ya, my wife is a natural talent. She's a really good shot.
 
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M-Taliesin

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
1,504
Location
Aurora, Colorado
Howdy Pard!
I like that my wife and I also took our class together, and that she carries. It might be awhile before I can get her to OC, but at least she carries and has training.
Meanwhile, she is a darn good shot too.

My instructor claimed that women are better suited by nature to shoot well. Their center of balance is lower so they've got a better platform to start with. A better platform means they have better stability. So they have a little edge on us guys.

Glad you got training and squared away for filing for your permits.

Blessings,
M-Taliesin
 

O2HeN2

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2012
Messages
229
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
My instructor claimed that women are better suited by nature to shoot well. Their center of balance is lower so they've got a better platform to start with.
I'm an instructor as well (that an $5 will get you coffee at Starbucks); I've heard this many times [center of gravity is lower and therefore a better shooting platform] and I think that this is bass ackwards. True for many other things (most evident on the uneven parallel bars), but not actually shooting.

All things being equal (weight specifically) the higher your center of gravity is the more you're able to "soak up" recoil and get back on target faster. "High mass" helps, "low mass" has no effect.

That said, typically women are better shooters than men, not because they have a lower center of mass (which in MHO works against them), but because the possessors of the Y chromosome think that all gun knowledge is contained within that chromosome and just flat out don't listen to anyone.

I have lost track of how many times the following scenario has played out in class:

1) Husband cajoles wife into taking class, one of the bargaining points is that he'll take the class with her.
2) We separate the two to get rid of the husband-wife dynamics.
3) Wife listens to class, faithfully follows lessons and is receptive to coaching.
4) Husband, because all knowledge is contained in his Y chromosome, is bored to tears and doesn't pay attention. Typically needs to be reminded about basic safety again and again as he sweeps other in the class multiple times, leaves his finger on the trigger, etc. This constant reminding typically annoys him because he knows so much more about shooting than the instructors.
5) Range day. We put the husband and wife next to each other on the shooting line.
6) Wife kicks the husband's arse. Except in a few cases* not by just a little, but by a lot. This is why we put them side by side. This delights the wife, sparking an interest in shooting!
7) NOW the husband starts to listen. In a compressed amount of time we have to go over everything he didn't pay attention to in class.
8) Husband improves, but typically not to the extent that he could have.

If I had a nickel...

O2

* Sometimes we do get husbands that are very good shooters that the wife doesn't have chance to better. Typically this is because they denied their Y chromosome sometime in the past and actually paid attention to previous training (and the training was good). Despite already being good shooters that attitude still prevails and they pay attention in class and almost always pick up something new. We can detect the attitude difference within minutes at the start of a class.
 
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JamesB

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2010
Messages
703
Location
Lakewood, Colorado, USA
As another instructor,

I will also say that the scenario is remarkable accurate.
I have never had a woman fail my course, single or married.
I have had a husband offered a do-over for a discounted price.
 

mobiushky

Regular Member
Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
830
Location
Alaska (ex-Colorado)
Little set-up. During the class time, there were only 3 of us. 8 signed up, but only 3 showed up. Me, my wife, and another guy. My wife was expecting to be the noob of the bunch and was really nervous. Turns out the guy that was with us, even though he claimed he'd been shooting since 7, was well, not real smart about guns. He wasn't acting like he was, just some of the stuff he asked was like, wow. He missed a bunch on the test, but not enough to "fail" if you will. My wife got 100% correct. I missed one question because I didn't finish reading it before I answered. That ticked me off. I knew the answer, I just didn't get to the end. anyway.

On the way out to the range, we picked up a second lady. This place has a standing offer. Once you take a class with them, you are welcome to come back to the range anytime they hold the class and take the training as much as you want for free. So this lady was returning to go to the range a second time. Anyway, the guy i mentioned above brought this tiny little .38 auto. No clue what it was. But it sucked. I mean SUCKED. He was getting FTF and FTE like every 3rd round. The instructor spent almost as much time clearing his gun as the guy did shooting it. I'm thinking it was something like a Cobra Enterprises. You know that $100 gun. They kept calling it a throw away gun. As in, you accidentally shoot someone who is unarmed, you throw it to the guy and let him hold it. LOL. They also called it a "wee little gun." LOL! They were pretty merciless, but all in good nature.

I'm not trying to brag, but one of the exercises we did was the running target. It was a target on a track that ran at us. we were allowed to shoot as soon as it started moving. I was the only one of the 4 to get all 4 shots on target. But my wife hit it with her first shot. The other 2 missed the target completely.
 

mobiushky

Regular Member
Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
830
Location
Alaska (ex-Colorado)
Would you mind sharing what class this was? You can PM me if you would prefer. Thanks.

No problem sharing at all. Would love to give these guys some free publicity.

The shop is Rocky Mountain Guns and Ammo in Parker. Right at the corner of Parker and Main. Great bunch of guys. One of the guys who works there has a 350+ acre lot out in Bennett and has a private range on his property. So they use that spot. The owner of the shop is Brandon, he's a competitive shooter also. The class was just the NRA Basic Pistol course. But since the guys are all really nice and we didn't have a lot of students, they went a little beyond the basics. Brandon spent a good 20 mins just with my wife teaching her shooting and holds etc, which I really appreciated.

They charge $125 for the class and it's an all day class on Saturdays. 9-12 is class time at the store. 1p-3,4,5,whenever is out at their range. You are welcome to stay as long as you want after the class. If you buy a gun from them, they drop the price to $100. Not a ton, but it's why we took the class from them. Plus the added benefit that now we can go to their range on class day anytime we want for free.

They also offer the whole array of classes, advanced pistol (3 levels) and shotgun and rifle. They also offer private one on one training. Mostly they are geared to CHP (or CCW whichever you like) training so they kind of focus on that aspect. They kind of skipped some of the real basic stuff in the NRA class, but that's because we all kind of already knew most of that. But they did a good job of teaching the safety aspects especially at the range.

David (our instructor) even spent a little time talking about Ammo and what to use for defense. Talked about the idea that once you fire you own the bullet until it stops, so be sure your ammo fits. He even explained why he likes frangible for concealed carry, but it's not required.

Oh, if you decide to go to these guys, let me know. I want to let them know I'm spreading the word as a way to thank them for all their help. I don't get any kind of kick back or anything, just want to let them know I'm referring people to them.
 
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