Guns for small people...

I'd recomend a .22LR. Very user friendly to shoot and hard to be scared of with their lack of recoil.


Or an M1 Carbine, extremly handy little rifle, very light and easy to shoot.

The Marlin 60 would probably be best. You can buy a stock for it for $60 and cut the replacement (or the original if it's in rough shape) down to a length-of-pull that works for her.

Have her hold our her arm straight to the side with hear fingers pointed straight out. Then have her bend her elbow 90 degrees, so she's pointing her fingers straight ahead. Measure from the crook of her elbow out to the crease of the last knuckle of her trigger finger. You'll probably get a measurement of 12"-13". Whatever that measurement is will be a good indicator of the longest length-of-pull she's likely to find comfortable.

Go measure from the trigger of the gun back along the butt stock. Put a pencil mark wherever her measured length of pull would be. You'll probably want to put a butt plate on it, so subtract another 1/4" or so. That's where you'd cut to shorten the stock by the correct amount.

At least, that's how I'd do it. Other ideas?

-Sam

So its ok to turn your head and use your left eye to aim?

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No. Cross eye dominance is not a problem with handguns, but with rifles (especially scoped), she needs to train either her right eye or her left hand. She'll never get a decent cheek weld shooting right handed and trying to aim with the left eye. And if using a more powerful rifle with a bit of recoil, this practice could have painful repercussions.

I've dealt with this many times (seems that a large number of women are cross-eye dominant, in my experience). It's not difficult to shoot with your weak eye if you're closing the other, only if trying to use binocular vision.

With regard to LOP, other's suggestions for youth rifles are the best bet. Or custom/cut down stocks for guns that are to be hers only.

If she is left eye dominate she MUST be taught to shoot left handed. I taught BB Guns at a Cub Scout camp for many summers. Hundreds of kids, some as young as 6 years old. (We had special BB guns with a 7” LOP). First thing we always did was an eye dominance test. Then segregate the right-hand left-eye (and visa versa) kids so we could work with them one-on-one.

One simple technique is to rig up a couple of pairs of safety glasses. (Your gonna use safety glasses anyway, right?). On one cover the entire left lens with tape. On the other cover the right lens. Use them as an aid when working with your wife. Sometimes it hard to tell which eye the shooter is using. Or they switch eyes back and forth, subconsciously, and become frustrated.

The taped glasses will force them to use one eye only. Then you can more easily determine which eye works best, and concentrate on the other aspects of learning to shooting. After a short while it will become second nature to the shooter, and the tape can be removed.

Great picture Kernel, almost looks like Lodi

Not too far off. It's Brigham Park outside of Blue Mounds.

When it comes to an eye dominance issue, I have always heard that it is easier to train a hand and a shoulder than it is to change eyeball dominance.

+1 on the M1 carbine. They are so short and light it still amazes me when I shoot and handle mine. Recoil is pleasant and the round is real effective but not so much so that it would be prone to over penetration issues (Especially with soft points). Also the carbine has extremely simple manual of arms. I can teach anyone to handle and shoot one in mere seconds.

Sam1911 said:

The Marlin 60 would probably be best. You can buy a stock for it for $60 and cut the replacement (or the original if it's in rough shape) down to a length-of-pull that works for her.

-Sam

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Heh heh, I'm in total agreement with Sam only because I own one, and I luv it!

how on God's green earth do u post images?? It said one of my Marlin pics had been already uploaded in another thread and won't let me do it again

wait, i think I figured it out. Can somebody summarize how to post images, the way I did it was way too hard, gotta be a easier way

My DIL swapped me a Howa 1500 youth model in 7mm-08 with which she clobbered a buck at 80 yards. The stock is a little short for me, but we can both use that rifle very effectively. I think the barrel is only 21", but that's enough for average game ranges, with that ctg.

I need to replace the cheap Jap scope, but plan to keep the rifle. With heavy winter clothing the shorter stock should fit okay.

The M-1 Garand has a pretty short stock, and the Lee-Enfield and No. 4 version have both short and Bantam stock lengths. Always check stock length on these .303's. Most of us men need the standard or the long stock.

Lone Star

how on God's green earth do u post images??

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There are a couple of ways. I always use photobucket.com and put my pictures there, and just link them using the "Insert Image" button just above the text entering box.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=369296

-Sam

I think Henry still makes a youth sized lever action 22. That would be easier for a lefty to operate and the empties flying in front of her face shouldn't be as bad as an auto loader. It has the advantage of cheap ammo and if she doesn't like it you can easily sell it to someone for their kid or grandkid to shoot. Plus you can use low powered ammo to cut donw on the muzzle blast since she doesn't like the noise.

