So the wife is now addicted

[theletch1]

My wife and I had the weekend all to ourselves and decided to just go "out and about" last Saturday with no particular plan of action. It was one of those days where we kind of took turns chossing what to do. When my turn rolled around I said I had a surprise for her and took her to an indoor shooting range that I used to shoot at when I was younger. They have rental pistols, ammo, etc. She'd fired rifles and shotguns growing up but never handled a handgun before. She tried out several. I showed her the iso, weaver and mod weaver stances and explained the basics of safety and marksmanship... she tore the hell out of the target at 7 and 14 yds both! She had a blast as did I. So, thursday she says we're going shopping. We wound up at a local gun shop to buy her her very first pistol. She got the Glock 19. She said she liked the feel of that one best on the range. She's now voraciously searching for IPSC videos and such on line. I think I may have just gotten back into a sport I used to love but haven't done in years... not that I had that in mind when I took her to the range or anything.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Awesome!

 

[Jenny_in_Chico]

I have the Glock 19. Really nice gun. It's nice for women because of the smaller grip, and of course it's nose-heavy so less recoil. Thanks for bringing another woman over to the "dark side".

 

[KenpoTex]

Good for your wife! (and good on you for taking her). Nice choice on the blaster. The Glock 19 is, IMNSHO, the best all-around pistol on the market.

 

[theletch1]

I have the Glock 19. Really nice gun. It's nice for women because of the smaller grip, and of course it's nose-heavy so less recoil. Thanks for bringing another woman over to the "dark side".

Yeah, she tried out the G26 as it was smaller still but just didn't care for the balance of it. She has small hands but handles the 19 very well. She has a little trouble hitting the mag release so I'm considering getting an extended release for it. I've seen several on the market and read the reviews. A couple of them get poor reviews for being too long but the one offered by Glock gets good reviews. It's not an immediate thing as she'll be taking her time just putting rounds down range and finding her natural point of aim before we work on fast mag changes.

The dark side? Heh, she crossed over to that the day I proposed and she accepted.

 

[Deaf Smith]

A suggestion...

For your carry gun (and hers) try to use those that work alike. If you pack a Glock in any cartridge, she can have her own Glock. Or if you pack a revolver, her a revolver. It can be a 1911 or a SA/DA auto, DAO, etc.. as long as both your protection handguns work the same way.

That way, if an emergency happens, either of you can operate the others weapons.

Deaf

 

[Ceicei]

Hey! Good going! I'm glad your wife is really enjoying this and I guess it is time to buy a bigger safe.... for yours and hers.

- Ceicei

 

[Jenny_in_Chico]

Yeah, she tried out the G26 as it was smaller still but just didn't care for the balance of it. She has small hands but handles the 19 very well. She has a little trouble hitting the mag release so I'm considering getting an extended release for it. I've seen several on the market and read the reviews. A couple of them get poor reviews for being too long but the one offered by Glock gets good reviews. It's not an immediate thing as she'll be taking her time just putting rounds down range and finding her natural point of aim before we work on fast mag changes.

The dark side? Heh, she crossed over to that the day I proposed and she accepted.

One issue she needs to be aware of (and you may have already warned her about) is that because the Glock is nose-heavy and grip-light, if you are not assertive with your grip it can cause a cartridge jam. When I first started shooting I had a couple of unexpected jams and it wasn't until my shooting instructor explained the reason that the problem cleared up. It is more of a problem for women because we don't have the natural hand and wrist strength that men do. Once I achieved a strong grip, a ridgid wrist and relaxed shoulders my shooting improved exponentially.

 

[theletch1]

One issue she needs to be aware of (and you may have already warned her about) is that because the Glock is nose-heavy and grip-light, if you are not assertive with your grip it can cause a cartridge jam. When I first started shooting I had a couple of unexpected jams and it wasn't until my shooting instructor explained the reason that the problem cleared up. It is more of a problem for women because we don't have the natural hand and wrist strength that men do. Once I achieved a strong grip, a ridgid wrist and relaxed shoulders my shooting improved exponentially.

Thanks, Jenny. I hadn't thought of the feed problem as I've never had that problem for that reason. I've had jams before with different pistols but that was generally due to weird ammo or just a crappy pistol...Helwan 9mm anyone?... I explained to her the the wrist needs to be strong, the arms need to be "unbendable" (an aikido phrase) without being locked straight and the shoulders do a lot of the shock absorbing. She did well without a single jam. It'll be this coming Saturday before we get back to the range.

Deaf, good suggestion. Right now I don't even have my own handgun. I got rid of my last one during my disastrous last marriage. I'd always wanted a 1911 for myself but am considering going with a Glock myself after getting more familiar with hers. We'll see how it goes... maybe if I'm a real good boy Santa will bring me one.

 

[jks9199]

"Limp wristing" causes most Glock malfunctions, in my opinion. Lock the wrist, and have good follow through, and you won't have a problem.

I'm a fan of Glocks; they're a great "defensive" firearm. There's no external safety, they're damn near indestructible, and they aren't finicky about cleaning and maintenance. They're not pretty, they're not fancy -- they just do their job. They aren't perfect; the lack of external safeties combined with reliability does require you to have excellent trigger discipline, and keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you're on target and ready to shoot -- and you have to pull the trigger to field strip it.

 

[KenpoTex]

She has a little trouble hitting the mag release so I'm considering getting an extended release for it. I've seen several on the market and read the reviews. A couple of them get poor reviews for being too long but the one offered by Glock gets good reviews.

