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Trying to take people shooting ...

2K views 41 replies 23 participants last post by  Bottom Gun 
#1 ·
A young woman from work was talking about learning to shoot. So I told her that I'm an NRA certified pistol instructor and that I'd be glad to teach her the basics. She said, "Great!" The problem is scheduling. She has a fixed schedule with Friday and Saturday off and my schedule is variable and I only get one Saturday a month off.

So, for the past few months, every time I get my schedule with a Friday or Saturday off I'll say, "Let's go to the range." It's always, "I'll have to see.." It's always something. The dog's sick. Her girlfriend is in a bad mood. She suddenly has to go out of town.

So much for being the nice co-worker.

I've run into this in the past as well.

Back in the 90s I had a neighbor who bought a Ruger .357 and asked me to get him a bunch of ammo from my favorite reloader. He went with me one time and shot rather well which he attributed to his Marine Corps training thirty years earlier. He said that he wanted to shoot more and thought that idea of pins or plates sounded like fun. The problem was that pin and plate matches were on Saturdays or Sundays and he had church. Saturdays were taken up with prepping the church for Sunday and even though the service let out at 11 AM on Sunday he didn't get home until after 2 PM because of church stuff. I also used to regularly go to the range on Wednesday evenings but he couldn't go then because . . . church. I said, "Tell you what. You tell me when you want to go and I'll clear my schedule." The last time that I talked to him, he still had all that ammo.

Another neighbor had a bunch of guns and was bemoaning the fact that he didn't get to go shooting. So I'd call him on Wednesday and say, "Hey, I'm going shooting on Saturday, do you want to go?" It was always some crap like his girlfriend wanted to go look at the leaves or his dog had to go to the groomer. I finally told him the same thing that I told the other guy. "Tell me when and I'll make it happen." We never did go to the range.

It could be that people just don't like me.
 
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#2 ·
It could be that people just don't like me.
Nah, folks just like to procrastinate.

Fishing shack ret. teacher neighbor bought a 22lr pistol for SD because his neighborhood had, has, a spike in neighborhood crimes. I offered to take him with me to the gravel pit 1 mi. away where folks in the area go to shoot. He bought a box of ammo for it but it was 22Mag, no fit in his pistol so he gave it to me. I told him I had plenty of ammo for his pistol for him to shoot with no strings attached. The gist of his answer was thanks but no thanks. Mo betta he get a lil comfort teddy bear to take to bed at nite IMO.
I tried. :eek:
 
#7 ·
It could be that people just don't like me.
Nah, who could not like someone that offers to take them shooting!
I have run into the same thing regarding going to the range, going out to dinner, etc., etc. I think too many people today don't like to commit to something in advance in case something better comes up. I don't know how old you are, but I'm a baby boomer and it seems to me that the generations following my age group have a totally different outlook on life. I do have to say that the folks here on RFC seem to be the exception. Or maybe they are all old farts (can I say that moderator?) like me. :eek:man:

Of course, there's always the possibility that people just don't like me either!
 
#9 ·
If anyone I know expresses an interest, I tell them...

"I go shooting all the time. Let me know if you're free sometime and we'll set it up."

I say that only once. If I mention shooting to them again, it's generally only to answer a question as to what I did over the weekend, etc. If they still have an interest, they can express it.

If there's a cost involved (trap range, etc.), I tell them. I sometimes offer to provide guns, ammo and drive them to the range if need be.

In 20 years, I can count the number of new shooters that have taken me up on my offer on the fingers of one hand. Lots of outings with experienced shooters/hunters though; some have become friends who I've gone with multiple times.
 
#10 ·
I get stood up a lot as well,,,

I work at a University and am surrounded by student workers in my lab.

One of my pleasures is introducing new/young people to shooting,,,
I don't get stood up by them very much as I can easily verify their alibi.

What chars my grits though is to agree to meet someone (usually an adult),,,
Then I'm waiting for them in a parking lot and get a text saying,,,
"Something came up at work so we'll need to reschedule."

My B-S detector goes off right then and there,,,
If it was really true I think they would call me instead of text.

Besides, I usually know something about their work,,,
How often does "something come up" for a Mon-Fri day bagger.

They are the ones who get mad when I won't reschedule for them,,,
It's that old fool me once shame on you thing.

I have no truck with people who blithely waste my time,,,
I'm becoming a true curmudgeon in my old age. :mad:

Aarond

.
 
#12 ·
A young woman from work was talking about learning to shoot. So I told her that I'm an NRA certified pistol instructor and that I'd be glad to teach her the basics. She said, "Great!" The problem is scheduling. She has a fixed schedule with Friday and Saturday off and my schedule is variable and I only get one Saturday a month off.

So, for the past few months, every time I get my schedule with a Friday or Saturday off I'll say, "Let's go to the range." It's always, "I'll have to see.." It's always something. The dog's sick. Her girlfriend is in a bad mood. She suddenly has to go out of town.

So much for being the nice co-worker.

I've run into this in the past as well.

Back in the 90s I had a neighbor who bought a Ruger .357 and asked me to get him a bunch of ammo from my favorite reloader. He went with me one time and shot rather well which he attributed to his Marine Corps training thirty years earlier. He said that he wanted to shoot more and thought that idea of pins or plates sounded like fun. The problem was that pin and plate matches were on Saturdays or Sundays and he had church. Saturdays were taken up with prepping the church for Sunday and even though the service let out at 11 AM on Sunday he didn't get home until after 2 PM because of church stuff. I also used to regularly go to the range on Wednesday evenings but he couldn't go then because . . . church. I said, "Tell you what. You tell me when you want to go and I'll clear my schedule." The last time that I talked to him, he still had all that ammo.

Another neighbor had a bunch of guns and was bemoaning the fact that he didn't get to go shooting. So I'd call him on Wednesday and say, "Hey, I'm going shooting on Saturday, do you want to go?" It was always some crap like his girlfriend wanted to go look at the leaves or his dog had to go to the groomer. I finally told him the same thing that I told the other guy. "Tell me when and I'll make it happen." We never did go to the range.

It could be that people just don't like me.
Your first guess/gut instinct is usually correct....:)

but what i have done was somethings jumped before i thought about it.

i met a guy at our LGS that wanted to sell some toys. I offered to do a few for him on GB and i didnt ask any details. Well his toys were going for 5K+ and so when i found out about that, i had to back out. I didnt want that type of $$$ and GB would charge me based on the selling price.

when i have issues like you have, i just kick the ball back in their court and do as you did. "call me when you get the time and call it good". So dont take it personally.

IT like when i travel solo and others find out. Many people say " i wish i could do that.... but....". what it comes down to is that everyone has their own priorities. Its obvious that shooting isnt theirs - yet.

its nice you offer and so forth, but just take any disappointments with a grain of salt.
 
#14 ·
My wife and I had a very pleasant experience with our neighbors yesterday. Our property is adjacent to a 5,000 acre cattle ranch. We’ve always had a good relationship with the ranch owners and hired hands.
This year, after I mentioned to the ranch foreman that I was a bit disappointed in the large number of deer hunters in the national forest, I was given exclusive permission to hunt the ranch, which is no longer open to the pubic for the usual reasons. I was extremely grateful for that opportunity and his trust.

I’m not sure if these folks would appreciate their personal business being public knowledge so we’ll call the foreman “M” and his daughter “D”.
M mentioned that he and D have deer tags this year and will be hunting on the ranch. He explained that they aren’t shooters but they do have two bolt action rifles in .223 which they plan to use. All they had though, was factory varmint ammo. M also expressed some concern that D would be able to shoot from the truck window.
To explain, D is extremely handicapped and is wheelchair bound. She is a delightful young lady with a cheery smile and a great attitude. She is also a surprisingly good shooter.

