Shooting goals for beginners

[PNWPrepper]

My wife just got her CHL in Washington (only took 13 days!) and I am too excited to think about some goals for her to strive for. The first two I thought of were a 5 second draw from concealment at 7 yards, and a 3 second ready up at 7 yards (she has terrible eyesight so I'm starting easy) what are some other goals/drills for someone who doesn't shoot too often, with not too good of eyesight, that are relatable to concealed carry you can guys can think of? Thanks guys!

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[E4mafia]

Load some spent casings into the mags and practice clearing drills and reloads too!

Just as important

 

[cigars]

Safety. Safety. Safety. Then hit what you aim at. Then more safety.

 

[cigars]

Paper plate training might be more beneficial for her instead of trying to hit printed bullseyes. It would serve better for instinctive aiming in a real life situation.

 

[Frank RW]

My thoughts, off-the-top in no particular order...

First and foremost... Make sure she knows and practices the rules for safe gun handling.

Like E4mafia said, practice clearing malfunctions.
Practice magazine drop and reload. (assuming it's an auto-loader)
Practice racking a round. Some with smaller or weaker hands might find that difficult at first.
Low-ready drills, get a feel for where to aim when you don't have the time to sight in the target properly.
Practice firing with the other hand than normally used. Sometimes the preferred one isn't available.
Practice firing single-handed.
Trigger and reset practice. Balance a coin on the barrel and see if she can dry-fire without it falling off.
Practice while moving. And lying down or crouching.
Practice with different types of firearms.
Work at different distances from the target.


"Bonus" Tips:
Although not "firearm practice", get as familiar as possible with guns laws wherever she carries.
Put a laser on it to help get a bead on the target easier and probably faster.
Get her into the habit of being in Condition Yellow.
Perhaps get some snap-caps in order to avoid NDs during practice. Might save some wear-and-tear on the firearm too.
Laser simulators and air-guns can be a cheap and safer way to practice at home.
Don't skimp on training. You can never learn too much. Plenty of great instructors out there.


Well, that's all I can think of at the moment... I'm sure there will be many great tips offered by others.


Good job on caring enough to help her succeed!

 

[NW Backpacker]

Good advice above.
I'd start in the house with no bullets in the gun. Go thru gun safety. Then, with no bullets, practice drawing the gun while safely keeping finger off the trigger, practice re-holstering, etc. Look for any thing that might snag the trigger and do what you have to do to make it safe.
Then watch some youtube videos looking for other good ideas. Here are just a few:

Safety:
concealed carry safety for beginners - YouTube

Drills for beginners:
drills for beginner concealed carry guns - YouTube

Draw techniques:
concealed carry draw techniques - YouTube

Have fun!

 

[spookshack]

The Dot Torture drill. Easy to learn, hard to master! lol
pistol-training.com » Dot Torture

 

[Certaindeaf]

Every neckbeard knows to flail to slide lock no matter what so do that.

 

[American123]

My wife just got her CHL in Washington (only took 13 days!) and I am too excited to think about some goals for her to strive for. The first two I thought of were a 5 second draw from concealment at 7 yards, and a 3 second ready up at 7 yards (she has terrible eyesight so I'm starting easy) what are some other goals/drills for someone who doesn't shoot too often, with not too good of eyesight, that are relatable to concealed carry you can guys can think of? Thanks guys!

Slow down turbo. Sounds like you are trying to ha e her go lightspeed before she's ready.

I'd be more focused (as others have said) on all the safety components of handing firearms, and of course, keeping her enjoying the activity or her CPL won't mean a darn thing if she doesn't want to carry and practice. Then accuracy of fire, then speed. Notice I put speed last.

Speed comes with accuracy and proficiency.

Unless she can already hit what she is aiming at reliably without difficulty, ignore the time and focus on hitting a 8 inch pie plate as far as 7 yards until it is boringly easy. Then introduce a time constraint.

Contrary to popular belief, the speed of a draw has nothing to do with hitting a target. It's what the shooter does after the draw that causes the accurate fire. Practicing the draw can be done hundreds of times with the unloaded gun to make it smooth before needing to worry about drawing and firing.

