My wife has been anti-gun for a long time, with good reason. Lots of irresponsible people doing terrifying things with them all around her when she was young. But she's always been fine with me owning and shooting handguns because I'm responsible and she trusts me.

But today, we both went to the trap range for the first time for a lesson. First time she's ever even held a shotgun.

Here's her first shot:



We shot for about 90 minutes. As it turns out, she's actually pretty good at blasting things out of the air.

On our way out, she turned to me and said "We're buying a membership."

WINNING!

That’s fantastic!

Yeah. We went from "I wouldn't want one in the house" to buying an 870 for protection and after a few months of range rentals to come, probably looking at his and hers O/Us.

The result of a positive 'first' experience with firearms.

Awesome results! Now she'll be wanting her own gun, vest, etc. like mine did......Good job!

Congratulations. You must have played things right. Good for you. But seeing those suckers break is just plain addictive. How could she resist. Now your job is to make sure she gets a good fitting gun of the proper weight and felt recoil. In case you are not sure about that, lots of folks here will be glad to set you straight. Not me, but lots of folks.

Excellent!

Got a capable, patient third party to introduce her.

You may need a second job to buy guns and ammo!

JB

Cormact,
Happy for you, and the Mrs, and yes she will be wanting an over/under, so save up your money for her a Christmas Krieghoff or Perazzi.
Best,
Breakemall
Western North Carolina

You mean matching his/hers Krieghoffs or Perazzis.

After my wife got me to stop shooting trap back in the 70's, in 2000 WE got back into it. She now has a Browning 28, 20, and 12ga O/Us, and a BT-99. She shoots all the shotgun games - even has her own Parker for my SxS Shoots. Life is good. I'm glad your wife took to shotgunning, you'll be happy though a little poorer.

My wife shoots all the games with a 20 ga. Superposed w/ Briley thin walls. I couldn’t ask for a better partner. I’d actually like to see her beat my score one of these days. Enjoy !

Don't you just love seeing that "ah HA!" moment on their faces?

tp

Abso-freaking-lutely! OP, the two of you are going to have so much fun. Mary Ann

Just got back from a fun round of sporting clays with my wife. We shoot at least once a week. It's a sport that we both can do together and compete on the same level. We both shot clays and hunted as youngsters and then stopped for decades. Just prior to retirement, she suggested that we get back involved in shooting sports as a hobby and it's been a great way to spend time together. We shot trap for a year or two but then found that sporting clays was a game better suited to our personalities and what we wanted out of the sport. We've gotten other family members and friends involved in the sport as well.

A word of advice. Guys, don't try to give your wife shooting lessons or advice. That's what qualified coaches and instructors are for.

Congrats!!!

Lordy. I'll say. That's like teaching your daughters how to drive a stick. Letcher buddies do it.

tp

Back when we use to golf, the wife once told me " if I want any advice, I'll ask for it." Whew, sorry I said anything. You can bet it never happened again. Same with shooting.

I'm blessed to have married a tom-boy, the only girl in a family with 4 brothers. She played softball as a girl and young woman and was known for her rifle arm, I witnessed many runners thrown out at home plate from the outfield!
Karen was frustrated however that her father and brothers never let her tag along hunting or fishing, when she met me she knew she had a sucker that could not resist.
She took to archery, shooting and fishing without a hiccup but I figured once we started hunting, the first sight of blood might end the romance, boy was I wrong! She killed a deer the very first day she ever bow hunted, I won't embarrass myself here telling you how long it took me to accomplish that. She field dressed it herself in case you are wondering.
Almost 40 years later no regrets whatsoever, I've had the best companion anyone could hope for, we have shared hunting, fishing, scuba diving, cycling and shooting sports from plinking with .22's to handguns, blackpowder hunting and competition, trap, skeet, sporting clays and high power rifle, I am a lucky man!
My best wishes for you to be as fortunate!

I hope you don’t let your letcher buddies reach your daughter to drive.

Congrats to you both! My advice would be to let her go at her own pace, but introduce her to the ladies side of equipment and focus on getting her success. I know they're typically more expensive than many are willing to go at first, but if you bought her a Syren you will not be sorry. Then get it fitted if necessary. It's an investment in your future happiness.

Let someone else do the teaching, it's very difficult to be her coach and her comforter/companion. Again an investment.