Why Are Women Better Shots?

[SilverTauron]

After visiting the indoor range nearest me, I packed up my stuff and noticed a young lady shooting her Glock pistol at a target about 50 feet away from the line. Darn good shooting too, which was unusual . Out of the tens of people who've been at the lanes when i've gone shooting, only three that ive seen in person put their target at the same range I do with equal or better results.

One of those three was that girl, who was shooting so well I was half-tempted to buy another 30 minutes at the line to see how I stacked up in comparison.

I noticed also that my buddy's wife out-shoots her husband, even though both are novices when it comes to firearms.

My theory on this is that women pick arms which are practical for them to use, and then they decide on caliber, appearance, and other factors. By comparison most guys I know pick guns because someone else-a competitor, friend, TV or movie character,print magazine or family member said it was the bees knees. Afterward they'll shoot a 12" pattern at 10 feet and claim the sights are off, the trigger needs work, and other macho BS instead of realizing they bought the wrong gun for their needs. But that's my theory-what's yours , ladies and gents of calguns?

[Blademan21]

I find that a woman with no experience with a handgun has no bad habits,no macho complex...ect. They are then easier to teach good shooting skills. First time my wife shot a handgun was my G19 back in the early 90's. She did so well that she wanted me to buy her a gun. Being married only a couple of years I thought it best to buy her a base ball bat. A bat I could duck,a 9mm round is harder to avoid. I used to still party on the weekends,out grown that now. She now has her own G26 and is very good with it. My 2 cents.

[thomas.lugo]

I think that because shooting is looked at as more of a "man's thing", we get complaisant with remembering the fundamental's. Where as woman do naturally have to work harder at everything, because they know that they don't get the same treatment. Therefore, I think that when a woman is into doing something that typically only men do, they tend to strive to be that much better than just getting out there to shoot. Also, I have noticed in my few years that when someone has knowlege of something, but don't do it enough to become complaisant about it, they tend to get out there and kcik butt. These were just a couple of thing's I immediately thought about when I saw your post. Cool topic though. I guess we'll have to wait for a woman to kind of fill us in on what the real deal is.

[thomas.lugo]

I also agree with blademan21.

[Invisible_Dave]

They aren't, we just say that so they will go with us. ;-)

Obviously I'm kidding, but someone once told be it has to do with fine motor control and that women tend to be better at it then men. I tend to think it has to do with the bad habits as mentioned above. My wife is a fantastic shot with no real training.

[cebuvfr]

I took my wife to a range about 2 yrs ago and it was her first time to shoot. After a few shots getting used to the recoil(sig 229R), she just dialed in and outshot us. She's a natural and has better mechanics because of her archery background during college. She's been with me to the range only one more time after that but her shooting accuracy amazes me. I can just imagine her potential if she shoots as frequent as i do.

[BonnieB]

Funny, all the people who have answered so far are men, telling us about how women shoot. Yet again.

But the OP asked a valid and sincere question, that women might know the answer to. Several gentlemen made key remarks. The lack of macho thinking in women is one probable reason. We do not have ideas that because we are women we naturally know how to use firearms, genetically. Another reason is the tendency of women to select smaller handguns in both size and calibre is another. Women don't generally go to the range to compete, they go to improve.

I was told by a friend, former Special Forces, former LEO, that women have a physical advantage that has to to with the way our elbows are hinged. Apparently we can't lock our elbows as much as men and that helps to shoot accurately. (Also is the probable cause of "throwing like a girl", but that's another story)

I'm not sure that women are naturally more accurate, physically. It may be more about the type of women that go to the range in the first place. I think when a woman sets out to use firearms, she's a determined type of person. It's not just for laughs with her. She probably got lessons from someone other than her buddies. And she's willing to practice, practice, practice.

[MrsRazz]

Actually, I think it comes down to this:

When we buy an unassembled piece of furniture. I read the directions, DH just starts building it and when something doesn't fit or work, he'll finally go back and read the instructions.

A better example, when I had the Makarov on it's 10 day hold, I went and watched field stripping videos and reading everything I could find. DH picked it up and spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to remove the slide before going to look.

When I'm faced with something new, I approach it as something that I need to be patient and learn. When he's faced with something new his approach is, he knows how to do XXXX, so this can't be that hard.

[movie zombie]

eye hand coordination?

[vision1214]

It is proven that women have better hand-eye coordination. Did anyone watch the series Stars and Stripes - A woman won the competition. She even freaked out the Delta force guys with her shooting and she was new to shooting. They just taught her how to use each gun they used in that particular mission and ka-boom, she couldn't be stopped.

[spetsnaz]

women pay more attention

[vision1214]

Yes, we do pay more attention but what I have noticed with some men, it is almost a race to see how many bullets they can shoot in under a minute. I shoot about three shots and analyze the accuracy of those shots. If it isn't right, I adjust and do it again. Bullets are expensive, serious practice is priceless.

[Squid]

Only very small % of women do ANY shooting, while guys are much more

expected to do a little.

[guns4life]

D'Oh!

[vision1214]

expected to do a little.

You have any statistics to back up that claim? You have no idea how many women are out there shooting. I have been shooting for over 20 years and have seen many, many women over the years shooting. The older woman on my street is over 70 and has been shooting since a little girl. We are out there, you just don't see us.