Gotta Teach Grandson to Shoot 9mm?

[DonMountain]

My grandson (age 28) just acquired a job at the State Prison as a guard and has asked me to teach him how to shoot a 9mm pistol. I don't know what kind of pistols the State uses, maybe a Glock 17? Unfortunately I only have a small collection of 9mm chambered pistols, and most of them pre World War II. And I haven't reloaded for a 9mm in a bunch of years. I do have a container of LEE 356-125-2R projectiles that I cast many years ago, I assume for the 9mm. Probably bringing out one of my ancient P08 Lugers would not be appropriate for lessons. So, anybody have suggestions on a load using this lead projectile and type of firearm that would more replicate a modern day 9mm handgun? I will have to go through my inventory to see what firearms I even have?

[BLAHUT]

You could teach him everything he needs to know, with a .177 air pistol at 10 meters. Later You and He can short out all the fine details.

[Electrod47]

I would imagine (Hopefully) they will provide some training at his job???

[country gent]

Save some headaches and start him with a 22 rim fire pistol. Get the accuracy down then move up to a 9 mm. The air pistol is a good suggestion also. Start him out with little muzzle blast and recoil get him used to sight alignment grip and follow thru then move him up. Once he has these down then the 9 mm will be second nature a lot quicker

[DonMountain]

I don't have either an air pistol or a 22 rim fire pistol. Smallest I have is a 32 Auto pistol as per 007 carry. He does use a 308 rifle successfully for deer hunting every year. And used to use my 303 British years ago with cast lead projectiles. So he is not muzzle blast afraid. Just has not ever handled a pistol. And I generally use a 44 Mag with high velocity 320 grain cast lead projectiles against armadillos due to their armor plating. I've heard that you can't kill them with anything less.

[Mk42gunner]

... And I generally use a 44 Mag with high velocity 320 grain cast lead projectiles against armadillos due to their armor plating. I've heard that you can't kill them with anything less.
I don't know about that, a 2010 Chevy Impala goes pretty good on armadillos. Horrendous noise when the shell cracks going under the car at highway speeds.

Robert

[BLAHUT]

I don't have either an air pistol or a 22 rim fire pistol. Smallest I have is a 32 Auto pistol as per 007 carry. He does use a 308 rifle successfully for deer hunting every year. And used to use my 303 British years ago with cast lead projectiles. So he is not muzzle blast afraid. Just has not ever handled a pistol. And I generally use a 44 Mag with high velocity 320 grain cast lead projectiles against armadillos due to their armor plating. I've heard that you can't kill them with anything less.

You can pick up a .177 air pistol and a bunch of pellets for about $100.00, can shoot in you basement, or hall, or garage, with an air pistol and an apple box filled with rags. Then you can réclame the pellets and melt them down and make bullets. A .22 or bigger takes a true safe gun range and costs a haeck of a lot more to get started. The .177 is a cheap and efferent way to learn to shoot a pistol, the conversion to a 9mm later will be very simple.

[stubshaft]

I would also start with the basics using a pellet pistol or a 22 lr. pistol.

[country gent]

Another is some dummy rounds and dry fire for several sessions first

[contender1]

Actually the best thing you could do is to get him a GOOD firearms instructor to work with him on his beginning into handgunning. A good instructor should have several types of handguns to start him off with, INCLUDING the beginning with a .22. Plus,, the instructor is a "stranger" and as such,, he won't have to worry about disappointing grandpa.
It's MUCH easier to learn the proper basics initially instead of trying to break bad habits later.
Oh, and avoid any instructors who focus on "tactical crap" too much.
Stance, grip, presentation, sights, trigger control and follow through.

[Battis]

Do prison guards carry guns? And if they do, I'd say the state will do the teaching for liability reasons.

[Chena]

Lots of good advice offered here already. My suggestion is to sell the best of your Lugers, then use the money to buy your grandson a stainless target Ruger Mark IV, all the .22 long rifle you can lay your hands on and a range membership. When he finds out what the issue weapon is, sell another Luger, then buy him a modern 9 mm identical to the issue weapon and some training. Heck, buy yourself one of each and go to the range with him once a week. I would rather nurture a grandchild and store away some good memories than collect antiques. I realized a few years back that my remaining time on earth is short and that taking the guns with me to the afterlife would require a size XXXL coffin.