Luckily, my friends and I had tested some bullets in .223s earlier this year to see if any would be suitable for these Coues deer. We had some surprising results and just finished developing some good loads.
I had been wanting to do something nice for M to show my gratitude for his kindness and this was my opportunity.
Knowing that M was more likely to find a nest of unicorn eggs than buy some decent .223 hunting ammo during this panic buying, I offered to load some ammo for M and D to use on their hunt and we scheduled a shooting day.

The shooting day arrived and we set up my portable bench with rest, set some targets out, and they started checking zeros. The zeros were pretty far off and I discovered neither M or D had never really used a solid rest before. So, we covered the fine art of shooting from a rest and then I brought out some shooting sticks and a tripod/yoke combo. They had never seen either and were delighted to discover how much steadier they could hold and also because they realized they could hunt from chairs in a blind with these sticks instead of from a vehicle. It was as if the clouds had parted and a ray of sunlight shown down upon them. :bthumb:

Once we established a working zero, they both shot well. They were amazed at how much better they could shoot using a rest or sticks. Confidence levels soared.
M was practicing shooting with my tripod and was turning in some very good groups. He remarked to me that he didn’t know shooting could be so much fun. :D

They shot several different loads and we determined the D’s rifle shot best with the 64 gr Win Power Points and M ‘s gun shot the 62 gr Gold Dot/Fusions best. They both also shot well with the 55 gr Gold Dot load.

When we finished, both M and D felt MUCH more confident of their shooting ability and are now really excited about their upcoming hunt. We left them with a half dozen boxes of good controlled expansion hunting ammo along with the shooting sticks and tripod to use on their hunt.
M and I are also going to set up a couple of blinds for their hunt. It would be great if D were able to bag a nice buck.

When we parted company, both M and D wanted to know when we could do it again. We may have some budding recreational shooters here.
It really warms my heart to see young people interested in shooting and hunting with their parents, especially when it’s so much more difficult for them to do so as in this situation. My wife and I had a great time and are looking forward to the next time we all shoot together. Maybe next time, we’ll have a chance to pull some triggers too. ;)
 
#18 ·
It doesn’t always work out but it’s especially rewarding when it does. My former neighbor was so anti-gun, the mere sight of guns offended him. To him, they meant killing. So of course I would make a point to have one out whenever he was over.

Finally, one day I offered him a challenge. I told him that I would be much more receptive to listening to his anti-gun nonsense if he would come out to shoot with me so he could show me why it was so distasteful. He accepted.

We went out with a Nylon 66 rifle, and BuckMark and Ruger 22/45 pistols and burned through over two bricks of .22 ammo. He especially enjoyed bouncing tin cans around. It was hard to get Joe to put the guns down once he got started. He later asked if we could do it again sometime. I didn’t have to endure any more anti-gun drivel after that.

A year or so later, Joe inherited a few long guns from his father’s estate. He kept them and used them occasionally.
 
#20 ·
It's the same way with shooting events. Our club has over 350 members locally and we put on all kinds of shooting events. Despite sending out invitations to all members, only a very few ever show up, we sometimes cancel due to NOBODY showing up. Sad.
 
#23 ·
The club that I belonged to in Maryland had a requirement that every member had to participate in at least one match per year. Bullesye, pins, plates, cowboy . . . it didn't matter.

I don't think that we ever cancelled due to lack of shooters. If only two guys showed up, we'd conduct the event.
 
#31 ·
Clint Smith has a unique video describing the method of conversion... suffice to say it breaks at least 5 forum rules...but it's TRUE.

Since August I'm up to 7 brand new shooters/gun owners introduced to our world. Back up to January and were at 10, so have some recent experience and some lessons learned. I'll outline as concise as possible.

-have quality ear and eye protection in enough quantity for everyone involved. The new shooter with scratched safety glasses and a second hand foam plug will be immediately put on guard.

-if the schedule allows go at the slowest range time. Nothing makes a first impression bad, like a neck bearded weirdo with a trench coat in boots blazing away on an sks and a cut down moisin nagant.

