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Today I had the pleasure of meeting up with a friend of mine to take my wife out shooting. She's been shooting before and can handle a rifle quite well. But...she has always been afraid of pistols and refused to shoot anything more than a .380. Back story, she shot one of my 9mm's once and took a spent case to the eyebrow, in between her skin and her glasses. She got burnt. That was that for her 9mm shooting. Even .380 she would flinch and not hit the target often. It actually caused her to pretty much stop going with me. I tried to help her with grip and stance, but I digress. It didn't help much.

Fast forward to today. I had mentioned this to my friend who happens to have some experience with training and teaching. He also made a good point when he said that it might be more helpful to have someone that's NOT family try and give her some training as husbands can quite often be a little tougher on their wives and not take that "neutral stance" needed to properly train.

So we all went out. She started off with the usual "I don't want to shoot a 9mm" talk. After 2 hours of him working with her she was shooting a G17 like a pro and even asked me about maybe buying one for herself on the drive home!

Point is, I can shoot. I'm not a pro "operator" guy but I do ok. I'm always looking to learn more. BUT....I'm not a patient teacher, especially when it comes to my wife. I had all but given up on her enjoying my hobby. Now I think her and I might actually have been drawn closer, as she finally "got it" and wants to go out again next weekend!

I'll not mention who her instructor was, but he's a member here. Speak up if you want to man. ;)

And BTW, Thanks brother. It meant more than you could ever know. I've got your 6 anytime!
 
Today I had the pleasure of meeting up with a friend of mine to take my wife out shooting. She's been shooting before and can handle a rifle quite well. But...she has always been afraid of pistols and refused to shoot anything more than a .380. Back story, she shot one of my 9mm's once and took a spent case to the eyebrow, in between her skin and her glasses. She got burnt. That was that for her 9mm shooting. Even .380 she would flinch and not hit the target often. It actually caused her to pretty much stop going with me. I tried to help her with grip and stance, but I digress. It didn't help much.

Fast forward to today. I had mentioned this to my friend who happens to have some experience with training and teaching. He also made a good point when he said that it might be more helpful to have someone that's NOT family try and give her some training as husbands can quite often be a little tougher on their wives and not take that "neutral stance" needed to properly train.

So we all went out. She started off with the usual "I don't want to shoot a 9mm" talk. After 2 hours of him working with her she was shooting a G17 like a pro and even asked me about maybe buying one for herself on the drive home!

Point is, I can shoot. I'm not a pro "operator" guy but I do ok. I'm always looking to learn more. BUT....I'm not a patient teacher, especially when it comes to my wife. I had all but given up on her enjoying my hobby. Now I think her and I might actually have been drawn closer, as she finally "got it" and wants to go out again next weekend!

I'll not mention who her instructor was, but he's a member here. Speak up if you want to man. ;)

And BTW, Thanks brother. It meant more than you could ever know. I've got your 6 anytime!
:s0101:
Absolutely GREAT!!! Sounds like you found the solution,and it's great she is talking about buying one for herself! My Wife is signing up for some classes for the same reason. She feels it will go better with someone else teaching her. Said I make her nervous and she keeps making mistakes because I'm watching. I was all for it when she said she wanted to. Hoping it goes as well for her as yours did!
 
:s0101:
Absolutely GREAT!!! Sounds like you found the solution,and it's great she is talking about buying one for herself! My Wife is signing up for some classes for the same reason. She feels it will go better with someone else teaching her. Said I make her nervous and she keeps making mistakes because I'm watching. I was all for it when she said she wanted to. Hoping it goes as well for her as yours did!

Exactly! She gets nervous around me and I'm sure I'm not as patient as I should be!!
 
The best part is, she told me she was 100% comfortable with handling a pistol now and is thinking about getting her CHL!!! We will do a couple more lessons first but hearing that was music to these ears!
 
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My wife listens when I tell her to do something:p.

Yea, the phones angled away right now so she can't see it :D:rolleyes:.

Glad your arming your lady:cool:, I wish mine even had the slightest inclination:(.
 
When I took the whole family to the range last weekend, I spent most of my time with my DIL and grandson!
I did, however, take the time to coach my wife on the Beretta 92fs, the door gun in other words. After five magazines I'm sure she gets it! She learned to shoot, initially, from her uncle and big brother (a Marine officer).
I am a patient teacher, even with the wife! :D The kids were over tonight and everyone I worked with last week came to me and thanked me for the lessons! I was touched by how much they appreciated them! :)
 
We also farmed out the firearm training. Kinda like Dad trying to teach the daughter how to drive. Best done by somebody else. We are lucky in having both ladies and men qualified to teach just about anything, including the use of automatic weapons.

Before any trigger time at the range many hours were spent just in classroom skull sessions. Legalities. History. Politics. Realities. Then Ruger 10.22 Appleseed TYPE rifles were used with a one round mag. Safety first. Trigger control. Situational awareness.

Lots of time spent practical shooting. Not traditional rifle range marksmanship. More real deal street sense stuff. Once the student progressed to the point of competency and lots of shots down range the weapon system was upgraded to the USGI M1 Carbine.

Same thing with handguns. Started off with Sig Mosquitoes. Ours work 100%. Lots of presentation practice. Trigger control. We do not teach front site focus. We teach situational awareness and point shooting. Old school. Works for us. Street sense stuff.

Others may disagree. No dog. Understand the Ruger and Bug Gun are both canned. This works wonders with new students.

Only then do we move up to 9mm. Then eventually to .45. Lots of holsters get worn out. Just ordered some more. Yes I will name names. CrossBreed Supertuck with no combat cutaway. Horsehide. Multiple mag holsters. We farm out our firearms training.

