Taking my girlfriend shooting for the first time...

[allinhtown]

Any advice? I'm thinking about taking her someplace where we can rent a few guns for her to try. Any suggestions from the ladies? She's about 5'0, 120... small hands. Hopefully I can get her comfortable enough so we can get our CHL's soon!

[Carry-a-Kimber]

Any advice? I'm thinking about taking her someplace where we can rent a few guns for her to try. Any suggestions from the ladies? She's about 5'0, 120... small hands. Hopefully I can get her comfortable enough so we can get our CHL's soon!

Location might be helpful.

[allinhtown]

Whoops, sorry. We live in the Meyerland area. I'm thinking about taking her to Top Gun, only because I've been there before, and I know they have rentals. But she's very inexperienced, and doesn't really listen to me about anything, so I don't have a lot of faith in her taking my firearm instructions very well. I've never been to Memorial Shooting Center, but that is somewhat convenient for us also.

Any other ranges that have gun rentals? Also, any guns in particular we should try? I'm thinking about trying a 9mm to carry, but I have no idea what she should try, to get comfortable with to carry?

Thanks everyone! (I'm still a complete newbie too)

[Middle Age Russ]

she's very inexperienced, and doesn't really listen to me about anything, so I don't have a lot of faith in her taking my firearm instructions very well.

On the surface, this does not bode well for the outing. Prior to embarking on your shooting excursion, make sure that the four rules of safety are covered, covered again and then covered a third time. Safety is absolutely paramount, and one cannot take back the action once the projectile exits the barrel. If you are concerned about potential safety issues, err on the side of caution always.

Many have observed that our girlfriends, spouses, or what have you are more apt to pay closer attention and learn from a third party, so if the not listeining part occurs there may still be an option to salvage the situation. If you can get her far enough along to be safe handling a firearm, some finer points might be picked up from someone else fairly easy if the need arises. It is great that you want to share shooting with your girlfriend, and I wish you all the luck in this pursuit.

[BrianSW99]

Many have observed that our girlfriends, spouses, or what have you are more apt to pay closer attention and learn from a third party,

Brian

[Teamless]

I have taken a few friends and their wives/girlfriends to PSC a few times, and as long as the hubby/boyfriend stayed out of the way, the ladies learned very easy and quickly.
If you don't mind working at an outside range, PM me and we can work out a time to go to PSC in Friendswood.
I have 4 different handguns to try out, as long as you provide the ammo (for the .380 or 9mm, Ill provide it for the .22)
SW Bodyguard 380 (small)
Springfield XD9, subcompact
Glock 19
Ruger 22/45
She wouldn't carry the ruger for defense, but its a great gun to learn on, cheap, very little to no recoil and can work out quirks quite easily.

[Bulldog1911]

My wife had never shot a gun before either. Really, didn't even want them in the house when we got married. I veto'd that right away.
Anywho, thanks to our neighbor and his wife(she loves to shoot) they convinced her it would be a good idea for her to learn, and get her CHL. I preached that to her for 10 years with no result, one chat with another female shooter and suddenly it's a good idea

But I took her to the gun show and she held a lot of them. She fell in love with the sigP238. Got her one a few weeks later and she loves it. She has also shot my full size 9mm, but she really loves the sig. She's a small lady also. The recoil is very minute especially for a small frame .380 like that. Might have her try that one out if you can.

Here is a pic with some grips i ordered.

P.S. She'll be taking her class next month

[Divided Attention]

How about looking into an introductory class for ladies she can go to? Most will let you rent a gun to use, and that way it is a "teacher" not her SO "telling her what to do". If she is already nervous about trying shooting, you might not be the best person to do the intro... JMPHO and no offense intended. Wishing you both a positive and informative experience.

[CompVest]

Both Pearland Shooting club and Thunder Gun Range (Conroe) have a monthly basic shooting class for women only.

PM me if you want specifics.

[The Annoyed Man]

Whoops, sorry. We live in the Meyerland area. I'm thinking about taking her to Top Gun, only because I've been there before, and I know they have rentals. But she's very inexperienced, and doesn't really listen to me about anything, so I don't have a lot of faith in her taking my firearm instructions very well. I've never been to Memorial Shooting Center, but that is somewhat convenient for us also.