- do instructions about firearm safety and manipulation beforehand, so a refresher is all that's needed at the range. We had yesterday's gang over for dinner friday and did instructions on the coffee table and couch. An area about 1000x better than a firing line for communication. (Caveat, have lots of magazines and preload them at the teaching session. It's often the part most first time shooters struggle most with. It also makes the line time shorter, but more on that later)

-have lots of magazines. For us enthusiast a day at the range is 80% loading magazines while we process our performance 20% shooting. For a new shooter they want to manage pulling the trigger without closing their eyes, or hitting the paper once out of an entire magazine. Having enough mags pre loaded allows me to focus on fundamentals and correction. This one isn't a hard and fast one but its certainly helped in my experience.

-move to reactive targets as soon as possible. New shooters rarely start with a passion for dime sized groups. They want gratification for the focus and effort they are putting in to the task. Clay's on the backdrop, hanging targets or even just shoot and see targets really aide in building the excitement of that first outing.

-accept the fact that even if the try and reimburse you for ammo, your likely to end up eating a lot of the cost. The tradeoff is more folks involved in the sport and the opportunity to potentially save a life by giving them the skills to defend themselves and family..... my own opinion is the value for dollar is superb. Besides the wife doesn't bat an eye at the ammo budget when it taught her co worker and mom how to shoot.

-Make sure everything works and that the ammo is reliable. Clearing jams from hand loads uncle earl gave ya will kill the fun fast.

-develop a chill attitude towards all the different gun subsections. Many of us have developed strong feelings about innane subjects, that opinion is best expressed online but not at the first session. The goal is to introduce the sport and teach safety. 1911s vs glocks, wood and blue vs stainless and plastic, bench vs the 3 gun types, in the first time tent it takes all types.

This has helped me over the years.
 
#25 ·
before I retired I worked as a carpenter in a oil refinery. I was on a scaffold crew. whenever the younger guys would get under my skin I would ask them to come out on the weekend and pull my running deer target through the woods. I said I winged my wife a few time and she wouldn't do it anymore.
 
#29 ·
The unspoken reason why people say yes or maybe and then never go.

THE MONEY AND/OR TIME.

For about a year my friends offered to take me to the range. I said yes or maybe and was just happy that there was an open invitation. However, I had some idea about the cost and commitment. For a new or restarting shooter, it's probably $500 to $1000 in their first year if they take it slow.

As soon as I started, I blew past that $1000 and ended up spending about four times that much.

So while we would like others to enjoy the Second Amendment as much as we do, it takes time and money that they might not have. And more money when they get on RFC and discover what there is yet to buy and what they could have bought in the first place.
 
#30 ·
My problem with people like this is they really do want to buy a gun and want to shoot expert but they don't want to put the time and effort into learning to shoot because it's not something they enjoy or are "too busy" to pursue. These types are the worst gun owners because they are not serious about responsible gun ownership, don't develop muscle memory that would allow them to be effective under stress and hardly know where to put the ammo or how to safely store a gun with kids in the house. I know someone who was asking me about guns more than 5 years ago. They became more serious with the riots this year but his wife isn't a fan of gun ownership and he's not really serious enough to invest $1000 in a good gun and 500 rounds of ammo he will probably never shoot up. He is a nice guy but a California snowflake for sure that is really just all talk.
 
#39 ·
Some people are lacking in the social graces, they say, "Yeah, sure, OK" and then..
I've known plenty of people who have very complicated lives, juggling work, school, family, etc. People who have the better paying jobs will tell you that they are not 9 to 5, one lawyer told of how when you're looking forward to your son's game that Saturday then the Senior Partner says we'll be meeting with a Very Big Client at his country club that Saturday....
 
#42 ·
Here’s an update to my previous post.

D took a nice 4 point buck late yesterday afternoon, which was opening day. She only had a clear view the head and neck so she took a neck shot at 165 yd and dropped it right there. She used a Ruger bolt action .223 shooting 64 gr Win Power Point loads.
Judging from the wound channel, the bullet performed exactly as expected.
She is a very happy young lady with her first deer.

I only have one photo that doesn’t show faces and, since I didn’t think to ask permission, I can’t post them but here’s D’s buck. The photo rotated for some reason when I posed it:
 

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