Beretta M21 for a woman?
- Thread starter JJ45
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32 mag would be a good choice but I always look for ammo thats available in quantity at fairly cheap prices such as 9X18 or 9MM. I got used to that for practice. I rarely buy just one box of cartridges unless specialty ammo. She will need a lot of shooting/training before she carries any piece.
Speaking of a .22 to the eye. The late Col Jeff Cooper, when talking .22lr for SD, remarked that "a shot to the tear duct" would be a cure for a bad guy. I gotta a lot of respect for the late Colonel but it would take one cool dude to place that shot at any range in a stress situation
Speaking of a .22 to the eye. The late Col Jeff Cooper, when talking .22lr for SD, remarked that "a shot to the tear duct" would be a cure for a bad guy. I gotta a lot of respect for the late Colonel but it would take one cool dude to place that shot at any range in a stress situation
Does she have any preference? Has she shot guns before? Once she gets the gun is she going to routinely practice or just learn the gun and practice 1x a year or less? Is she small, weak, strong, big, etc. All of those questions would really change what I recommend to someone. But I don't think you can ever go wrong with a revolver for a first gun. If she gets into it then she will know what she wants for her next one.
What's the best gun for a woman ? If you guys answered you have no clue your not a woman.
What's the best gun for a woman ? I have no idea. When my wife wanted her first handgun I said "I can tell you what I like, I can offer pro's and con's about each style and caliber, but ultimately YOU need to handle each variant, possibly shoot each variant and go from there. my wife likes my Glock G22, and loves my FNX45T but does not care for my 9mm 1911 or my Desert Eagle 44. She also does not like my Ruger MKIII target. She loves my GP100 (but does not like the loud magnum bang). She recently purchased all on her own a Ruger LCR .38 and is very happy. Long story short she has clear likes and clear dislikes. My wife tends to favor the feel of double stack semi's. My advice, don't offer suggestions, offer unbiased experienced feedback and let HER choose.
What's the best gun for a woman ? I have no idea. When my wife wanted her first handgun I said "I can tell you what I like, I can offer pro's and con's about each style and caliber, but ultimately YOU need to handle each variant, possibly shoot each variant and go from there. my wife likes my Glock G22, and loves my FNX45T but does not care for my 9mm 1911 or my Desert Eagle 44. She also does not like my Ruger MKIII target. She loves my GP100 (but does not like the loud magnum bang). She recently purchased all on her own a Ruger LCR .38 and is very happy. Long story short she has clear likes and clear dislikes. My wife tends to favor the feel of double stack semi's. My advice, don't offer suggestions, offer unbiased experienced feedback and let HER choose.
I don't really prescribe to the whole notion that there are specific guns for or not for women. You're right that everyone has preferences and discovering those are important, but just because I'm a man doesn't mean I can't offer a woman advice on what might work for her if she can provide me some criteria.
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Cheapshooter
New member
Attention, this is as rare of an occurrence as the upcoming total solar eclipse!!!!
I agree with Bill DeShivs!!!!
A Kel-Tec P32 would be a very good choice for her to consider.
But as many others have said, most important is she spends some range time trying several guns, and chamberings. Never know, she might end up being comfortable, and competent with a more powerful round than you think.
I agree with Bill DeShivs!!!!
A Kel-Tec P32 would be a very good choice for her to consider.
But as many others have said, most important is she spends some range time trying several guns, and chamberings. Never know, she might end up being comfortable, and competent with a more powerful round than you think.
PlatinumCore16
New member
To the first point, I agree, but I think that most people cannot offer unbiased ANYTHING. Everything we see is through our own experiences so I think that your advice is a really great idea to strive for, but I think that the second point is much closer to what the reality is going to be.
When I asked my gf if I could buy her a gun for her birthday, she initially was like "Really? That's what you want to get me?" but after going out looking and handling a whole bunch of different guns at different stores, she changed her view. When she decided on a pistol (yes it had 'gold' furniture so it was a little blingy), she was super excited to get it. And she was pretty excited to shoot it. Now we haven't been able to make it back to the range due to travel and both of us having extremely busy schedules (she's in school and working, I have 2 jobs blah blah blah), but I am pretty sure she will be happy to be at the range. She had fun the first time and I am excited to get her behind the gun again because she is also excited about it.
