How do you introduce someone to shooting?

[JTH]

A few days ago I couldn't take it anymore, and write a blog post about people "teaching" new shooters.  (When you read it, you'll see why I put "teaching" in quotes.)

http://precisionresponse.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/first-time-shooters-quit-teaching-them-badly/

So, my question really is two-fold:

1) If you are a shooter, AND care about the 2nd amendment---how many people have you introduced to shooting this year?  Three?  One?  None? 

We KNOW that for most people, their "fear" of guns comes not from actual knowledge, but from a lack of knowledge.  They've never handled a firearm (and the unknown always causes fear) and so their understanding of guns comes from media reports and action movies. 

Yeah, that's just great.

I'll bet you that if you take someone new to the range, show them safe gun handling, let them accomplish something they've never done before (and feel justified pride in their accomplishment) ---I'll bet that there will be a new convert into the gun culture.  At the very least, they'll move from "anti-gun" to "ambivalent and questioning" which is much better.

So how many people have you introduced to shooting this year?


2) How do you DO it?  When you take a new shooter to the range, (assuming a one-on-one thing, not an actual class) how do you introduce them to firearms?  What guns do you use?  How do you show safe firearms handling?

I've got my own opinions about those, but I'm going to hold off on saying them, so that other people have a chance to talk before I blather on. 

I will say I introduce people on handguns instead of rifles, primarily because:

1) if you can be safe with a handgun, you'll find that being safe with long guns is much easier, and
2) if you can manage the basics of operating a handgun including using the sights, a lot of those skills transfer over to long guns---but the reverse isn't true to nearly the same level.

In my opinion.    Thoughts?

[Mudinyeri]

I don't know if I've "introduced" them all to shooting, but I'm probably close to about 60 this year and I still have a couple more Hunter Safety classes to go (I'm counting those classes as 'introductions').

If I'm just taking an individual out, I usually talk to them about what kinds of guns they're interested in before I start pulling things from the safe.  Young kids I normally "introduce" to a .22 (rifle or pistol).  Older kids and adults, I'll usually start with a 9mm.  If they're unfamiliar with semi-auto firearms, I start with just one round in the gun.

[UPCrawfish]

I am somewhat like Mudinyeri with 'introductions to shooting'..   

During the 6 weeks of Boy Scout Summer camp each year our Merit Badge classes in Shotgun and Rifle are usually max'ed out for most of the summer. 

I am directly involved with the Shotgun MB and we have a maximum of 48 youth a week due to class size restrictions and could reach 250+ a summer. 

I am indirectly involved with the Rifle MB that has a maximum 80 youth a week for a potential of 450+ a summer. 

As with Mud, I also teach a Hunter Ed class weekly to about 20 to 25 youth that are taking the Shotgun or Rifle MB class.  The two MB classes compliment the HE classes in that some of the same material is covered in both.

Now there is that percentage of Scouts that have had some family level training.  We usually have to 'undo' some of those bad habits picked up from 'Uncle Joe' or 'Grampa Bob' but we also have youth that have never touched a firearm of any kind, much less shot one.

Add to that some random HE classes in the Spring and Fall as well as conduct some MB classes outside of the summer camp program and I guess that my team and I touch quite a few youth a year.

Wow...  you write all that down and realize... That's a lot of kids - and paperwork...!!

[SemperFiGuy]

Good Fortune has given me the opportunity to work with new shooters in several venues.

Which has kept me from being stuck on The Absolute One Best, Safest Kind of firearm with which to start the new shooter.

Many new shooters only want to use one kind of firearm:   Rifle, Pistol, or Shotgun.  Maybe an air rifle or BB gun.  Slingshot.  Grandad's gun.  Whatever.

For many new shooters, that's all that they have in their possession.  Others only want to shoot one style (trap, plinking, concealed carry, etc.)   Also, new shooters come in various genders, ages, sizes, dispositions, abilities, etc.

It seems best to tune in to the New Shooter's needs and then work with the shooter to fulfill those needs, whatever they might be.

Best firearm with which to start is the one that the New Shooter wants to use, I'm thinkin'.   The one issue that I'm pretty darn dogmatic about is to always start with Firearms Safety.   First Thing First.

sfg

[NE Bull]

