met a shooter at the range , had an interesting conversation

[frkelly74]

I was making the rounds today looking for brass and seeing how messy the range was and had the kiddoes with me. If it is real messy we pick it up somewhat and find brass quite often. This time there was a jeep parked by the pistol lane and there was a girl at the bench with some steel swingers hanging at about 40 ft. I looked around and saw that she was apparently alone and getting ready to shoot. So I thought we would probably be able to pick up some brass. Well I was
wrong. I sent the kids over to see what she was shooting, ( a 9mm) (They look more harmless than I do although I am certainly pretty harmless) and she was picking up her brass and stated to the kids that she would take it and make new bullets to shoot in her gun. Of course my kids are no strangers to the reloading process so there was no need for her to explain reloading. but it was interesting to see how she talked to them. Now I know that there are women who reload and have conversed with a couple of them on the board here but I have never actually seen one who was interested at all in loading. I know a few who can be talked into going shooting maybe but none who load their own. So her grandpa and dad and husband are all shooters and they are in a club over by Caledonia and run CCW classes. She just wanted some alone time and had picked a time of day when she thought no one would bother her while she rang some steel. So we helped her pick up her brass and wished her well and took off. It was an interesting interaction here in good old allegan.

[firefly1957]

I am surprised by the number of women in the https://www.facebook.com/groups/thereloadingroom/ on Facebook some are quite active and even build guns. They currently have 632 members!

[geargnasher]

Good on you for letting her be, just because she has the same reloading and shooting interests doesn't mean she's wired like most of us guys who always have the itch to jawjack, tell tall stories, and swap notes. As an automotive tech I've worked with and associated with hundreds of fellow techicians, and met exactly two females. One I worked with for years, the other I saw regularly at the ASE recert tests. They had one thing in common: They were tired of all the attention, positive or otherwise, and tired of guys expecting them to be the same kind of car-cranks who built hot-rods on the weekends like the rest of us. I suspect a lot of female shooters are the same way, most of the ones I know certainly are.

Gear

[JeffinNZ]

My wife has loaded. That was the rule. You can shoot the .32-20 all you like and I will cast the boolits BUT you have load the ammo. So she did.

[1Shirt]

Well said Gear, and I agree with you. Yep, if they are safe on the range, leave them alone. If they want to talk with you they will.
1Shirt!

[chboats]

Not all of them want to be left alone. Was at the range a few months ago when 2 young ladies showed up. Both good looking but one was tall and well put together and knew how to show it off. They had a new 9MM they were going to shot and had the guys on the pistol side stepping all over there tuns trying to help them out. They were trying to tell them that they should start with their target at 7yds or 15yds, but they insisted on 25yds. The guys were also trying to instruct them on how to hold the gun, two hands of course. When they finally got around to shooting the tall one stood up to the line in a classic bulls eye one handed stance. Fired a couple of rounds, adjusted the sights and fired a couple more rounds. Repeated this until she was happy then put the remainder of a box of factory ammo through mostly the 10 and X rings. The X ring was shot out. Most of the guys that had been falling all over themselves trying to help just melted away. It was fun to watch.

Carl

[Hardcast416taylor]

This post made me stop and think about the number of ladies I have taught to shoot. Some have tried learning from husbands or fathers, but somehow can`t grasp most of the concepts of shooting and they somehow find their way to me. After my world was turned upside down last year with the loss of my son I haven`t been teaching any new shooters. I may snap out of it, I hope soon, and resume teaching ladies and new shooters again. I have a lady bank manager and several realator ladies calling now and again asking when I will be teaching again. I often said that I got as much satisfaction from teaching them as they got from seeing their targets after a session.Robert

[latesvak]

good on you. its nice to see the ladies out shooting. i try to get my mom and sister out as much as possible but it isn't often enough. im just glad the wife likes to get out every other time to the range and can hold her own.


latesvak

[nelsonted1]

I was waiting to shoot at the assault rifle match during the Knob Creek machine gun shoot several years ago. I was talking to a 14 year old girl competitor when a tight fisted wanna-be world class shooter, one of those pitiful types, walked up. He asked the girl why she wasn't home with her mother baking cookies like the other girls were. He tormented her until she was purple in the face.

When he walked away I said there were two ways she could respond. Quit or stay mad and beat the mouthy halfwit. He was really stupid since he was bragging BEFORE he shot. She told me she was going to beat him. She did too placing 14 shooters above him. She was using an ak in 223 because it was the lightest gun she could hold up through a match.

The next year her father asked me if buying a 30 cal belt fed machine gun was too extravagant for a 16th birthday. I could feel myself get bug-eyed.

Once she got the machine gun she joined shooters on the firing line and quit competing with us. She grew into a gorgeous woman. Especially, when she'd run for the firing line almost drenched in oil, grease and soot.

I haven't seen her or her father in years. Been thinking about calling him for quite awhile. Maybe I should...

Ted

[geargnasher]

Not all of them want to be left alone. Was at the range a few months ago when 2 young ladies showed up. Both good looking but one was tall and well put together and knew how to show it off. They had a new 9MM they were going to shot and had the guys on the pistol side stepping all over there tuns trying to help them out. They were trying to tell them that they should start with their target at 7yds or 15yds, but they insisted on 25yds. The guys were also trying to instruct them on how to hold the gun, two hands of course. When they finally got around to shooting the tall one stood up to the line in a classic bulls eye one handed stance. Fired a couple of rounds, adjusted the sights and fired a couple more rounds. Repeated this until she was happy then put the remainder of a box of factory ammo through mostly the 10 and X rings. The X ring was shot out. Most of the guys that had been falling all over themselves trying to help just melted away. It was fun to watch.

Carl

That's exactly what usually happens, attractive young ladies show up to the range in their sporty clothes and the guys start falling all over themselves trying to offer help that may or may not be needed. Pretty embarassing when an IDPA Master that happens to look like a 24 y/o supermodel shows up to work the bugs out of her new competition pistol and suddenly five guys are right there in her face trying to show her how to load it. My point was just treat them like any other shooter, keep an eye out, and offer help if it's genuinely needed. I see too little of this respect at my local ranges.

Gear

[chboats]

Gear - I completely agree with you. The thing that was funny was that the two ladies were milking it. They didn't try to discourage the attention at all, until they started shooting and then it was obvious they didn't need any help. Most of the guys shooting could have used their help.
Help where help is needed and wanted

Carl