Just my opinion...I wouldn't worry about an extended mag-release at all. There are a couple of reasons that I actually don't see a problem with having to shift the grip slightly during a mag change.
First of all, it's not like you don't have time to shift your grip since the other hand has to grab the fresh mag and bring it to the gun. It's still possible to be very quick...I don't claim to be especially fast but the last time I shot on a timer, my "shot to shot" times (last shot on the old mag to first shot on the fresh mag) were hovering around 2 seconds and that was with a slide rack--not using the slide stop to close the slide.
Second, if you have to shift your grip (i.e. you can't reach it while in your normal firing grip) you have much less chance of inadvertently hitting it. I've heard of a number of stories where people have hit an extended mag-release when they didn't intend to.

 

[theletch1]

Just my opinion...I wouldn't worry about an extended mag-release at all. There are a couple of reasons that I actually don't see a problem with having to shift the grip slightly during a mag change.
First of all, it's not like you don't have time to shift your grip since the other hand has to grab the fresh mag and bring it to the gun. It's still possible to be very quick...I don't claim to be especially fast but the last time I shot on a timer, my "shot to shot" times (last shot on the old mag to first shot on the fresh mag) were hovering around 2 seconds and that was with a slide rack--not using the slide stop to close the slide.
Second, if you have to shift your grip (i.e. you can't reach it while in your normal firing grip) you have much less chance of inadvertently hitting it. I've heard of a number of stories where people have hit an extended mag-release when they didn't intend to.

I had read the same about some of the extended mag releases as well from some manufacturers. Several of them even had problems with laying the pistol down on the left hand side and having that pressure release the mag. The ones that are from Glock don't seem to have that problem. As of now she's still getting used to handling the pistol in a general sense. Maybe as she gets more used to it she'll decide that she doesn't need it at all. I have large hands so don't need to make any changes to my grip to release it.

 

[KenpoTex]

I forgot to say earlier that I have to shift my grip to hit the mag-release and it doesn't cause me any problems.

One thing I would recommend right off the bat is to put a set of metal sights on it if it doesn't already have them. The crappy plastic sights are the only parts that really need to be upgraded as they can easily fall/break off.

 

[theletch1]

Haven't made any changes at all to it... yet. Erica has been practicing stances, finding her natural point of aim, field stripping and putting it back together. She's chomping at the bit to get back to the range. I'm looking for a good smith in the area. Gander Mountain (not far from home) has a smith but I haven't heard anything about their skill level. The sight change sounds like a good idea.

 

[jks9199]

"Limp wristing" causes most Glock malfunctions, in my opinion. Lock the wrist, and have good follow through, and you won't have a problem.

I'm a fan of Glocks; they're a great "defensive" firearm. There's no external safety, they're damn near indestructible, and they aren't finicky about cleaning and maintenance. They're not pretty, they're not fancy -- they just do their job. They aren't perfect; the lack of external safeties combined with reliability does require you to have excellent trigger discipline, and keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you're on target and ready to shoot -- and you have to pull the trigger to field strip it.

Just a clarification -- that should be "in my opinion and my experience." Like most semi-automatics, Glocks use the energy of the recoil to move the slide back, ejecting the spent shell and chambering the next round. If too much of that energy is dissipated by riding the recoil, there's not enough energy to fully eject the shell, leading to stovepipes or failures-to-feed.

Like I said -- the Glock is a very reliable gun.

 

[theletch1]

Just a clarification -- that should be "in my opinion and my experience." Like most semi-automatics, Glocks use the energy of the recoil to move the slide back, ejecting the spent shell and chambering the next round. If too much of that energy is dissipated by riding the recoil, there's not enough energy to fully eject the shell, leading to stovepipes or failures-to-feed.

Like I said -- the Glock is a very reliable gun.

Jim, your opinion is valuable to me and your experience is far greater than mine... so no worries. It's been YEARS since I had the chance to do any firing at all. One of the things that attracts me to my wife so deeply is her love of doing things that we can do together and enjoy... MA, camping, kayaking, now shooting. I'm approaching this as if we were both pretty much learning from scratch together. I still have the same skill level that I had years ago (drew a neat smiley face at 7 yards) but I'm rusty as hell. It's an enjoyable time and I'll not have any problems listening to advice and experiences from folks here that are more experienced than I.

 

[lklawson]

I explained to her the the wrist needs to be strong, the arms need to be "unbendable"

This is the first time I've seen an actual useful real world application for the Unbendable Arm. Kudos.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[lklawson]

I forgot to say earlier that I have to shift my grip to hit the mag-release and it doesn't cause me any problems.

Bah. You guys talking about the mag releases should try working with some of the Eastern European style pistols with the release on the butt. Some of my favorite pistols have this style release: Makarov, CZ52, Astra 400, etc.

There's actually some positive things to be said of the method... but "competition speed changes" aren't one of them.

One thing I would recommend right off the bat is to put a set of metal sights on it if it doesn't already have them. The crappy plastic sights are the only parts that really need to be upgraded as they can easily fall/break off.

You should see the sights that came on my IMEZ hi cap mak.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[lklawson]

One of the things that attracts me to my wife so deeply is her love of doing things that we can do together and enjoy... MA, camping, kayaking, now shooting.

Many women feel a sense of empowerment from shooting that is very refreshing and emotionally fulfilling for them.

For some women, it's the first time in their lives they're really felt like they're not automatically at the mercy of the biggest thug in the room.

Some women like the chance to be "competitive" with men (or with darn well ANYBODY).

Some women just like punching holes in paper.

I know that shooting is a great "Date Night" for my wife and I and it always leaves both of us in a fine mood.

I made the "mistake" of letting her shoot my Kel Tec pf9 and p32 and now she's asking how much a pf9 costs. ;-)

For my part, I've got the itch for a second CZ52 that I can have customized just a wee bit. (anyone have one they want to part with?)

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk