Gun for the Mrs.

[Guest wdytia]

Just a thought. Many posters suggested .380s, but in my experience, ammo is nearly impossible to find. I finally put mine in the safe...9mm is much easier to find. Keltec P11 has long, difficult trigger pull; H & K is hands down better built and easier to shoot, but a bit pricey. If she wasn't opposed to revolver, I would suggest Ruger SP101..nice size, easy to shoot, chambered for four different rounds, very easy to conceal.

Edited January 5, 2010 by wdytia

[Guest peacexxl]

Taurus pt709. Got one for my wife and put a Hogue Handall Jr on it, she loves it and so do I. Very controllable for a 9mm, especially with the hogue added. Great size, very nice trigger and has a thumb saftey.

[Guest HexHead]

Take her to gun shows and stores to see what feels good in her hand. Let her rent the ones she likes at the range. Unless you are just going to use this as an excuse to get another gun you want, keep your mouth shut. Don't try and lead her to what you think she should get. Let her make her own choice.

[Guest peacexxl]

Take her to gun shows and stores to see what feels good in her hand. Let her rent the ones she likes at the range. Unless you are just going to use this as an excuse to get another gun you want, keep your mouth shut. Don't try and lead her to what you think she should get. Let her make her own choice.

+1

This is REALLY hard to do, but great advice if you want her to enjoy her gun and shooting in general.

[Guest Memphis_Malachi]

My other half just got interested in Guns recently, she is now waiting on her HCP and will be carrying. I bought her the Smith & Wesson M&P .40 sup compact. I do like that she does not want a saftey because that would be just one more thing to remember if needed. So if you would like PM my GF and she could give you or better yet her the pros and cons of the M&P .40 she is on this forum (Lizarita)

[Guest rbl]

I bought my mom a J frame SW model 37 in the airlite, she liked it very well. then this past christmas I bought her a Glock 19. She loves it also... Those two guns are the ones my mom and gf love to shoot, now they shoot the rest of them but love those two. I bought a couple g19s so they could shoot together.

Another nice gun that is super fun to shoot and every lady I know enjoyed shooting it was the walther p22. Iv got a couple of those also. Bought the gf one in pink, looking for another one in pink for my mom. they are great for them to learn on and to feel the trigger since the are double action. Best money I spent on those guns just so they could learn to handle and shoot a pistol

[Guest lizarita]

From a female perspective, I love my M&P .40 Sub-compact. It has interchangeable grips for larger or smaller hands (I use the medium grip) and has very little recoil.

Also-don't let her carry in her purse. I think someone already said it, but if the bad guy gets her purse, he gets her gun too. Just my !

[Guest GenNBForrest]

I feel a wheel gun to be the best choice for a female that is wanting to carry. A hammer-less revolver like the S&W442. It weighs 12.7 oz., small and compact. Simple operation. Add Crimson Trace laser grips and she will feel very confident using it. As far a recoil, yes it will have a strong recoil with defense ammo. The key is to allow her to train with 148g full wad cutters. soft recoil. I even go as far as to hand load rounds for my wife with 2.7 grains of Clays powder topped off with a 148g double ended WC. Very soft recoil. A pair of padded Uncle Mike's shoot gloves also helps the enjoyment factor of shooting.

[PackinMama]

Ok need some help here. The wife has expressed interest in having her own handgun. She even has expressed interest in getting her HCP sometime this year possibly so I am trying to encourage the interest.

So far she has shot a Sig P250 9mm, Walther P22 and Luger LCP. Didnt like actually shooting LCP recoil was too much for her "hurt her hand" . Walther P22 liked but not enough stopping power to use for carry. She is not interested in a revolver. Going to be typically carrying in purse so within reason concealment fairly easy. Biggest thing for her is easy recoil. Only other request from me would like to keep it under $1,000 ideally the $500 to $700 price range even better.

So looking for suggestions on this.

Purse carry? Seriously not a good idea!!! I would discourage this at all costs! Of course, it's better than nothing......but think about it. What's a bad guy usually go after first in an attack on a woman? The purse. Unless the victim has plenty advance warning, which most of the time it doesn't happen that way, a gun in the purse is useless and can even be used against her. Or, the gun can be stolen and used to hurt someone else. My best advice to you would be to plead with her to not carry her gun in her purse. There are lots of different options for carrying concealed on your person....and lots of other threads that deal with that subject so I won't go into it here.

So, let's get back to gun choice.

Ok, Revolvers are out since she is not interested in going that route. (Too bad, because the lightweight snubbies are a terrific choice, especially for beginners.)

So let's see what we got here. You want to get her something that she's comfortable shooting and that's a powerful enough caliber for self defense. It should also be small and light enough for her to be able to carry it comfortably. Something in the $500 to $700 range. Gotcha.

These are the guns that come to mind: Glock 26, Spingfield XD in a subcompact 9mm, M&P subcompact 9mm, Kahr PM9, and the Kel-Tec PF9.

9mm is easily managable as far as recoil goes, and is also a very respectable caliber for self defense purposes. 9mm ammo is not too expensive, so she'll be able to practice more without draining the pocketbook in the process.

I would try to find a range that rents these guns and let her handle and shoot them before she makes her final decision. If she can't shoot them first, at least let her handle them all to see which one feels best and points more naturally for her.

Good luck! Let us know what you end up buying for her!

[DavidM]

I feel a wheel gun to be the best choice for a female that is wanting to carry. A hammer-less revolver like the S&W442. It weighs 12.7 oz., small and compact. Simple operation. Add Crimson Trace laser grips and she will feel very confident using it. As far a recoil, yes it will have a strong recoil with defense ammo. The key is to allow her to train with 148g full wad cutters. soft recoil. I even go as far as to hand load rounds for my wife with 2.7 grains of Clays powder topped off with a 148g double ended WC. Very soft recoil. A pair of padded Uncle Mike's shoot gloves also helps the enjoyment factor of shooting.

