My friend has only held guns before and shot airsoft , he has never shot a real gun and I am planning on taking him to the range.  He is really good with safety and all that but he has never fired before.  

I do not have a large collection of guns but I have some to work with,

What should I let him shoot first.  Probably  .22 then move up to 12 guage, lol?

No question on the .22 first. This allows a good check on trigger pull & sight picture, etc. A .38spl in a mid-sized gun (no snubbie) would seem to be the next step. Some would say a 9mm will suffice but I prefer a revolver until the have a few rds under their belt, IMO.

Be sure to take an AR!

Yeah, I was planning on the AR just to scare him and make him realize that ARs aren't like a .50 BMG.  

As long as you explain to someone what to expect, I have found that people who really enjoy shooting don't mind recoil at all.  Just make sure you warn them ahead of time, and coach them how to deal with it.

Quoted: My friend has only held guns before and shot airsoft he I do not have a large collection of guns but I have some to work with, What should I let him shoot first.  Probably  .22 then move up to 12 guage, lol?

Nice!

Always good to get someone in on the sport.

I recently took some friends and their kids to the range.. They had a great time. It don't matter what they shoot..it matters how you present the sport to them.

These noobs I took up do not know the first thig about guns...so I stayed away from reading off the Field Manual to them "Yawn" . They don't care anything about an AR15 or a p1917...or whatever...leave that discussion to ar15.com. The focus was that it was a family event, like hiking, or going out to eat. It was a nice outing, not "the shooting trip"

I did make sure everyone knew how to operate the hardware and knew the rules of gun safety by hard.

There were three sisters. The little 12 year old girl...She's just a sweetheart around the neighborhood, wouldn't let go of the 10-22..She was dead-nuts with that thing too...She shot my scope out! The 15 year old girl with the .357 mag ... Well, let's say Dirty Harry would be proud, and the 19 year old college gal was blasting away with the 9 mm like a Hong Kong Action Star...

The take-away was that we focused on a family type outing...not some alphabet soup of gun names and gun (yawn) histories... I know it's tempting to put a 12 gauge in the hands of a noobie and laugh at their inexperience...hat in a new sport...they put their trust in you...Surprises hat A smooth event makes them think more positively about the sport.

let it be duely recorded in the moments that a goodly time was had by all.

1 bullet at a time for the first 5 shots...  just to be sure he doesn't turn to you and say something like "that wasn't very loud" with his finger still on the trigger and barrel pointed at your chest.

...  ask me how I know.

I gave a noob a .375 once. No, a .375 not a .357. He liked the pain. I ran out of ammo

Semi-auto ammo wasters and some reactive targets. Make it as fun as possible

Don't talk politics, start with safety lecture, then some quick basic instructions, make them load their own mags to begin with, start small (22's) and work up to the big stuff.  as they shoot more you can help as needed,

Well, I'll bring the .22, .38, .357, .223, and the 12 gauge and probably work around that order.

Sounds like a good bunch to bring.

When I introduce new shooters, I definately do the .22 first, and I only load one round at a time for a few shots.

Also, as mentioned, reactive targets!

Get some cans, ripe melons, water bottles, frozen water bottles, anything you can think of that you are going to be able to clean up afterwards. So no glass.

It is just more satisfying for them to touch off a 12 ga or .30 cal rifle and see something downrange explode.

Phone books are fun too.  

My friend's dad came along with my friend and he brought his Benelli M1 Super 90.  It is an older model so it has the 8 shot capacity.  We loaded 8 OO buck in it and my friend unloaded on a phonebook.

Phonebook, 8 seconds later, Post-it notes.

It was great.

Hey!

Any .22 caliber is a good starter. But if they are like my 12 year old grandson they get bored quickly and want a shot at the bigger stuff. He's shot everything I have except the Mosin bolt actions. He will be here next week for a two week visit and the first thing he will ask is "when are we going shooting". He ran me out of ammo the last time we took the AR to the range. Make sure you bring enough ammo so that the newbies get a chance to get a feel for the firearm(s). Get a few cases of clay pidgeons. They're cheap and make great targets (don't have to pick up the mess after).

What BobCole said.....

