Curt, I gotta say, I'm with Joe and Paul on this one. They need instruction before you take them to the range where they will be handling live firearms. They need to demonstrate, to your satisfaction, before you go to the range with them that they are 100% competent, safe, and reliable in their gun handling. Offer to spend some time with them at home before you go.

I'm a range officer and do a bit of introductory training.

I stand on the right hand side of them as it's harder for them to shoot me. AND I load one round in the gun. This is because they often yell "SH IT" and turn around gun in hand and finger on the trigger to tell their friends it gave them a fright.

I'm going to say it probably was not zeroed in for the distance you were shooting. You can get "on paper" with the bore sighting laser. So a laser to adjust your laser, in other words.

My hope is that "hasn't shot a 9mm in years" will mean that the guy has some understanding of proper safety and handling.

If you do go, alert the range officer of the situation so he/she can keep and eye on things and step in. Your friend will probably not accept help from you (as per "unnecessary") and we have no idea how his wife will react. If the range officer steps in, they are more likely to receive correction/instruction.

Jeff, I agree with your assessment of the cheese grater affect of the checkered wooden grips! I like the fat rubber grips because of the finger slots and they fit my large hands much better. I will save your info on the “Roper”grips from Steve Herrett if I change my mind.

My Python is a 1980 model. What year is yours? I’m glad you shoot it!

Beautiful, I miss our Snake Collection.

Against my better judgement and good advice here, I went through with it and we survived. I wound up going to their house and spending 30 minutes on basic gun safety before leaving. And strongly emphasizing that we will be entering a military-like environment and there will be absolutely no place for screwing around. It went well, although I had to continually remind her to keep her GD finger away from the trigger when the gun was unloaded :mad: I think that's a common rookie error.

I let her use my P22 Walther. Good thing. She took one shot with the 9mm and immediately set it down on the table and walked away. In the end, she absolutely loved shooting and we hit the local gun shops on the way home looking at .22 pistols.

All that said: I will NEVER do that again. Too much stress. I don't envy instructors. And I wish I would've seen Bill's "one round" at a time suggestion beforehand.

In hindsight, I'm pretty sure that what I was doing way back when was simply pointing the dot at the target, focusing downrange on the dot and firing which was causing all sorts of movement as the trigger was squeezed. The laser on the P22 today was a 100% success, although honestly I found it more of a distraction than a useful tool.

I started down this path back in '79 with the M27, and had Pachmayr grips on it back then. Followed by the two Colts in 80 & 81.... I wuz a poor college student back then ;). The M629 came several years later with the smooth wooden grips.... mucho better than the checkered ones imo. That Diamondback is nice.... mighty nice... they all are actually :). I was also reading Col. Cooper's stuff as a young teen also....




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Curt: just think how it would have been if you met them at the range! :eek:
was the range officer available to help? Did the guy shoot at all or know what he was doing?

This is a really small mom & pop 8-lane range and shop. They really don't have a range officer other than cameras they monitor from the sales floor. Yeah, neither of them really knew much. I sent them a link to study last night and then went over everything with them, but that's no substitute for a pro instructor. I'm still encouraging them to take a class.

He shot about 25 rounds and was done. Good enough for a couple more years! Hahaa. And he keeps the gun unloaded in a lock box at home ... what good is it?! She shot 100 rounds first time ever.

And after doing some shopping this morning .... holy crap .... have gun prices skyrocketed along with everything else in this country :eek: Tough to find a .22 semi-auto pistol for under $450! I bought my Walther with the laser a year or so ago for $290.

VVV Your 1/2 hour away from the range was a great call.

We hosted this class, which I posted about: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1077640-women-only-pistol-class.html

We have done a second. No pics from that one. My wife has upgraded in caliber but still loves shooting her .22 WMR revolver.

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At what point do women outnumber men at gun shops and ranges? All three gun shops we visited today were staffed by women with no men in sight. :cool:

The instructor at the two classes was the same guy. His brother is a friend of mine, a retired AF F-16 pilot.

He said he could run a class 52 weekends a year, women only. He does male only and co-ed classes as well.

He has some very interesting opinions on attention to detail, patience and willingness to learn. No exactly what you'd suppose, but the percentages are surprising.

Wow - mine was made in 1980 as well. What are the chances? My older brother bought it when he was in the Navy, stationed in San Diego. Turns out he didn't develop the love of the shooting sports that I did and, about ten years ago, told me he wanted to sell it. He didn't think he needed such a valuable piece in his nightstand just for home protection. So, I traded a really nice Springfield 1911 and a fistful of cash, and the Python was mine.

I do shoot it, a lot. I never carry it, or pack it in the woods, or anything like that. Too big to carry, not enough gun for packing up into the Cascades, where I prefer something with a bit more power. So, it leads an easy, if not busy life as a "range gun".

Here are a couple of other double actions with smooth wooden grips, both S&W's. The Model 19 has the afore mentioned Herrett "Roper" grips, the Model 29 is wearing Eagle grips, also of the "Roper" design.

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Here is another Model 29 with its original S&W made "Roper" style stocks (Walter F. Roper designed, and one Mathais Gagne manufactured these stocks for S&W in the mid 20th century). S&W chose to checker these but, fortunately, their checkering is flush with the rest of the grip. For whatever reason, Colt chose to raise their checkering "proud" above the grip surface, making it exceptionally uncomfortable.

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I left the S&W "Roper" stocks on this one just because they are so darn pretty. This dates from when S&W were using a Brazilian hardwood known as "goncalo alves" to produce these grips.

Nobody likes long guns?http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1657687988.JPG
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A model 28 - Highway Patrolman.

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I laughed when I saw your Python was a 1980 model also! I’m glad it went to someone who appreciates it and shoots it. My other Python’s (4” and 8” barrels) are as you described “range guns”, but they get shot plenty. I shoot them with my son, son in law and nephew. I love that they go bang every time, never jam, and really don’t kick much. The only downside is the cost of ammo!

I love those S&W’s especially the one with the goncalo alves hardwood!

if you don't need it, then you want it, and if its wanting you want
you'll want a Dan Wesson over a Kimer any day

I had mine before they became well known and higher priced..

I've seen it next to Kimbers no contest.