Handgun for wife.

Originally by deepcreek: It was interesting some of the guns she liked in the store she did not like the way they shoot.
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I think this shouldn't be underestimated. To me, finding the right handgun is a process. Find what feels good in your hands, you can manipulate, etc...

But then always go rent it (obviously only IF you can). I've had so many guns that I knew I just had to have then after renting them I hated them. I'd love to say that renting guns has saved me from buying/selling countless guns, but then it's also talked me into buying some others that I might not have before...
:D
 
I went through this same ordeal a few years back. CC class was my best investment I could of made. The one thing I learned was that pettie women lack the hand strength to effectively work the slide on most common semi-autos. We tried every semi you can think of, the only one she was comfortable with was a Sig 230 .380 acp. She could operate slide and shoot it suprisingly well. But hand strength limted the abilty to fully load a magazine to capacity. It came down to one simple phrase she made "Semi's are just to complicated". She enjoys the simplicity of a revolver. .38 spl 5 shot with a extened grip for more comfortable shooting.

It took us 3 years to find her the perfect gun.

Good luck.
 
My wife is very much an afficianado of large service type pistols.

Her every day carry pistol is a SIG-Sauer P226 in 9MM.

I am always amused at the looks she gets from younger shooters at the range. The little gray haired 68 year old lady with the big service pistol keeps an entire magazine of ammunition in a coffee cup sized group at the 10 yard lime, in rapid fire.:eek:
 
Get the SR9C

Here's why:

1. It shoots like butter.
2. 10+1 and a 17-round mag on top of that
3. Adjustable backstraps, slim design should fit almost anyone.
4. Under $550.

It's become my everyday carry gun (over my SIG P239).


Terry
 
My better half is very comfortable with a Taurus 85CH. It has the small Uncle Mikes rubber boot grips which resemble the J-frame grips. She shoots it very well out to 10 yds.
 
My wives over the years have liked a variety of guns. My ex, liked Ruger 357's, especially the Speed/Security-Sixs. She wasn't a slouch with a Government Model 45 Colt either. And I know it's not a handgun, but that woman could smash clay pegions with a Remington 1100 in 12 ga all day long....POOF smoke in the sky. :eek: :D

My current wife has used a Glock 19, a Smith & Wesson 65-5 Ladysmith 357, and her current carry gun is a Charter Arms Lavender Lady in 38 Special.

In short women have different taste, same as men. They enjoy it more when they pick for themselves. About all we can do is advise.
 
People always truck out snubbies when this question arises ... shooting a j-frame or LCR in .38spcl accurately enough to hit a moving cat would be beyond my abilities and I'm guessing an inexperienced shooter would have the same problem ... a reasonably sized semi in 9mm would be my suggestion, giving her more ammo for the inevitable misses and a far easier-to-shoot platform ... as always, let the lady decide, but make sure she realizes that while a j-frame might feel good in her hands, it leaves her with a hard-to-shoot weapon that takes lots of practice to shoot accurately while reducing the number of rounds she has available to actually hit the cat in question ...

my wife, incidently, has shot my (now-departed) Smith 637 and absolutely hated it ... hard recoil, heavy trigger pull ... she put it aside after 20-30 shots ... she loves my .22mag revolvers, however, and keeps an LCR in .22mag in her nightstand ... not the best for SD, but little recoil and she's made it clear she does not want anything bigger ...

and even if she can shoot well on paper targets, a moving target is a whole 'nother can of worms ...
 
UPDATE

So, after looking at all the various options online we have a slightly better picture.
Out of all the autos she liked the look of the czP01 the best. However, aesthetically she seems to prefer the revolvers.

I've also got her to start shooting my .22. She seemed to have fun, and was able to keep all her shots in about a 4" group COM @ 10 yards. I'll get some actual targets for her eventually, but my range is set up with steel silhouettes at the moment, and they're a pretty good place to start. They make noise when you hit them, and they're big enough that you can still see most of your fliers.
I was actually quite impressed. Her group wasn't tiny, but it was just about perfectly centered around where she was aiming. So, she doesn't seem to have any trigger issues to overcome.
She said that the .22 was the first gun she hadn't minded shooting. Apparently it's just the recoil she doesn't like.

