So, yesterday I went to the range with an old friend and his wife. They asked me if I would give them some instruction on their SWM60(.357) and their Remy 870 Express (7 rounds). He had a bad experience with an aquaintence who had him shoot .357's out of the little 5 shot his first time out. That same friend had him shoot slugs out of his gun. He hadn't shot them since. We started with his little revolver which I loaded with some .38 Special's which were loaded light. After some basic safety and marksmanship instruction he and his wife were doing well hitting the target CM from about 5 yards. However, after about 20 to 25 rounds she was getting tired of the trigger and the recoil. He wasn't as tired but was starting to jerk the trigger. My 22 y/o daughter was shooting her G17 right next to us and was nailing CM. My friends wife had taken notice. She asked me about my daughters gun. I gave them a little break and that's when I pulled out a Glock 19 and a Glock 17. Those mags were were loaded with WWB 115gr. FMJ. Again after some basic instruction I had them fire at new targets. Immediately I saw the difference. Suddenly my friends wife was no longer tired. She was hitting CM with ease and I saw a smile. Even I was amazed. Then it was his turn. I reloaded a mag for the 17 (which she was partial to) and had him fire away. Dead on CM. Of course I explained the benefits of capacity, reliability, ease of maintenence, etc. She asked me how much a 17 would cost. The light had been turned on for them. Now it was my turn to smile. I explained to them about GSSF and the discount and they will be filling out applications right away. Of course they asked if we can all go out to shoot the 17 again soon. Mission complete. That's four converts in two months. I feel good! HR p.s. the 870 instruction was conducted with bird shot and they enjoyed it also.
Hugo,you are a wise and good friend to those folks.So many others do exactly what their first instructor (if we want to call him that) did and the students become intimidated enough to never touch their gun/guns again.Thank you for helping that couple from falling into the same trap.tom. ETA ,I feel lax for not responding earlier.tom.
This is great. Sometimes we are our worst enemies. The macho guys who want to make people think they are tuff and can handle the heavy recoil. We want to bring more people into our sport not scare them off..
I've been teaching a long time and one thing I've learned is that if a person ENJOYS what they are doing they will want to keep on doing it. I can take just about anybody and teach them to shoot just about any gun. One thing I think is great about our much loved (and sometimes maligned) Glock 17 is that it is just the right size for just about anybody and reminds me very much of the old S&W BB M10 I first received instruction with. So easy to hold, natural to shoot and almost no recoil. Of course the people want to come back and shoot it more, heck they really ENJOYED it the first time. Recently I met a couple of gals who are roomates who had just purchased a G17 but had not received any instruction. I was happy to provide about 35 minutes of my time to instruct them on basics. They were so happy and ready to sign up for a class with a good professional. I know they are going to continue to get good instruction and they will be well protected at home. I want to start a side business teaching these skills to new shooters but unfortunately I'm still working and just don't have the time. But maybe in the near future I'll be able to slow down some more and have the time to do just that. Heck I'd do it for cheap since I get a great thrill out of opening folks eyes to the wonderful world of handgunning, self defence, and the venerable Glock 17. HR
Update: My daughter and I spent a few hundred rounds @ Insight Shooting Range in Artesia, CA, shooting our G17's and my G17L. What an awesome time. As usual I watched other people shooting and in many cases spraying and praying. I wish I could help them all but I had to instruct my daughter and get some rounds down range with my 17L. The performance of the 17's and 17L is just incredible eating everything we brought, American Arms and WWB 115gr. Ball, a box of old Federal 115gr. Hydrashoks and our carry ammo 124gr. Speer GDHP. Glock 17/17L...just loving them! HR
Oh heck yeah! I'm always training me and mine for a C3ZO and figure my Glock 17 (and of course my G17L) would be the sidearm of choice! Capacity and reliability mixed with ease of maintenance and the simplistic ease with which it shoots accurately?!? Absolutely the best choice for when the balloon goes up! HR
That is fantastic. I am not only referring to the original post, but also to your other comments. I know there is no way to prove it, but as I was reading your posts, I got the feeling that you may have saved somebody's life by not only teaching them that handguns are not evil, they are actually very fun to shoot and are a great sport/hobby. Maybe one of those young girls may use what you showed them to one day save a life. We need hundreds of thousands more people doing the exact same thing every day.