Any other ranges that have gun rentals? Also, any guns in particular we should try? I'm thinking about trying a 9mm to carry, but I have no idea what she should try, to get comfortable with to carry?

Thanks everyone! (I'm still a complete newbie too)

Do NOT try to teach her how to shoot then. Meaning no disrespect, but if you are a complete newbie too, then you might risk teaching her some bad shooting habits. Look around for a NRA certified Basic Handgun instructor in your area. The class will include both classroom education and range time, and it will be taught by someone who doesn't have a stake in your relationship with her, so there will be none of the tensions about "accepting instruction" from you. Most such classes will have lots of different pistols she can try out, and let her decide, without any input from you at all, what she is comfortable with. After she has made her favorites known, then have a discussion about what is or isn't a good choice for self defense carry.

[Skiprr]

Both Pearland Shooting club and Thunder Gun Range (Conroe) have a monthly basic shooting class for women only.

PM me if you want specifics.

Take CompVest up on that offer. Like a first impression when you meet someone, that first experience holding and shooting a handgun can make all the difference in whether or not your girlfriend will take an interest in it, or brush it off as something that's not for her.

You can do no better than CompVest. Just a few of her credentials: she was the first female--and remains the only female--IDPA 5-Gun Expert, is an IDPA certified Safety Officer, is a recipient of the NRA’s prestigious Marion P. Hammer Woman of Distinction Award, is certified as an NRA instructor in multiple disciplines, is a Texas CHL instructor, has lectured and taught at Lone Star College’s Second Amendment Academy, and for over seven years has specialized in introducing women to shooting and the shooting sports.

It’s worth the drive to PSC or Thunder to let your girlfriend be introduced to handguns in the best way possible. CompVest absolutely knows her stuff, can prove it on the range, yet is a professional and sensitive teacher that women instantly relate to, listen to, and come away from with a lot of knowledge and feeling empowered.

I’ve done some firearms teaching and am an NRA certified instructor, but I would always prefer not to be the first instruction experience for a family member or close friend; a casual friend or acquaintance, fine. But there’s a very different student/teacher dynamic if you go to train under a third-party professional.

Take her to CompVest first. And then after, when you go the range with your girlfriend, if she makes any corrections to your own safety habits or administrative handling techniques, listen to her.

[LikesShinyThings]

If she has never shot before, I would recommend starting with a .22. The light (non-existent) recoil will give her a chance to think about and learn the other aspects of shooting without also having to deal with recoil. After that - the Sig P238 is a nice little .380 that fits small hands easily, and manages the recoil very well. (So does the Colt Government .380, but those aren't likely to be in a rental case.) And 1911-style 45s usually provide good management of recoil.

I'm focusing on recoil mostly because 1) reducing recoil can only be a benefit when first introducing a person to shooting, and 2) I admit I'm sensitive to it even as an experienced shooter.

Another suggestion - if possible, put the target close, like seven yards, for the first few rounds. Makes it easier to create a satisfying placement with the early rounds. Maybe it's "cheating", but if it lights her fire.....

[Piney]

*snip* and doesn't really listen to me about anything, so I don't have a lot of faith in her taking my firearm instructions very well. *snip*

Our wives must be kin !

We went through that when my wife started shooting--I showed her some very basic safety then I quickly gave up and suggested a lesson from a "real" instructor . She took a class without me around and she was shooting quite well.

PSC Range offers a ladies only class. My wife went to a couple and had a good time. I was run off- not allowed to even sit and watch (phibbbbtitt@Donna LOL)

That's my suggestion-- let someone else provide the instructions-- then go shooting and have fun.

[Oldgringo]

[quote="allinhtown"]

... she's very inexperienced, and doesn't really listen to me about anything...[quote]

UH OH!

[SQLGeek]

Both Pearland Shooting club and Thunder Gun Range (Conroe) have a monthly basic shooting class for women only.

PM me if you want specifics.

My wife and I were discussing shooting the other day and I plugged the PSC women's only class to her in a non-pressure way. She didn't say no so you may have a new student one day.