handgun for the wife to use for home defense

Not sure I follow you guys...
Are you suggesting to train with a "light" load at the range- and keep +P rounds in the weapon for self-defense?

I'm relatively new to handguns, but that just doesn't sound logical to me. Odds of getting more than the first round on target in a self-defense scenario sound like slim and none ?

If a shooter can't control the intended round in the weapon, it sounds like a bad choice to me. Even if it comes down to a mouse gun, seems it would be better to provide her with a weapon she can handle comfortably.
 
Use light loads (.38 vs .357) in practice to not develop flinch. Also, to keep cost down and allow more practice to learn other details (trigger pull, grip, breathing, stance, cover, etc.) of shooting.
Ammo selected for SD must also be used in practice so that shooter becomes familiar with firearm characteristics with selected ammo.

baby steps.
 
Clifford L. Hughes

Dear Usnavdoc:

Looks like we have something in common: I'm a retired Marine. After retirement I sold guns for twenty years for a living. I have ran across your problem many times and there is no one answer. I'll share with you what I shared with my lady customers. First, a pistol must be purchased for an indended use: this pretty much dictates the size and the recoil. Most men want a lady's gun: meaning a small pistol that would be difficult for an experienced shooter to shoot accuratlely. It does little good to kill an intruder if he kills you before he dies from a weak caliber or a missed shot because of gun size.

By all means start her on a .22 large enough that she can become accustomed to a pistol in at least a Smith & Wesson J frame size. Any caliber under 38 special/9mm is inadequate for sure kills on an intruder. At the same time that she is shooting the .22 incourage her to shoot a 38 special loaded with 2.7 grans of Bullseye powder under a 150 gain bullet. This is a mild load thet will introduce her to the noise and the recoil.

You mention that she might not go to the range to shoot your guns. If she is going to protcet herself she must go to the range to practice and to learn to shoot the pistol of her choice.

Semer Fi.

Gunnery Sergeant
Clifford Ll. Hughes
USMC Retired
 
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This topic comes up on a very regular basis. Use the search functio and you'll get lots of hits.

Probably the most important piece of advice is to visit the cornered cat web site.
 
Handgun rounds, skill training...

I'll try real hard 1 more time to make my point;

I suggest using a non- +P type .38spl round UNTIL the handgun owner or shooter has enough skill-marksmanship to move on to +P or .357magnum loads. +P or +P+ .38spl or .357magnum JHPs are BETTER but not at the chance of missing or having problems.

I also disagree with the "point" or CQB(close quarters) methods. Those are skills best suited for advanced handgun shooters. It's far safer & better to use a handgun's sights or a laser-aiming unit then to use complex methods.
 
The wifes house gun is a 4" Model 686 Smith & Wesson. I also have a 4" Model 617 to practice with. She also has my old 18" Scattergun Tech 870 Border Patrol with a full magazine of Buck Shot at her disposal. She shoots trap with an 870, so she can operate and shoot the 870 just fine. She has fired more 12 gauge through her trap gun than she has handgun ammo.

My neighbor gal has a K22 and was wanting a more powerful handgun. I found her a 4" HB Model 10 DAO. She has been totally happy with it.

Bob
 
I'm trying to figure out why nobody has recommemded the new Keltec PMR-30 yet. If I was going to get a pistol for my wife, who doesn't feel particularly comfortable with guns, I would seriously consider it. If 30 rounds of 22mag doesn't stop an attacker, then it's likely nothing will. Supposed to be accurate and low recoil. Yeah I would rather she use a 9mm, but if caliber intimidation is the thing, then I can't think of a better solution.
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Because it wouldn't as reliable as other options.
(The ammo not the firearm)
Rimfire isn't used in "fighting" calibers for a reason.

The ladies I have trained to shoot have chosen the following:

Browning Hi-Power (a favorite firearm of mine as well)
Picked by a friend of mine, She liked the 13+1 capacity and ergo's

Smith and Wesson Model 10 (with a 4 inch barrel)
Picked by an ex, She liked the simplicity of use and low recoil

Bersa Thunder .380 (This gun used to be mine untill I gave it to my sister)
She liked the light trigger pull and small frame. It makes the gun very easy to handle.
Funny thing is my sister also really likes .45 Colt SAA clones too. (Go figure:confused:)

I would also like to add that CZ82/83's are not only high quality firearms they are inexpensive. The large capacity and low recoil makes them very viable self defense weapons.
 
Practise with light loads and carry +p. Infantry School at Ft. Benning did a project years ago involving the basic rifle course for recruits. One group was on the range shooting live rounds during training and another group doing the course indoors with lasers in the barrels and no actual rounds fired. The laser group had better scores on the live fire qual course at the end of the program. For real life there is a huge difference between squaring off at a paper target at the range with correct stance, grip, trigger squeeze and follow through and being alone in a dark hallway holding the gun with one hand and having a moving target rush you all the while your afraid for you life, wondering if this is real or not, where are the kids, who is this and why are they here, what is in his/her hand. In that 3/4 of a second you have to react it's pretty hard to pick up a sight picture and press. If you get a chance read some of the stuff on instinctive shooting and how it was taught to the OSS in WWII and cops and how actual shootings had poor results after the NRA got involved with police training and they got away from combat with target shooting. Quantico, FBI/DEA teaches front sight only, point and press.
 
Bottom line is, let her decide. What you think would be the perfect choice, may not be...
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She's your wife, by God, and she had enough sense to marry you. Educate her on guns and let her decide what gun she wants to carry.

I'd never dream of telling my lady what to carry. She really likes her 4" 28-2, but that's her truck gun. Right now she's got my Ruger LCP. Go figure.

