Pistol for wife. CARRY GUN.

Originally Posted By: willy1947


Find you wife a female only CCW class and let her pick her own pistol. We have a range here where she can rent a hand gun to shoot in the course. Then let her buy what she wants.

Stay out of it and you will be a happy husband.

What Willy said. I am a CC Instructor(NRA Certified), and
have a pile of pistols. When my wife wanted a pistol for
HER CCW, I let her shoot some of mine, and then we went
pistol shopping. I told her I WOULD NOT OFFER MY INPUT.
I would just pay for what ever she decided. After much
pistol fondling, and some good help from the store personal,
she settled on a S&W M&P 9mm Subcompact. It has replaceable
sized grips to fit it to her hand. She started with the
smallest one, but soon moved up to the medium one, after
her shooting instructor(NOT ME, I know better than to try
to instruct my wife!) suggested she should try increasing
the grip size. She qualified easily for her CCW permit.

One comment on all of the small pistols, my wife shot my
Ruger LCP, and was not impressed. She was not real
comfortable shooting "target" ammo, but when we went to
full power SD HPs, she handed me the pistol and said, "I
don't like that one". There is a fine line between smaller
sizes, and comfortable shooting pistols. I would HIGHLY
recommend looking at small single stack 9mm pistols, like
the Ruger LC9, S&W M&P Shield, one of the Kahr 9s. You may
have eliminated double stack sub compacts like the
S&W M&P 9c, XD-9c, and the Glock 26, but if you get a chance
to shoot some of the a fore mentioned single stacks, you may
want her to try shooting some double stack subcompact 9s,
too. They fare well in side by side shooting comparisons,
for some women. The recoil will be more controllable with
more grip and more pistol to soak it up.

The bottom line is give her as much info and experience to
work with and then LET HER pick HER PISTOL!

Squeeze
 
It all depends what she is comfortable with recoil wise. Yes the lcp and db380 are cute little guns, but they are a handful to shoot. The kahr cw9 is a pretty comfortable gun to shoot, and has a slim single stack grip. The lc9 and shield are very nice as well. The sig p238 and colt mustang are great guns if you do not mind single action with no grip safety. Its all about what she is comfortable with.
 
Squeeze,you are smarter than the average bear...by far. Most of us marry women who at least as smart as we are and then insist on making their decisions on things like personal firearm purchases and training.

OK to offer opinions..if asked..but you'll generally have a more harmonious outcome if she has real ownership in such things.

Dads/Fathers/Brothers know a lot...but best, not always.
 
I too am a certified instructor,and agree with squeeze. A couple other points to ponder in addition to what has been mentioned. I'd say 90% of my students are women. Most of those are mid 50s and older. Unless they have quality guidance of some sort from a friend or family member,they show up with something ill fitted. One point I make in the classroom portion of my course is the man behing the gun counter isn't your friend. They don't know you and likely don't have a problem selling you the wrong weapon. You have to take the initiative to become familiarized with what is available,and make educated decisions when buying a protection weapon. Most women have long digits,and thin hands. Often they are sold tiny little revolvers with tiny little grips and their fingers will go around the dumb thing twice! "This is what the dealer told me most women buy!" Shortly into a range session,their hands start to hurt in the web from recoil,and they get discouraged. Staying out of her decision is pretty good advice as long as you make sure the fit is right. She should be able to reach the trigger comfortably with the last joint of her index finger. The bones in her forearm and the bore of the handgun should form a straight line while properly gripping the weapon. Anything other than this will promote tipping or hooking the trigger and make consistant shooting a near impossibility. Once you have her educated on how the handgun should fit her hand,then you can step back and let her shop with confidence.

I'm a big fan of the crimson trace grips. Especially for women on protection weapons. I like to show them in the classroom how simple they are to use if you have to shoot from cover,say around a doorway or corner. Exposing very little of yourself and delivering accurate fire. I've had 2 women that had an awful time with open sights. Discouraged and frustrated they wanted to hang it up. These were older women that had seen their better days in the eyesight dept. Loaning them a handgun with a laser saved the day and their esteem. One younger girl showed up last class with an SP101 and crimson trace. She swore the laser was the dealers idea and she thought it was silly. I assured her by days end she would love it. She did. She cut the nicest little groups,supported and offhand that I've seen in a long time. I asked her at the end of the course if she would sell me her laser so she didn't have to carry it around. Needless to say I didn't get it,lol.
 