Fun time with the M2 Carbine. Oh ... so fast. All Oregon State, US Code Laws And NFA Rules Apply.
 
I finally got my lady to shoot a 9mm a few weeks back. She did great but takes way too much time lining up the sights. But she does hit the target. It's a good start and she had no problems w recoil. I just started off one handing it to show her how little recoil it has. I stressed to her she needs to know how my bedside pistol operates.

Nice your making headway as well. Good post.
 
I find it very difficult, if not impossible to teach the wife anything.
"I'm not one of your apprentices !" is a common response.
Must be my my "teaching method".

:)
If I am to be honest, I get an attitude with my wife when she does not get it quick enough, and yet I can have the patience of Job with others. It is my problem...not hers, and now that I have realized this, I've been able to catch myself using that all too familiar "husband tone"....just sayin'
 
All joking aside, I taught my wife how to shoot a rifle and shotgun at 18.

She is a surprising natural shooter and does well.

Since then she has shot up to a 9mm which I used to have the most of and still would be the gun I hand her if there is a bump in the night while I take the .45.

I also taught her how to drive at 18 and when my daughter turned 15 we enrolled her in drivers Ed and put her behind the wheel of an E350 1 ton van and taught her how to drive it well before she moved into the family sedan - she is a very good driver, especially under duress or emergency.

Yes, we all had issues but just took things slow and when burnout happened we stopped and did it the next day.

My daughter refuses to shoot with me now (until I invited her BF to go with me, the she has grudgingly agreed to go with us:D).


The only other thing I can't seem to teach them (mostly because they don't want to) is how to back into the drive way or parking lot spaces. I guess having a carrier where backing your company rig was mandatory and we had big canopys I take it for granted that everyone should learn that skill.

Gotta do what works for you and yours though for sure;).
 
My wife gets too nervous to do well shooting w/me. You know how they are, when it's something you're 'good' at (in their minds) they get a little intimidated. Like driving, I KNOW my wife drives differently when I'm not in the car, she's always apologizing for doing something she thinks is dumb while she's behind the wheel when I'm with her (basically something I may or may not do), though not as bad as when we were younger. I give her lots of slack, I very rarely have ever said anything about the things she does but she's observant (like all of them) and knows when she's doing something in a way that I may not and begins to get flustered if I'm around. I've learned over the years and just let her do it her way until she comes asking for some help (she hates too) or advice. It's tough sometimes to watch her struggle but it's better if I let her come to the realization on her own than trying to be a 'know it all', right?

In light of that and the fact I shoot almost daily and am pretty comfortable around firearms she's a little reluctant/uncomfortable to do more than empty a mag once in a while. She say's she enjoys it but when I ask if she'd like to shoot more often than not she's got something she's getting ready to do or 'not right now'. I've broached the subject of getting together w/some girlfriends and taking a course, she's into that but not ALL into it. She'll do it but probably won't take the initiative to put it together herself which means it'll probably never happen. I would love for someone else I trust to spend some time w/her. I believe she would have fun, the kids shoot, if she did we could make it a family thing. Other than basic handling skills I haven't tried to teach her a whole lot, I can tell when it becomes 'her and I' rather than a couple people shooting, not worth it to push it beyond an eye roll.

I had some friends out shooting this weekend. A couple of them want to bring their wives who've had some basic training. Looking forward to that as I think that may break the ice for her seeing other women enjoying the sport and handling pistols w/out being all intimidated. I'm hoping they'll all gravitate toward a range to be by themselves and do some story swapping.

I shoot at home too so it's not like there's any extra burden to get to a range. I've got 3 pistol ranges in my backyard and more around the property.
 
If I try to tell my wife how to cook, i can almost see steam coming from her ears. She listens when it comes to guns. It's just getting her to make time and shes not real excited about it. Some things I just have to force on her. :D
 
Oh man, the cooking thing I could get a divorce over if I was one of those guys. I looove to cook, she does it 'cause she feels like she has to and rarely enjoys it. I do most of it. She's ruined pans, burned up utensils and countless meals and generally makes a huge mess when she cooks. I say nothing and follow behind to clean up 'my' kitchen and say 'great dinner hun'. I've secretly deposited food in the dogs dish or disposal before, there's a limit to what I'll eat.
 
I have to realize that everything that goes wrong is
Oh man, the cooking thing I could get a divorce over if I was one of those guys. I looove to cook, she does it 'cause she feels like she has to and rarely enjoys it. I do most of it. She's ruined pans, burned up utensils and countless meals and generally makes a huge mess when she cooks. I say nothing and follow behind to clean up 'my' kitchen and say 'great dinner hun'. I've secretly deposited food in the dogs dish or disposal before, there's a limit to what I'll eat.
I hear that.
All those favorite pots and pans !
One time she thought she was using one of those "Cooking Bags" and it was a regular poly bag.
Melted plastic all over that chicken....and nice chemical smell !
I thought that I could cure the pan destruction problem by gifting her a nice cast iron skillet.
Then she heats it up red hot and places it on a pull-out (part of cabinetry) cutting board !
Nice black burn mark.

But I just have to realize that this is all my fault.
 
I don't mind giving my wife some firearms training, and she receives it well, but anything above the basics, I prefer for her to learn from someone else - I think it's just better that way. I can be patient with her, and she can be patient with me, but I just think there are some things where a 3rd party just does a better job of it.

Now, when it comes to my wife and issues with her computer or phone....that puts our relationship to the test ;)
 

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