J-Frames For Woman?

[xRUSTYx]

Hey Guys ...

The question is: J-Frames for woman? .... Assuming we don't us .38+p ammo, and stick with standard loads, can an averaged sized woman easily handle it? The strongest kicking gun she has ever shot was my Kimber 3" .45 and she had zero issues with that. She didn't like the P238 we got for her, so we sold it - She felt she needed something a bit more "feminine". She's a girly girl, and I've told her numerous times no one should even know you are carrying in the first place, but she won't carry unless she's happy with what it looks like!

I'm not a DAO fan, but I figure if I can atleast get the wife to "like" a gun, she'll carry it. And finding a gun she likes isn't easy ... Here's to hoping

She has her eye on this:

[McAllyn]

Watchout for the Airweights or Ti's. They are NOT fun to shoot. If you can find an old Model 60 or similar that is made of steel, she'll be much happier. You can even put pink grips on it, if she's that type.

Mac

[DaveTN]

I was about to go into a big dissertation about women and J-frames…. Until I saw this…

The strongest kicking gun she has ever shot was my Kimber 3" .45 and she had zero issues with that.

She won’t have any problems.

[xRUSTYx]

I was about to go into a big dissertation about women and J-frames…. Until I saw this…

She won’t have any problems.

hahaha .... feel free to give me that dissertation I really don't want to get it just for her not to like it.

[mikegideon]

I was about to go into a big dissertation about women and J-frames…. Until I saw this…

She won’t have any problems.

I'm not so sure. My girlfriend can shoot my 5" 1911 all day long, and I won't let her shoot my 637. My airweight J frame has the most brutal recoil of any of my pistols.

[lowery100]

In general I would advise against air-weight J frames for most women. However, it is dependent on the woman. My wife simply can not and will not shoot my lightweight revolvers. But I have seen many who can. One thing to consider is, even if she can pull the trigger without much complaint, will she develop a flinch in anticipation of the recoil. As stated above, if she is set on a J frame, look for a steel frame or check out the Ruder SP101. They have a good bit of weight but small enough to conceal easily.

[Guest FiddleDog]

Do they make pink grips for the sp 101?

[wjh2657]

Model 60 or 640 with standard pressure ammo. Practice with wadcutters. My wife is a little gal and not all that much of a gun person but she can handle this combo.

[lowery100]

Do they make pink grips for the sp 101?

FS: New panel listings for SP101 & GP100 Compact - Ruger Forum

This guy makes some pink grip inserts for the SP101.

[mikegideon]

In general I would advise against air-weight J frames for most women. However, it is dependent on the woman. My wife simply can not and will not shoot my lightweight revolvers. But I have seen many who can. One thing to consider is, even if she can pull the trigger without much complaint, will she develop a flinch in anticipation of the recoil. As stated above, if she is set on a J frame, look for a steel frame or check out the Ruder SP101. They have a good bit of weight but small enough to conceal easily.

A steel frame is a whole different animal. I was fine with my model 36 back in the '70's. I was going for the same thing when I bought my 637, and hate shooting it.

[DaveTN]

hahaha .... feel free to give me that dissertation I really don't want to get it just for her not to like it.

Okay....I have a model 36. It is a steel frame, so it’s not too bad.

However.. I have let a couple of women shoot it and they didn’t want anything to do with it. The hammer cut one chicks hand when it recoiled into her hand.

But that’s the nature of the beast. A J-frame is a belly gun; that is what it was designed for and that’s all it will ever be. It is the #1 choice for a highly concealable quality firearm but it by no means is a range, target gun, or even a nightstand gun. Everything is application driven and the application for the J-frame is very narrow.

She may like it, but if you are concerned about recoil I wouldn’t waste my money on aluminum, scandium, or unknownium; go for steel or stainless.

I had a 3†Kimber SIS and it kicked a heck of a lot more than my model 36…. But I guess its all perception.

[safeandsecure]

My better half took my S&W 637 (with Crimson Trace grips) away from me -- she liked the thought of the laser. She gave me back her "nightstand" S&W Model 10 and replaced that with her Taurus 709.

Now truthfully, the first time she fired the S&W airweight, her eyes got big and she said, "Boy, that's got some kick!" Then she went through a box of 50 before she decided that she'd had enough for the day.

Don't know about all females, but my little gal can outshoot me with that little snub-nose. Best advice I can give: find a range, rent (or borrow) an airweight, and let her decide for herself.

[mikegideon]

My better half took my S&W 637 (with Crimson Trace grips) away from me -- she liked the thought of the laser. She gave me back her "nightstand" S&W Model 10 and replaced that with her Taurus 709.

Now truthfully, the first time she fired the S&W airweight, her eyes got big and she said, "Boy, that's got some kick!" Then she went through a box of 50 before she decided that she'd had enough for the day.