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Well my wife likes the HK P30 in 9mm. I am really thinking about getting it for her too. Its a real nice gun and HK is superior quality.
 
Took her to the gun store and she checked out all mentioned.
Looks like its gonna be the Sig P238. Now to find the cheapest place to buy. They wanted $649 it i remember right for the Blackwood model.
 
Originally Posted By: mdyerRuger LCR is a nice light weight handgun. You don't have to worry about jamming either.

Nothing wrong with that. Reliable and easily concealed. Ruger has really stepped it up in recent years.
 
Originally Posted By: Mxracer532Took her to the gun store and she checked out all mentioned.
Looks like its gonna be the Sig P238. Now to find the cheapest place to buy. They wanted $649 it i remember right for the Blackwood model.

How about Impact Guns ?
 
Originally Posted By: Mxracer532Found a black and stainless P238 with lazer for $549. Layaway tomorrow.

Not bad. I just wish Crimson Trace had a grip laser for this little gun. I think that would be awesome!

Not a big fan of the laser on the trigger guard personally
 
Originally Posted By: AWSFor a carry gun I really like a DAO or Spurless revolver, nothing to mess with and you just pull it out and it is ready to go. Used to have to carry on my job in the Seattle rail yards at night, lucky I never had to pull it.

There seems to be a big push for everyone to have autoloaders anymore. They are fine, but can have their limitations. A revolver takes less familiarity time to be proficient. There is no magazine issue and it is straight forward. My wife carries her small .38 Taurus in her concealed carry purse. If you pull the trigger and shoot through the purse, you will probably have another round to fire if needed. If you fire an auto through a purse or clothing, there is a very good chance that it will not function because it cannot eject the spent round. Autos are fine for open use, but for a woman that will probably have it in a purse or pocket, I will always choose a revolver for its simple, straight-forward operation.
 
If you like the revolve thats cool, I like them as well. Not for a first or even second gun though.... its more of an "experts" gun.
 
I have never heard anyone ever refer to a revolver as an experts gun. That is an interesting line of thought.
 
Not all revolvers are. But j frames are for sure. Small grip and light guns make recoil seem like more. Often times the sights are small and harder to shoot well under stress than semis. Everyone talks about manipulations being easier... But reloading under stress is way more difficult than a mag change. Obviously YMMV but in my part of the world its really easy to find a jframe some guys wife just doesnt like to shoot in the used cabinet.
 
Originally Posted By: BoeydafunkNot all revolvers are. But j frames are for sure. Small grip and light guns make recoil seem like more. Often times the sights are small and harder to shoot well under stress than semis. Everyone talks about manipulations being easier... But reloading under stress is way more difficult than a mag change. Obviously YMMV but in my part of the world its really easy to find a jframe some guys wife just doesnt like to shoot in the used cabinet.


All valid points concerning the J-frame size/lightweight short barrel revolvers. Slightly larger mid-size revolvers with 3" plus barrels could be argued to be counter to the points you raise about the lightweight snubbies. With that said, I understand your thoughts about the shorty lightweights for a beginner.
 
Originally Posted By: OldTurtletake a look at the Diamond Back 9mm...Only slightly larger than the Ruger LC9 and except for the trigger, it is exactly like a miniature Glock...Mine is extremely accurate at 50 yards and other than one fail to feed in the first magazine fired, I've never had a hiccup since...DAO with a really smooth trigger pull...

DiamdBack9mm.jpg


There is information included with the pistol for obtaining a lazer sight..


I agree.

Here is the .380 option.


118.jpg
 
Correct GC. My 3" ruger sp101 is a great size and is heavy enough to tame recoil for almost anyone and the factory grip fills any small to medium hand. The only weakspot then is the reload.
 
I'd say go with a 3" SP101 or 3" S&W 60 in 357. Spend some time on wadcutters and slowly graduate up to a 357 defense load. The revolver ends up being very familiar after all the practice without needing to "upgrade" to something more fitting for personal defense. The 3" barrel gives you better sight radius and a bit more weight without getting bulky.

I think concerns about a reload under pressure are a lot less important than needing to clear a jam due to improper hold, or carrying condition 3 accidentally and needing to remember to rack the slide. Revolvers just make sense to me, especially for someone not as "in to" carrying as one of us my be.
 
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