Teaching those who have no experience with firearms and dealing with a pushy husband.

[General Zod]

Most couples I've trained (handguns), the woman shoots better than her male partner. Not always, but way more than half.

In addition to the above points, with which I strongly agree, I have a theory on another possible factor:

As we know, poor trigger control is the bane of accuracy. Also, women generally have less grip strength than men. My theory is that a woman with imperfect trigger technique doesn't push the barrel as far off target as a man would due to their lower grip strength.

Women seem to typically have better hand/eye coordination than men. We're good at brute force, they're good at detail work. There's substantial overlap, of course, and it's not as if men can't do precision work, but lining the sights up and keeping them there is more intuitive for women.

 

[benenglish]

lining the sights up and keeping them there is more intuitive for women.

That's a big topic.

45 years ago my faculty adviser at university came close to calling me a liar because I told him that I could shoot ~1 inch groups at 100 yards with a pistol using iron sights. He didn't outright call me a liar but he did bring some of his astronomy background into the conversation and told me how it was impossible for the human eye to distinguish two points of light <1 MOA apart in the sky. I didn't really have an answer for him...yet.

I went off and started studying, learning about vernier vision and the desire of the mind/eye connection to find concentricity wherever it could.

IOW, sight pictures and how to make them easier and more natural is something I've always found fascinating.

I've never found women to be better than men at lining up sights, i.e. vernier vision. But when the discussion expands to include alignment AND choosing a point of aim AND centering things inside of things (which we simultaneously do far more than we realize when aiming a pistol) AND getting out of our own minds to ignore the wobble, well, it seems to me to be a very individual thing.

I'm not saying I disagree with you. I'm just saying that in my limited experience I've seen so much individual variation that it seems to completely swamp gender differences.

Oh, and btw, I was able to go back to that professor and explain to him that vernier vision is more acute than the ability of the eye/brain to distinguish points of light. And that the ability to see concentricity was even more acute than that. There's a reason that aperture sights tend to make smaller groups when conditions are right.

 

[General Zod]

That's a big topic.

45 years ago my faculty adviser at university came close to calling me a liar because I told him that I could shoot ~1 inch groups at 100 yards with a pistol using iron sights. He didn't outright call me a liar but he did bring some of his astronomy background into the conversation and told me how it was impossible for the human eye to distinguish two points of light <1 MOA apart in the sky. I didn't really have an answer for him...yet.

I went off and started studying, learning about vernier vision and the desire of the mind/eye connection to find concentricity wherever it could.

IOW, sight pictures and how to make them easier and more natural is something I've always found fascinating.

I've never found women to be better than men at lining up sights, i.e. vernier vision. But when the discussion expands to include alignment AND choosing a point of aim AND centering things inside of things (which we simultaneously do far more than we realize when aiming a pistol) AND getting out of our own minds to ignore the wobble, well, it seems to me to be a very individual thing.

I'm not saying I disagree with you. I'm just saying that in my limited experience I've seen so much individual variation that it seems to completely swamp gender differences.

Oh, and btw, I was able to go back to that professor and explain to him that vernier vision is more acute than the ability of the eye/brain to distinguish points of light. And that the ability to see concentricity was even more acute than that. There's a reason that aperture sights tend to make smaller groups when conditions are right.

My limited experience consists of my mother, my sister, my wife, and a girlfriend I had in college. My mother, of course, taught me to hit what I was aiming at after my dad taught me to shoot. My sister had picked a gun up twice in her life before outshooting her husband one day because he was bugging her to participate with him at the range. The others I taught, and was amazed to see them immediately pick the skill up and do way better than any other beginners I've ever seen. But...limited sample group, like you said. When I add to it other anecdotal evidence though, it seems like the ladies have some kind in intrinsic edge.

 

[cbp210]

In my experience this is also true for Parents/Children.

I notice that as well as I leave it to my other coaches to work with my daughter while I work with other kids. My daughter feels she knows more than me and works with NSCA Level 3 and 4 instructors meaning Master class. I am level 1.

 

[benenglish]

My daughter feels she knows more than me and works with NSCA Level 3 and 4 instructors meaning Master class. I am level 1.

I don't think my dad was ever prouder of me than when I became better at something than he was. He was a photographer's helper (the Army lent him to the Navy in Tokyo while everyone was waiting to go home) at the end of WW2 and became quite good. I still have a 16x20 portrait of my sister that he took with his 4x5 Speed Graphic.

When I got to be a better photographer than him, I got no static. Beginning when I was 13, over the summers I would make more money than him by shooting weddings. He was theoretically an electrical engineer with the DOD even though they really didn't have any of that work for him and he wound up doing whatever jobs were needed. On a very weird tangent, he was actually in charge of the study that resulted in Gaines Burgers being made available to dog handlers in Vietnam. Prior to his study, they had to carry a fairly large number of cans of dog food and there were major complaints from the field about the weight of all those cans.

But back to my point - Some dads might have been resentful of our respective earnings but he never had a sour word for me. He fully supported me and let me know how proud he was.

I hope you're as proud of your daughter as you seem to be. Her achievements speak well of not only her but you, too.

Sometimes I wish I'd had kids.

 

[Elenah]

I remember the first time I shot a handgun. I was 18, it was loud, heavy, and scary and no one told me about muzzle flash. It was a super old 1911 that jammed and I was so frustrated and stressed I was seconds away from crying. I still don't like indoor ranges, mainly because of how loud they are and people choose to shoot shotguns in a tiny room.

I think to get a good fist experience for a lot of women it would be a good idea to read/watch videos about the science behind guns. Once I started reading about velocity, how guns are made and why they are designed that way, I started to have a curiosity for them.

Watching my husband clean his rifles, helping him take things apart, hunting for good ammo deals with him, made me more excited and knowledgeable about the guns we own.

Now when I go to the range I'm less nervous, I have confidence in the guns I'm bringing in, and I'm excited to shoot something I've been taking care of. Hubby always gives me ample positive feedback, I think reassurance from husbands can go a long way. My husband was a qual coach in the Marines, so a switch flips in his brain sometimes, but hearing "you're doing great/ you've been practicing good safety the whole time, I'm proud/ you're getting better every time we come here" goes a long way. Not just one and done, there needs to be positive feedback the whole time.

The thing that got me into guns were movies, and my husband showed me the rifles I kept seeing. Being able to shoot surplus or clones of standard issue guns was really cool, and over the years, with his gentle guidance, I want to be a partner who's capable of defending him and our future children. The key might be unlocking that desire if the woman doesn't show signs of becoming a gun nerd.

 

[benenglish]

The key might be unlocking that desire if the woman doesn't show signs...

Not very helpful. I've been failing at that for 50 years.

Wait...are we still talking about guns?

 

[SARGE67]

My wife first showed interest in guns while we were using his/hers BB guns shooting at empty beer can pyramids in backyard. Couples get their quality time together in various ways...Right off the bat she held and aimed it properly using the sights. I got her an instructor I knew at our range for basic safety handgun class and lessons on firing it. He used a Glock 22 caliber which she got very comfortable with. He tried to get her to step it up to next level at another lesson and fire my 9mm. She fired about 3 rounds and wanted the Glock back and he obliged immediately.

 

[cbp210]

I don't think my dad was ever prouder of me than when I became better at something than he was. He was a photographer's helper (the Army lent him to the Navy in Tokyo while everyone was waiting to go home) at the end of WW2 and became quite good. I still have a 16x20 portrait of my sister that he took with his 4x5 Speed Graphic.

When I got to be a better photographer than him, I got no static. Beginning when I was 13, over the summers I would make more money than him by shooting weddings. He was theoretically an electrical engineer with the DOD even though they really didn't have any of that work for him and he wound up doing whatever jobs were needed. On a very weird tangent, he was actually in charge of the study that resulted in Gaines Burgers being made available to dog handlers in Vietnam. Prior to his study, they had to carry a fairly large number of cans of dog food and there were major complaints from the field about the weight of all those cans.

But back to my point - Some dads might have been resentful of our respective earnings but he never had a sour word for me. He fully supported me and let me know how proud he was.

I hope you're as proud of your daughter as you seem to be. Her achievements speak well of not only her but you, too.

Sometimes I wish I'd had kids.

Thank you very much. Oh yes I am so very proud of my daughter and alot of her victories in these competitions that I want to her to go places in life. I never resented her or even felt bad as her taking instructions from these Master Instructors also helped me learn some tricks from them to help others besides my daughter.

 

[PGB777]

I recently built and sold an AR15 to one of my employees, who has never shot guns at all. He asked me if I could show him how the gun operates and how to properly shoot it. I met him at the range I use for such training and he showed up with his wife, who also had no experience. I had brought my Ruger SR-22 pistol and my Walther PK380 with about 100 rounds of ammo for each. I spent an hour at a table going over gun safety and handling over a cup of coffee. I then spent a while talking about grip, trigger pull and sight alignment. I provided them with safety glasses to wear and had some ear plugs we use at the plant, and explained how critical it was to protect those young ears and eyes. His wife fell in love with the Ruger, but did not like the .380 due to muzzle blast and recoil. I was a little upset with him about pushing her to shoot the .380 and told him if he continued he could loose her as a shooting partner. He told her he had seen a gun he was going to buy for her and I then told him not to do it that way, but to take her and let her "try on" several different guns to find the one she liked. She agreed and he finally understood why I suggested it. I have been training people in basic firearms handling and target shooting for over 20 years and unfortunately I have seen this scenario many times where the husband tries to push the wife/girlfriend too quickly into a larger caliber....and in some cases turns them off to shooting all together. In this day and age we need to indoctrinate as many new shooters as possible to the fun that can be had at the range. He came by my house Sunday and thanked me for what I did and how I did it. His wife was with him and she gave me a hug and when she thanked me she handed me an envelope. Since I sold him the AR I didn't charge him for the session. She paid me for my time, and I hoped I hoped it was because I had created another recreational shooter.

You seem like a great teacher, many people and new Gun owners can learn a lot from you

 

[bigtex10mm]

You seem like a great teacher, many people and new Gun owners can learn a lot from you

Thank you, I am an instructor for a local gun club. I am also a Corporate Safety Manager for two large meat processing plants that have over 300 employees each, so I do a huge amount of instruction. It's something I have always loved to do.

 

[Texasgordo]

for two large meat processing plants that have over 300 employees each,

Are they in Weimer and Waelder, TX?

 

[baboon]

Are they in Weimer and Waelder, TX?

Waelder, TX are you talking about J Bar B?

 

[Texasgordo]

Waelder, TX are you talking about J Bar B?

Yes sir

 

[bigtex10mm]

Yes the company is J Bar B also known as JB Foods.