Need a gun for my wife. Help me guys.

4

45automan

New member
Hey guys I took my wife to the range with me a couple of nights ago. She fired the Ruger P95 9mm she "adopted" from me. She doesn't like it to much. She says it kicks to much. She was using 9mm 115 ball ammo, Winchester White box if it helps. She wants to trade it in on another gun,she likes the Beretta 92. Will it have a lot less kick than the Ruger? I have heard that it is the softest shooting 9mm there is,is this true? She also fired my brothers Glock 17 and 26,same problem. I don't know what happened she was fine with the 9mm up till now. She says she will rent the Beretta next time we go there. If she doesn't like it she wants another Ruger Bull Barrel .22. I don't want her to go under 9mm for defense but if she is afraid of the gun it won't do her much good right? Help me here guys.
Thanks,45automan
 
A gun with a lower barrel will have less muzzle flip, less percieved recoil. might try a Makarov, or an HK P7 if you've got the bucks.
 
Rent, borrow, steal etc as many different guns as you can for her to play with. Try to keep it fun and burn a LOT of ammo. Hopefully a good one will try to follow her home. Don't rule out wheel guns, some do better with them than with autoloaders.

With a given load, the slightest change in grip shape or angle will make a difference.

Lots of luck and fun with your trials.

Sam...a goosed gander signifies a saucy goose
 
A couple of thoughts. First, a Makarov is a great little carry gun but has a very sharp recoil--I can tell you she won't like it. Second, even though the Beretta 92 is big and heavy, that weight and size makes it a soft recoiler. My daughter in law weighs 85 lbs soaking wet and has small hands but the only gun she likes to shoot and with which she can hit is a Beretta 92F/S Centurion--the shorter version of it. It's big for her to carry but she insists she can handle it and has shown she can shoot it. It seems to me you'd better give her what she wants if you expect her to carry it and be able to use it. Good luck.
 
Terri got a Taurus PT-92 a few months ago and loves it. Her only complaint is the effort required to rack the slide. It does in deed have less perceived recoil than the Ruger P95.
If I were in the market for another I would buy a Taurus again and save the bucks over the much higher priced Beretta. They are of as good of quality....if not maybe even better, offer a limetime warranty and are strong supporter of the RKBA.
Go back and reread C.R. SAms post as well. He has some excellent advise there. Something not at all unusual with him. ;)

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Gunslinger

I was promised a Shortycicle and I want a Shortycicle!
 
If it is for RANGE use and assuming your wife has smaller hands than you, try the G19C (ported). The G17 might be too big and the G26 small with more kick. But the recoil on the G19C is like a BB gun. My wife has one. I further reduced recoil by installing a heavier SS guide rod using 15 lbs spring. I also further increased her accuracy by installing a 3.5 lbs trigger connector and practice practice practice with light target ammo. Yes the beretta 92 has a lighter recoil only because it is a big and heavy gun. It is more for experienced shooters. Small and light guns have more kick. I have an H&K P7M8 and the G26 and they both have more muzzle flip and recoil harder than both my G19 and G19C. I shoot nines and only nines so I am sensetive to that caliber in terms of recoil. Most .45 shooters can not tell the difference between a .40 and a nine recoil, and I don't mean that in a negative way. Hope this helps. I say this only from my experience and I am sure that you will get many different opinions from this board. Good luck !
 
45automan,

I have fired all the 9mm's you mentioned, and I own a P95. I too had the same challenge of finding an appropriate weapon for my wife. Essentially, if someone is not used to guns, anything over a .22 is going to feel like a violent eruption in their hands. Guns go boom -- it's just what they do.

Fortunately, almost all popular calibers of handguns today are manageable (and most are enjoyable) provided the shooter take the correct approach and technique. By correct approach, I mean that they have to understand what is to be expected by shooting a combat-caliber handgun. Technique pertains to grip (a world of variables there), stance, trigger press, sighting methods, etc.

If your wife needs some convincing that she is truly capable of effectively using a major caliber handgun (approximately 9mm and up), check out this link:
http://www.io.com/~cortese/resources/guns2.html

While physical differences between men and women make for a few considerations for caliber (read: recoil), it shouldn't be assumed or concluded that a woman must have a less-potent caliber for manageability concerns. I believe men and women alike can be trained to be an effective shooter of most popular cartidges.

In addition, I have to add my opinion that you shouldn't search too hard for the perfect-shooting 9mm. In my experience, I haven't found too many all-out miserable 9mm's to shoot (not counting good/bad trigger-pull attributes). While some 9mm's are definately works of art and prime examples of fine weaponry engineering, the majority of 9mm pistols from reputable brands will be comparable in the shootability department.

