One for the wifey...

V

vega

New member
I finally convinced my wife to get a gun so what will it be. She is petite as we orientals are so medium and big guns are out of the question. I don't want to narrow it down to revolver or pistol, I want to hear everything you would advice. The sooner the better while she's still hot... in buying I mean.

Thanks to all.

vega
 
Depends on what she'll use it for. My wife has a Taurus model 85 CH for CCW. She uses a Taurus 669 (similar to a Smith model 19) for our weekly plate shoot. She's also been cobbing on to my Smith 686, and liking it better. She really whoops on some of the regular shooters, now. She is petite, 5' 1" in shoes. All my long guns are too big for her, I might have to get her a youth model if she gets into skeet.

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johnnyb
A slow hit beats a fast miss.
 
Mine is most comfortable with a Colt Model N (1908) .25ACP. It's not a whole lot of shooting power, but she can hit what she aims at with it. Because it's so small, she's comfortable with it in her purse or her pocket. She is much more accurate at 25 feet or less with this gun than she is with even a .32 snubnose revolver.

Her Colt also has the mother-of-pearl grips and gold touches on the trigger, safety, and mag release. She considers it a lady's gun and I think it has a lot to do with her confidence in handling it.

The 1908 doesn't weigh much more than 12 ounces and is less than 6 inches in length. Like I said, it's not much on stopping power, but it's very accurate in confident hands at self-defense ranges.



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Triggers exist to be pulled... again and again.
 
vega,

FWIW, my half chose a PPK/S after spending weeks test firing everything I, and two 'rental' ranges, had to offer.
She was in no hurry, and neither should your wife.
In the end, she carries (CCW) what she feels the most comfortable with, and the largest caliber she can confidently control.
I was very proud of her then, and years later, even more so... :)

Good Luck and keep us posted.

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...defend the 2nd., it protects us all.
No fate but what we make...
 
highly recommend you let 'wifey' decides what feels good in her hand and fits her carry-method needs

Might suggest the S&W Bodyguard models...

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"All my ammo is factory ammo"
 
My soon-to-be better half tried several different weapons at four different gun store/ranges. The best advice is to take her out to range with pistol rentals and let her cycle through a dozen or so different makes/models in various calibers.

She finally settled on a Taurus PT-911.
 
What will her level of dedication and skill development be? If she isn't willing to practice until working the weapon's controls becomes habitual she would probably be better off with a revolver. Total simplicity of operation. If she will be carrying the gun a snubnose revolver would be best. They are light and concealable but they require extensive practice to become proficient with. If it's just a house gun a S&W Model 10 or 66 would be a good choice.

If she is willing to put the time into learning how to load, unload, reload, safe, offsafe, and field strip a semiauto is an option. Be aware that many semis have strong recoil springs and some women have difficulty pulling the slide all the way to the rear.

I'll give the universal piece of advice here. Take her to rental range so she can try out various ones. To paraphrase Hamlet and plagiarize another member, "Get thee to a gunnery!"
 
You have already received some good advice here so I can't add much to it--only reinforce what's been said. I don't recommend an auto for any novice shooter--man or woman. Several reasons. First and most important is safety. I have never seen an AD with a revolver but several with autos. Second--complexity. Safety levers. Slides. Slide releases. Magazines. Mag catches. Too much stuff. This doesn't make learning or practice very inviting to a new shooter who is already worried about the gun's recoil,looking dumb in front of a friend or spouse, etc. Third--hand strength. Lots of smaller folks--young ones or just not big people--don't have the ability (or don't find it easy to develop) to retract slides. Fourth--cost. There are no cheap, good autos. And a cheap gun that doesn't work every time is no bargain. There are some good, relatively inexpensive revolvers. As someone said earlier--for the house it's hard to beat a 4" revolver--I prefer the medium frame S&W in .357. Fires 38's for practice. Has all the power most of us can use effectively. For carry--a 38 Spl with concealed hammer. I like the S&W Bodyguard or Centennial--lightweight for pocket or purse carry or a steel frame for holster carry. If you're buying a lightweight, know that they're going to have a lot of recoil even in 38 Spl--and the recoil will seem MUCH heavier to a new shooter if you don't begin their training with very light practice loads. A good 22 revolver is a perfect place to start training someone (though I do not recommend a 22 for defense, of course). And if you buy a good one, you're probably never going to want to sell the 22 even after your new shooter moves on to something more powerful, so it's not a waste of money. Hope this helps. Tex'n.
 
