Anti-gun conversion? Range-wise.

[Millions-Knives]

Ive seen numerous posts on stories about brining an anti-gun girl to the range. And it seems that quite a few fellas here had success with exposing their lady friends to the hobby (way-of-life, religion, etc.).

-Ive taken girls who love guns love their first range experience.
-Someone who didnt care much about them, absolutely love them after.
-But never an anti...(But I think [hope] shes open minded-in general)

Any suggestions for a first-timer?
Indoor or Outdoor? Im in the San Fernando Valley area so, The Firing Line and Angeles Shooting ranges are my regular ranges.

Ive alway loved the wisdom and info shared on this board- Thanks in advance.

[pullnshoot25]

My brother has done that to MAAAAANY women and they all ended up asking him if they could come back and do it again. Just make sure not to start them off on the .500 Nitro or a 12ga first, or they will associate the experience with pain.

[VeryCoolCat]

You needa take em out to the desert some rifles.

Big difference between range shooting... and outdoors shooting.

At least you can practice spraying... and nothing is quite as fun as unloading a mag randomly at a broken electronic object and/or rotten fruit

[JeffCinSac]

Outdoors

I suggest starting outdoors, at a formally-structured range. Someone with no experience around guns will likely appreciate the structure and safety of a formal range with an appointed rangemaster, organized cease-fires, etc., and shooting outdoors is much preferable from the perspective of noise.

My wife hates the indoor range, but loves going to the outdoor range. Then again, she likes being outside...

-J

[CSACANNONEER]

I suggest starting outdoors, at a formally-structured range. Someone with no experience around guns will likely appreciate the structure and safety of a formal range with an appointed rangemaster, organized cease-fires, etc., and shooting outdoors is much preferable from the perspective of noise.

My wife hates the indoor range, but loves going to the outdoor range. Then again, she likes being outside...

-J

Ditto here. My wife won't even go to the indoor range anymore.

[M. Sage]

Organized vs BLM could go either way. Some women are embarassed to try something they're new at in front of other people. "What if I'm really bad at it?"

Bring some guns with "soul." Add a couple of milsurps into the mix. It's worked for me.

[M1A_KICHI]

I have taken my girl to Angeles a couple of times. She really liked it and I started her off on an AR then moved to carbines and pistols. On the other hand you really can't beat BLM.

[Millions-Knives]

Thanks for the info, I just picked up a G17 last month and haven't had the chance to fire it yet.
I've done some research on the BLM and I just couldn't get it right, a buddy I chatted with at a party said he goes shooting at Fraiser Park?

I really like the OLL idea, I've assembled my own 20" A2 style with the help of some folks here. I was amazed how little recoil it had, because I was already infected with the disease before I even shot one!

[MedSpec65]

I've got a Buckmark Camper with BSA red-dots that would be perfect for a lady's first trip to yes, an OUTDOOR range. I think most of us would agree some kind of .22 is the way to go.

[24_minutes_to_1000]

My girlfriend (fiance now) was deathly afraid of guns and it took me a lot of gentle persuasion to get her to come shooting with me. One day last summer she finally agreed so off we went to Chabot.

At first she jumped at every shot, but after a while she got used to the reports. The thing that amazed her most was the strict safety discipline displayed. She sort of had it in her mind that it was a free-for-all and imagined the range as a very dangerous place.

Anyway she finally sat down behind the Savage/Stevens. This is her first target. The first three were high and right, but after that she kinda took to it.




Later when we got home she consented to a photo holding her new friend:



Now she's always bugging me to reload. Life is so difficult sometimes

[FatKatMatt]

Marin County, where I live, is a generally very anti-gun place but a lot of people that I've met seem to be open minded about them and would like to at least try a gun before condemning them.

This past Friday I took my friend and his mom shooting at Bullseye, I shoot .45 almost exclusively so I make sure to start the newbies off on smaller calibers. My friend enjoyed the experience, since he had never shot pistol, only .22's in the Boyscouts, I started him off on .38 and worked up from that until he tried out my .45 and then a .357 Mag; he was flinching with the .38 but once I showed him proper technique he got better.

His mother, however, didn't like the recoil nor the noise, even on the small calibers, so some people you can't convert; at least now she's more open to firearms than before.

Tommorrow I may take another friend and his Dad to the range; they've never shot before so I'll probably follow the same formula. Good hunting everyone.

[TonyM]

The key is, for her first time shooting, give her something fun, like a 500 S&W...... That is, if you never want her to go again, or possibly never call you again.

Seriously, make sure to start smaller. I started my wife with a 9mm and she loved it.

Good ear protection seems to be key, most people are more concerned with the sound than anything else.

[pullnshoot25]

My girlfriend (fiance now) was deathly afraid of guns and it took me a lot of gentle persuasion to get her to come shooting with me. One day last summer she finally agreed so off we went to Chabot.

At first she jumped at every shot, but after a while she got used to the reports. The thing that amazed her most was the strict safety discipline displayed. She sort of had it in her mind that it was a free-for-all and imagined the range as a very dangerous place.

Anyway she finally sat down behind the Savage/Stevens. This is her first target. The first three were high and right, but after that she kinda took to it.




Later when we got home she consented to a photo holding her new friend:



Now she's always bugging me to reload. Life is so difficult sometimes

Dude... your fiance is way chill... enough said

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

I took my girlfriend who was somewhat anti-guns (didn't care to have one or shoot one herself, thought I was a little gun crazy) to Metcalf about a month ago. Also brought along a friend of mine who had not fired a gun since he was 7, so 11 years.

My friend (Stephen) had a 10/22 that he never been able to fire so he took that, and I brought along my 8mm German Mauser and the only pistol I have, my 1911a1 from the SA, G.I. .45.

So my girlfriend sat down and fired the 10/22 at the 50 yard range and had a lot of fun. Stephen had fun shooting his 10/22 for the first time as well.

Now came time for the Mauser. I sat down and showed them it was no big deal, bark is worse than it's bite type of thing. So anyways, I have my girlfriend load in a fresh stripper clip into the magazine (after showing her how) and she sits down and I make sure the rifle is right where it should be so there won't be any kick. She pulls the trigger and it fires. A full second later, she yells out a high-pitched shriek. Stephen and I laughed our asses off and my girlfriend didn't want to shoot it anymore after she fired a second round.

She could not get enough of the 1911 though, and she was a first-time shooter. She didn't mind the kick at all. I specifically would only load a single round until she got used to it, but she wanted to fire 7 rounds after shooting it only a few times. She forgot range safety a few times (and by this I mean watching out for the cows on the hill) but in a funny way: "Hey you hit the black!" and her response "I did?!" as she turns around and the muzzle points to the hills over the backstop.

She'll probably want to shoot some more when she's back from college over the summer.