So to sum up my point in this epistle :) (I always get carried away), you have to find some way of gently conveying to your wife that part of the "kick" she experiences she'll just have to deal with, and that through use of proper shooting form, she can shoot a 9mm very well, independent of the particular model of weapon.

That said, I'll throw in the stock answer: whatever she shoots well, go with it. Though I wholeheartedly believe that if she has resolved to make available a handgun for self defense, half the battle is over and it should just be a short stride more to really hone in on the right weapon. For my wife, we settled on a .38 snubbie w/ concealed hammer (a pre-agreement S&W 642). While not a "honey" to shoot, it is a great purse gun, and she prefers its simplicity to semiautomatic mechanics. One day I hope to "upgrade" her to something with more capacity, power, and shootability, but 'til then I'll be glad she at least has a formidable weapon with which to defend herself when I am unable.

Don't give up on the likes of Ruger P95, Sig 225 (great deals on them these days) 228/229/239, Glock 17/19/26, Kahr, Beretta (it's a big one :)), and the list goes on. Keep her shootin'!!!

Best wishes in your search.

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GlockTiger
tcuttino@mindspring.com

[This message has been edited by GlockTiger (edited October 01, 2000).]
 
I dunno dude. My wife REALLY wants to shoot my .454 Casull next weekend (new toy). BTW, she's 5'5", and 140 lbs., and I can close my fingers around her wrist.

HER gun is a Colt GC 1911 in polished stainless.

Guess it's more a matter of familiarization than anything else.
 
The P-95 isn`t a hard recoiling gun. I think you may be best off digging in and fighting this battle where you are. How about trying different ammo,maybe Fed. Personal Defence? Show her how it says "Low recoil" on the box (a LOT of "recoil" is mental). 3D reloads are loaded real light and would be good for practice (although they`re pretty dirty). Also how about a Hogue grip sleeve? It`ll give her a better hold on the gun and you can tell her the soft rubber will cushion the recoil. To some extent it may even be true. :D As a last consideration a Federal Arms ported barrel is a heck of a lot cheaper than a Beretta 92 and should make the P-95 a real pussycat. Marcus
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gunslinger:
Terri got a Taurus PT-92 a few months ago and loves it. Her only complaint is the effort required to rack the slide. It does in deed have less perceived recoil than the Ruger P95.
If I were in the market for another I would buy a Taurus again and save the bucks over the much higher priced Beretta. They are of as good of quality....if not maybe even better, offer a limetime warranty and are strong supporter of the RKBA.
Go back and reread C.R. SAms post as well. He has some excellent advise there. Something not at all unusual with him. ;)

[/quote]


i second this if you are looking for a model 92 9mm go with the tarus.
i love mine. very nice and it is equal to the beretta, if not better in some ways.
for me cocked and locked capable is a big advantage.
got mine for 280 bucks. dang good buy compared to the beretta.
 
Excellent suggestions... may I just add mine too?

Kahr K9...

It's on the small side (concealable)
It's NOT on the light side (less felt recoil)

But I guess it depends on her primary use for this new pistol.
If there's no carry involved, you'd probably want one of the bigger guns than a Kahr. Before I married her, my wife carried a Taurus PT99. Very light recoil, because it's a heavy gun! I switched her to a Kahr MK9 for concealment, and she loves it so much she gave the Taurus back to her father :( !

Congratulations on a wife that joins in on the fun!
 
My gf is 5'4" 120lbs. So I'm looking for a gun for her as well.

I just shot a Taurus P85 this weekend. No kick at all! So I'm thinking my gf should be able to handle a .38Special with rubber grips.

I might get a .357Mag and load it with .38's for her to shoot, the heavier gun making recoil a little bit less. Also, you can load it up with 357's for home defense...

Otherwise, consider a Steyr M9. I just bought an M40, and from what I hear, the M9 is a pussycat, just a slight bit more kick than a pellet gun...

Let us know what you get.

Albert
 
Might try a CZ75. Steel frame, excellent ergonomics. Standard pressure loads in mine seem pretty mild to me.
 
What C.R.Sam said. Check out a bunch, and get the one that feels good. Also, get some training. With one week of training, my wife learned to handle the recoil of from the .40 S&W cartridge in a couple of platforms. Settled on a Smith because she like the way the trigger felt. See if you can include a S&W 3913 Ladysmith in the evaluation. Know several ladies who really like theirs.
 
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