Thumbcocker
04-03-2016, 09:17 PM
165316
A while back I posted a thread about choosing a handgun for a petite shooter to use to take a CCW course. In my work I get to interact with many new lawyers and interns. I always offer them a trip to the range. The young woman in the picture is a friend of my co-worker and is also a lawyer. They took the CCW course together to learn more about guns. Today Mrs. Thumbcocker and I spent the afternoon at the range with these ladies. 6 handguns were brought along. A 4" model 19, a 2.5" model 66, a Sig P229, a CZ75BD, a Ruger LC9s and a Sig 1911. The ladies were let loose to choose which guns they would like to try.
They both chose the Ruger first since the instructors at the CCW course had kind of pushed Glock 42's for ladies. We went through all the guns once and then they got more time with the ones they liked best. They were surprised at how much less recoil the full sized guns had as opposed to the smaller ones.
Rant alert. I am sick to death of instructors and sales people pushing tiny semi-autos on new shooters, especially ladies. Tiny grip area, tiny sights, tiny controls, stiff magazines and crappy triggers. You couldn't try to set up a newby with a worse combination. Rant off.
The young lady in the picture wanted to try the 1911. We did one round and the hit paper. A little coaching and she tried a few more. That is her target shot at 7 yards with Lyman 452460's over 6.0 of 231. That is a listed accuracy load in the Lyman manual and also listed as max. In short not a soft ball load. She shot 5 rounds and there are 5 holes on the plate. That grin pretty much says it all. But there is more.
We repaired to the rifle range and set up cans and balloons on the 25 yard berm. We put 7,62 X39 cases in the balloons to keep them in place. The woman in the picture was popping balloons at 25 yards with that 1911 and made a solid hit on a charging soda can at 20 yards. If possible the grin got even bigger. She liked the fact that the .45 holes were much bigger than the 9mm holes. (I'm sure members here will join in on that). We then stripped the guns and cleaned them. I was able to demonstrate the Browning locked breech and the innards. She was a very good pupil and is seriously thinking a bout a 1911 as a house gun. She is more interested in home protection than CCW.
I was asked to demonstrate the longer range potential of handguns and, with Mrs. Thumbcocker spotting, popped a balloon at 100 yards with the 1911 from a seated backrest position. The ladies did most of the shooting and did well. I have permission to post the picture above but not to use her name. I told her she risked being swamped by marriage proposals if that picture got out into cyberspace.
I would suggest that those of you with access to younger people try asking them if they would like to go to the range. You might just make a new shooter. Oh by the way this was her second time shooting a handgun and first day ever shooting a 1911.
Can the moderator please rotate the picture?
A while back I posted a thread about choosing a handgun for a petite shooter to use to take a CCW course. In my work I get to interact with many new lawyers and interns. I always offer them a trip to the range. The young woman in the picture is a friend of my co-worker and is also a lawyer. They took the CCW course together to learn more about guns. Today Mrs. Thumbcocker and I spent the afternoon at the range with these ladies. 6 handguns were brought along. A 4" model 19, a 2.5" model 66, a Sig P229, a CZ75BD, a Ruger LC9s and a Sig 1911. The ladies were let loose to choose which guns they would like to try.
They both chose the Ruger first since the instructors at the CCW course had kind of pushed Glock 42's for ladies. We went through all the guns once and then they got more time with the ones they liked best. They were surprised at how much less recoil the full sized guns had as opposed to the smaller ones.
Rant alert. I am sick to death of instructors and sales people pushing tiny semi-autos on new shooters, especially ladies. Tiny grip area, tiny sights, tiny controls, stiff magazines and crappy triggers. You couldn't try to set up a newby with a worse combination. Rant off.
The young lady in the picture wanted to try the 1911. We did one round and the hit paper. A little coaching and she tried a few more. That is her target shot at 7 yards with Lyman 452460's over 6.0 of 231. That is a listed accuracy load in the Lyman manual and also listed as max. In short not a soft ball load. She shot 5 rounds and there are 5 holes on the plate. That grin pretty much says it all. But there is more.
We repaired to the rifle range and set up cans and balloons on the 25 yard berm. We put 7,62 X39 cases in the balloons to keep them in place. The woman in the picture was popping balloons at 25 yards with that 1911 and made a solid hit on a charging soda can at 20 yards. If possible the grin got even bigger. She liked the fact that the .45 holes were much bigger than the 9mm holes. (I'm sure members here will join in on that). We then stripped the guns and cleaned them. I was able to demonstrate the Browning locked breech and the innards. She was a very good pupil and is seriously thinking a bout a 1911 as a house gun. She is more interested in home protection than CCW.
I was asked to demonstrate the longer range potential of handguns and, with Mrs. Thumbcocker spotting, popped a balloon at 100 yards with the 1911 from a seated backrest position. The ladies did most of the shooting and did well. I have permission to post the picture above but not to use her name. I told her she risked being swamped by marriage proposals if that picture got out into cyberspace.
I would suggest that those of you with access to younger people try asking them if they would like to go to the range. You might just make a new shooter. Oh by the way this was her second time shooting a handgun and first day ever shooting a 1911.
Can the moderator please rotate the picture?