My wife doesn't care for guns...and it's MY fault!

[Bigtanker]

Yes it is true. During a recent conversation with my wife about her learning to shoot, I realized that I scared the crap out of her a long time ago. When we were dating over 13 years ago, I talked her into going to shoot with me. I was thrilled and wanted her to see how proficient I was with my Ruger Super Redhawk in 44 magnum. After teaching her the safety points, I talked her into shooting the Ruger. She did and didn't care for it. So my buddy and I finished our shooting with her watching. I chalk that one up to being young and immature.

During our recent talk, she told my that shooting "that big gun" really scared her and that she has a hard time trusting me not to do that again. I have a MKII and a full size XDm 9mm that she can learn on which both have little recoil. I have made some progress but I feel that it is still a ways off.

 

[Kev]

If things are that difficult for her... why not go all the way down to a .22? Just get the basics out of the way, like holding/aiming/etc. Then move up a little bigger, maybe a .380?

Oh.. and from another married man... it will always be your fault...

 

[SmokinSigs357]

Feel fortunate. My wife's uncle died in a ND incident. I'm fortunate to be able to own guns at my house. She hates guns. She hates when I have gun shows on. She hates when I get gun catalogs in the mail.

So, all you INGO-ers who have "cool" wives, give 'em an extra hug and peck on the cheek for me, would ya?!!!

 

[BoldCourageousWoman]

The. 22 is the way to go. You might even want to start with understanding the gun and it's mechanics. Take it apart. Help her understand how it works, what can and cannot make it fire. Show her that you live by the 4Rules. All of the info will give her a sense of control. Knowledge and a sense of control will typically overcome fear. It would also be good to introduce her to a woman or two that enjoy shooting. Women like to do stuff together, and a good friend might be all she needs to find the confidence to try again.

Good luck!

 

[ashby koss]

Feel fortunate. My wife's uncle died in a ND incident. I'm fortunate to be able to own guns at my house. She hates guns. She hates when I have gun shows on. She hates when I get gun catalogs in the mail.

So, all you INGO-ers who have "cool" wives, give 'em an extra hug and peck on the cheek for me, would ya?!!!

That is like hating nails because they were used on Christ. PLUS it was a ND! I honestly don't know how you don't get into arguments daily.. I'm sorry to hear about your situation and tip my hat to you.

 

[Westside]

If things are that difficult for her... why not go all the way down to a .22? Just get the basics out of the way, like holding/aiming/etc. Then move up a little bigger, maybe a .380?

Oh.. and from another married man... it will always be your fault...

^^^^^ What he said.

start with a 22lr. (assuming you can find ammo) a ruger Mk series, Buckmark, sig mosquito, etc. there are lots of nice 22 pistols out there and are great for teaching fundamentals.


and he is also right, it will always be your fault.

 

[AtTheMurph]

I think the wife has a point. Sticking a 44mag in the hand of some girl who has never shot is a good way to have her hate you. Why not just tell her to put her hand out and hit it with a baseball bat and see what kind of reaction you get. I'll bet she won't put her hand out again when you tell her this time it won't hurt.

I can only imagine how those female memory neurons are working every time you bring it up!

 

[Bigtanker]

I think the wife has a point. Sticking a 44mag in the hand of some girl who has never shot is a good way to have her hate you. Why not just tell her to put her hand out and hit it with a baseball bat and see what kind of reaction you get. I'll bet she won't put her hand out again when you tell her this time it won't hurt.

I can only imagine how those female memory neurons are working every time you bring it up!

I know but she DID marry me.

For my birthday at the end of this month I think i'll ask her to go to the range with me as my present. (With the .22 only)

 

[Hoosier Cowboy]

Agree with everyone else on getting her started with a .22, my wife was very weary despite me training her and her dad who is a cop training her but finally got where she is damn good with a .22 and feels comfortable with it. She CC most of the time and I was kinda worried about her only having a .22 for personal safety so recently I bought her the Kel-Tec PMR 30 that has a 30 round clip. She and I both feel safer with her having 30 rounds at her disposal with it being a .22

 

[gregkl]

I know but she DID marry me.

For my birthday at the end of this month I think i'll ask her to go to the range with me as my present.

Your MKII? Are you referring to a Ruger MKII .22 pistol? If so, that is perfect for her to shoot. Glad to see you realized it was just a "young and dumb" thing. It amazes me that older adults still take their wife and/or girlfriend to the range and stick a hand cannon in their hands. Geesh.

My wife is actually starting to like to shoot. She loves the .22 and I recently bought a Ruger 10/22 for some Steel Challenge this summer(if I can find ammo ) but I think she may take over ownership with it.

She will shoot my 1911 and my 9mm and maybe one day she will shoot the 9mm more often, but she has FUN when we go to the range and she shoots .22.

 

[Bigtanker]

Your MKII? Are you referring to a Ruger MKII .22 pistol? If so, that is perfect for her to shoot. Glad to see you realized it was just a "young and dumb" thing. It amazes me that older adults still take their wife and/or girlfriend to the range and stick a hand cannon in their hands. Geesh.

My wife is actually starting to like to shoot. She loves the .22 and I recently bought a Ruger 10/22 for some Steel Challenge this summer(if I can find ammo ) but I think she may take over ownership with it.

She will shoot my 1911 and my 9mm and maybe one day she will shoot the 9mm more often, but she has FUN when we go to the range and she shoots .22.

It's a MKII Target with a 10" barrel. I no longer have the Super Redhawk. I do have a
10/22 also i'll take along.

 

[gregkl]

It's a MKII Target with a 10" barrel. I no longer have the Super Redhawk. I do have a
10/22 also i'll take along.

Cool. You will get her going again. I don't know if you shoot indoors or outside, but outside is much better. Mostly due to the dude in the next lane trying to get his wife to shoot his .454 Casull and causing the walls of the range to reverberate! My wife has only shot indoors so far and I keep reminding her that it will be much better outside. I actually have her looking forward to doing and Appleseed this Summer.

 

[rhkirk1]

I did the same type of thing with mine, but it was only a 38. It was a lightweight j-frame, and she hated it. Now I can't get her to shoot anything but a 22.

 

[schafe]

I'm glad things went differently for me. When we decided to start shooting, my wife insisted that she wasn't starting out with a "weenie" 22 !
She said she wanted to learn with the caliber she intended to carry. (9mm)
She started right off with it and now she loves to shoot 9mm and 45(from the WWll Remington Rand 1911 that I bought her for our 40th wedding anniversary.) I love to watch her shoot, and console her when she doesn't shoot better than me. (I'll let you guess how often I need to console her...or not.)

 

[Dj15802]

I wouldn't exactly classify my Super RedHawk as a starter gun.
if its any consolation....My wife doesn't care for me and its also all my Fault.

 

[LarryC]

You guys ought to shoot with one of my DIL's, She is a school teacher - really likes to shoot. I believe the largest handgun she has shot was the S&W 500 Super Mag. Only reason she hasn't fired a bigger one is that she hasn't see it! She fired my LR 308 last time I went out to their house to shoot. Really likes it, but I was cleaning between every round while breaking in the barrel, so she got her AK out and practiced with it! She also has fired my Son's S&W 357 mag a lot. She is a pretty darn good shot, likes to go through the ammo!

 

[Andre46996]

My wife said if I bought another EBR she was gonna leave me.. God I'll miss her once prices come back to somewhat normal..

 

[onetwoonetwo]

My wife said if I bought another EBR she was gonna leave me.. God I'll miss her once prices come back to somewhat normal..

now that there is funny^^^^^^^^

 

[87iroc]

I would never start someone out on a large gun. I shot my brothers .44 mag and it was a beast even for me. Not something I'd want to shoot regularly.

I hope to get my daughter out shortly and maybe get my wife shooting with us but I'm not holding my breath. She tolerates them but doesn't like them much. She doesn't do a full body shiver when I am cleaning them anymore though...so we are making progress.

 

[Movealongmovealong]

This reminds me of a recent outing with my wife's parents to a gun range. Now, I don't shoot large caliber handguns, but I have. Strongest recoiling setup I currently shoot is a 12ga shotgun with 3" mag buckshot.

I explain to them about safety, handling procedures, range rules, so forth... they have both shot shotguns before, but only with birdshot. Finally, I get to re-emphasizing about hearing protection:

"So, some people at the range like to shoot really large caliber guns and they are extremely loud, so you're going to need to double up on hearing protection and wear ear plugs and over-the-ear muffs or else it's going to hurt (her Dad already had significant hearing loss in his 40's from factory work)."

Mother-in-law's reply:

"Oh, don't worry, we can 'handle it' " (I call this her magical, Superhuman thinking)

"We'll be fine just wearing foamies"

I insist:

"No, you really don't understand how loud it can get. Anything over 80 decibels will cause some loss and big guns can easily exceed 160 decibels at the muzzle, and it's an exponential increase in volume as you go up the scale. Your foamies will only reduce that by 20 or 25 dB's leaving you with a large amount of excessive noise. Only doubling up will do."

After quite a bit of hemming and hawwing they both relent.

We get to the range and some dude in the stall right next to us pulls out a .50AE Deagle and starts blasting away not 3" away from us. Suddenly, a change of heart....

"OMG, OMG that gun is SOOOOO loud. That's really scary! OMG, OMG. I'm so glad we put on that extra hearing protection. Wow! I can't believe how LOUD it is.... etc."

Me: "Uhhh-huhh......"

Kinda the reverse situation, with me trying to avert what I know will be an instilled phobia of shooting if in-laws get spooked their first time out with handguns.