1st time shooting w/my daughter!

[RickD]

Since I started shooting (again) a few months back one of my daughters has developed an interest in joining me. Seems her new beau is a gun nut as is one of her coworkers. She is 27 and has lived on her own for years and we get together infrequently due to our conflicting schedules.

After a recent discussion she said she'd love to try it. I told her to learn at least the basic concepts at corneredcat.com and genitron.com

We met at Classic Pistol and I went over the safety basics again, showed her the difference between a revolver and a semi-auto and set her up with a silhouette at 5yds.

She took the Ruger MKIII (semi auto.22) and put a bunch of holes in the paper, the worst were in the 8 ring! She didn't think she was doing well so I told her to look at the targets hanging in the other lanes. She was just as good as them, and usually better!

Soon she was loading the magazines, working the slide and safety without thinking about it, tweaking her grip and stance, speculating how she could improve, etc. Over-analyzing like the good little scientist she is!

We stuck with the .22 at increasing distance and she just boggled my mind with how quickly she caught on! She did the same at 7, 10 and 15 yards! Nothing less than an 8 except for the occasional flyer. (Sure, make the old man look bad! You just wait 'til I get that cataract fixed honey!)

She kept going until we used up 100 .22s so I said how about some .38s? Without hesitating she said "sure, why not?" So she punched a bunch of holes in the paper with the 4" barrel GP100 and then tried the Taurus snubby too. She liked the revolver grips better than the semis, by the way.

Finally, just before we were ready to call it a day, I said I wanted to shoot a few with my new .45. So she says, you guessed it, "let me try that one too dad!"

The moral of the story: If you want to get a lady in your life interested in shooting, start out slow. Give her a gun with low recoil and a target she can hit. Then let the fever grow... along with the caliber and distance!

She went from never even holding a gun before, to tentatively firing a .22, to banging away with a .45 in under 2 hours!

[Emptymag]

That's awesome!
Sounds like you both had a great time.

[levib]

Sounds like a good time. I bought a Ruger MkIII for just that reason, introducing people to shooting. Plus it's nice to have a pistol that's cheap to shoot.

[ar15jules]

My oldest daughter is 20 years younger than yours, and put a few magazines through the MKIII the other day. Granted, it was from the bench with me holding over her tiny hand. Great trigger control and she was able to line up the red dot just fine. The B-3 NRA target is proudly hanging on her bedroom wall....Great job introducing your daughter!
Jules

[TheF00L]

GRATS

Young or old - Always give them the option. Maybe we will see them on here soon?

[kutblok]

Great story. I'll have to talk my busy 40 year old daughter into it.

[ksig1869]

very nice, good for you

[arjohnson]

Awesome, my daughter is 18 and I have taken her shooting many times since she was about 12. Our last trip out she shot about 400rnds of 22 through my G33 with the 22 conversion, she shoots pretty good and really enjoys it.

She also enjoys my Ar's in 22 and 9mm. She bugs me now to go shooting but told her she has to wait til it gets a little warmer, told her I'm to old for this cold weather.

[Paradigm]

Way to step up and introduce your daughter to firearm sports!

[solrac7]

You da' MAN ! Daughters are great aren't they? Mine started off with daisy red ryders in the back yard and are now using the glock 22 conversion (one daughter's favorite) and the taurus 22 revolver. Both have shot larger calibers (including clay pidgeons with the 20 guage) and can outshoot me with the bb guns. We have a target holder for "necco wafers" (quarter sized wafer candy that shatters when you hit it) and they both routinely beat me (ok, sometimes it's just better that way...) Have fun shootin with your gal when you get the chance - or better yet make it a father daughter date once a month - - You will be happy you did. Cb