I don't know why everyone keeps recommending rilfles like an AR or M-1 Carbine that will run from $700 to over a $1000 for someone that sounds like they don't care that much about shooting in the first place. Not counting the expensive and sometimes unattainable ammo supply. Also the OP said she doesn't like loud guns.

Here is a link to the Henry 22. It shows a retail price of over $300 but they used to sell in the local Academy Sports for about $225.

http://www.henryrepeating.com/h001y_leveryouth.cfm

When it comes to an eye dominance issue, I have always heard that it is easier to train a hand and a shoulder than it is to change eyeball dominance.

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That's true, but doesn't mean it's necessarily the best approach. While eye dominance is virtually impossible to change, the "weak" eye functions just as well as the dominant one, and will focus just fine if the dominant eye is closed. The weak hand, especially by adulthood, is very difficult to train to do tasks as well as the strong hand. Unless the person is willing to begin doing everything with the weak hand to train it, that hand will lag in strength and fine motor control.

This is why when it comes to shooting, I urge cross eye dominant people to do what is natural with handguns, but to shoot rifles with their dominant hand, since careful aiming of a longarm is done with one eye closed anyway. I switch hands in practice, and even with regular training, I cannot control the weapon as well or shoot as accurately left-handed.

Since this is a right handed world anyway, people who are right handed but left eye dominant are at an advantage if they learn to use the right eye.

This is why when it comes to shooting, I urge cross eye dominant people to do what is natural with handguns, but to shoot rifles with their dominant hand, since careful aiming of a longarm is done with one eye closed anyway. I switch hands in practice, and even with regular training, I cannot control the weapon as well or shoot as accurately left-handed.

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If you are only a precision long-range shooter (well...a take-your-time and make a supported, deliberate shot shooter, at least) that works. The trouble is trying to get those folks to shoot shotguns well or to shoot rifles and carbines in a faster paced, dynamic setting.

IF they can be taught to use their non-dominant side for running the gun, they'll be able to use a both-eyes-open pointing and snap-shooting style that will feel more natural and get more hits, faster. Of course, they could wear shooting glasses with their dominant eye occluded which will give them some of the same benefits, but not all.

Unfortunately, as you point out, it isn't EASY to teach someone to shoot proficiently from the non-dominant side, and the earlier you catch the issue and re-direct their training the less "unlearning" they have to do.

-Sam

ARs are very compact and light. I vote for AR15 with .22LR upper.

Woman with AR adjustable stock: (note that stock is partially extended there, it can be made shorter)

SFAIK, I generally close my left eye when shooting rifles or handguns. Never has seemed to bother my ability to hit things, whether targets, prairie dogs or deer. I guess I shoot with both eyes open when shotgunning, though.

So, shutting an eye would make eye-dominance irrelevant.

I'd figure that if a rifle would be predominantly for her use, the solution would be to cut the stock down for a proper fit. Proper fit is the most important thing in rifle shooting, anyway. It far outweighs worrying about any resale value.

My wife is 5"3, she loves our Beretta Storm 9mm carbine.

Nylon66, .22LR.

Reply to post # 43

That's very true, a big plus is the rifle can fit many size people easily, however the OP is on a budget.
Other problem is the MRS might be more receptive to shooting a old style wood and metal gun. Might even find a used Marlin 60 at that $60 price point, which sadly won't even buy that CTR butt-stock new. BTW I love my CTR.

Would a scout style scope help with the eye dominance issue?

Pretty much any "Youth" model out there will work; some examples of a few favorites:

Franchi 48 AL "Youth", 24" bbl, 20 or 28 ga (lotta other youth shotguns too offered in 20 ga from Mossberg, etc.)

CZ 452 Scout, .22lr

M1 Carbine or clone, .30 carbine (in fact, almost all military weapons have short LOPs, since they use iron sights and have to cater to the least common denominator in size of soldier)

Taurus 62 pump .22, Youth model (no longer made, but can be found used)

Yup, adjustable-stock AR15, any number of calibers.

Many makers offer their centerfire turnbolts in "Youth" configs as well (Rem Seven Youth, Browning A-bolt Micro, etc.)

Lotta other Youth .22s as well.

Would a scout style scope help with the eye dominance issue?

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I believe the answer is yes it does - it helps me anyway.