Or, let her read a couple of good femme gun bloggers. I'd suggest she start with Breda, a librarian who happens to work at a range.

But, in the long run, she's got to make up her own mind and make her own choice. It's your job to help her with good advice.
 
Hey, I appreciate all the posts. Sorry for being absent for a few days.

I agree with most everyone about training and the best gun is the one you will carry philosophy. I do intend to get my wife some formal training and go to the range with her. The problem is she is pregnant and isnt supposed to be at an indoor range. Tomorrow Im gonna go out in the country to let her shoot some.

Also there was a home invasion/burglary a subdivision over and there have been reports through our watch that there have been suspicious people driving around at dusk then later at night. I have to work some nights so I am concerned obviously.

Now we do have a security system and a german shephard so the chances are they would move on to the next house, but you never know.

I have a sig p239 and a sw 642 Im gonna let her shoot. I also am gonna borrow my friends walther p22 to start with.
 
I think the fear of exposing women to the recoil of a "real" gun is hilariously overblown, and says a lot more about the men involved than the women. Last I checked the US military trains women to shoot handguns by going straight to the M9 in 9x19 NATO, aka 124gr +P. And the women on average pick it up faster than the men. Of course, in my experience administering basic training back when dinosaurs walked the earth, the women tended to pick up just about everything faster on average.

My wife's first shooting experience was with my 5" 1911 in .45 ACP, and because she didn't know that she was supposed to be afraid of it she shot it fine. Go figure. Oh, and she's 5'2".
 
There are 2 things that need to be addressed.
#1. Is your wife going to be carrying a gun all the time?
or
#2 is the gun only for home defense?
If the answer is #1 there are many good choices. 1st off, you need to address how the gun will be carried? If she will carry in a purse, just get a large enough purse to easily carry a full size gun, and go with a 45 auto or a 40 S&W.
If the home is the place you are talking about defending, and there is not a plan to carry all the time, go with a medium caliber rifle, or a 20 gauge auto shotgun. Long guns trump hand guns. That's why armies don’t carry pistols instead of rifles.
An SKS is a very good fighting rifle for a lady. So are some of the 223 rifles.
Even a 30 carbine with soft point ammo is ok. An inexpensive rifle that she can get and use is a CETME from Spain, but it's a full power rifle, so you'd need to live in the country or have a brick or block home.
One thing to buy for home defense is a set of ear muffs. If you have a few seconds to put them on, it's a good idea to have them over your ears before you fire any high powered weapon inside a house. Keep them around the sling of the long arm or next to the handgun. If she can't grab them because the threat is too close, don't. But in most cases, there is time.
I teach classes in defensive tactics. I have dealt with this kind of techniques for 30 years now.
The drill should be;
#1 Grab gun and muffs
#2 Dial 911 and put the phone down. Say nothing. Let the phone "hear" all that's going on. The cops will come.
#3 get yourself into a covered defensive position and wait. You know the battle ground and have the advantage. Use it.
#4 if you shoot, LOOK AT THE FRONT SIGHT!
 
I took my wife to the gun shop and she picked out a 1911 in .45acp (I'm not gonna argue with that!). After a few range trips she decided that she wasnt comfortable with the 1911 platform so I got her a Ruger LCR and she likes it much better. She can carry it easily and likes the simplicity. Although she does struggle a little bit with the heavy DAO trigger, most her shots go low but we are working on that. I ended up selling the 1911 and I'm on the look out for another this time in 4" and alloy frame to save some weight.
 
Guys, it's an old thread.

CowboyJustice, you might want to check directly by Personal Message with the original poster for your answer.
 
I'm a wife..

My hubby "forced" me to have a gun for home/ personal protection. He's a good man so he wouldn't let me go with a .22, though.. they are usually prettier! We settled on a Taurus TCP .380 and I strongly recommend this one to first timer women. Here's why-
1) Its perfect for our grip. Small, light weight
2) There is nothing complicated about it- in a defence situation you don't want to have to remember to pushy that one button and pull on that other do-hicky.
3) It comes in Pink
4) If she can get in some target practice with this bad boy, she'll be awesome with most other guns.

I almost went with the Ruger LCP .380 for the safety feature, and she might be more comfortable with that. My husband took a firm stand against it because "a weapon for protection should be fire-ready, you don't need a safety!" Plus it was about $30 cheaper and came with an extra mag.
I've been very happy with this gun, now I love shooting for recreation and need something cheaper to shoot.
Just my thoughts! Happy shopping to you!!
 
"I almost went with the Ruger LCP .380 for the safety feature..."

Hmmmm?... I'm really not tryin' to be picky... just clear. As far as I know, no LCP's have safeties... The LC9, however, does.
 
While we can't tell you the best gun for someone we don't know, certain guns seem to work better for a wider range of people than others. A S&W K-Frame revolver in .38 Special seems to work well for lots of people. The grip is large enough to allow a full four-finger hold but not so large as to be too big for most people's hands. The trigger is quite nice and can be pulled by most people with moderate hand strength, and the recoil of .38 Special from a 30+ oz gun is mild enough not to be offensive to most people. Good models to look at include the Models 10, 15, 64, and 67. While I can't say for certain that one of these is the best gun for your wife, they wouldn't be bad places to start your search.
 
She will have to experiment at a range to find the one that fits her and that she can shoot accurately. My wife prefers my old 1911 army.
 
While fit is highly subjective, and she will need to find what fits her, I will raise another point in favor of K-frames.

In my opinion, at least, they are some of the best natural pointers on the market. From holster to first round on target, my K-frames are faster than almost any other handguns I've shot, and I've shot a lot of handguns.
 
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