The wife says . . . let's go to the range

A few weeks ago, Mrs. Zero wanted to go to range.

SAY WHAAAAA?

I found my old BB gun and airsoft gun for some instruction in basic firearm handling, range etiquette, and possible feed issues that may happen. My friend allowed her to use his S&W M&P 22. She followed all of handling procedures I taught her and shot VERY well for a first time shooter. Every shot she made was on the target. There was one miss (still on the paper) out of 25 shots.

So after that we ordered up a Ruger SR22 for her to plink around. I'll burn 200 rounds through it for her . . . to make sure everything is good

Nice. I shot my first gun at 40. It's fun. Wish I had the chance to go to the range more often.

Nice, good luck keeping it fed.

My wife has had range time and proper instruction when she was younger but dislikes them.

EastCoastMojo wrote: Nice. I shot my first gun at 40. It's fun. Wish I had the chance to go to the range more often.

shot my first gun (oops … rifle ) at boot camp

My wife has never been around guns until she met me. She is still super cautious and a bit apprehensive but wants to learn and participate. When I brought her to the range and she finally pulled the trigger (it took her a while to get comfortable and acclimated) she hit the bulls eye. It was a 1911 chambered for .22 LR and the rest of the clip was pretty much on target it too. She was actually excited about it after we finished.

Cool. My wife was the same way. She had never fired a gun before she met me. Now she is a decent shot and comfortable enough with a gun to work it and clean it without me.

We would go to the range more if the cost of Ammo hadn't gotten so stupid. Trying to keep a .22 and a .45 fed is not cheap anymore.

Eh, keeping it fed won't be a problem, nor will we participate in buttcrack:30 early morning runs to scarf bricks of ammo like the others do around here. A box of 50 here and there at $5-6 will keep us happy

In reply to wbjones:

I've been thinking about getting a .22LR upper for the Springer to let the wife have a shot at handguns. The only thing she has shot was my .38spl Rossi M88 (2"bbl). she was a bit... umm... overwhelmed with the flash/report of the .38 through that tiny barrel.

I have yet to fire a long gun. I'm looking forward to that.

EastCoastMojo wrote: I have yet to fire a long gun. I'm looking forward to that.

I miss having a true long-gun.

If I could find the magazine to my old Daisy 2213, I would've started her out on that.

We visited some shops for her to test fit a few and she settled on the SR22. It's a bit lighter than the M&P22 but has a shorter barrel. For $280 OTD, I couldn't pass it up. I may go back and pick up that GSG 1911-22 they had for ~$200. The reviews on that were pretty good.

Warning.

If your wife has never fired a gun, DO NOT have her fire a 12 ga. shotgun as the first one.

^

SWMBO & I have been around firearms all of our lives, her dad has quite the arsenal, we have a modest collection ourselves, mostly rifles, and shot guns, but we do own a 9mm pistol too, it's hers, she actually has her CCW license and I do not.

One of my favorite pictures of SWMBO:

The rifle pictured no longer exists in that form, it's now a flat top 300 black out with quad rail foregrip.

iceracer wrote: Warning. If your wife has never fired a gun, DO NOT have her fire a 12 ga. shotgun as the first one.

QFT

Firearms are fun but can scare the pooout of the uninitiated. I'd recommend only one bullet at a time the first couple of shots. Muzzle discipline is a process and when they spin around the exclaim "I HIT IT!!" with a loaded anything will pucker you right up.

EastCoastMojo wrote: Nice. I shot my first gun at 40. It's fun. Wish I had the chance to go to the range more often.

You live in NC there is a range around every corner.

unless you live in the ultra liberal enclave called Asheville ….so far we've lost all our race tracks, and, to the best of my knowledge we're down to one range

wbjones wrote:

EastCoastMojo wrote: Nice. I shot my first gun at 40. It's fun. Wish I had the chance to go to the range more often.

shot my first gun (oops … rifle ) at boot camp

'This is my rifle, this is my gun. This one's for shootin', this one's for fun.'

ryanty22 wrote:

EastCoastMojo wrote: Nice. I shot my first gun at 40. It's fun. Wish I had the chance to go to the range more often.

You live in NC there is a range around every corner.

Yeah, there's a few. Not enough money in the budget for ammo & range fees right now. Might visit my cousin in a few weeks, then we can go shoot on his mountain for free. A to the motherberkeleying K y'all.

wbjones wrote: unless you live in the ultra liberal enclave called Asheville ….so far we've lost all our race tracks, and, to the best of my knowledge we're down to one range

But on the bright side, they're being replaced with really good beer.

iceracer wrote: Warning. If your wife has never fired a gun, DO NOT have her fire a 12 ga. shotgun as the first one.

I did exactly that. I have an old single shot Savage that kicks like a berkeleying mule and it knocked her on her ass. One of the funniest thing I've ever seen.

My wife has her own 12 ga and shoots my Mosin. She is all of 5'1". If she can shoot those with no problem most should. Oh yeah she has also shot my .45-70 and hit her target at 200 yards. When people talk about guns like those "kicking like a mule" and they can only shoot them once or twice without hurting I laugh.

Edit. Here she is with one of her favorites.

Last year I took my then 10 year old son to the range for the first time. He had the choice of a bolt .22 or my 1942 Lee Enfield. Having never shot a gun before but after me telling him it would kick he proceeded to put 15 rounds through the Enfield and did not complain at all. He is only about 75 lbs and I was impressed.

On the subject of taking SWMBO to the range: oh god, please re-think what you're doing!

(backstory)

I came home with "another damn rifle" and panicked when I got busted by SWMBO. "oh that? I bought that for you!"

"If it's really for me" says she "Then take me to the range and let me shoot it."

So I did.

Ever since she made one big hole out of the bulls-eye (granted it was a 10/22 at 25-yards) I've been too afraid to:

• Leave the toilet seat up
• Leave dirty dishes in the sink
• Leave my laundry on the floor
• Stay out for "just one more round"
• Look in the direction of other women.
• and so on...

It wasn't helped when she was given a Sig .22 pistol either. That damn thing has a flashlight rail so (and her words here) "she could shoot me at night".

Cheers man. Nothin better than goin shootin with the missus (except with all her shots on target, I guess we can't really call her the "miss"us?)

-Bill