Firearm for new shooter for home defense

Used S&W Model-19 /4" or the like.

Safe
Reliable
Easiest to intuitively understand/feel comfortable with for 1st-timers
Wean from 38 Special target/wadcutters --> full-up 357 Mag
Default storage w/ 38Sp+P
 
"...she'll stick in the sock drawer or closet and it won't see the light of day..." If she's not going to get training and practice with it regularly, she might as well not have the thing. Makes no difference what it is either. She'd be better off buying a dog.
 
Why would she be doing that instead of hunkering down behind the bed, calling 911, and pointing the muzzle of a shotgun at the door?
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Checking on kids? I can think of a lot of reasons.

Just wants a gun.
Not going to train or practice much.
Low maintenance.
Home Defense.

$300- HiPoint Carbine
$400- Keltec Sub 2K


A PCC:
- Easier to shoot than a pistol, rifle or shotgun
- More accurate than a pistol or shotgun
- 30-50% More powerful than a pistol, plenty of stopping power
- Easy to mount a light

I try to avoid suggesting handguns with novice shooters for home defense. A lot more things can go wrong with poor muzzle discipline. I am not a huge fan of PCC's and prefer rifles in rifle calibers but... it makes sense when looking for a light recoiling weapon that is easy to operate.

I prefer .40 in PCCs to take bigger advantage of the barrel length but there is nothing wrong with 9mm or .45ACP.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by FITASC View Post
Why would she be doing that instead of hunkering down behind the bed, calling 911, and pointing the muzzle of a shotgun at the door?
Good point. It depends on the situation but if I heard a noise in the late hours of the night, for example, I might be prone to investigate before calling the police. I don't think she has overnight guests over often but if she did, she might be forced to check on them at night to see if they are all right. If its just her and it sounds bad, I'm all for hunkering down and calling the police
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You might because I will bet you have had some training. From the little we have been told, she does not seem to be one to go "all in" in that regard. So, either a 20 gauge or a pistol carbine would be good choices - if nothing else, their size seems more intimidating to a bad guy than a small handgun - and as mentioned, they are easier to control and shoot.
 
her gun

Never did understand why guys seem to push 38 snub nose on their better half.

Very difficult weapon to master; lots of recoil, poor sights, 5-shots, lots more.

Stop pushing 20ga shotguns on females as well...they kick more than 12ga due to their lighter weight.

She must pick out the weapon she is comfortable with and be committed to practice.
 
"My general reply to this question is a 4" .357 Mag revolver."


Me too. Medium-framed 38 or 357. If that's too large, maybe something like an SP101. If 38 has too much recoil, 32 H&R magnum is effective and has very little recoil.

If it's just going to live in a sock drawer and be practiced with once a year, if that, I think a revolver is a better choice. They are very simple and intuitive to use.

My wife is not a gun person and does not want to practice. There is a 32 H&R magnum that she can get to easily if she needs it. We have two large dogs, so she'll probably never need it, but it's there just in case.
 
Hand guns are for constant carry. If she's not going to carry then a shotgun or rifle is a FAR better choice.

A lowly Ruger 10/22 is a WAY better home defense gun then the best "wonder nine", 40 or 45 ever made, in the hands of about 99% of the shooters out there, and 100% of the time in the hands of a new shooter.
A good semi-auto 20 gauge shotgun loaded with Lead BBs or #4 buck is an excellent option too.

At the last class I taught (last Friday) we did a test of students ranging from 'highly advance in skill' to one that had fired a gun only 1 time in her life before the class.
After basic instruction we have every student shoot with a 22 Ruger Mk2, a S&W 38 M10, and a S&W M&P 9MM with Red dot sight.

The course was to fire at a target moving slowly from side to side about 6 feet, and the drills were done from 2 yards, 5 yards, 15 yards and 30 yards. The object was to record times and hits, and not to compete against anyone else.

Next we gave all the same students an AK74, A Ruger 10/22, a Mossberg 500 with bird shot, and an M-1 Grand.

ALL students, (that's 100%) did better with ALL long arms then they did with ANY handgun. At every distance. All were faster and most made more hits. All made more hits at 15 and 30 yards.

The good shooters made just as many hits with handguns from 2 and from 5 yards as he did with the long arms, but were a bit slower then they were with rifles.

ALL students did better with every long arm at 15 and 30 yards.

You compete against your own scores to show the difference in speed and accuracy of handguns against rifles and shot guns.

But I did point out that one of our beginners (2 months of experience) did better with the AK74 at every distance then out best handgunner (35 years of experience) did at those same distances.

Ever wonder why ALL armies on earth issue rifles instead of handguns?

I encourage all students to buy handguns and learn to use them because having a gun NOW is often better then getting a gun in 20 seconds.

But for Home Defense, where you have to go get your gun from a room or desk, or a lock box, ALWAYS grab a long gun.

They are MUCH MUCH MUCH better to fight with.

Seems even Dem/Comms have learned this which is why they need to get our rifles away from us. they know a fight may be looming and they don't want us to have military rifles. There is a VERY GOOD reason for that.
 
