Outshot by noob girlfriend; humbling yet good.

[Smaug]

This past Saturday was the first time to the range with the new Glock 34. My only other centerfire pistol is a Ruger P90, which she doesn't like at all because of the recoil.

She found the Glock to have not only less recoil, but also less "flippy" recoil.

Anyway, at the end of the day after only having shot 75 rounds or so, she managed to get 9 of 10 shots in the 8" center of a 100 yard rifle target placed at 25 yards, with 3 bullseyes!

I got 8 of 10 in there, but with two horrible flyers and a bit looser group overall.

I was surprised at the difference; I didn't think it was THAT much easier to shoot than a P90.

I was also surprised that she shot better than I did; she only has about 4 shooting sessions worth of experience and has spent 95% of that time shooting 22s. (I have about 6 years' of experience)

All that considered, I am more proud than ever, and so happy about it. I think it gave her a great boost in confidence.

Where before she was giving a wary eye at my spending on ammo and reloading components, she is now telling me we need to pick up more 9mm ammo, as the 250 rounds we brought was not enough. Very nice!

I have read threads saying to be careful or your wife/girlfriend will outshoot you, but I didn't think it was possible with MY girlfriend. She is just so... girly I didn't figure she would be capable of being so damn good.

Side note: the shortest range she has shot handguns at is 25 yards, that is the only option at the range we are members of. I wonder if maybe THAT has something to do with it?

 

[CZF]

Females have excellent hand-eye coordination. They can often outshoot
the guys. I have seen it with my CZ83 and other guns.

 

[Wedge]

Smaug, now you are going to have to get yourself a Glock 34!

My wife can outshoot me and she doesn't even like to shoot! She is such a natural.

 

[45R]

There was a time in my girlfriends learning curve that really spoiled her to my Sig 226. Now they get equal range time between the two of us. She shoots that just as well as I can. OTOH she can outshot me with my Ruger MkII at just about any distance!

 

[Marshall]

Women are also excellent putters on the golf greens. Like already said, the eye hand coordination in women is wonderful.

Did you tell her the object was to try to hit the outer ring and she just needs a little more practice?

 

[Standing Wolf]

...has spent 95% of that time shooting 22s...

There's your clue.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

My wife shoots quite well until the flinching starts, and then it doesn't go away, even with the .22

It would help if she dry fired more and went to the range more... but alas...

 

[Sean Smith]

You never know. I worked a newbie shooter up to 10mm in about an hour. She didn't like shooting a gun unless it had lots of blast & recoil, and she could hit better than most after a couple mags worth.

 

[Doug Add]

Like Wedge, my wife is not a regular shooter, but she is a natural. She can usually match or outshoot me with my Browning Hi-Power. We'll soon see how she does with my new S&W 686. It is so easy to shoot accurately, I bet she beats me with this one too!

 

[stans]

Years ago I saw a guy bring his girlfriend out to the range so she could see him shoot. He was shooting a Glock in 10mm, full power loads. He did not do too well, missed a lot of his targets. She tried the gun and hit almost all of hers! I don't recall him bringing her back to the range after that day.

 

[No Trespassing]

Ha! That's great.

My wife, who has only shot about 10 times her whole life can make a soda can dance with my 22/45 at 20-30 yards and that is shooting from her HIP!!
She takes one or two shots to dial herself in then she's set.
She's great with a pistol up to the .45.

On the flip side she couldn't hit a barn with a scoped rifle.

 

[Sunray]

Women are inherently better shots than men are. With any firearm. The theory is that they don't have John Wayne(and all the other Western movie heroes) to live up to. I know guys who get livid when their women out shoot them. Just be thankful she'll go shooting with you and forget about it. Worrying is not conducive for good shooting.

 

[Mikul]

It's not hand/eye coordination with women. For every hand/eye coordination activity: baseball, video games, football; men rule the roost. Men just seem to have this instinct that tells them that they have to DO something to make whatever it is they're doing, better. Cars have to be faster, prettier and say something better about them than any other guy... wait a minute, that was women, not cars. Anywho, women are better at just letting the gun do its thing while men try to muscle a more stable gun or push the bullet downrange a few fps faster. Target shooting is not a muscle sport.

 

[sturmruger]

Sounds like a good problem to have!! The real question is how is she gripping the gun? It sounds like she is probably gripping it properly, but after the rotten example my wife has led it is a wonder she can shoot at all.

 

[Sean Smith]

My theory? Men are often idiots who won't listen to instruction because their dumb macho brains think they are supposed to know how to shoot even when they don't. They will intentionally do stuff different from what you tell them just for the sake of not doing what you say, consciously or not. Women, in general, will shut up and listen, since they don't have some stupid misconception that they are supposed to be able to shoot without learning how, and they don't think you outshooting them will make their pee-pee seem small.

Signed, a dumb macho guy.

 

[Frohickey]

There is a way to be a better shot than your noob girlfriend, as well as expanding your gun collection.

When she finds a gun that she can shoot well, you need to change over to a larger caliber, more recoil gun. Then, when she beats you with the small 9mm, you can say that its because you are using the larger 45auto with more recoil.

Eventually, she will try out the larger 45auto and outshoot you with it, then that would be time to go get the 44Magnum.

Rinse, repeat until you get all the guns you want.