Wifes a shooter!

[kmac]

The wife really surprised me today. Just had to post the story and a couple pictures.

  The weather finally got nice, and both the wife and I took the week off so I talked her into going shooting.
She hasn't shot a gun in about 30yrs. Since the Crosman G1 is too heavy for her to hold and shoot I setup a camera tripod for her to use as a rest. I measured off 20 yards, put up a target and let her have at it. She took 5 shots. The first 3 were a little wild but the next two went right where she was aiming. We took a break, then a while later I put an old "Happy Meal" toy (3" high by 1.5" wide) on top of the target stand. She put 3 shots all basically in the same hole at 20 yards! Not bad for her first 8 shots in 30 years! Guess I better practice more. If she decides she likes shooting and I get her a lighter gun she will be hard to beat. I would say its beginners luck, but the rest of her shots today were just as good.

We were shooting Crow Mags out of my untuned G1 that is only about 2-1/2 months old. Shoots pretty good but I would like to tune it so its a little quieter.

 The pictures aren't the best, only had my cell phone camera with me!

[tinbender]

Good for you Kevin,

I think it's fun to hobby with your wife. Makes it easier to buy things to:) My wife thinks the discovery is a little heavy, never thought about a tripod. Sounds like a good idea.

Don't let wifey get ahead of you:)

Tinbendin' Dave

[ten4copy]

Sounds like you NEED some more airguns. Hmmmm... which one to get?

-GB

[TCups]

Welcome to the GTA, Kevin!  If you really want to get her hooked, have her join the GTA, too.  

Tripods make excellent shooting rests.  I have a 6 inch metal bar w/ a 1/4 inch thread tapped that will attach to any standard tripod.  I mount a small leather rest on the bar.  I have a felt-covered cake pan that I can attach to the bottom of the tripod (looks like your's has a mounting screw on the bottom too).  I also switched out to a folding stool rather than the type of chair your wife is using just to give a bit more upright shooting position.  Both are quite portable.

See:  http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=10006&posts=13&highlight=portable%20shooting&highlightmode=1#M79947

PS: Does your cell phone have PhotoShop installed?

[PeakChick]

Good on her! Give a girl a chance at shooting a rifle and she just may surprise you.
Some things to consider are shooting effort and ergonomics. Rifles are designed with their target market in mind, namely men. The LOP, trigger reach and all stock dimensions may be a tad too big for the average woman to be really at ease with almost any rifle, even a seemingly smaller one. How a rifles fits and feels makes a big difference in how well you can shoot it and how much you will enjoy shooting it. Another thing to consider is cocking effort, even a low effort springer for a guy may challenge the upper body strength for a woman and wear her out quickly, making it less enjoyable and harder to shoot well.
You might want to think about a CO2 or PCP rifle for her. A good QB78 makes a great rifle for a female shooter. The light weight, no cocking required and lack of recoil make for a very pleasant shooting rifle for a gal shooter. If the budget allows, a good PCP is a dream shooter for most women. The BSA Ultra, AA S200 and likely the Crossman Discovery would all be good choices.

[kmac]

You must mean the license plate? Good catch. I had to download the pics from the phone so I could resize them for use here. And I always try to get rid of personal info like the plate number. You never know with the internet. Another case of less is better I guess.

[kmac]

Thanks, good advice. I will have to see if she continues to enjoy the hobby.

On a different note, I may have some questions for you in the future. I will be retiring from the military this spring (after 25yrs) and Colorado springs is on the top of the list of places we are considering moving to. Spent a week there on vacation a few years back and really enjoyed it.

[PeakChick]

Congrats on your impending, well deserved retirement. Lots of folks have chosen "The Springs" for retirement, particularly retired military. I would be happy to try to answer any questions you might have.

[Timmyj1959@yahoo.com]

Good for you Kevin,, hope the wife continues to shoot with Ya!! I say buy "her" a Discovery,, & you pump it up for her!! Thanks for sharing with us,, but,, most of all,, THANK YOU for serving our GREAT Country!! God Bless You.  Tim.