Tips for Teaching New Shooters

Many people ask me via YouTube and other channels what my key concerns are when teaching people who have never before touched a handgun.  This video series on YouTube is my summary of the most important factors in teaching new shooters.  I hope you find it interesting and helpful.

If you have other things you consider when teaching new shooters, or if you are new to guns yourself and have things you’d like to see considered which I may not have mentioned here…please be encouraged to comment below and let me know! 🙂

 

Tips for Teaching New Shooters Video Series

 

 

Does Hand Size Matter When Choosing a Gun?

A gentleman named Steven recently heard someone at a gun show say that hand size matters when choosing a handgun.  He wonders if this is true, so I thought I’d do a little blog here on this very important topic.

Hand size definitely plays a huge role in choosing a handgun.  I’ve just completed an entire series on YouTube entitled Choosing a Handgun: 7 Considerations.  The 3rd episode is called Hand Fit, in which I discuss the measurements that matter in terms of choosing a properly fitted handgun.

The distance that is the most important is from the webbing of your hand (Image 1, point A) and the middle of the first pad of the trigger finger (Image 1, point B). We refer to this as the distance between back strap (Image 2, point A) and trigger face (Image 2, point B).

The distance shown in this image corresponds to the points in the next image transposed onto the handgun.

If the distance between these points is too small, then the tendency will be for the shooter to place too much trigger finger into the trigger guard, thus pulling the gun side to side while shooting.  Shots will tend to fall toward the strong side (rightward for a right-handed shooter).  This is the common tendency for all shooters on  tiny pocket pistols. Even shooters with small hands.

Bear in mind, some shooters may still make the choice to choose a gun that is way too small for their hand simply to make concealment easier.  When making this choice, one needs to be aware that  special attention should be devoted to the trigger finger in order to ensure accurate hits on target.

Conversely, if the gun is too large, the tendency will be to rotate the dominant wrist around the gun in order to reach the trigger properly.  This will cause the gun to be out of alignment with the strong arm (offset grip pictured right), which forces the wrist to bend under recoil, sending the hits off to the support side (leftward for a right-handed shooter).  The proper alignment will look like the ‘in-line grip’ pictured right.

I hope this has helped Steven, and many others with the same question.  I’ll put links below for videos I’ve done on this topic and ones closely related:

Choosing a Handgun: 7 Considerations (Episode 3 — Hand Fit)

Colleene Answers Questions: Ep. 42 What if the gun is too small for your hand?

Colleene Answers Questions: Ep. 45 What kind of gun do I recommend for women?

7 Considerations for a Woman Choosing a Handgun

Preparing the New Shooter: Gripping the Gun with Authority

Colleene Answers Questions: Ep. 12 Why do I have to keep adjusting my grip?

Teaching Kids About Guns (Ep. 2)

So, we are fully into this new realm of teaching a toddler about gun safety.  Since we both carry daily and guns are a big part of our lives, it is super important to take the time to teach safe gun handling to our daughter from the very beginning.  On Saturday while I taught a Concealed Carry Course, her Daddy gave her her very first toy revolver with a holster.  She was so excited to ‘shoot pow pow like Mommy’.  So, here we go with serious gun safety training, because whatever we allow her to do with this ‘toy gun’ will be exactly what she does if she ever happens upon a real one.

Though we are very careful to keep all guns out of our daughter’s reach, this education is still highly important because who knows what she could encounter out in the world later in life?

On Saturday, her Daddy taught her to draw from her holster and re-holster.  I spent some time teaching her not to shoot me in the face, which was what she naturally wanted to do.  We set up some library books around the room as targets and had her shoot them, then re-holster.  With a little work, she was doing this well.  She would get excited and want to turn toward us with her gun pointed at us, but with a little coaxing, she learned to point the muzzle downward toward the floor in what we call a SUL position, rather than pointing her muzzle at us.

We have not “arrived” yet…but we are seeing great results to be at the foundation of our 2 year old’s gun safety training.  Watch this video we took Saturday evening.  Notice how she uses self-control to point the muzzle downward when she catches herself turning toward us with her gun out of the holster.

Teaching Kids About Guns (Ep. 2) — Learning Muzzle Control and Holster Technique

Handgun Malfunction Clearance 101

I’m currently uploading the introductory video to a new Keeping the Piece Mini Series entitled Handgun Malfunction Clearance 101 to my YouTube channel.  The mini series will include 6 videos in total including:

1. Introduction to Malfunction Types (Basic 5)
2. Failure to Feed – What is it, how to clear it, and how to prevent it.
3. Failure to Fire – What is it, and how to clear it.
4. Failure to Extract – What is it, and how to clear it.
5. Failure to Eject – What is it, how to clear it, and some tips for preventing it.
6. Double Feed – What is it, and how to clear it.

 

In the future, there will be a follow up series to this one entitled Handgun Malfunction Clearance 201 that will cover more complicated stoppages like squib, hang fire, and more.

If you are interested in this information, stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled for video links that will appear below.

Handgun Malfunction Clearance 101: Introduction to Basic Types

Handgun Malfunction Clearance 101: Failure to Feed

Handgun Malfunction Clearance 101: Failure to Fire

Handgun Malfunction Clearance 101: Failure to Extract

 

New Target Packs Available for 2016 Students

Are you tired of the boring silhouette targets at your local range?  Problem solved!

New target packs will be available to any students who take my Concealed Carry Courses or Private Instruction.  These packs will include 4 full color, full size targets from Law Enforcement Targets. These are targets you probably won’t find at your local range, and give you added benefit when going to practice.  Packs will be $5 and there will be one available for you at the classroom on the day of your course. If you would like to reserve extra target packs, please let me know prior to your class date so I can make sure to have extras.  I’ll plan to have one there per student enrolled unless requested otherwise.

 

These are the targets that will be included in packs for now.  In the future, targets may vary according to what I have available.  All targets included will be good quality training targets in full size and vivid color.

I do not ship these target packs. They are for local pickup only.  If you would like to purchase packs and don’t plan on attending any of my classes, feel free to contact me and I’m happy to meet you in Paris for delivery of 4+ target packs.

Did you know I’ll answer your questions in a video?