Henry Rifle Forums

My dear wife of over half a century is a big advocate of the 2A, but she has never shot any of my guns over the years because they “kick back”. I figured that I would give it another try after receiving my AR7 from Henry, promising that the minuscule 22lr doesn’t Kick Back. She decided to go along and give it a try, and after some coaching and practice, she actually hit some targets and began to enjoy herself. On the way home, she talked about how that shooting the little rifle was fun, and that she would like to shoot my 22 pistols and maybe that”cowboy looking “ 22. Could have knocked me over with a feather. Maybe there is hope after all.

It's a wonderful thing to hear, "when can we go to the range again"? The next best thing to hear, "let's go to the gun store"! My wife found a lot of enjoyment shooting my 9mm pistol with the laser pointer. On our next trip I'm taking the Ruger 10/22 along, to see how well she adapts to shooting with a scope.

Great job getting your wife to go shooting again! Bet she would like shooting a Henry 22 lever rifle or even a 6 shooter.

First time here for my wife to shoot my Hi Point 45 carbine back on our 45th Anniversary and she surprised me with that group!

Always good when the wives want to shoot. My wife can’t get a rifle to her shoulder anymore, but still likes to shoot .22 handguns.

Many years ago I was plinking with my Marlin 39-A and my wife wanted to shoot it. The 39 has a pretty long stock and my wife is 5.0’. So with shooting off a rest she placed the buttstock kinda under her chin and shot the bullets eye out of a target. Shortly there after we got her a Browning BLR 22 which she loved but struggled with the lever a bit. So today she owns and shoots (well) a nice Ruger American bolt action rimfire with the youth stock on it.

Congrats on finally getting the wife involved. Im working on mine but its a slow process

I had taught private classes for decades and the first thing I would find myself doing when teaching females is discouraging husbands/or significant others from steering them toward the gun they wanted to add to their collection next as the "Wife's" gun. I would recommend they bring the First Time Shooter to the class and allow her to learn with one of my guns to see what fit her best, especially if she was a new shooter, and NOT rush to purchase until she had some range time behind her. Then She could choose the gun that best fit HER needs.

My classes were four hours classroom followed by four hours range time standard, but with new shooters we often broke the range time into several sessions... two or three if needed. A tired shooter isn't learning much and new shooters tire quickly. Brand new shooters usually ended up with a couple one hour sessions followed by a two hour session. My students could come back and practice on the range (by appointment only) for a modest fee, and many liked to as I had a private range in the middle of nowhere. NO other shooters offering unwanted advice or making comments if they didn't shoot well that day.

For the recoil shy wives, I had a Colt Diamondback .22 or a Ruger Semi-Auto that were very popular, and the Chief's Special 38 with Wadcutters was fine with the proper technique. A model 64 4" Revolver, or the Glock 19 9mm or the Glock 22 40 caliber for semi-autos were next on the list. I taught small private classes and turned down more students than I accepted as my teaching time was limited, due to volunteer work and my work schedule. Those I accepted were mostly wives and significant others of those I knew directly, either through work, or friends.

When it came time to buy, The students would chose a lot of different guns for different reasons but the two most popular? Glock 19 9mm and the Model 642 Smith Airweight Hammerless 38 Snubby. Often they commented that they had always heard "Guns were bad," but after taking the classes and shooting, they "enjoyed the shooting, found it therapeutic." They would comment that the people they had grown up with just acted badly or irresponsibly with guns.

Knowledge... amazing.

There is nothing better for me than taking my wife to the range. Makes more work for me but I don't mind. I weened her off the ammo wasting 10/22's but she still has her 39 Marlin half round half octagon barrel AWL and a couple standard 39 A 24" barrels. She has now moved on to the CZ 452 Grand Finale I bought her for her birthday in 2018 or '19. She loves the 7 oz. trigger on that one. She also has a Ruger MKII slab side she shoots very well with the red dot sight. I would rather go with her to shoot than anyone else and she gets quite an audience from people driving by the range that actually turn around and come back to watch her shoot that have heard about her. One smart mouth guy at the range said to me that she probably can out shoot you. I said "some days she can out shoot me." Then I said to him "If she can out shoot me just think how bad she will make you look. He just walked to his truck and left. Many range shooters love the fact that I have a wife that will shoot at the range for hours and not complain unless it is cold. She has turned out to be a very good shot from the bench but if she was shooting at you offhand you are pretty safe. Nice to hear the OP's wife enjoyed her shooting and wants to do more. Probably will have as much fun as I have with my wife.

Glad to hear about all the wives that are getting into shooting. Miss T's favorite is the CZ455 with the Nikon scope. She became a squirrel sniper when they were raiding her coop in VA. The Yupppie women I worked with at HQ just before retirement didn't understand that farm wives traditionally kept a rifle or small bore shotgun around to deal with varmints while the farmers were away from the farmhouse, and like Hank Jr... she was just carrying on the family tradition.

No way am I handing my wife a loaded gun. I already sleep with one eye open.