I got to thinking.
She wants something to carry in the woods, and when walking on our isolated, dead-end, dirt road.
While people do see a lion wandering through every 5-10 years or so, the most common critters she'd need protection from would be wild dogs or a rabid varmint.
She has no intention of carrying it in town for self defense.
She likes revolvers, but has a very hard time with recoil.

So, maybe she'd like a .22mag revolver - if not forever, at least as a starting point.
Granted, revolvers take a bit more practice to shoot well in DA, but I don't think they're all that much harder.

So, her search is far from done, but now we're looking in another direction. It's actually pretty fun searching together.
 
dayman,

You should consider a .32 calibre revolver. The .32 S&W has very low recoil. Even the newer .327 magnum is a joy to shoot. I believe that a .32 would easily handle the threats you enumertated.
 
My recommendation is for a 22 rimfire (reasoning below). While not terribly good for defense against an animal (or person) intent on an attack, even a 40 grain solid does have a discouraging effect.

semi-automatics:
Ruger Mark I, II or current model III
or Browning Buckmark or
Smith & Wesson Model 41

Revolvers that come immediately to mind are:
Ruger SP101
Ruger Single-Six
Smith & Wesson's K-Frame K-22 "Masterpiece" (I had one a while back)
Smith & Wesson 617
Taurus (I forget the model #)


Here's my reasoning:

1 Practice is important for becoming a good shot. Practice (beyond dry firing) takes ammo. Ammo is cheaper for a 22 than for any other caliber. Example: 22 rimfire costs (around here) $20 - $30 per 500. 500 rounds of 9mm (a very inexpensive round) is at least $100 to $150 per 500.

2 Practice with a round that has almost no recoil makes concentration on sight picture, breathing and trigger control much easier without the distraction of recoil and excessive muzzle blast. You can add those elements later after you have gotten the basics ingrained in your subconscious. If you start out with a hard-recoiling round you are almost certain to develop anticipation (usually characterized by a flinch) which is devilishly hard to cure. Prevention is much easier to, especially while you are learning.

3 Having a good, accurate 22 will put her on the range (formal or informal shooting range) where she will get acquainted with other shooters, see their gun handling practices and see their guns. Most gun owners are proud of their hardware and if exhibiting good safety practices, a modicum of shooting skill and a little bit of polite interest, they will very probably let her handle their guns and even send a few rounds downrange. She can get to try out a wide variety of guns that way and collect testimonials from people other than salesmen in a store.

4 Most (accurate) 22 rimfire guns are cheaper to buy than similarly accurate centerfire guns and hold their resale value well.

I also recommend both of you visit a web site (mentioned before) owned by one of the administrators on The Firing Line, "Pax". It is principally written for women new to guns, but most of the information there is EQUALLY applicable to either gender. "New to guns" is "new to guns" whether male or female.
http://www.corneredcat.com/Contents/

Good luck. Thanks for reading.

Lost Sheep
 
Profound statement ahead. All women are different. Surprise. Most will not take to guns like men will. And that "interest" in her eyes when you mention it is probably as genuine as the one you see at 6AM when you say "hey pretty thang, come here." My old dad had a handgun he kept in his underwear drawer. Took it out every three or four years, fired half dozen rounds, cleaned it and put it back in the drawer until the next time. Most here are not that detached but others we associate with treat it like a worst case scenerio insurance and don't think about it much. Keep it simple, reasonably effective caliber, and don't expect her to beat you to the truck every Saturday for range time. My wife has a pre lock Smith 37 circa late 90s and a box of Federal Nyclads for the past 6 years. I insisted she have one to call her own and of all presented from my safe, that was the one she liked. It probably has had three boxes of 130gr FMJs fired trought it during the 6 years. We are both happy with the compromise.
 
Way back when, my wife expressed an interest in having a defensive handgun that was "hers". She didn't really like anything I had, and since she has small hands and rheumatoid arthritis she was not comfortable with autoloaders as she couldn't work the slide or load the magazines by herself. And she still can't. I kept my eyes peeled for a suitable revolver and found one in the used gun display at the LGS. It was a 4" S&W 15-2 (.38 spl +p capable) with polymer grips. Ah-ha! Nothing like a nice K-Frame. I got her and showed it to her. She tried it out (there was an indoor range there) and she bought it on the spot. Note: I may have found it, but SHE bought it. It is HERS. She loves it.
 
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