Well I will use last month as an example.  Had a younger fella at work that has shot with his military cousin on occasion and says he can't hit anything with a rifle.  A flyer come around for a Sporting clay shoot thru a supplier.  I started nagging on him we should go, and he said I've never shot one before. I says, "I can teach ya" - "when?" Me- "Today, right after work" And so we did. Talked range safety on the drive out, Started out with lil single shot break actions, working on firearm function, proper form, and of course safety.  Then onto bigger bores, also transitioning from stationary target, to sweeping a hanging target and finally I broke out the thrower.  HOLY COW- Mr. I've-never was busting clays left and right, no matter what I put in his hands! .410/ 20/ 12/ even the ol cowboy coach gun!
Two days later he is the proud owner of a Mossy 500, and thrower, brick of shells and case o clays asking-when can we do that again?
Word traveled, now I have a couple younger gals that want to go shootin' too.
That only makes a couple THIS year, with more to come.  But I think the moral here is if they show that interest- get them out there before they change their minds or someone changes it for them.
And (as I learned from Mr UPcrawfish there, ) no matter what discipline, don't bore them with all the book work; a quick safety talk, get the gun in their hands, talk about how it works, and get a shot off ASAP.  It doesn't matter if they miss on the first shot, it is mostly a Hey that didn't hurt me, and I'm still alive.  Once the newbie has crossed that threshold, now it's time to focus on the specifics.  Especially on pistol/ rifle, I like to work thru fundamentals one by one, correcting one little thing- stance, hold, breath, trigger, etc and let them watch their groups get smaller and smaller, that way they can see how each little thing affects the outcome. 

Side note: Same young fella wants to do Rifle and pistol, but " I don't wanna start off with some little .22, I wanna something manly"  I explained to him " On MY Range, we start out on .22. If you can't put down good fundamentals with a .22,  I ain't puttin' anything big in yer hands. "  Sure I could throw a .45-70 or Mosin at him and laugh, but I don't operate that way.  And anyways, I always buy (the ammo) on the first round, sooo.... .22 it is.  

[OnTheFly]

I know where you are going with this.  We have all probably experienced someone "teaching" a new shooter without reinforcing the fundamental rules of safety or giving them a less than positive experience by poor choice of entry level firearm.  Maybe this thread will make some of us realize that we WERE/ARE that person who is not acting as a good ambassador to shooting.

• Start small.  .22 handgun or rifle.
• Start simple.  Preferably a revolver or single shot rifle. 
• Teach safety fundamentals and continue to reinforce them whenever you see an infraction.
• Teach function of gun using snap caps or empty gun (safety, mag release, loading/unloading etc.)
• Teach grip and stance
• Teach aiming principles (sight alignment, front sight focus, determine dominant eye, one or both eyes open, etc.)
• Have new shooter dry fire gun with snap caps if possible so they can practice loading/unloading.
• Have them load gun with live ammunition.  One round in semi-auto.
• Keep watching for safety infractions and positively correct

Fly

[NE Bull]

I don't know if I told this story here yet. But I witnessed earlier this summer (of course, not the first time- and I know it won't be the last) a couple at the range shooting a nice 1911 .45. The young woman- all of maybe a buck-ten- was tea cupping, leaning back and mostly getting her butt kicked.  After a mag or two, I couldn't stand it any more and asked my student to cease fire. I walked over and asked if I could offer some assistance which , thankfully, was welcomed. After correcting stance and hold, and a couple other small infractions, she was able to hold a decent group on target and do so without getting beat up.  It just bothers me when I see someone not enjoying a firearm experience due to improper/ partial instruction.  (One reason I took the chance at NRA Instructor Training, so I knew I was doing it right. )

[AJ_Engineer]

I really like starting with my Savage .22 rifle with a suppressor. Allows for few control problems since it's so long (no muzzle sweeps) and with the suppressor you don't need hearing protection to start with so you can talk them through everything easier. Throw some clay targets on the berm so they are a little more reactive than punching holes in paper. When explaining it to them I walk them through all of the functions, the scope and eye relief, and making sure they keep the rifle shouldered as this is key once you start dealing with things that have recoil. This will be sitting on a bench.

After that I move to the .22 pistol with suppressor to have them get used to a pistol. Work on proper grip, muzzle control, stance, arm position. Again with the suppressor it helps as we still don't have ear protection in so we can talk easier.

Then it's a toss up and I let them decide. 9mm pistol, AR, Remington 870. Whichever one I do, it's only one round in the magazine as the recoil is quite a bit different. Same principals as before. Give them a few times of a magazine with just one round, then load a few rounds in it and let them empty the magazine.

Then it's back to asking them what they want to shoot. I've had some friends have a great time just plinking with the .22's on the first time out.

One mistake I did make once, was I took the first shot with my AR to show them the difference in noise. Had them standing behind and to the right of me, exactly where the hot brass flies...Whoops.

[JTH]

Talk about timing....

http://www.shootingwire.com/features/227982

[Dan W]

I like to take youths out to WATCH me shoot...they have lots of motivation when you tell them they can't do (fill in the blank)

[jdredskinsfan]

I've introduced a few people within the past year. At school I knew a lot of people who had never shot before, and hey, I like to share so taking people out is nice. I saw that you start with handguns--I actually usually start with rifles because they're easier to shoot, so it seems like first-time shooters get less frustrated.

I will say that I have a lot of friends--some shooters, some not--who have been afraid of AR-15s for some time. But I've yet to have anyone that I let shoot my AR-15 not turn around with a huge smile on their face. Turns out it's pretty easy to convince people that shooting is a great hobby when you actually let them shoot quality firearms.

[NE Bull]

+1 Smiles are good.