CelticSire
US Veteran
My not girlfriend (we've been dating exclusively a year and a half, but I'm still not allowed to call her my girlfriend until I meet her parents in September; yeah, I don't understand it either) has been wanting to get her License To Carry, but had almost no experience shooting handguns. Her ex-husband took her shooting once and started her off shooting a Glock in .45, which, of course, did more damage than good. She was convinced that if she were to get her own handgun, it just had to be a ported 9mm so she could handle the recoil. Did I mention she's a bodybuilder and works out with heavy weights religiously? Anyway, I told her I would teach her to shoot PROPERLY. (On a side note, I built her a M-4 carbine last year for her birthday, taught her to shoot it, and she's deadly accurate with it.) Last night I spent about three hours going over revolvers: how to load, check, and unload, proper grip, proper stance, sight picture and sight alignment, rules of gun safety, and dry firing. Lots and lots of dry firing. Today we went to the range, and I started her out on a Model 34 4 inch, single action then double action. First six shots were high and to the left, but once she figured it out and put it all together, she was nailing the center of the target at 5, 7 and 10 yards. Transitioned to the Model 14 and pre-Model 15, and she was consistently shooting two to three inch 6-shot groups center target. I wasn't planning on starting semi-auto today, but she did so darn well I let her shoot my Sig P2022 in .40 caliber. 40 rounds, all within a six inch circle center target at 10 yards. After we cleared the lane, we did a little window shopping looking at different handguns for her. She handled them, asked the right questions, told me what felt good and what didn't, and what she liked and disliked about each one and why. We looked at Sigs, Glocks, 1911s, H&Ks, Taurus, and Rugers. And then she found a S&W M&P Shield, Performance Center in 9mm. Of course, it just happened to be ported with Hi-Viz sights. Out of all the ones she tried, she said this one felt "right". So, I plunked down the money and bought it for her. She's super excited about shooting, and said that she knows now that she doesn't need a ported gun for recoil management, but "it should help lessen follow up shot time, right?" She also has Monday night and Wednesday night next week planned for more shooting, which I'm perfectly okay with because she pays attention and follows instructions. I think she's a keeper.