Don't know about all females, but my little gal can outshoot me with that little snub-nose. Best advice I can give: find a range, rent (or borrow) an airweight, and let her decide for herself.

Probably not a good idea to piss her off

[safeandsecure]

Probably not a good idea to piss her off

Truth.

She don't look tough, but she's shot every handgun I own, except the 1911's and the little NAA mini's. She thinks one is too big and the other is too little. And I'm awfully proud that I'm such a great "teacher" ... ... she puts the lead on the paper pretty well.

By the way, to the OP: I asked the wife about pink grips for her EDC. She said no thanks, if I need to defend myself, I want it to look as intimidating as possible. Still, I recommend letting your gal pick out what she wants. Cause if she don't like it, you might be stuck with something you don't want either. (Speaking from 1st hand experience here.)

[Parrothead]

why not a .380 (ruger, kelttec, etc) or a PF-9 if you dont have faith in the .380?

[gl19gobang]

My wife has a J38 and shoots plus P in it. She loves it. i was suprised at how proud she was to own a handgun, and I love that.

[Jonnin]

You can "pinkify" anything. Gunsmiths/shops can give you a banana yellow gun with orange flames, pink camo, purple elephants, and more if you are willing to spend the cash for the art work. Solid colors are usually reasonable, anything else gets pricy in a hurry. Also, you can buy pink grips for a LOT of guns, google that for whatever you pick.

Point is, you can buy here a nice gun of any type and get it decorated however she likes it. What you really should do, in my opinion, is get her to shoot some stuff to see what she likes the feel of. Just tell her to try it, and you can special order it in pink. Let her pick out the gun based off what she wants to shoot, then spend the xtra money to get it pinked.

The reason I say this is most of the pink girly guns off the shelf offer a very limited selection. About 3/4 of the autos are DAOs which I have trouble with, and my wife cannot even begin to pull some of those triggers. They tend to be wimpy calibers, at most 9mm and mostly 380s or smaller. By painting the gun she likes, you can get anything that exists, and have a much better chance of making her happy.

[Metalhead]

Recoil is perceived differently person to person, have her shoot one and let her make up her own mind, imo.

[xRUSTYx]

Well .... Went to the range last night .... and she got to try a 638 (smaller handle than the 642 which they also had there)

And the results: She liked it! It certainly kicked and made her hand red/hurt after about 50 rounds but she really liked it! She was pretty accurate out to about 15' ... She caught herself "assuming" and "accommodating" the kick, and corrected it.

She was lights out accurate out to about 15-20 yards with the P238 ... She seems to do better in the SA world (much like I do - although last night alone and 200 rounds later, was doing pretty well with my DAO PM9)

I may just get her another P238 or SA alternative, and find someone to custom build her grips ....

...sigh...the things we do for woman.

[gregintenn]

My wife doesn't leave the house without her model 37 Smith and Wesson. The only reason it's a "woman's J-frame" is because she won't let me get my hands on it. She likes it, and can sure enough shoot it!

[JC57]

My wife prefers her K-frame Model 66-1 2.5". She shoots exceptionally well with it and doesn't seem to mind the weight. She only carries 38 +Ps in it, though, not .357s.

She's also got a J-frame Model 49 "Bodyguard" - the original all-steel shrouded hammer kind, not the new stuff under the same name. She doesn't seem to want to carry that one though. Hers is blued steel and has grips that look like those, only black instead of pink (Hogue Bantams I believe).

Edited January 30, 2011 by JC57

[enfield]

My 5' 2" wife shoots and enjoys all of our handguns, from an NAA mini to a 1911 and a 7 1/2" Blackhawk. She carries an NAA .380 because of its size. Her .380 is one of our nastier handguns to shoot, while the 1911 and Blackhawk are a lot more pleasant, due to size and weight.

There's no reason a woman can't carry (and shoot well) a .38 j-frame if she so chooses.

[True Grit]

My wife has a Charter Arms Off Duty 38 Sp she has used for years but after shooting my P238 HD she prefers it. She thinks the little 380 bullets are so cute and the heavy HD model has less recoil than the revolver.

[gregintenn]

I don't shoot with my penis, so I have a hard time understanding the difference between a "woman's gun" and a regular gun. I've seen the same discussion regarding deer rifles. My wife can shoot anything I shoot, and shoot it well. Like others have said, let her shoot some different makes and models and she can make up her own mind.

[Louisb]

This used to be the type of firearm I recommended to people until I noticed a class member at a range I used to oversee.

The Lady did not have much strength ( young, but apparently little exercise/work) and could not pull the trigger to the halfway point of fifty rounds.

The person teaching these classes required double action fire if one had a double action firearm.

A little exercise could also make the trigger squeeze an non issue.