Gun for my wife

R

ryan huddleston

New member
I talked my wife into getting her permit and now its time to pick her out a gun. She weighs 100 lbs and is 5'2". what im saying is she is alittle sinsitive to recoil. The in her safty class the instructor recomended she get a .22 mag revolver. I have no problem with a revolver but the caliber is a little weak imo. She has shot my smith and wesson sigma 9mm and said it was ok and that she could get use to the recoil but she hats the trigger. She allso fired a p99c which she liked the trigger but the recoil was hard for her to handel because of the grip being so small.

So with that in mind I have a few ideas but I though I would get some more openions. I was thinking a g19 or a xd9. Its the same size as my sigma but the trigger is alot better. I was allso thinking about a .38 but I thought to recoil may be to much. The only problem I realy have with the glock and xd is the size. It will be fine for purse cary which she is planning on doing but I would like to eventually talk he into trying it IWB. And on here frame there is no way.

Just to let you know my told me to just get her a gun. She does not care what it is. She said she will learn to use it but she does not really care what it is. I tried to get her to pick it out and she said that she would prefer a revolver with a light trigger pull and not alot of recoil but she would allso learn to use the glock or xd.

So do i get her the .22 mag or somthing else?
 
I love my XD9. I mean, crazy-love.

Unfortunately, I think it would be impossible for me to carry. I'm not as small as your wife, but I'm small framed and like my clothing on the clingy side. :cool:

So, my home gun is the XD9 and my carry gun will be a Kahr PM9. OTOH, the Kahr is not fun to shoot. It's manageable to me, but your wife may hate it.

For me, if I felt I could conceal something bigger, I'd have gone for the XD9-SC.

The Kahr CW9 might be another reasonable compromise on recoil vs size.

I would not personally want to count on a .22 for a carry gun.
 
I second the motion that your wife would hate the recoil on a Kahr PM9 or CW9. I have a CW9 and I hate the way the recoil feels. It is just too snappy. I don't mind recoil and can handle the gun just fine, but not recommended for recoil sensitive individuals. That being said, I really do love the gun for carrying. It is a single stack frame so it's very thin. Concealment is not a problem at all.

I think that a G19 and XD9 are not all that difficult to conceal. You never know, maybe she'll like carrying in her purse and never go to an IWB holster. Another option would be one of the baby Glocks or the subcompact XDs. Also, give a look to the Taurus Millenium Pro. It is similar to the baby Glock, just cheaper and probably not quite as well made. On the expensive end, there is the Springfield Armory EMP. Never shot it, but it's a 1911 pattern subcompact in 9mm. The recoil would probably not be that bad, and the 1911 triggers are awesome.

And honestly, there is really nothing wrong with carrying a .22 if that's all you can swing. S&W makes a great .22 magnum snubby. Just don't get her a .22 automatic. I have never shot one that would be both concealable and reliable. The only reliable ones I have shot are the Browning Buckmark and the Ruger Mark III. They would be poor carry options. The more modern and concealable autos like the Walther P22 and Sig Mosquito are annoyingly unreliable.

I don't know how set you are on 9mm, but there are also plenty of options out there in .380 ACP and .32 caliber. Not perfect, but likely better than a .22 magnum stopping power wise.
 
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I have a walther P22 its not unreliable. I have over a 1000 rounds through it and no problems at all. No misfire, failure to feed, anything at all. I use CCI mini-mags high velocity ammo in it. Would I carry it? Yeah, but I have a Kimber Ultra Covert II .45 that's a smudge smaller, but it kicks like the hand cannon it is.:eek:

I also have a Berretta PX4 Storm 9mm in full size that barely has the kick of the Walther, so that leads me to suspect the PX4 subcompact might work for her. I have never shot one, so don't know for sure. But the PX4 is a very smooth re-coil less gun. Its a bit chunky though, but 100% reliable too.
 
My 0.02

Even though the trigger pull on my Glock 21 is fairly heavy, I very much like it. I don't remember all of the Glock Model #'s, but for Your wife, and especially being a petite woman, First and Foremost, 9mm Luger cartridge, and in my opinion, Sub-Compact Glock, paying attention to trigger pull.

I completely favor the Glock pistols for reliability, durability and longevity. Just pay attention to where Your wife's finger rests on the trigger and trigger safety. Make sure her finger IS NOT too small to depress the safety if her finger is ALL THE WAY AT THE TOP OF THE TRIGGER. There is a small space between the frame and the top of the trigger safety. The gap is very small, but You should very much pay attention to this detail. Make sure her finger can depress the safety without thinking about it, because we both know that if she EVER needs her weapon, there are only seconds.

I prefer/recommend Glock, hands down, but the aspect of the small space at the top of the trigger was brought to my attention by a friend who is an Ex Police Officer. It's worth noting.

