Help me help my wife

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digital-audiophile

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Took my wife to the range with me this afternoon, she does not shoot often but likes to come when we are kid free for an afternoon and we have some free time.

She started on my GSG and while not great she was still getting close to centre but with wide groups. I then moved her on to my P226's and out of 30 rounds she only hit the target 6 times at 5M. I brought the target in to 3M and in 20 rounds she did not hit the target once. On the 6 she hit @ 5M the shots were very low and right so I assume that is where the rest of the rounds went off target low and right. She just got frustrated after that and wanted to call it a day.

I walked her through between magazines on how to line up her sight picture, adjust grip, stance etc. any other tips?

And yes..before anyone says it, I know this thread is worthless without pics. Lol!
 
Had this done to me, load the gun for her and #### the hammer so it is ready to shoot, don't let her know there is an EMPTY magazine in the gun. Then watch as she pulls the trigger. In anticipation of the recoil she is probably pulling the gun low and to the right. Assure her so is not doing anything wrong, use your .22 to establish grip and control then move up to the 9mm. I found my accuracy to greatly improve, it was just a natural flinch that one has to work out. Hope this helps.
 
Load the pistol for her, hand her the gun. Let her shoot it.

Then, while she is not watching, DON'T load the gun, but DON'T tell her. Give her the gun back, & let her shoot it.

My guess is you will see her REALLY FLINCH!

If so, stop & go back to basics. Tell her she is on the 'right end' of the gun, it's not going to hurt her & continue loading OR NOT loading the gun for her...

She will quickly learn not to flinch & ABOVE ALL, make it fun. Both of you should be laughing when she flinches, because we all flinch. You just need to learn to control it.

Also, we have a 22 conversion kit for our Glocks, the 22 is a great caliber to introduce a shooter to the sport with...

Good luck!

Cheers
Jay
 
Presuming you are getting better groups, sounds like a trigger pull/grip problem with the full size .. May be over anticipating the power of the larger caliber as opposed to the .22 .. A look see over the shoulder should reveal any trigger pull/grip movement.

Never fired both .. So just a comment .... Also check the ammo bag for blanks .....
 
It could be a flinch. But it could be a few other things.

First off check that she isn't blinking her eyes at each shot. It's not as rare as you may think. And blinking is a sign that she's flinching. There's more than one way to flinch. Usually it's trying to anticipate the recoil and fight it down. But it's just as bad a flinch issue if it's done out of nervousness. Blinking at each shot is a good indicator of this.

She may be pulling the trigger with her whole hand. As in squeezing the gun harder at the same time her trigger finger is pulling back. That's going to produce shotgun like groupings as well. Sometimes this is due to holding on too tight and other times it's back to being a little nervous about what the gun is going to do in her hands.

She may be pulling the trigger to the BANG! and then letting go all at once in a nervous spasm. She needs to "follow through" and hold the trigger back all through the recoil and show that it's still back.

Is she simply pulling the trigger with a quick nervous sort of jerking action? That'll ruin any chance of accuracy as well. Show her how to build pressure slowly by ramping up the pressure. At some point the trigger will move. But it should be in response to her build up in pessure and move when IT wants to move instead of when SHE wants it to move. Done well this building up of pressure will cause the actual hammer break and BANG! to be a surprise. But remember the follow through. Her job isn't to pull the trigger until it goes BANG! It is to build pressure until the trigger is at the rear travel stop, hold it there during the flash, noise and recoil and then equally progresively ease the pressure and allow the trigger to come forward.

A good first few times around with this she should ramp up the pressure over a good 2 to 3 seconds. Eventually, once she has the idea, she can work the trigger much faster. But it should always be a build of pressure and not a nervous twitch at the trigger. Pressure is control, stabbing or twitching it is a lack of control that causes other muscles to jump as well.
 
Saw this trick on youtube which helped me out. Take a cartridge, put it on top of the slide, and have her squeeze the trigger. It doesn't take much of a flinch to cause the cartridge to fall off. Get her to practice her squeeze until she can keep the cartridge from falling off.

Snap caps would be a good idea if she doesn't get it right away.
 
Purchase her a pistol that will fit in her hands, like a tokarov. easy and cheap ammo..once she becomes more comfortable she can apply her learned skills to the larger frame pistols
 
There is some excellent advice here and I really appreciate it! I was suspecting that it is a combination of anticipating the bang, flinching and squeezing with her whole hand. I stepped into the bay beside her to try to watch her hands but of course to whole process from trigger pull to bang to recoil happens so fast it is hard to take it all in. With her permission I want to take a couple quick videos so we can analyze. I really like the idea of using in an empty mag so I can get a good idea of what is happening.

I just don't want her to ger frustrated as I know she enjoys trying to shoot but it is discouraging when you don't get the results you want. I explained that this is a tangible skill and the reason I fire tight groups on target is because I go to the range almost every weekend to practice.
 
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Let her know we all have a learning curve. I was feeling like hot **** with a 9mm before I went up to .40 cal. I was quicky humbled, and realized I had more to learn. You're a lucky guy that she wants to go to the range with you. If only I could get mine out there. :D
 
thumbshark said:
Purchase her a pistol that will fit in her hands, like a tokarov. easy and cheap ammo..once she becomes more comfortable she can apply her learned skills to the larger frame pistols
Click to expand...

The single stack 1911 size grip of the GSG is already pretty small. Not Tokarev tiny but compact. I've yet to see any women that had trouble with a single stack 1911. Most find that it fits well. The double stack Sig is another story though and your comment about grip frame size makes sense with that one.

....I stepped into the bay beside her to try to watch her hands but of course to whole process from trigger pull to bang to recoil happens so fast it is hard to take it all in.....
Click to expand...

If it's happening that fast then it suggests to me that she's jerking the trigger. It comes back to the idea of getting her to slow down and build up trigger pressure over a couple of seconds. It ain't a mouse button or a joystick controller for a computer game. It takes technique to pull a handgun trigger correctly and send the bullets out in a nicely controlled manner.

That hint for balancing a bullet casing on the front of the slide just behind the front sight is another excellent one. Your Sig is a DA/SA gun so it's perfect. Have her do this in DA mode so she HAS to build the trigger pressure over a longer travel of spring resistance to the trigger break and then follow through.

I've seen folks with good trigger control pull the trigger 10 or more times and the casing is still on the slide. Each time the hammer fell the casing hopped back towards the hammer a tiny bit. But this little march was in a straight line the whole time which demonstrated that his trigger pull was perfectly neutral and that the only thing moving was his trigger finger and not any other muscle in his hand at all. That is what she needs to get closer to being able to accomplish.
 
Might be her eyes, definitely not the trigger on a GSG 1911. Flinch is also a factor. Buy an Airsoft, so you can shoot even in the comfort of your living room. A pellet gun for the basement. Or get snap caps, and let her practice dry firing.
 
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