MamaLiberty
New member
Excellent post, Jessica. Bravo.
A .22 is an excellent defensive weapon if that's all she will shoot/carry. Any gun is better than no gun. Is it ideal? Of course not. But starting someone out with "too much gun" is an almost sure way to stop any real progress toward something that is effective.
I start every new shooter with the .22 Ruger. How quickly they progress to shooting other calibers is up to them. Helping them decide what gun to buy and how to carry it can be a real challenge, but is always worth the time and effort. I find that people dislike certain guns or calibers for lots of reasons. Hand size/strength, grip size, weight and balance of the gun, powder charge in the cartridge... lots of things make a real difference to the comfort and accuracy of various guns. In many cases, once the problems are identified, steps can be taken to mitigate them and the person will more likely be able/willing to try things they previously thought they didn't like!
And gentlemen... even if you have a wonderful relationship with your ladies... you'll be money and relationship ahead to find a good instructor - even if you can't find a woman instructor - to give the ladies the right foundation without the emotional and territorial baggage you may not even know you bring to the situation. I've had more ladies tell me that "instruction" by their husbands and boyfriends almost destroyed their willingness to shoot EVER, and that they know others who won't even consider it after that experience.
A .22 is an excellent defensive weapon if that's all she will shoot/carry. Any gun is better than no gun. Is it ideal? Of course not. But starting someone out with "too much gun" is an almost sure way to stop any real progress toward something that is effective.
I start every new shooter with the .22 Ruger. How quickly they progress to shooting other calibers is up to them. Helping them decide what gun to buy and how to carry it can be a real challenge, but is always worth the time and effort. I find that people dislike certain guns or calibers for lots of reasons. Hand size/strength, grip size, weight and balance of the gun, powder charge in the cartridge... lots of things make a real difference to the comfort and accuracy of various guns. In many cases, once the problems are identified, steps can be taken to mitigate them and the person will more likely be able/willing to try things they previously thought they didn't like!
And gentlemen... even if you have a wonderful relationship with your ladies... you'll be money and relationship ahead to find a good instructor - even if you can't find a woman instructor - to give the ladies the right foundation without the emotional and territorial baggage you may not even know you bring to the situation. I've had more ladies tell me that "instruction" by their husbands and boyfriends almost destroyed their willingness to shoot EVER, and that they know others who won't even consider it after that experience.
