I got to the range last Saturday to help teach a female friend how to shoot. She's in her late 50s and and I found out at the range that she has a little pain in her hands. I worked her through my handguns anyway because that's what was available. I wasn't as concerned in finding the perfect gun for her as much as just It was her first time shooting and I wanted to get her a little bit comfy with getting a gun in her hands safely and working through the paces. I have a 357 J frame that we shot some 125gr 38s out of and a S&W M&P Shield 9mm that we shot 124gr out of.
A couple of things I need help with:
She wasn't able to work the slide on the Shield. Ok, cool. I was able to chamber her first shot of the mag and let her ride it home. It got me thinking that I don't have a lot of trouble there and I need some advice if she wants to keep looking at semi autos. I'm thinking we need to move into a midsized gun to get the recoil spring to loosen up a bit. I also don't know if the recoil spring on a da/sa is any softer than that of a striker fire like mine. Any thoughts?
With the J frame revolver, she was able to cock the hammer and fire sa fine. All you do is breathe and the gun fires. I encouraged her to keep with the da. it's a 12 pound pull on the Model 60. I'm thinking that we can stick with a small to midsized J or K frame. Are the da only triggers ALWAYS lighter? Something like the S&W 640 catches my eye.
Anyway, thoughts on top of mine and other gun suggestions are certainly appreciated. I want her to touch a few more guns and get a little more range time in before she buy something. She's got her LTCH and I can only slow her down so much before she buys something.
A couple of things I need help with:
She wasn't able to work the slide on the Shield. Ok, cool. I was able to chamber her first shot of the mag and let her ride it home. It got me thinking that I don't have a lot of trouble there and I need some advice if she wants to keep looking at semi autos. I'm thinking we need to move into a midsized gun to get the recoil spring to loosen up a bit. I also don't know if the recoil spring on a da/sa is any softer than that of a striker fire like mine. Any thoughts?
With the J frame revolver, she was able to cock the hammer and fire sa fine. All you do is breathe and the gun fires. I encouraged her to keep with the da. it's a 12 pound pull on the Model 60. I'm thinking that we can stick with a small to midsized J or K frame. Are the da only triggers ALWAYS lighter? Something like the S&W 640 catches my eye.
Anyway, thoughts on top of mine and other gun suggestions are certainly appreciated. I want her to touch a few more guns and get a little more range time in before she buy something. She's got her LTCH and I can only slow her down so much before she buys something.