When buying a shotgun for hunting, clay target shooting or home defense, there is one key aspect that matters more than anything else. It is neither gauge, nor capacity, nor action type: it is the fit. Standardized shotguns or sporting guns are made to fit an average male. We ladies are built quite differently than the gentlemen. Therefore, standardized shotguns, made for the average male, might not fit us properly. The Rizzini Venus is specifically engineered and designed for ladies.

Studies have shown that women do not shoot as precisely as men with handguns. Researchers suppose that the performance differences between men and women in pistol shooting might be due to the strength differences between genders in finger flexor and shoulder abductor muscles essential to stabilize the pistol. Weapon manufacturers discovered women as target groups and developped and designed handguns specially for female hands. Walther did so with their PDP F-Series, which I shoot since a few years.

In December 2024, I had the opportunity to assemble my own Schmeisser AR-15 at the Swiss Shooting Range and learn more about the weapon technology in a Schmeisser AR-15. expanding my knowledge about my own weapon. The Schmeisser AR-15 is a particularly easy-to-handle and lightweight semiautomatic rifle that is very popular among shooters. Depending on the model, the rifles can be upgraded with various accessories, i.e. red dot sights, weapon lights, match triggers, muzzle brakes, silencers, etc.

Social media particularly loved two athletes competing and winning medals at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games: Kim Ye-ji from South Corea and Yusuf Dikec from Türkiye. The former female, the latter male. They have one thing in common: both are shooters. Their pictures shooting at the Olympic games eradiating unbelievable coolness and nonchalance made them go viral. The comment section was filled with heated debates whether women or men are better marks(wo)men. Most shooting instructors, both men and women, will happily tell you women are better shooters than men, followed by anecdotes to support their claim. But is this really true?

Are you a woman and have always wanted to pick up a gun and shoot? Would you like to try shooting without obligation? Are you interested in shooting but don't know how and where to start? Are you afraid to go to a shooting range? Perfect! Then you've come to the right place! I'll dispel the myths, clichés and misconceptions about shooting and show you where you can go shooting and what you need to do it. It's much easier than you think!

SIG SAUER Ltd. Switzerland is located on the historic SIG site in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland, where it all began in 1853 with the Swiss Wagon Factory. On 5000 m2, SIG assembles, develops and tests its own Swiss products, the Stgw90 - one of the world's most accurate assault rifles - and the PE90/SG550 as a civilian version of the Stgw90 and its short versions SG551 and SG553 as well as grenade launchers. Today, SIG SAUER has 13 locations worldwide and employs around 5,800 people, around 50 working at the Neuhausen site in Switzerland. Participants of the factory tour, organized by the Swiss Shooting Range as a sales partner and test center of SIG SAUER weapons, learned this and other exciting background information about this traditional Swiss company.

My fascination for firearms became apparent early on. However, as the offspring of a pacifist family, everything gun-related was bad and I was not even allowed to own or play with a toy gun. Nonethless I found a way to make my dream of shooting a gun come true.

Recently firearms manufacturers discovered women and their special demands as a new target group, among them SIG SAUER. In collaboration with Lena Miculek – an American professional competitive shooter, multi world title winner in different shooting disciplines and firearms educator – SIG SAUER created the P365 XL Rose. I had the chance to test this beautiful weapon geared towards the specific needs of the female shooter.