I'm not saying that I did the best job or do exactly as I did, because there were definitely some growing pains and she definitely looked at me and said "Shut up" at least once, but from going through that, I would highly, HIGHLY recommend you get her to pick up a few pistols and talk to a few gun store clerks. Try to make at least one of them a woman because, I'm not being sexist here, they're going to have a different point of view than a guy behind the counter and, if they're a good clerk/gun owner, your lady is going to probably (i did say PROBABLY) feel a little more comfortable taking advice from a women. Especially if your lady is petite and you've been to gun stores with average size gentleman behind the counter(think hand size).
Last bit of advice is never, NEVER, rule out a pistol or say "Oh you don't want that." Let THEM be the decider of that. If they want to try out a .44 mag, let em. They will either like it, or they won't. But do not discount anything, ANYTHING, until they have discounted it themselves.
Glenn E. Meyer
New member
Read Cornered Cat.
Have woman take a good female oriented handgun class
Shut mouth based on your 'expert' opinion, let her choose
She should practice with it.
Ignore male opinions on Internet about what they think is the best gun, if they do more than say a female likes and shoots a particular gun.
I think it is imperative that someone shoots the gun or a similar model before the purchase. Appearance and simple grip size is not enough.
This is for men also.
BTW, the small 22 semiautos are notorious jammers, I wouldn't recommend them for anybody as an EDC. Yeah, someone will say: Well, mine is perfect.
That's nice but the overall history is well known.
Have woman take a good female oriented handgun class
Shut mouth based on your 'expert' opinion, let her choose
She should practice with it.
Ignore male opinions on Internet about what they think is the best gun, if they do more than say a female likes and shoots a particular gun.
I think it is imperative that someone shoots the gun or a similar model before the purchase. Appearance and simple grip size is not enough.
This is for men also.
BTW, the small 22 semiautos are notorious jammers, I wouldn't recommend them for anybody as an EDC. Yeah, someone will say: Well, mine is perfect.
That's nice but the overall history is well known.
Bill DeShivs
New member
In my experience with women- the guns need to be small enough and light enough for them to easily carry it all the time.
Most of them are going to carry it in their purse-whether they "should" or not.
So, don't direct them to the custom short barreled .44 magnum. They won't carry it.
Show them guns that they can operate and shoot, but that they will carry.
Most of them are going to carry it in their purse-whether they "should" or not.
So, don't direct them to the custom short barreled .44 magnum. They won't carry it.
Show them guns that they can operate and shoot, but that they will carry.
straightshooterjake
New member
There is some excellent advice in this thread. In particular:
But there is also one area that I have not seen discussed. The intended purpose and carry method for the gun is very important. Full size and full weight guns are much easier to shoot than compact lightweights. Especially as a beginner, she should choose the largest gun that reasonably fits the expected circumstances. You can help her to understand the advantages of a larger gun or help make sure this is covered by her instructor during training.
For example, a 4" Smith & Wesson model 10 (steel frame six shot) is much easier to shoot than a model 60 (steel frame 2" barrel five shot). And a model 60 is much easier to shoot than a model 642 (aluminum frame 5 shot). She needs to shoot enough guns to understand for herself the balance between size, weight and controllability. I have seen women avoid larger guns because they somehow look harder to shoot, but this incorrect perception is easily fixed with a bit of range time.
When she understands the tradeoffs, she can decide what size and weight will work for her. She is quite likely to choose a medium size 380 like the Walther PK380. I don't love those guns, but they are acceptable and they are easier to shoot than the very small 380s. She may also find that she is comfortable with a 9mm like the S&W Shield which I think is a well made gun.
Very small and lightweight guns are easy to carry, but they have real disadvantages for actually shooting them. These tradeoffs are important for all shooters, but they are especially important for beginners.
- Review the corneredcat website.
- She needs training.
- She needs to shoot lots of guns.
- She needs to choose the gun.
But there is also one area that I have not seen discussed. The intended purpose and carry method for the gun is very important. Full size and full weight guns are much easier to shoot than compact lightweights. Especially as a beginner, she should choose the largest gun that reasonably fits the expected circumstances. You can help her to understand the advantages of a larger gun or help make sure this is covered by her instructor during training.
