Taking my 18 yo daughter shooting today for first time

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orangeRcode

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My daughter has been around firearms her whole life. She's watched me clean and work on my guns. She recently said she wanted to learn how to shoot. Our schedules have finally worked out and we are going to H&H to tear up some paper.

I've taught all my kids safe gun handling and taken my 10 year old son out shooting many times. This is the first for my high maintenance daughter. :yikes2:
We will be shooting a .22, 9mm, .357(using .38 specials) and .45. I may take my AR if I'm feeling froggy.

What sage advice can you give me?
 

EFsDad

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Take a bunch of pictures, especially when she is smiling ear to ear. That way the next time she is feeling down, show her the picture and ask her if she wants to go shooting again.

Good eye protection and hearing of course and go real easy on style and performance.
 

BadgeBunny

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Make sure she doesn't wear a low cut top. This has resulted in a hot brass being caught down the shirt.

THIS!!

And no heels. Or sandals (although it's a bit cool today) ... Tennis shoes or low-heeled shoes ...

Take a hat with a brim. Just in case. Some kids (boys and girls) don't like the brass ejecting at first ... The brim will keep it away from her face if it happens to fly that way.

Don't nag. Show her and then LET HER DO IT ... As long as she is being safe give her the chance to figure it out herself once you give her the lowdown. That is the single biggest complaint I hear from women folk. Their men (dads, husbands, boyfriends, brothers, uncles, you name it) don't give them a chance to work through what they are trying to learn. If she asks for help that is one thing. But WAIT until she asks for help after you have shown her the basics. Staying close is one thing; hovering like you think she is incapable of following your instructions, or figuring it out for herself is quite another.

HAVE FUN!! You are laying the groundwork for many more trips to the range (or your one and only trip with her) ... Okie4570 is right about letting her outshoot you. Don't be obvious but this is about her having a good time, not you showing her what a good shot you are. Let her shoot more than you do ... Encourage her to shoot 3 magazines to your one.

DO NOT make a big deal out of recoil. Let her try all the guns you take and let her pick her favorite. She might surprise you. But if you start off by telling her that one is worse than the other or that beginners need to start with a .22 because of the recoil you are going to limit her before she starts. I'd never even shot a .22 until after I hurt my neck. GC took a bunch of different guns to the range and let me pick which one I liked the best ... He taught me the basics with that one. Believe it or not, my favorite gun was (and still) is a G-31 ... but my neck can't take the recoil like it used to ... :(

Don't put her targets out too far to start with. 7 yards is not too close to start. Then move them out 3 or 4 yards at a time until she starts losing her accuracy and pull them back in and let her have some fun. It is important to finish on a good note!
 

pritch

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I'd hold off on the 9mm and .357 for today. Let her have a blast with the .22 and the AR. Once she is squared away, feed her mags and let her go. You may never get the AR back!
 

Capm_Spaulding

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I'm close to her age (22), and anytime I've taken my friends out to shoot for the first time, a lot of encouragement seems to help. She will likely be a little overwhelmed by all the sounds, especially if it's an indoor range. I'd start her out on the AR or the .22 just so she'll get the jitters out and to realize the recoil really isn't that bad. I'm sure she'll warm up to it pretty quick. From what I've seen, a lot of it is just the fear of the unknown. There's only so much you can read about and watch videos on before you just need to do it yourself. As long as she knows the basic rules of safety and stuff, I'd echo what they've said above me, just kind of let her go at her own pace and only intervene when necessary.
 

orangeRcode

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Here's what I'm planning on taking. I apologize in advance for the crappy cell phone photos. We can't all take pics like Lucas!
 

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