Motivation goes a long way. If you want her to achieve X goal in her shooting skills, you'll need to take a step back and think about what will keep her motivated to do that. A lot of husbands fall into the trap of approaching this wrong, making it not fun for the wife and then it goes up in smoke.

When I taught my fiancé, I focused on keeping every range / gun activity safe and fun. Now she tells me "we haven't gone to the range in a while"

 

[arakboss]

I usually start with not shooting your eye out and then move on from there

 

[turq]

Go to luckygunner and look at the owners blog together
He has many "games" to practice along with safety drills
Very informative; downloadable targets
Very experienced, he has been thru 30 or so instruction courses.
Well worth reading/watching

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Slow down turbo. Sounds like you are trying to ha e her go lightspeed before she's ready.

I'd be more focused (as others have said) on all the safety components of handing firearms, and of course, keeping her enjoying the activity or her CPL won't mean a darn thing if she doesn't want to carry and practice. Then accuracy of fire, then speed. Notice I put speed last.

Speed comes with accuracy and proficiency.

Unless she can already hit what she is aiming at reliably without difficulty, ignore the time and focus on hitting a 8 inch pie plate as far as 7 yards until it is boringly easy. Then introduce a time constraint.

Contrary to popular belief, the speed of a draw has nothing to do with hitting a target. It's what the shooter does after the draw that causes the accurate fire. Practicing the draw can be done hundreds of times with the unloaded gun to make it smooth before needing to worry about drawing and firing.

Motivation goes a long way. If you want her to achieve X goal in her shooting skills, you'll need to take a step back and think about what will keep her motivated to do that. A lot of husbands fall into the trap of approaching this wrong, making it not fun for the wife and then it goes up in smoke.

When I taught my fiancé, I focused on keeping every range / gun activity safe and fun. Now she tells me "we haven't gone to the range in a while"

Excellent advice. Exactly what i was thinking

 

[Andy54Hawken]

If sounds as if your wife is going to carry concealed.
In addition to the practice of safe shooting habits...Practice safe carrying habits.
Finger off the trigger as she draws...
A safe "smooth" draw , not one that starts and stops...
Working the snaps , straps etc...of the holster's pistol retention...
Re-holstering is just as important...

Have her practice just carrying the pistol...this may need to include a change:
In wardrobe...
How she carries her purse , if she carries that way...
How she walks , sits and drives..
How she uses a public restrooms etc...
It will mean an expense in both time and many different holsters and belts.
Andy

 

[Stomper]

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast...

 

[11Charlie]

I would suggest a class with a certified female instructor. In a group of women things will get talked about that she will not feel comfortable talking to you about.

 

[PNWPrepper]

Thank you guys all so much! There is a lot of good advice in this thread! I guess when I said beginner though that was misleading. I meant beginner concealed carrier, not beginner shooter. She can almost shoot better than I can when she goes slow and takes her time... ALMOST. I was more looking for fun drills to help her get over the going slow part. And don't worry, safety is always my number one concern!!! She gets irritated with me sometimes because of how overly safe she thinks I am.

 

[PNWPrepper]

I would suggest a class with a certified female instructor. In a group of women things will get talked about that she will not feel comfortable talking to you about.

A class is definitely going to happen. I want us to both take a class as I have never had official firearms training so I think it would be valuable to both of us

 

[11Charlie]

She gets irritated with me sometimes because of how overly safe she thinks I am.

Being overly safe is a good thing. Again having a female instructor and talking to someone that has gone through the same things as a female would be my advice.

 

[11Charlie]

A class is definitely going to happen. I want us to both take a class as I have never had official firearms training so I think it would be valuable to both of us

HAHA we posted at the same time. That is awesome if the two of you want to take one together. Good on the both of you for wanting to take classes.

 

[No_Regerts]

On top of what others have said, here is some advice I got that really stuck with me:

"You don't win gunfights by reholstering fast"

To this day, I reholster deliberately. I've seen several accidents with people who did not.