For example, a 4" Smith & Wesson model 10 (steel frame six shot) is much easier to shoot than a model 60 (steel frame 2" barrel five shot). And a model 60 is much easier to shoot than a model 642 (aluminum frame 5 shot). She needs to shoot enough guns to understand for herself the balance between size, weight and controllability. I have seen women avoid larger guns because they somehow look harder to shoot, but this incorrect perception is easily fixed with a bit of range time.
When she understands the tradeoffs, she can decide what size and weight will work for her. She is quite likely to choose a medium size 380 like the Walther PK380. I don't love those guns, but they are acceptable and they are easier to shoot than the very small 380s. She may also find that she is comfortable with a 9mm like the S&W Shield which I think is a well made gun.
Very small and lightweight guns are easy to carry, but they have real disadvantages for actually shooting them. These tradeoffs are important for all shooters, but they are especially important for beginners.
There are some other options. Have you considered a .32 caliber? .32 is a centerfire and it propels a much heavier bullet with little felt recoil. I know that you can find some used revolvers in .32 S&W long which I would choose any day over a .22 semi auto. The other thing I'd recommend would be the Beretta Tomcat .32 auto which is pretty much the same design only it shoots a stronger and heftier caliber. If you are dead set on .22 there are many who love the NAA mini revolvers. The Black Widow in .22 WMR would be a good choice as well, though I wouldn't really recommend a SA revolver as the time between shots presents an opening for a bad guy to hurt her.
Lastly the Ruger has a .22 and a .32 version of their LCR that holds 8 rounds for the .22 LR version and 6 or the 22 WMR version. If you are set on .22 I'd choose a revolver with as much capacity as possible. .22 LR mini mags or .22 WMR maxi mags would be my go to load for defense in that caliber. The .327 LCR offers 6 potent rounds of .327. However I understand that this load is not good for a new shooter, especially out of a snubby. However you could start her with .32 S&W longs, which may not be the most powerful but still shoot a 100 grain bullet at the bad guy. When she gets good enough you can step her up the .32 H&R magnum, which is comparable in felt recoil to a .38 special. Hope this info helps you out.
If it was me I'd go with the LCR .327 but that's me. No safety controls to worry about, just keep pulling that trigger and let it go bang.
Lastly the Ruger has a .22 and a .32 version of their LCR that holds 8 rounds for the .22 LR version and 6 or the 22 WMR version. If you are set on .22 I'd choose a revolver with as much capacity as possible. .22 LR mini mags or .22 WMR maxi mags would be my go to load for defense in that caliber. The .327 LCR offers 6 potent rounds of .327. However I understand that this load is not good for a new shooter, especially out of a snubby. However you could start her with .32 S&W longs, which may not be the most powerful but still shoot a 100 grain bullet at the bad guy. When she gets good enough you can step her up the .32 H&R magnum, which is comparable in felt recoil to a .38 special. Hope this info helps you out.
If it was me I'd go with the LCR .327 but that's me. No safety controls to worry about, just keep pulling that trigger and let it go bang.
ShootistPRS
New member
The ONLY way to get a gun for a woman is to let her pick it out.
I know tiny little women who like BIG guns and big women who like small guns. There is no way that any man can pick out a gun for another guy much less a woman. Take her to a "Women on Target event (sponsored by the NRA) and let her try different guns. The event has a minimal cost and she will get to handle a lot of different makes, models and calibers of guns. It is a lot cheaper than renting guns at an indoor range and she will get personal instruction from qualified people in a safe, inviting, environment.
I know tiny little women who like BIG guns and big women who like small guns. There is no way that any man can pick out a gun for another guy much less a woman. Take her to a "Women on Target event (sponsored by the NRA) and let her try different guns. The event has a minimal cost and she will get to handle a lot of different makes, models and calibers of guns. It is a lot cheaper than renting guns at an indoor range and she will get personal instruction from qualified people in a safe, inviting, environment.
Glenn E. Meyer
New member
We are kind of running out of gas here. If something just says another gun, then they are missing the point of the best advice.
ShootistPRS
New member
If you want a new gun just buy one for a woman. She will reject it and you have another gun. If you want to buy her a gun then let her pick it and keep your opinions to yourself. She will buy what she likes and love it.