*edit* Looking for some advice for wife's edc

[hlb14]

My wife has expressed interest in finding her first edc. So far she likes the way j frames, LCR's and sig 938's feel in her hand. I know next to nothing about revolvers so im hoping you guys can give me some pointers. I looked back in the classifieds and noticed alot of LCR's for sale. Are they that unpleasant to shoot? Seems like the S&W would be easier to handle being all metal. We're going next weekend to try and rent some different models. Edited October 12, 2013 by hlb14

[frankmako]

any small wheel gun is not fun to shoot with full loads like 357 mag, 38 special +p and +p+ unless you are a long time shooter and are use to high power loads.  i would look at any s&w j-frame and the ruger.  both are good guns.  you want her to learn to shoot the gun with lite loads, something like a 38 special 148 gr wad cutter or normal 38 special loads.  she will have to fire some full powder loads to see how the gun reacts.  but you don't need to make a range day of full power loads.  

[Rickey]

Most women don't like a lot of noise or feeling the recoil so to make the experience enjoyable make sure you got good hearing protection and and since your wanting to use a j frame use a all steel 38spl (that's what I carry) for less felt recoil  what ever you do don't start out with a 357 mag if you want her to keep on shooting.

[Oh Shoot]

Recoil is for the large part as much subjective as anything else, within reason, but can tell you the absolute nastiest gun I've ever shot is the Smith .357 Scandium. I literally declined a third shot, and only did the second one to confirm how bad the first one was.

 

The Ruger LCR .357 is at least 3 times more pleasant to shoot, and of course the .38 model even more so, and is gentler than the Smith Airweight .38 series also IMO.

 

However, except for the few folks who just dig recoil from the gitgo, and that especially includes anyone who has little to no experience shooting anything at all, recoil is generally not immediately a reinforcing sensation. And all that recoil into one hand instead of spread out over a shoulder makes it seem all the more "violent".

 

Lots of women will fine .380s objectionable too, and without some training will never get over gritting their teeth and flinching every time they fire one, which they'll of course tend simply not to do on any kind of regular basis.

 

So I suppose I'm suggesting, if your wife hasn't shot much of anything handgun wise, ease her into it with a .22 first, then a full sized pistol, before going to a smaller carry piece, whether pistol or revo.

 

- OS

Edited October 6, 2013 by Oh Shoot

[Patton]

A lot of men make the mistake buying a wheel gun for their wife's first handgun. I would say as much as 90% end up keeping them at home. My wife, mom, and a lot of other women I know have j frames/LCR's, and Taurus 85's at home but carry a LCP or similar. I have a few j frames and my wife has a LCR w/ all three grips. Truthfully all the 5rounders, they handle the same. If she will carry an all steel j frame(~20oz) they handle a lot better. My only complaint about the LCR is it is easy to short stroke the trigger.

[bersaguy]

My son in law wanted to start my daughter shooting and he thought a wheel gun would be best for her so went to the range and met me there. They rented a couple different  wheel guns in 38 and 32 and she didn't like either one so while son-in-law was gone up front to get something else I let her shoot 2 mags from my 380 Bersa Thunder. When son in law  came back into range my daughter looked at him and said I want one of these and she showed him my Bersa. They left the range that day with a  Bersa 380 Thunder in the duo tone model and a holster for it and box of ammo. She is attending a class now and I hope with in a month she will be able to qualify and get a carry permit. Wheel guns do have their place in the gun world for sure but they are not for everyone. I know guys right now that would never own a semi-auto and will only carry a wheel gun.......

[hlb14]

Good points, definitely going to stay away from 357. I hadn't thought about going the 22 route, definitely a possibility.

[hlb14]

What turned her onto smaller revolvers was an instructor who put on a free class at the Armory last weekend. He swore it was the cats meow. Her only other experience shooting is a M&P22 with which she qualified with and a H&K P30. Personally I'd like her to have a semi auto but I'd rather her be happy. Hopefully being able to rent one will answer some questions.

[Joe357]

When I lived in FL I took my wife to the range for the first time. I let her try to shoot one of my wheel guns with 38's,two rounds latter we were done. When we moved to TN,after a year or so of me going to the range she asked to come with me but she didn't want to shoot the loud gun. So we rented a 22lr pistol and shot 100 rounds each then went home. A week later she asked to go again. Long story short she has her HCP and now carries a glock 19 gen 4 and range gun is a ria 1911 in 9mm and she will every once in a while ask to shoot one of my 45's. We go to the range just about every week.

[Lowpower]

Wheel guns tend to be very limited in caliber and if you're looking for a purse carry gun then that short lil barrel in say a .38 +P might be 

intimidating to a lady that is new to shooting.  Short barrel = big bang, lotsa noise then add a little bit of kick to a small frame...then there's no sight radius so to speak of so she will extend the gun out as far as she can and start working over lousy DA triggers. However, you can get a decent trigger job.

 

Only short fall of a wheel gun is you could blow one up with a squib. My biggest shock was shooting mil .223 ammo in an colt AR and hearing a pheart iso a bang. I stopped everything, unloaded the gun and ran a rod through it to get the bullet out. Can you believe a military round that didn't have ammo in the cartridge? I never heard of that even while in the Military.