75-round Romanian drum mags for your AK-47.

I don't have an AK.    I will have one, in the not so far future.

Quoted: 1 bullet at a time for the first 5 shots...  just to be sure he doesn't turn to you and say something like "that wasn't very loud" with his finger still on the trigger and barrel pointed at your chest. ...  ask me how I know.

Yikes.


Anyway, I hear cans of tomatoe juice go over real well.

Quoted: For semi-autos, load 1 round in the mag until they've fired about 5 shots.  Then load 3 rounds, and do that 5 times.  If they can handle that safely, move them up to full mags. I *always* start new people out with .22LRs, and progress up as they are ready.  The worst thing you can do to turn someone off to shooting is hand them a 12ga. right off the bat.  That's cruel and stupid. -Troy

Yeah, I know handing them a 12 guage is kinda mean, and I was joking.  I have a Ruger 10/22, which seems like a good start for my buddy.  He is a big guy though, so, I think he will be able to handle the 12 guage when we get to it.

I'll just make sure it's fun and espeacially safe.

Just today I introduced 3 new shooters to guns.  One a friend of mine - 28, and her two twin neices who are 16.  We started with my ported 4" .357 with .130gr 38's in it.  Then we tried putting 125gr .357's in it.  After that we went to my .40 cal Glock 22.  My friend and one one of the twins really surprised me at how fast they picked it up.  They really shot well.  And both preffered the .357's!  The other one was a bit more hesitant and prefered the .38, but she did show progression.  I need to give her some more 1 on 1 time without the competition factor with her sister.  Too bad shes not a little bit older.    

After the pistols we wrapped up with a few rounds with my AR and my M1A.  They were all pretty intimidated at first when they saw the size of the .308's, but they seemed to like it after shooting a few rounds.  They all said that it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be, and they all wanted to shoot more.  Unfortunatly, I had to work.  Saved me on ammo though.  

We all enjoyed our selves.  And I hardly shot at all!  I hope to have them back again soon so they can shoot more and continue the positive experience with guns.

16 year old girls? Perfect, wheres the pics?

.22 and balloons...nice interactive targets.

.378 Weatherby Magnum.

.22 s are a great start . Espically with good reactive targets . Pop cans are fun or golf balls . They react well to the bullet energy .

Move up as necessary from there . keep it fun and lively BUT MAKE SURE THEY ACT IN A SAFE MANOR .

Tell them this is not a video game with no extra life . Keep it real .

This is how I teach my kids .

I prey on virgins and take a shitpile of them to the range, usually female.

The main thng I stress on safety is gun pointed downrange at all times. I tell them flat out, "If you turn around with any gun in your hand, I will shoot you myself." When not shooting, lay it on the deck.

I usually do it in an order something like this.

.22 revolver Large frame Very heavy, zero recoil.  I run through the first loading cycle, shooting and all. Then load it for them, then they are on their own until they finish the box of 50.

357 revolver/38 spl ammo- 4inch barrel, low recoil

9mm semi (Used to be XD9, then it was a 92FS, Just depends on what I feel like shooting)

1911.

Finish with an ar.


I never give them shotguns or large caliber handguns, I dont even take them. While I explain sight picture, I am not real anal about technique. As they shoot more I fine tune a little here and there, but for the first time I just want them to have fun safely. I tell them to be comfortable. I want them to enjoy it not feel like they have to save America today. I want them to like it enough to want to do it again. I rarely shoot during these trips. When they gettired between guns, I grab the AR and plink a bit.

Depends on who it is and where we go, I will take a Mac or Uzi and let them have some fun after we shoot everything else.

In fact, one of the cuties called me last night and wants to go back. Sunday is all hers

Quoted: Phone books are fun too.   My friend's dad came along with my friend and he brought his Benelli M1 Super 90.  It is an older model so it has the 8 shot capacity.  We loaded 8 OO buck in it and my friend unloaded on a phonebook. Phonebook, 8 seconds later, Post-it notes. It was great.

The old Benelli M1 S90 with a 4 round extention holds 9 rounds total with one round on the carrier not 8.  The new M1 S90 doesn't hold a round on the carrier.