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I was at the range today and an older gentleman was teaching his wife to shoot.
I heard the wife complaining that she couldn't hit the target because the trigger pull was too hard. I kind of thought they may be shooting a .32 and if so I thought I'd let them try my Kel-Tec P32.
I asked what they were shooting and the wife immediately said "That's a stupid question" then the husband began telling me that it was a Bersa .32
I acted as though I didn't even hear the lady's comment and offered as I had planned anyway.
The man said no thanks and explained that he had another .32 that he was going to let her shoot.

I didn't take offense as she was obviously a very new shooter and I got the idea that she may have thought my meaning was "What are you shooting at? You sure aren't hitting anything," the guy understood my meaning though. Maybe I should have said "What kind of gun are you shooting" instead?

Has anyone else had any possible misunderstandings on terminology, phrasing, etc in conversation with new shooters?

No good deed goes unpunished I guess.

The husband was actually friendly. There were also another man and woman with them, maybe their son and daughter? I think I heard one of them call the guy "Dad" at one point, but I'm not sure as I was shooting when I thought I heard it.

I let the (possibly) son shoot my M&P 15-22 and he kept using words like "awesome" and "cool". He seemed to really have a blast and thanked me for letting him shoot it.

What range was it? Houston area?

driver8 wrote:What range was it? Houston area?

Evan's Bros.
A range in Huntington.

AJ80 wrote:Has anyone else had any possible misunderstandings on terminology, phrasing, etc in conversation with new shooters?

Sometimes it's hard to hear while wearing ear protection.

"what they were shooting"

Bullets, we left the arrows and speargun spears at home

I probably would have answered with the exact brand/bullet weight/part number of the ammo I was shooting.
(unless it was outdoors instead of at a range, then I might say I'm shootin' frogs n turtles to make froglegs n turtle soup for lunch)
My third thought would be what type of gun I was shooting.

I never take offense when people misunderstand a question of mine, I often ask people to rephrase theirs, I've read lots of depositions over 25 years, it's amazing any two random people can actually communicate sometimes.

I guess it all depends on how you interpret the verb "shooting."
Does it refer to the projectile, the gun or the target?
In my mind it could refer to any of the three and the context of the statement or question would determine its meaning.
So when I asked, I had just assumed that their interpretation of the verb "shooting" would be the same as mine.

Compared to a trip to the ol' golf driving range. If you walk up and say "what are you hitting", the type of response you get, usually tells you what type of person your dealing with.

Example:
- "Ping, 5iron, blue flag"(In the gun world this would sound like "Sig, 9mm, 25 yard line", This is a fairly cool person who doesnt mind taking a moment amidst a practice session to exchange some info with a fellow golfer.
- "golf balls" (this would be like saying "bullets")- If the statement was followed by a smile, then it is apparent someone pulled this genius 1-liner on him in a time gone by and he uses it as an ice breaker. If not, then he is a prick who thinks he is a lot better than he is, and usually I try and coax him into a money game where I would try and wipe that attitude off of his personality.

My guess is the lady was irritated at being there, and someone wanting to talk with her was simply going to prolong her misery. The guy was now at the back of a long line of men that have taken a wife/girlfriend/date to a "guy type" activity and it ended in dissapointment.

Let this be a lesson to all men. No, your female friend doesnt want to play golf, go shooting, or wander around Cabela's for an hour while you fondel handguns you can't afford. If you do have a woman that is interested in those things, you should consider yourself lucky and try to figure out a way to market and sell her DNA.

-Manny

RPB wrote:"what they were shooting"

Bullets, we left the arrows and speargun spears at home

I cant believe you didn't follow up with a "Here's Your Sign"


on a more serious note, as a new shooter she was probably thinking " a gun what does it look like' because to her she may just think in general terms such a a gun or a bow and arrow or any other classification.

Man, I always offer advise at the range. How else are we going to meet any new shooters? And I’ve never had anyone resent the intrusion.

Of course, we need to make sure the advice we are giving is legitimate and actually works. I always make it a point to offer advice in areas that I’ve been trained or have lots of experience with. For example, I don’t have a SKS rifle so if I see someone shooting one, advice is not what I’ll be giving. BUT, if they are shooting an AR and having issues sighting in a red-dot optic or it's malfunctioning, I’ll give advice all day long with the confidence that I know what I’m talking about and the compassion to not embarrass someone in front of their friends or family.

BTW, it’s probably not a wise thing to embarrass anyone who has a loaded firearm in their hands. Just sayin…..