I would tend to agree with Gen. Forrest. My wife has an S&W 642 w/ CT grips and she loves it. Though rated at +p, I reload at the lightest level for her to practice. She can keep all five in the belly easily. She shot my Trooper one day after some coaxing. She was intimidated by the size, but she loved it once she got going. Those light .38's in that .357 shot like a .22. That also helped build her confidence a bit. I can barely keep her in ammo! She has a Kahr CW9, but carries the Smith regularly.

[Sams Dad]

My wife carries a Bersa 380, its light, not much recoil, easy to conceal and she can literally shoot the eyes out of a silouhette at 15 yards.

400 rounds without a glitch. She carries Gold Dot hollow points.

it's about a $300 gun around here. She loves it.

[Guest JimmyJ]

Hi:

Without meaning to be negative, however:

Purse carry is the most useless way to carry.

A Ruger LCR for a revolver or a Beretta Model 84 .380 for a semi-auto.

Carry IWB at 2 O'clock or 11 O'clock.

Jimmy

[R.Z.]

I don't think the O.P. has replied yet - so maybe he's still working it?

It's gonna be different for everyone, but my experience has been:

Size of gun proportional to size of woman (slim is sexy).

Trigger pull & felt-recoil will seal the deal.

I thought the J-frame airweight 38 was an optimal choice, but the trigger pull and uncomfortable grip shape + recoil = a new carry gun for me, not her.

The wife had a Colt 380 years ago, and won't let me forget that I'm the reason she 'used to' have it. Those little suckers have gotten mighty pricey since then, and the ammo ... as has been mentioned, has been a little scarce, lately.

A buddy recently turned me onto the 9mm Makarov (9x18mm). Right between the 9x19 & 9x17(aka .380) it seems like a decent compromise. Since it's a 'commie' round - the cheap ol' steel cased ammo is priced right & not too hard to find!

They may never make lasergrips for the Polish makarov I picked up for <$200 recently - but at that price, I can put one in each hand & teach her to shoot like yosemite sam!

[Jack]

Dont discount the Kahr CW9, my girlfreind loves hers.

EDIT: I love it too, may have to buy another when her permit finds its way to the mailbox.

[safeandsecure]

My better half is (hopefully) heading for her permit class tomorrow. We've been married too long for me to even think about choosing a hadgun for her, so we've been hitting the shops for the past few weeks. She likes the "feel" of the Walther P22, but hasn't fired one yet (but the class instructor is letting her borrow one for the class). Her problem is that she can't rack a slide ... ... let me rephrase that: she can only work the slide on (my) 9-mm Taurus PT99. She can and has shot well with a S&W 38, SA 45 compact, Colt .380 Gov't Pocketlite, and a Beretta 21A in .22LR. Her shooting isn't her problem. It's a weak grip when it comes to racking a slide. The P22 she looked at in the store, she racked with no trouble.

And she has informed me (in no uncertain terms) that a revolver is not an option.

I'm not real happy with the idea of her carrying a 22, but ... ... first things first.

My suggestion: Find what SHE likes (++ on rentals), and get 'er started. Then hope she decides to "move on up" to something a little more substantial. Just my opinion.

It only took me about 30 years to figure out that we're both a lot happier when she gets what she wants. So in our case, if that P22 is what puts the smile on her face, then that's what she'll get ... ... at least to begin with.

[Guest HexHead]

If she likes the P22, she'll likely also like the Wather PK-380 version of the same pistol.

When my wife first went for her HCP, she was having trouble racking the slide on the Browning HiPower she was using, until someone gave her a tip. Have your wife hold the pistol by the grip and place the other hand over the top of the slide, grasping it. Than just have her shrug her shoulders as she racks the slide. Worked like a charm for my wife.

If that still doesn't work, Beretta makes (made) a .380 Cheetah with a tip up barrel. Works like the barrel on the Tomcat .32. Just tip it up to load/ unload it. No reason to rack the slide under normal conditions.

[safeandsecure]

Thanks, HexHead ... Didn't know about the Cheetah. That'd be a big improvement over the .22 ... (just my opinion).

Welp, my better half made it through her carry class. Breezed through the classroom and made a 96 on the written test, and scored a 90 on the range. Here's the big thing, though. She got to shoot that Walther P22, and DID NOT like it. Matter of fact, liked that big ol' 9mm Taurus well enough that she kept every round in the 8-ring or better after the class. Also talked her into trying my little Colt Gov't Pocketlite, and she STILL liked the 9 better. Hands-on makes a difference.

Now it's back to shops and ranges to find the little woman her own handgun.

[Alpha7]

If she likes the P22, she'll likely also like the Wather PK-380 version of the same pistol.

When my wife first went for her HCP, she was having trouble racking the slide on the Browning HiPower she was using, until someone gave her a tip. Have your wife hold the pistol by the grip and place the other hand over the top of the slide, grasping it. Than just have her shrug her shoulders as she racks the slide. Worked like a charm for my wife.

If that still doesn't work, Beretta makes (made) a .380 Cheetah with a tip up barrel. Works like the barrel on the Tomcat .32. Just tip it up to load/ unload it. No reason to rack the slide under normal conditions.

Beretta Cheetah AKA TONY MONTANA

[Justbo1901]

My son took me to the gun show last week by my first hand gun. Bought a Springfield XDm 9mm 3.5. It feel great in my hand. It was much better than his S&W 9mm or his dads ruger.