[bane]

Do women who shoot with you tend to be better shots than most men who shoot with you?​

I never really shoot with women...	7	12.73%
No, in general the women that I've shot with are aweful shots!	4	7.27%
It's 6 of one and a half-dozen of the other... in my opinion, statements like that are just overgeneralizations...	22	40.00%
Yes, in general the women that I've shot with are fantastic shots!	19	34.55%
I'm a woman... with a sawed-off shotgun, so I really don't need to aim very well; but you can come over unannounced and we'll just see how well I do!	3	5.45%

 

[bane]

This threadbrought this subject up, which I moved here due to the subject having changed quite a bit...

... my wife goes shooting with me too, though she still gets a little scared feeling being at the range, she does overcome it enough to shoot though... but here's the thing: she tends to shoot a fair amount better than I (granted, I have nervous disorder that causes me to tremble a bit and I'm near-sighted... but I've also shot quite a bit more than her and been more or less around guns most of my life)...

How does your wife fare against you???

I've been told by instructors that many of their best students have been females.

Would most here say that's true or just an over-generalization???

 

[Jeff Johnson]

My wife shoots better than I do. I'd better keep on her good side, huh? :lol:

 

[Mr. Magnum]

I've had the pleasure of teaching several women to shoot.

With a rifle most of them are very good shots. It seems they have that extra little bit of patients to wait for the sights to really line-up.
Me on the other hand. I'll get impatient & try to fire as the sights or cross-hairs drift over the bullseye.

 

[xmirage2kx]

While I am sure women vs. men is touchy subject in regards to any area I will give my views on what I have seen.

I have found that the un/little-trained women tend to be Much better shooters than un/little-trained men. On the flip side I found that men shoot better after receiving equal amounts of extensive training.

I think this is because men tend to pick up mechanical tasks better (muscle memory/sight picture) while women pick up on concepts better allowing them to change and adapt.
Basically a man relies on reaction and if he picks up a bad habit it is a lot harder to break than a woman doing the same thing. Women tend to be more open to change so the woman will shoot better much quicker. This same concept applies to good habits too. Once a man gets out of all bad habits (according to my wife this is impossible) and shoots well he naturally resists any change running off of instinct, while a women will still be more flexible relying more on thinking then reacting.

 

[bane]

Once a man gets out of all bad habits (according to my wife this is impossible) and shoots well he naturally resists any change running off of instinct, while a women will still be more flexible relying more on thinking then reacting.

I'm not arguing with your point, you may very well be correct! However, it's interesting to note that this does go against the "traditional view" that women are the emotional creatures and men the logical ones. :idea:

I'm not necessarily a fan of "tradition" though...

 

[Tarzan1888]

It is my experience that they are better natural shots than men.

I have a wife, 4 daughters and 4 sisters + many many other female relitives to back this up.

As I have taught women to shoot, it came to them easier and faster than to my son, brothers friends and so forth.

Tarzan

 

[leppardlady79]

Hi I am a 46 year old woman, come try me...but don't bring anything less than a .357 cause that is the smallest I shoot!! My baby is a S&W .500...4" only kicks a tad and yes I win at the posse shoots so bring it on!

 

[bane]

Haha, leppardlady79, good to hear!

In the same vein, my wife and I just took our CC class today... in a whole room of men there were just her and 1 other woman. The other woman shot very well. Then my wife got up and even outshot her... once we got back into the classroom the instructor and several of the men commented how she outshot nearly everyone there!

I was proud of her!

 

[cardo]

When I marred my wife she came with her own 12 gage shotty! (big bonus in my book! ) I have to say, she is better at it then me.....most of the time. :wink:
She is also great with “some” rifles. But handguns are a different story. She loves plinking with 22s but I give her my XD9sc or anything bigger (.38, 357) and she has a hard time. But with a little more experience and training with handguns I think she would be a great shot.
So I think it depends on how much the person has been around a specific type of gun, male or female, it just takes training!

 

[apollosmith]

When I marred

I'm not sure if that was a typo, a Freudian slip, or a bit of a jab, but I hope your wife doesn't read this.

 

[bane]

So I think it depends on how much the person has been around a specific type of gun, male or female, it just takes training!

While I think some general training is always a requirement in order to be able to know how to handle the basics of the gun, I don't know much training is always necessary... as I mentioned, my wife in our CC class was one of the better shots in the class (out of about 30 people). However, she only just learned to shoot from me (no expert, BTW) about a year and a half ago and she has only been shooting about 4 times. She was pretty nervous going into the class and not feeling like she knows how to handle the gun very well but she still outshot most who manipulated their own guns like they were old-hacks.

 

[packingmama]

I out shot my husband with a handgun when I first met him and many others when I was dating. No one beat me!! :lol: When it comes to a shotgun or rifle I am still good but it gets hard to hold it up after a while because of the weight depending what it is of course. Lighter ones I am fine!

 

[UtahCFP]

A couple of observations --

It is a bit easier to train a woman as they seem to be a bit more intent on listening to the advice. Usually have fewer bad habits to break as well.

Women tend to have a steadier hand than men, in my experience. That gives you a smaller arc of movement (how much wandering you get when you are trying to stay on a small point). I don't have any physiological reasoning for that... just my observation.

Still, gender variation is still a smaller influence than more general factors such as age, body type, and so on.

 

[rdoggsilva]

My wife comes from a family of hunters and shooters. When we were dating in the 1960's we went shooting all the time still do. Yes she is a very good shot.

 

[ammosargeant]

My wife shoots very well with a handgun but with a shotgun she needs some more shooting time. Most girls if they have been around guns and shot before they usually can shoot pretty good.

 

[the wall]

Sadly, most of the women I am around don't like guns so I have no idea if most women are better shots than men. However, my wife got a new 12 gauge shotgun for her birthday last year (she picked it out) and almost immediately was outshooting my brother and myself. My brother and I have been shooting shotguns for years and my wife has only been doing it for a couple of years. I think given the right gun many woman can get to where they outshoot men mostly because of all the opinions listed by everyone else: they listen to advice, they break bad habits easier, etc.

 

[geerhed]

Don't hurt me please!

However I did see this discussed before, and aside from the mentioned mental and psychological factors is a physical one. Women have a generally lower center of gravity (hips and thighs) than men (shoulders and beer belly). This makes for a more stable shooting platform.

I'm not kidding.

 

[bane]

Don't hurt me please!

However I did see this discussed before, and aside from the mentioned mental and psychological factors is a physical one. Women have a generally lower center of gravity (hips and thighs) than men (shoulders and beer belly). This makes for a more stable shooting platform.

I'm not kidding.

EXCELLENT OBSERVATION! Finally, *SOME* scientific evidence to this notion.

 

[Jeff Johnson]

Finally, I have justification for my rotund spare tire. It gives me stability while shooting!! :lolbang: