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When was the last time you trained a new shooter?

sjhipple

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Took a new shooter out recently. It was a good feeling seeing the apprehension turn into delight.

My lady is getting more and more interested in carrying as her skill improves too :)



bestway9891.jpg
 

imperialism2024

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Hmm... August?

I've been meaning to bring down some friends from New York and teach them how to safely shoot my evil handgun and assault weapons.

ETA: It's interesting, though, that whenever I take someone to the range who hasn't shot guns before and has a mild fear of them, afterwards they all make a comment to the effect of "wow, I never knew how safe guns are when handled properly" or "I never realized that guns won't do anything unless a person chooses to shoot them".
 

FogRider

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I re-trained an old shooter a couple months ago. Unfortunately, I don't realy know anyone who I could get to go to the range. Although I am moving into a basement apartment, and there is a good chance I will be taking that family to the range.
 

imperialism2024

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FogRider wrote:
I re-trained an old shooter a couple months ago. Unfortunately, I don't realy know anyone who I could get to go to the range. Although I am moving into a basement apartment, and there is a good chance I will be taking that family to the range.

When you said "basement apartment", I was thinking "I'm jealous that the soundproofing is so good that..." and then I read the rest of the post ;)
 

FogRider

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imperialism2024 wrote:
When you said "basement apartment", I was thinking "I'm jealous that the soundproofing is so good that..." and then I read the rest of the post ;)
I'm assuming you were thinking "basement range", and that would be awesome.
 

Stealth Potato

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Just over this past summer, I took a group of eight friends to the local range in Bellevue for some shooting. They came from various places all over the country (including a couple notoriously "anti" states), and we were all in Washington for a get-together. Only one of them had ever fired a gun before, but all of them were eager to go.

Before we left for the range, I drilled them all in safe handling practices, including Jeff Cooper's immortal four rules, and let them handle an unloaded revolver, to give them a crash course in grip and muzzle control. Once at the range, we got a couple of lanes, and I started them with shooting a .22 revolver before moving up to taking turns shooting 1911s. I rented a S&W Model 500 at the end, just for kicks (literally)!

They all loved it, and those who hadn't really thought about shooting before are definitely converts. A few of them even expressed interest in buying a gun afterwards. Definitely a rewarding experience. :)
 

sjhipple

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Stealth Potato wrote:
They all loved it, and those who hadn't really thought about shooting before are definitely converts. A few of them even expressed interest in buying a gun afterwards. Definitely a rewarding experience. :)
That's been my experience too! I'm tellin' ya, if we just took one new shooter per month to the range, we'd have this debate sewn up in a couple of years...well, not quite, but it's AMAZING how much people's mind changes once they go to the range once.
 

expvideo

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Not since august of last year, when I took my fiancee out shooting for the first time. She started with my sig p226, and didvery well.

Later when we were living together, she was getting worried about being home alone without me, so I picked up a Bersa Thunder 380, and she started shooting that, which she really likes.

Then on saturday after the gun show and the barbeque dinner, we went and shot my new AK47 with BluesBear, his wife,and Compmanio365. Bear let her shoot his .44 specials, and she had a big smile after she shot the 2" snub nose .44, and to my surprize said that it was a lot of fun to shoot. I thought it might be a little too much gun for her, but I guess that's what I get for stereotyping. Now I have to go buy a dang wheelgun :p She really likes them.*



*this is a big blow to my age old automatics vs revolvers debate with my dad. dad 1, me 0. :D
 

imperialism2024

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FogRider wrote:
imperialism2024 wrote:
When you said "basement apartment", I was thinking "I'm jealous that the soundproofing is so good that..." and then I read the rest of the post ;)
I'm assuming you were thinking "basement range", and that would be awesome.

Yup :celebrate


The only problem I have with training new shooters is that I kind of don't have any small guns... Either my Romanian SKS, a "high-powered assault weapon", or my .44 Magnum Ruger Redhawk is the least-powerful gun I have. Maybe I could try using .44 Specials in the Redhawk, though I've never used them before.

On a related note, I wonder how the anti's actively recruit people to their cause, i.e. for those who haven't been indoctrinated through the media. Do they put an evil "junk gun" on a table (unloaded, naturally) and sit there until it gets up and robs a bank? :lol:
 

expvideo

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imperialism2024 wrote:
Yup :celebrate


The only problem I have with training new shooters is that I kind of don't have any small guns... Either my Romanian SKS, a "high-powered assault weapon", or my .44 Magnum Ruger Redhawk is the least-powerful gun I have. Maybe I could try using .44 Specials in the Redhawk, though I've never used them before.

On a related note, I wonder how the anti's actively recruit people to their cause, i.e. for those who haven't been indoctrinated through the media. Do they put an evil "junk gun" on a table (unloaded, naturally) and sit there until it gets up and robs a bank? :lol:
You know that SKS may actually be a great trainer. 7.62x39 isn't as mild as .223, but it's a moderately low recoil round. My fiancee had no trouble with my ak47. She liked it. She still doesn't want to shoot my 7.62x39 M44 mosin, though. I don't blame her. It's a pretty intimidating round, and the 4 foot fireball doesn't help :lol:
 

imperialism2024

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expvideo wrote:
imperialism2024 wrote:
Yup :celebrate


The only problem I have with training new shooters is that I kind of don't have any small guns... Either my Romanian SKS, a "high-powered assault weapon", or my .44 Magnum Ruger Redhawk is the least-powerful gun I have. Maybe I could try using .44 Specials in the Redhawk, though I've never used them before.

On a related note, I wonder how the anti's actively recruit people to their cause, i.e. for those who haven't been indoctrinated through the media. Do they put an evil "junk gun" on a table (unloaded, naturally) and sit there until it gets up and robs a bank? :lol:
You know that SKS may actually be a great trainer. 7.62x39 isn't as mild as .223, but it's a moderately low recoil round. My fiancee had no trouble with my ak47. She liked it. She still doesn't want to shoot my 7.62x39 M44 mosin, though. I don't blame her. It's a pretty intimidating round, and the 4 foot fireball doesn't help :lol:
Yeah, I only got the SKS a few months ago, so haven't used it for training yet. I did underestimate it a little, though, on the day I bought it... I was going to the range about an hour before sunset to shoot my new gun (shouldn't there be a law that you have to shoot a new gun within 24 hours of purchase?), and forgot ear protection. So I thought to myself, "Hmpf, well, it's only 7.62x39, how loud could 30 rounds be?" Oops.

I'd also like to get one of those 7.62x39 mosins... my 1891/30 fires that crazy-expensive 7.62x54R ;)
 

Wynder

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I've 'showed' a couple of my buddies how to shoot -- granted they're in their mid-20's and are FPS-playing computer geeks and generally wound up shooting as well as I did, only needing to learn and put into practice the safety rules, but being uninhibited by bad habbits and being able to instill good practices went quite a ways.

However, on the weekend of December 1st, I'll have my first real 'student'. My 14 (15 now?) year old nephew will be coming down to visit and has expressed an interest in learning to shoot, so I'll be taking him teaching him about safety and taking him out to the range. I've already written up a couple of pages of rules and what to expect (loosely based off of this stellar blog post: http://toolazytofail.com/2007/06/14/new-shooter-going-to-the-range-with-me-read-this/) and it's something I'm definitely looking forwards to.
 

AbNo

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I've trained two ex-girlfriends :what:, been practicing with a buddy of mine from when we were both newbies, and trained a married couple.

I feel special. :celebrate
 

IdahoCorsair

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Two weeks ago I did some intermediate training for a friend who already knows the basics. In August, I trained a couple who'd never shot a handgun before... the husband then purchased a handgun a month later. Earlier in the year (July?) my bro and I trained at least 4 young guys. It'll probably slow down now that the snow started flying... but I'll pick back up in the spring.
 
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