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I guess this girl has no experience shooting? For me the answer is simple. My carry gun is a S&W Shield c9mm. very short barrel but everything I shoot at is 20' or less. Short coming if it is one is low magazine capacity. But there is a trade off their, weight! My Ruger P-89 is a very nice gun. Double stack magazine, lot longer barrel. Draw back is it is very heavy. That is why I seldom carry it anywhere away from home. I'm not sure the extra rounds will be a plus. Reason being after a shot or two the perp is likely going to be looking for the door! Likely the fight will be history before the thing is out of ammo.

Unless this girl reloads, factory loaded 38's in a small light gun do recoil more than I want. If she reloads, I doubt it, she can buy cast bullet's and turn a heavy recoil into very manageable. I shoot 38 spec in a Smith 38/44, heavy gun. 150gr cast bullet's kept back off max loads and very manageable. My 9mm get 124 ge Lee TC bullet's cast from wheel weight's. Anyone could shoot it. Very light recoil. Year's ago I used a Colt Trooper MK3, 357. But never shot 357's in it. Always 38 Spec 148gr WC! Very light recoil and the gun seemed lighter than my P-89 and very comfortable to shoot. I had a Colt Diamond Back in 22 RF and heard the also made it in 38 spec. Always wanted one never found one. The Trooper and Diamond Back both hod 4" barrel's and certainly for an in home protection, no problem. In fact even a 6" barrel would be no problem. But the Colt's didn't hide away near as well as my 9mm Shield does.

I think there is two things with the Shield c9mm. Weight and recoil! Those things will get her to shooting more and that is a good thing! A double stack mag, a heavy gun, a long barrel and to much recoil will not encourage practice, without which she might be better off throwing rocks! Then again maybe this girl can handle those negative thing's. Bad way to find out is get her going on one first then find out it's not gonna work for her.

I don't know how it is where you live but here I only know two guy's with gun's. I'm sure if I needed to borrow something to let her try, these guy's would help out. Find some gun owner's to help you out.
 
I don't want this to come across the wrong way, but threads like this are generally pointless. We can fill ten pages with recommendations of everything under the sun, but because we know very little about the personality, preferences, experience level, etc of the person in question, its all more or less irrelevant.

FITASC got it right:

Better yet, have her take a class by a female instructor with NO guys around and let them work it all out.
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At least the OP isn't moving the goal posts all over the place saying; "she doesn't like this because of that...".

But from a general standpoint of usefulness for a new shooter looking for a gun for HD this thread is useful for that.
 
Hitting, under stress, with a DA revolver is something for an expert, not non-dedicated personnel.

For someone who isn't going to practice extensively, I'd recommend an M1 Carbine over a handgun.
Very compact, easy to handle, and can be shot one-handed in a pinch.
There's good hi-performance ammo available for them today.
 
My recommendation to anyone for home self defense would be a DAO revolver for the following reasons... When the fecal matter hits the proverbial fan loss of ones fine motor skills and acute reasoning (due to copious amounts of adrenaline being injected into your system) will have left the building....and not to mention you're probably going to be dealing with tunnel vision.

With a DAO revolver you don't have to remember if one is in the chamber or how do you get the safety off. You pick it up, point it at the bad guy and squeeze the trigger.
 
I would assume you want something you can find now, that's fairly mild-shooting,
and dependable.

I would say you can't beat a Beretta 92, be it a 92FS, or a 92A1, with the 1913 rail.
I would also say go with 115 grain 9mm, find something like Hornady safety ammo.
Be sure to obey the laws in your home state, as they pertain to magazine capacity, and
ammo types.

Check HandgunlawUS. It's a free site which gives you the gun laws for each state.
 
"With a DAO revolver you don't have to remember if one is in the chamber or how do you get the safety off. You pick it up, point it at the bad guy and squeeze the trigger."


I agree 100%. I've been shooting semiautomatics for decades, so it's second nature to me. For someone who basically never shoots, a revolver is more intuitive, IMHO.


My buddy and I take our daughters shooting with us sometimes, if they want to go along. (They usually get bored after 90 minutes or so, then they chit-chat and play with their phones while he and I finish up our normal two hours.) They've both been able to easily shoot a full-sized 38 special since they were 11 or so... I think it was more like ten. My daughter dislikes recoil and didn't want to try a 38, which was fine with me - I never pushed her to shoot anything she didn't feel like shooting. But when her friend shot 38's out of her dad's Model 66, my daughter was NOT going to be shown up and immediately wanted to try it, too. After a cylinder, she looked at me and shrugged and said it was no big deal. She's been shooting them ever since.
 
Check out the Just Right Carbine. They make a shorter pistol version with a stabilizing brace that would be perfect. They are uber reliable, simple to use, very accurate, and can take Glock 32 round mags or whatever size Glock mag you like. They are also built like tanks.
 
I think that you need to have a vast and varied collection of firearms so you can let her try a bunch of different guns to see what she likes. : )


Or you could take her to a range that rents guns.
 
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