And I should have also said, yes, by all means let her try several guns and see what feels good in her hand. Lots of grip styles and sizes to choose from with revolvers. Not so with autos. Tex'n.
 
My wife is 5'1 and 110 LBS, therefore also consider petite. We did the "go to diferent ranges and test different guns" thing and it was very helpful. She wound up going with a Glock 19 9mm. We both have our ccws, and two years after her first pistol choice she now carries a Glock 30 45acp.
Good Shooting!
Daddycat

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another area of concern with petite women, is whether they have enough strength to actuate the trigger of a double action revolver/pistol. my wife had a problem with that, and because of it, chose a Glock 19.
 
Along with the above advice of letter her choose, I would suggest that among the ones she tries be a Glock 26 / 9mm. My wife loves hers. Of course, she also loves her Desert Eagle and Super Redhawk .44mags. :)

Good luck, let us know what she chooses.
Bill
 
Thanks for your replies. We haven't gone to the range yet but we went to different gun stores. I let her try different auto pistols but she's having problem pulling the slides. So I guess that narrows it down to revolver. I think I have to confess, its rather me choosing what's good for her and not her choosing what she likes best.
We plan to go to the range this coming Sunday and let her try .22 or .38 Will keep you posted.
 
Lots of ranges have rental guns, take her for a test drive.

The S&W .38s like the Centennial Airweight are popular with women. I know a few who carry them and like them. They have a serious caliber, light weight, small grips, and the shrouded hammer doesn't tear up the lining of a purse. Ammo is common and cheap enough for lots of practice.

In Autos, the 9mm Kel-Tecs are small and light, but the little .32 I consider marginal for a defense round, unless she turns out to be such a phenomenal shot that she can hit an eye socket every time under stress conditions. S&W makes a compact little .380 Sigma that might be nice, and there are also good .380s from Beretta, Walther and SIG.

Just a few ideas. Whatever she gets, she should do some serious range time right away. Good opportunity for a spousal bonding experience -- teaching a woman to shoot can be *ahem* stimulating......

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Dave
Deep in the Florida Swamps
 
Vega,

If you have the money, and it ain't cheap, the single absolute best defensive pistol, according to every woman I know who's shot one, is HK's P7. The manual of arms is more intuitive to the uninitiated than any other gun. The P7, with a large grip, short slide, and unusual cocking mechanism, is the best thing going if the BG attempts a grab. For too many reasons to go into here, the P7 is easier to shoot well for beginning shooters--not to mention everyone else--than any other defensive handgun. It's more accurate than the vast majority of full size pistols, and yet is approximately the size of a PPK/S. It doesn't jam. Period. It has practically no recoil. If you want the best, I suggest you try to rent or borrow a P7 and have your wife shoot it. Both of you may wonder where this particular gun design has been all your lives. It's that good.
 
MRW,

You're right, it aint cheap. The closest I could get one is in the magazine which I'm holding right now. I don't think any rental range here in my country has one. Even our gun stores don't have display of it. Lucky for me, just imagine, what if my wife decided she likes that... :)



[This message has been edited by vega (edited March 15, 2000).]
 
Another of the P7's advantages is that it's made from case hardened steel, and the things seem to never wear out. I've been told by one user that he's put 90,000 rounds though his M8 without so much as changing any springs, and STILL hasn't had a jam of any sort. In other words, you can get a used one and it will perform as well as a NIB. HK Sterling imported a large quantity of factory refurbished German Volkspolizei M8's, and these are retailing for around $700. Considering the price of any decent defensive handgun these days, and considering that the P7, by any criteria, is heads and tails beyond any other handgun for defensive use, this seems like a bargain. It may even be a better bargain than you bargain for since once people shoot P7's they tend to want to sell off their other handguns--you may end up saving money. There's also an active secondary market for P7's since supply is small and demand exceeds it. If you buy one you won't have any trouble unloading it.
 
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