I am teaching my wife to handle and shoot a 9 mm, she asked the first day we shot , to please be patient. I have and we have got along fine, so I think the key to teaching your wife is be patient and keep it simple.
WOW, hope florida was nice. 22 is the way to start for sure,then the 9mm.I bet things would go smooth if she is genuinely interested.My wife mentioned going out to the range to fire her 38 since my son and I have been going so frequently.She did mention not wanting to spend all day though.So if your wife is anything like mine you may want to ease into it at first.
Take her out yourself and show her how to shoot. Get a gun in her hand and get her started. She can take a class later if she wants. If you cannot get a simple range event in without problems why are you married to this person? Treat her like everyone else and get the safety and fundamentals across. She is wanting to learn to shoot to defend herself so help her do that. She is motivated and you are able so it should not be a problem.
This desire to shoot is grounded in self- defense so humanoid targets are appropriate.
I taught mine how to shoot, i first drew her a picture of the sight pic and what it is supposed to look like when she aims, gave her a G19, she done wonderful, got her to control her breathing and squeeze instead of jerk the trigger, how to hold the weapon where its comfortable for her...then went over safety, how to load, clear the slide incase of a jam, drop the mag etc...we skipped over the law crap and stop vs kill.....has no relation when/if she has to protect our son while I may be away from the house. If someone comes in, doing what they are not supposed to be doing they wouldn't have gotten what they got!
My wife always qualifies sharpshooter and can disassemble and reassemble a few weapons systems faster than I can. It is still hell getting her to the range. When I do... she just brings up the "fact" that we "don't need to replace the ammo we just shot"????????????????????? I would say get a plinker and a funny animal shaped metal target for her to shoot at. That has worked for me. I want to do practical training and work on room clearing, bounding and scenarios. She like to shoot at funny targets and laugh when she hits it in the butt. I would just say that it is important to make it fun and constructive. She could even bring a friend that has never shot before. You could bring a few friends and make a fun day of it. Just don't laugh at her. Feed confidence and stress a solid grip. Limp wristing will cause a jam and stop a follow up shot if she would have to fire in self defense. Have fun and be safe. Congrats on the interest.
Shes not my wife just my girlfriend. I was telling her that I would like it if she would go to the range with me the other day and she said sure. I wanted to go mainly to try out my stock and compliance kit on my SKS and put some rds down the barrel of my handgun but, I took along the .22. and
this is only her second time shooting and I was quite impressed. She holds about an 6" group at 50 yds with iron sights...I'm so proud.
Bought my wife an LCP the day after she stated "don't you have anything bigger for me to shoot" as we were standing in the yard shooting my 22/45. Shebalked at the .40 after shooting it once and it almost jumped out of her hand. Great feeling hearing her say that. Just glad she ended it with "for me to shoot". hahaha
Shay
Your wife will accept instruction and more importantly criticism from a stranger MUCH better than you. Go to the basic pistol class with her. There's always something to learn from a fresh point of view on any subject. IMHO it will be money well spent.