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A brief history :

My mother is 67 years young . She lives alone and has always had a gun in the home for protection.
She is also always on the go..Bingo , Shopping , Church , ect.

Out of the blue she called me to tell me she wants to take the CHL course and asked if I could help her with the process.
Of course I was all about it.

Today we went to the range to go over the basics. She hasn't shot a gun in many years and was a little nervous but excited at the same time. She will be carrying and practicing with her Smith&Wesson 642 . She does not care for semi autos.

The first few shots were not so great , but after getting the feel of the trigger and concentrating on aim , I quickly learned that shes a pretty good shot.

Here's a nice action shot ...



Here's her target. Yes , there are a couple of flyers , but those were in the first few shots.



Here's a blooper video View My Video

Her next step will be taking a one on one ladies basic handling and safety course.
After that I will take her back to the range and duplicate the requirements for the CHL shooting section of the class.

Way to go Mom!

I felt the same when my wife wanted to get her CHL!

GO MOMMA!!!!!!

Absolutely fantastic!!! You go MOM!!

Super congrats USA1! I know how proud of your Mom you are! And you should be!

And what a swueeeetttttt gun she has! I'm envious.

And for someone who hasn't shot in a while, I'm VERY impressed with her shot groupings.

Mom is my shootin Buddy & she carries too. Congrats. I do know how prowd you are of her.

longtooth wrote:Mom is my shootin Buddy & she carries too. Congrats. I do know how prowd you are of her.

Yep , I think I've got a new shootin buddy now.

As we were leaving she was so proud of herself and wants to practice often.
The only real problem at the moment is that her finger got tired after 30 shots from pulling the trigger on that DAO pistol.
She said she will start using a stress ball to build up strength . I told her that practicing at the range and even dry firing at home with snap caps will also help. After all , she has to be able to shoot 50 rounds for class.

Another funny thing I forgot to mention..
When we first walked in she would jump every time someone would take a shot.

That wore off pretty quick though.

Any chance of getting her to qualify with an easy to shoot semi-auto so that she at least has the option to carry either type? That's what my wife did... ...qualified on a G19, even though she most often carries a 642.

The Annoyed Man wrote:Any chance of getting her to qualify with an easy to shoot semi-auto so that she at least has the option to carry either type? That's what my wife did... ...qualified on a G19, even though she most often carries a 642.

I knew someone would bring that up .

No. I tried to convince her but she is stubborn . She likes the simple operation of the revolver .
The main problem with the semi auto for her is racking back the slide . Shes just not strong enough .

She really loves her revolver (and I do too) and plans to carry nothing else.

Regardless what she eventually carries, we're proud of your mom and happy for you, too!

USA1 wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:Any chance of getting her to qualify with an easy to shoot semi-auto so that she at least has the option to carry either type? That's what my wife did... ...qualified on a G19, even though she most often carries a 642.

I knew someone would bring that up .

No. I tried to convince her but she is stubborn . She likes the simple operation of the revolver .
The main problem with the semi auto for her is racking back the slide . Shes just not strong enough .

She really loves her revolver (and I do too) and plans to carry nothing else.

Awesome story to read! I've had my mother out once and the smile on her face was worth it! With our hectic schedule, it's hard to make the time but we will be out again!

Just to add to TAM's comment, my mother had the same issue with racking the slide. I had her try a Beretta Cheeta 86 (with the flip up barrel) and it solved the issue of racking the slide...you don't have to! My mother, when the time comes, will most likely use this for her CHL test.


Again, awesome story! Thanks for sharing!

USA1 wrote:She really loves her revolver (and I do too) and plans to carry nothing else.

Revolvers are great handguns. A recent post stated that only 2% of CHLs have the revolver-only status, so she will be a member of an elite group.

My mom's favorite handgun was her 2 1/2 inch .357 Mag Colt Python.

USA1:

Your mom's a regular Annie Oakley!

Not only has she got a great grouping of COM shots,
but I was particularly impressed with the throat groupings.

It's not a big deal that she'll get her CHL with a "revolver only"
stamp, for the following reasons:

She realizes she needs a gun. She has a great gun. She shoots it
great. She's getting her CHL. She will carry it to bingo and elsewhere.
She is miles ahead of any woman who doesn't realize she needs a gun!!

Does she need pink grips? :-)

SIA

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:USA1:

Your mom's a regular Annie Oakley!

It's funny you say that . That's exactly what she said as we were walking out...jokingly of course.

It's like you're physic or something.

USA1 wrote:It's like you're physic or something.

I think SIA is ... something.

WildBill wrote:

USA1 wrote:It's like you're physic or something.

I think SIA is ... something.

I just don't know what that "something " is.

Just kidding SIA . I don't care what WildBill or even joe817 says about ya , you're OK in my book .