Need help

[mixerman73711]

Ladies,

I am trying to introduce some friends of mine to shooting , but I am running into a problem. I am trying to find some information on shooting positions and women specfic training materials. The girls I am taking shooting both shoot very very well, but their stances are hindered by their... and I have thought about this but there is no other way of saying this... chest. I need some guidance, and maybe someone to point me in the right direction. If it makes a difference we tend to shoot AK's and AR's. This is not for any type of competition but rather for practical shooting skill, and to have a fun safe time.

Please help

[Steyrlp10]

I had to change my response once I understood you're asking about rifle postions. Sorry, my forte is pistol and it's all standing, no benched or prone positions.

[9mmepiphany]

i had to change mine too, since i mostly instruct with handguns. although i did recently get a client shooting very well with his .375 H&H Mag that he had outfitted for large bear

from that experience, i would say they should adopt a stance less like the Weaver and more like the Isosceles...that is facing the target more. it would look less like a traditional marksmanship stance and more along the lines of how modern Military and LEO stand when wearing body amour. it's not like either the AR or AK have that much recoil.

there are other pointers, but i don't think i have the words to describe them clearly enough to benefit you...it is really something that needs to be adapted to each person's build

[mixerman73711]

Well thats a lot more info than I have been able to find on my own. Thank you. I will just have to try to do my best. Is there any on-line photographic refrences that anybody is aware of that I might be able to look up?

[9mmepiphany]

sorry i don't have anything

i just wing it when i teach based on what i know about body mechanics. females have the same problem when trying to use shoulder holsters or trying to shoot handguns from a Chapman stance.

try this: have them
1. face the target
2. shoulder the rifle
3. bring the rifle to their center-line until they can align the sights

[mixerman73711]

Alright. I will do that.

I think I would feel better if it was my wife instead of a freind.

Is there a womens specific training class out there that anybody knows about? Or does it matter, IYO?

[9mmepiphany]

i don't know of a specific rifle class for women.

i teach anyone who will pay...but then i'm Chinese and on a fixed income

it's not so much about the technique, it's about the ability to communicate in a different style...and, of course, understanding body mechanics and force vectors. that's the difference between teaching someone to do something and just having them do what you do. i base some of my teaching on Tai Chi movement, but that's even harder to explain on a forum

[bjl333]

When we fit a shotgun to a women for skeet the the stock tend to be cut diffenently. (I'll try to descript to the best of my ability) The Bottom of the stock is cut more inward like this one http://www.galleryofguns.com/ProdImageSm/011104404.jpg ... The regular ones http://www.browning.com/products/cat...tning-firearms have the heel of the stock sticking out. I hope this makes sense.

I have an old Colt CAR alumium stock where the butt part is very small compare to the 6-pos stock commonly in use today. The advantage of that stock is less surface on the soft tissue part of the chest. I think that'll allow more control of the firearm because it doesn't mesh the soft parts of the chest. ( I could imagine that'll probably hurt )

I don't know if all the babble make sense or not but I tried !!!

[mixerman73711]

That makes sense, but of course the AK is slightly different. I am sure I can get a TAPCO 6-postion stock and see if that works. The thing that is making this harder is that after I worked with my wife who is 5'10" and seeing everything work the way its supposed to, it kinda clicked, that my freind is around 5'2" with a larger upper body than most and shorter arms than can comfortable hold the gun correctly, and its just not working. I am going to have to just experment with diffrent things.

Thank you again.

[bjl333]

That makes sense, but of course the AK is slightly different.

I am sure I can get a TAPCO 6-postion stock and see if that works.

The main thing I think will help is a small buttpad (recoil pad) The smaller buttpad will allow her to stick the gun closer to where the stock needs to be. The Tapco stock is still has a butt plate thats too big, the stock I'm talking about has about 2/3 the butt surface area of the Tapco.

If she gets her own AK maybe installing an adjustable buttplate will help. That way the buttplate will be canted to fit around her chest/shoulder better.

Babbling again !!!

[masameet]

Yeah, we short females, with our short (in comparison with men) arms, need to shoot rifles that fit us. So shorter stocks or shorter rifles. Sometimes that means shooting rifles sized for "juniors."

[9mmepiphany]

just as an observation, the AK was sized for people of smaller stature...think Southeast Asians

[masameet]

I think I've only benchrested/shot AK/AR-type rifles. And they were sized for -- [GASP!] -- white guys!

The only time I shot a rifle standing, in my hands, it was an old Swiss rifle with iron sights (at least, that's what I recall). I complained that I couldn't seem to shoot it. And then the rifle's owner told me he knew a woman who was a top competitor in the rifle. He explained, calmly, how she held the rifle and shot it. Chastened, I used his observations, adjusted my arms, etc., and then found I could shoot the long rifle. Not comfortably, mind you. But at least I could shoot it.

[mixerman73711]

just as an observation, the AK was sized for people of smaller stature...think Southeast Asians

This is what I thought too, and I reccomended that they not get a NATO length stock, and to stay with the standard stocks (I have seen plenty of photos of small women with an AK slung over their shoulders) . Alas it is still a problem. Like I said I think I am going to set them up with the TAPCO 6-postion stock because her partner is not as small as she is, and is built differently.

I just think its going to take some trial and error, and hope in the process she does not get too frustrated that she looses intrest in shooting centerfire rifles.

All in all I am trying to be as profesional about this is as posssable without sounding like a chauvinist, because I want them to enjoy shooting as much as I do.

[j1133s]

just as an observation, the AK was sized for people of smaller stature...think Southeast Asians

Aren't Russians (more or less) considered large? To think the USSR would design a gun for Southeast Asians is nice though.

For your woman friend, I think those boobs shouldn't get in the way of shooting a rifle at all. If I shoulder a rifle, my nipples are no where near the gun. Maybe the boobs is might get in the way of their hand, but they are squishable. Remember to tell you friend to bring the gun sights to her eye instead of moving her head to the sights, this may help her shoulder the rifle better.