Sub-Compact Glock in 9mm Luger... and Premium Ammunition.
 
32 auto has very mild recoil, even in the lightest and smallest guns chambered for that round... and it's a better choice than .22 mag, so you may have her try a few guns in that caliber, and see how she likes it. The .380 can be pretty mild too, in the right package. Any gun at all, is infinitely better than no gun at all, in the right hands.
 
Whatever the two of you ultimately decide upon, it MUST be her decision! She needs to hold the gun and decide what feels comfortable in her hand. You need to let your male ego go long enough to realize that it will be her gun, NOT YOURS!

Scott
 
Ruger has a bunch of nice small guns that would work, from a .380 auto to a .227 mag revolver or even a 101, shooting .38 specials.:D
 
"Whatever the two of you ultimately decide upon, it MUST be her decision! She needs to hold the gun and decide what feels comfortable in her hand. You need to let your male ego go long enough to realize that it will be her gun, NOT YOURS!

Scott "


Scott, Believe me I would love it if she would just go pick out a gun. But she says she doesnt want to. She says she trusts me and just wants me to get her one so im doint my best.

I dont think the sub compact 9mm will do because when she shot the walther p99c it was hard for her to hold on to when firing. But she really liked the size of my gun. I will look at some .380's. It just needs to be big enough that she can get a good hold on it and as reliable as a glock.

Would a 2" .38 have to muc recoil. I have a feeling it would but I have never shot one.
 
My Kahr E9 (cheap version of the steel framed K9) is a very mild little gun to shoot, with a slim grip. If the 25 oz is not too heavy for her to carry around, it would be something to look at. Actually, I don't think the P9 is a hard kicker, no worse than a blowback .380.
 
+1 on corneredcat

and +1 on letting her make her own, informed choice.

To be properly informed, in addition to doing some reading in order to find reliable, reputable handguns in her appropriate size range (appropriate based on intended use, and the size of her hands), she should go to ranges that rent weapons, and try to find examples of the handguns she is considering.

Narrow the field down to those that fit her hands comfortably, in reality not just in theory.

Then find which of those she finds comfortable to shoot.

Unless your hands are similar in size and finger length to hers, the odds aren't good that you will both like the same handgun. In any case, she needs to choose her own gun.

On the Kahr PM9, since it was brought up: I have been amazed at how little recoil the pistol feels like it generates, to me. So I was surprised when my best friend tried it out a couple weeks ago; he usually shoots an SP101, sometimes with magnums but usually .38+P. He didn't mind the overall recoil level of the PM9, but something in the way he held it, combined with its recoil characteristics, made it feel to him as though the handgun torqued sideways during recoil. He shot it pretty well, but he didn't like it.

But if you were to ask me, I'd say it's a very pleasant handgun to shoot.

I'm bigger than he is, by a few inches and fifty or sixty pounds, but he's neither small nor weak. Frankly, I'd thought the grip would fit his slightly smaller hands better than mine, but the gun just wasn't for him.

My point in all this is that it's a good thing I hadn't bought a handgun for him, because the one I'd have thought would have been just perfect for him turned out to be, in his opinion, unpleasant to shoot.

Good luck,

M
 
Well there is no where around here that rents guns so that is out. I have tried to get her to pick out a gun. She has read the cornered cat and done alittle research and says she this that a glock or xd would be cool. Iv had her shoot everything I can round up and so far her favorite is a mid size 9mm and a walther p22. But the p22 had feeding problems so that I'd out. I don't have a 38 she can shoot besides a fullsize stainless stell 357 but she hates the trigger, the weight and balance. I'm afraid if I get a 2in 38 it will be painfull to shoot and a really heavy DA trigger.
 
and now its time to pick her out a gun. She weighs 100 lbs and is 5'2". what im saying is she is alittle sinsitive to recoil.
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Now THERE'S some misstatements....

First - SHE needs to pick out HER gun
Second - height and weight have NOTHING to do with recoil sensitivity

Since you say she's read The Cornered Cat, then as mentioned above, get her to a place that DOES rent guns and let HER decide which feels great and she likes.

A revolver will not have as light a trigger pull as a single action semi in 99% of the guns unless you shoot it single action, which is highly unlikely in a SD scenario
 
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If a .22 mag is the order of the day the North American Arms small revos will be hard to beat. Easy to shoot, easy to carry concealed and 5 rounds of .22 mag can raise some kind of - - - -:D
 
S & W (and I believe Taurus) makes a nice little snubby in .32 Mag. which makes a nice gun for small statured individuals. Show her those.
 
She is not going to pick it out. She does not want to. She wants me to do it for her. I realize this is not the best way but it us how it is. So with that in mind what would u recomend. Keep in mind I fond want anything sub compact.
 
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