 

I reload everything and I've run the darn press outa powder so one would get by me every few years. In my semi's I'd hear the pheart but the primer didn't have enough power to cycle the slide. Do that with a revolver and not stop and you will end up with two up the chute. Boom

 

i've had 30-40 Wheel Guns over the past 40 years or so and I actually carry (when I do carry) a slab sided Colt .45 series 70.

 

A buddy mine's wife got her HCP and he wanted to give her his M 36 S&W. She ended up buying a Gl    o    ,,,,,,I can't say it...in 9mm and shoots the heck outa it.

 

Hope this helps some.

Lp

[c.a.willard]

Where are you guys going shooting at next weekend.  I was going to get some range time next weekend anyways so if you would like i can bring a shield to you guy's for her to try.

[hlb14]

c.a. thats a very generous offer, we're shooting for monday the 14th, no pun intended, at either the Nashville Armory or G&L. I need to call and see who has what to rent Edited October 7, 2013 by hlb14

[Loon160T]

My wife has a Walther PK380 fr her EDC gun and a Walther P22 for range work.

 

Why, you ask?

 

Both are basically identical in size and operate (safety and magazine release) the same.

[RED333]

My wife picked her EDC, a LCR, in 38+P, but she has standard 38 loads in it.

We shoot a few time a month, she is good with it.

I would not want to be coming at her in side of 30 feet.

[Tuffus]

I really like my LCR. It's a .357 but can shoot 38 in it too. Several ladies have tried it and liked it with .38 and even .38 +p. It also comes in .22 magnum if recoil is a problem.

[Jonnin]

Make sure she likes the heavy long trigger on the DAO revolvers if she goes with it.   You can manage the recoil by changing ammo until you find what she likes there, so IMHO the trigger pull is the biggest issue with a 357 carry gun. 

 

If recoil is a problem --- 22 mag is an interesting choice.  8 rounds of 22 mag vs 5 rounds of 38 ....  I could not say which is better firepower.   My wife loves her taurus 22 mag and carries it some -- bonus, it can be cocked manually for longer shots or DA pulled for up close.  She can hit a 3 inch or so target at 25 yards with it cocked, not bad for a snubbie.

 

I like my sig 938, very easy to use, holds as much as the revolver and as powerful  but uses less space and easier to reload and infinitely better trigger than LCR.   Be sure to let her try one of those before deciding if if already feels good to her.  It stings a bit on the recoil, not "bad" but I would not want to shoot 2 boxes out all at one go.  2 or 3 mags per go to practice is not bad.  380 version if that is too much is an option.

[JAB]

Another thing to really think about with small revolvers are the grips.  I had a Rossi .357 snubbie that had full grips on it and I could fire full house .357 from it comfortably and repeatedly.  It was a good gun but I wanted a revolver that was small enough to pocket carry (the Rossi .357 is a six shot and more of a 'medium' frame revolver) so I traded it for a S&W 642 Airweight.  In the 642, some .38+P rounds generate enough recoil that a cylinder or two are about all I can do (for perspective, I have a SBH in .44 Magnum that I enjoy shooting.)  Thing is, the 642 has the tiny 'boot' grips that leave the backstrap exposed and are intended to make concealed carry easier but that make recoil more noticeable.  I am confident that full-sized grips - especially of the overmolded type - would tame the recoil a whole lot.  Depending on how she will carry it, having full sized grips might not make that much difference in carrying but will certainly make a difference in recoil management. 

[SonnyCrockett]

u better let her try one first before you buy it or you will have to go back out and

buy her another gun when she hates it ...Ask me how I know ?

[Patton]

u better let her try one first before you buy it or you will have to go back out and
buy her another gun when she hates it ...Ask me how I know ?

Story of my life, I did get a LCR out of the deal though.

[ted]

Try the S&W 9mm revolver if you can even find one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU1ffNlnnlI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DUU1ffNlnnlI

[ted]

I can meet you at Charlie's range in spring hill and she can try my wife's 9mm shield or her sig p238 if ya like jest bring ya some 9mm ammo I have plenty of 380 that she can shoot for the sig p238 , jest let me know I'll be glad to help if I can .

[hlb14]

u better let her try one first before you buy it or you will have to go back out and

buy her another gun when she hates it ...Ask me how I know ?

O believe me, i'm not buying anything til she looks at me with a smile and says "this one!"

[hlb14]

I can meet you at Charlie's range in spring hill and she can try my wife's 9mm shield or her sig p238 if ya like jest bring ya some 9mm ammo I have plenty of 380 that she can shoot for the sig p238 , jest let me know I'll be glad to help if I can .

 

thank you ted! hopefully i can set some time aside saturday morning, i'll pm ya

[ted]

That will work jest pm me when ya want to go to the range . In spring hill

[NRA]

I can meet you at Charlie's range in spring hill and she can try my wife's 9mm shield or her sig p238 if ya like jest bring ya some 9mm ammo I have plenty of 380 that she can shoot for the sig p238 , jest let me know I'll be glad to help if I can .

I love my shield but the pull is very hard, maybe to hard for most women.  I got my daughter a Ruger p-22 and it is one hellofa pistol.  I personally would not carry a 22lr but I also would not want to stop one.