Great interaction with the Wife last night.

I haven't been able to get the Wife to carry yet, as she still says that she's not a good enough shot, and she worries about hitting the wrong target if presented with a bad situation.
As we were preparing to go out to dinner with some friends last night, I decided that I would carry one of my 1911's instead of my H&K, as the 1911 is much thinner. I then realized that the Wife had never actually shot either of them.
I unholstered it, dropped the mag and cleared the round, and asked her to hold it and tell me how it felt.

She has her own CZ-75 that fits her hands very nice, but when she took the 1911, made sure it was empty and then dropped the slide she said it felt really good in her hands. Then the fun began.
I flicked the switch for the built in CT laser sights and told her to gently squeeze the pad at the front of the handle. The look on her face was awesome.
I now think that I might be able to use the sights as another training tool for her to help her get more comfortable with her shooting. We go out quite a bit, but she's still very uncomfortable shooting around other people she doesn't know. Time will tell, but it was a positive experience.

When I started talking to my daughters about shooting, they were somewhat interested but demanded that if they shot, the gun had to have a laser.

I got them a Walther P22 with laser and they shot a couple times with the laser then wanted to turn it off to see how well they could do. At least the first couple times they shot without the laser they did just as good if not better. So the laser can be used as a training tool and a confidence builder.

BTW: my daughters were 10 & 12 at the time.

I got a P22 for my wife to shoot, but it has fast become one of my favorites for burning ammo at the range. I even converted one of my buddies into a P22 fanatic when I plopped down a brick of 22 and we tried our best to use it all. He admitted to me after our range session that he thought very little of the P22 before we went to the range, but after half an hour of rapid fire, he had seen the light.

"Great interaction with the Wife last night." ... lol.

I admire her decision to become a better shot in case she has to use it, but don't forget the deterrent value of simply carrying. I wish I had to hand the statistics on the number of times firearms are used defensively without being fired, but I bet it's more than she imagines.

So what sort of training has she gotten? I bet she would like to have a woman help her out. Maybe she needs 1 on 1 with a female instructor.

I'm not even a certified instructor, but I let a middle aged woman who I think had never fired a gun before, come to my place ( private property) and showed her 1 on 1 the basics. It was just me and her- and some poultry wandering around LOL. I showed her the guns, magazines, and ammo first, and how to check if the guns are loaded or unloaded. I showed her how they are loaded w/out actually loading, and how the firing mechanisms work ( striker fired pistols and dbl action revolver w/hammer). I showed her how to put rounds in a mag and in a revolver chamber, and how to remove them by hand. She already knew the basic safety rules and I watched her as she handled the unloaded guns and I could see it. Lastly I went over holsters and carry methods, CC and OC.

We then went outside to the makeshift range. I set up 2 targets at 15 feet, and 1 at what I think was 25 feet. I started her on the .22 revolver. She went right for cocking the hammer back for every shot LOL. Much easier with the minimal pull. I had to correct her grip with both revolver and semi autos. Once she had things set up right, she was doing quite well. She picked up quickly on figuring out the sight picture of each gun. Once she figured out the .22 and was making lots of central hits, we went to the 9mm. She proceeded to make 1 big hole in the center of 1 of the 15 foot targets, with the XD9 sc. Lastly I let her try the XD40 4", and while it had more recoil, she figured the sight picture out pretty fast. I also noted she was not doing any anticipatory flinching, as she would fire the last round and the slide would lock back, but she hadn't noticed and tried another shot- she did it more than once and I saw zero flinching. I did of course tell her she needs to watch for the slide locking back LOL.

At the end I told her that she can work on increasing distance in later sessions, but that most self defense scenes play out at 15 feet and less. That is her primary purpose for when she does buy a handgun and gets her PA LTCF. She was VERY happy she got 1on 1 instruction with another woman, and that she had ALOT of fun. All she had to pay me for was ammo.

XD40coyote said:

So what sort of training has she gotten? I bet she would like to have a woman help her out. Maybe she needs 1 on 1 with a female instructor.

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I like the idea of 1 on 1 with a woman.
I have given her all the basic type stuff you listed below, including her shooting at a private outdoor place that we have access to in South Dakota. It would be a bit of a change for her to go from the CZ which is a 9mm to the 1911, but as always, I will get her whatever she wants.....even if she wants a 2,000.00 Custom Kimber.
There's 2 things I never skimp on...tires on our vehicles and firearms.

I'm not even a certified instructor, but I let a middle aged woman who I think had never fired a gun before, come to my place ( private property) and showed her 1 on 1 the basics. It was just me and her- and some poultry wandering around LOL. I showed her the guns, magazines, and ammo first, and how to check if the guns are loaded or unloaded. I showed her how they are loaded w/out actually loading, and how the firing mechanisms work ( striker fired pistols and dbl action revolver w/hammer). I showed her how to put rounds in a mag and in a revolver chamber, and how to remove them by hand. She already knew the basic safety rules and I watched her as she handled the unloaded guns and I could see it. Lastly I went over holsters and carry methods, CC and OC.

We then went outside to the makeshift range. I set up 2 targets at 15 feet, and 1 at what I think was 25 feet. I started her on the .22 revolver. She went right for cocking the hammer back for every shot LOL. Much easier with the minimal pull. I had to correct her grip with both revolver and semi autos. Once she had things set up right, she was doing quite well. She picked up quickly on figuring out the sight picture of each gun. Once she figured out the .22 and was making lots of central hits, we went to the 9mm. She proceeded to make 1 big hole in the center of 1 of the 15 foot targets, with the XD9 sc. Lastly I let her try the XD40 4", and while it had more recoil, she figured the sight picture out pretty fast. I also noted she was not doing any anticipatory flinching, as she would fire the last round and the slide would lock back, but she hadn't noticed and tried another shot- she did it more than once and I saw zero flinching. I did of course tell her she needs to watch for the slide locking back LOL.

At the end I told her that she can work on increasing distance in later sessions, but that most self defense scenes play out at 15 feet and less. That is her primary purpose for when she does buy a handgun and gets her PA LTCF. She was VERY happy she got 1on 1 instruction with another woman, and that she had ALOT of fun. All she had to pay me for was ammo.

Click to expand...

A two day defensive handgun course would go a long way toward giving her the confidence to carry. Part of it could be is that she's not certain when she can legally shoot.

230therapy said:

A two day defensive handgun course would go a long way toward giving her the confidence to carry. Part of it could be is that she's not certain when she can legally shoot.

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She did learn all the laws and knows when she can/can't shoot....this is more of a confidence issue on her part.
I have started poking around to try and find her a class that:

1. Won't be me or have me in it.
2. Has a woman for a teacher.
3. Is either one on one, or if she agrees to it, less than 5 people....I am leaning towards the 1-1.
4. Hopefully is here in CO.