Last night my neighbor told me she has purchased a Taurus G2C for home defense, but has no clue how to use it. She asked if I would take her to the range and help get her up and shooting. I brought her pistol to my house and cleaned and oiled it this morning.
My thinking is to start her out with dry fire practice until she feels comfortable finding the front sight and trigger control. Once proficient with those skill sets, then take her to the range to try shooting a target 10 feet away with live fire/recoil. I started both of my kids with 40 S&W because that is what I had available at the time. But I now have a Browning 1911-22LR available that I could use to introduce her to lower recoil before graduating to 9mm recoil. The G2C and the 1911-22 share a manual safety on the left side, and that safety is UP for SAFE and DOWN for FIRE on both pistols. My question is introducing the 1911-22 into the equation a good or bad idea?
“Bad or good idea”? It depends.
Try her first. Let her work on her G2C (fry fire) first. She must become comfortable with fer own handgun.
You can show her 1911-22 and explain differences, just in case she will need to use it later.
If you start live fire I’d still stay her G2C. If she tells you she doesn’t like the recoil or it is too hard to manage it, then you can go with 1911-22.
The worst what can happen once you start everything with 1911-22 is that she may like it better and won’t feel comfortable shooting her G2C.
Additional advice - let her tell you 4 Gun Safety Rules flawlessly several times before you visit the range.
@Gary_H
I am a newbie shooter and have found the SIRT (https://nextleveltraining.com/) to be an excellent training tool to learn the basics of grip, stance, trigger control, safety, etc… I was hesitant at first to get a SIRT because I was already getting private instruction. Now, my instructor has me dividing time with him between the range and a separate room for SIRT training, such as ‘holster draw’ and timing to the target. It really helps. I also bought their DVD to use at home with my SIRT. Excellent, and goes over each step of the process, emphasis on safety, grip, trigger control, stance and lateral movement, staying on target, etc…PISTOL FUNDAMENTALS DVD - Next Level Training
START WITH SAFETY!!! Teach her the cardinal rules and what they mean. Make sure she understands the potential problems that could occur if a rule gets broken or overlooked. Safety while at home. Safety in the car. Safety at the range. Have her give you feedback on what you are teaching. Get Snap Caps so she can practice loading/unloading mags, clearing feeding problems, managing stove pipes, what to do if she drops her firearm. Teach just enough stance, grip, alignment, breathing necessary for safety…marksmanship can come later. When you feel she is ready to fire that first round at the range have her load and fire one round. Then do that several more times before progressing to multiple rounds. Don’t hesitate to get professional assistance if you have any doubts about safety. Safety first. Safety always.
Totally agree about getting professional assistance. I am using private one-on-one training with highly qualified instructors (NRA; USCCA). One of the best investments I have ever made.
I like to start with the four safety rules. I want to make sure they know how to load dummy rounds into the mag, load the mag into the gun, eject rounds and show clear. All that before I introduce live ammunition. I never hand someone a loaded gun.
I totally agree start with safety first. I would also add to the dry firing different techniques for racking a slide. Lastly, how to field strip and clean.
Lots of very good suggestions including starting with learning the 4 safety rules and dry fire. I also like to show people how to break down and clean their firearm before the first shots as well. I like to do this myself with a new firearm to help get familiar with it before I take it to the range.
I have helped a couple people take their first shots but I always highly recommend they seek further lessons from a qualified instructor after my introduction.
Prior to going to the range, I would give a crash course on the basic rules of firearm safety, range etiquette, loading an empty magazine, racking the slide, and dry fire practice.
Third vote for snap caps. Use them to practice, under time pressure clearing malfunctions and doing emergency reloads. In my experience, when a malfunction happens, new shooters are often surprised and turn the gun around to look down the barrel rather than keeping it pointed down range.