[Dusty Bannister]

If you have any experience with firearms training as a law enforcement officer, you teaching him might be an option. However, reading your posts, sure has a lot of reasons you might consider contacting your local agency and see what they have for civilian training. You are not looking for him to be a Rambo, but you do want him to be familiar with the usual range commands and know how to handle the firearm confidently. There will be few bad habits to break and he might do a lot better with the correct training procedure from the beginning.

[rancher1913]

i worked at colorados largest prison (including death row) and nobody carried a pistol inside the perimeter fence, and outside the fence it was only transport drivers that carried a pistol. you had to have lots of experience (years) to become a transport officer so the odds that your grandson will need to be able to shot a pistol is slim to none and slim left town. the weapons he might get to handle will be a shotgun and a ar but then only once certified by the academy teachers and only once he makes the special teams. he will be given oc and a radio for his protection, no guns.

[Sasquatch-1]

Any reasonable semi will work. The training he will need won't be as much about shooting, but more towards what to do when the firearm jams.

[Thumbcocker]

Do prison guards carry guns? And if they do, I'd say the state will do the teaching for liability reasons.

In Illinois corrections officers qualify annually with Ars and Glocks. They just transitioned from model 65s and mini 14s. As noted by Rancher outside of transportation officers, officers manning the towers, and swat type units the average officer will not have a gun while on duty.

New hires go through several weeks of training before being assigned to a facility. I can't imagine any state not training new hires on the firearms they might use.

[rancher1913]

most only give you firearm training if it is part of the job description, like perimeter or special teams, it costs way to much to train people that will never touch a firearm. i was only made to do shotgun, but i could request ar training, if i got ar certified i was expected to man the roof tops during an incident until special teams arrived.

[Battis]

My daughter just signed up for a class at Sig Arms in NH. She carries a revolver but wants to get trained in semi-autos. All-women classes are booking out to October. $190 and it runs from 9-5. It's good to see that much interest in firearms training, especially with women and young'uns.

[murf205]

I don't have either an air pistol or a 22 rim fire pistol. Smallest I have is a 32 Auto pistol as per 007 carry. He does use a 308 rifle successfully for deer hunting every year. And used to use my 303 British years ago with cast lead projectiles. So he is not muzzle blast afraid. Just has not ever handled a pistol. And I generally use a 44 Mag with high velocity 320 grain cast lead projectiles against armadillos due to their armor plating. I've heard that you can't kill them with anything less.

Try a 22-250 with 55 gr Sierras at 3700 fps. Just don't be close, it will be raining armadillo pieces! Don, for training the grandson that is a good excuse to go buy a 22 auto pistol.

[DonMountain]

Don, for training the grandson that is a good excuse to go buy a 22 auto pistol.

I thank everybody so far on your comments. I like the idea of owning a 22 auto pistol, and always wanted one. Except that I am a diehard ammunition reloader, so have never purchased a 22 although I still have an old 22 rifle I got when I was a kid. And several bricks of 22 ammo I bought before the several past shortages years ago. But at my age I am not sure my wife would allow me to buy one as she thinks we have too many guns already. And I agree that I could just do nothing and let the state prison do the teaching. Since all of my pistols are antiques, I just remembered that his brother has a 45 ACP 1911 that may be a better choice for him to learn on.

[badwolf]

I second the pellet gun and 22 pistol but if you or he wants to buy a 9mm that's a copy of a glock 19 looks at stoeger str9. About $200 with rebate going on now. I bought 4 for family members .

[rintinglen]

Using what you have versus buying what you want.

A 45 is a poor choice to teach a beginner to shoot with. Having done some work on the pistol range as a coach in the USMC, I can assert that the 45 is harder to learn on than most pistols, the recoil and the slide action are disconcerting to a beginner. Additionally, the ammunition runs just about double what 9mm costs. Right now you can buy 9mm for ~$30.00/100 in 1000 round lots, delivered out the door, perhaps cheaper if ordered in quantity.

You have older guns? Well, if you have a decent Luger that runs well on modern training ammunition, that will work just fine for learning trigger control and basic sight alignment. It's not the best, but buying guns is costly and for many of us, two and a half years of Biden inflation has destroyed our surplus income and we find expensive luxuries priced off the table.