p239 9mm for wife??? thoughts?

C

ChrisW

New member
I would like to get my wife a small, but accurate and reliable, gun. I have seem from many posts that Sig and Glock seem to be the most talked about. I think I like the Sig a little better from what I have read so far.

My question is, would the Sig P239 in a 9mm be good? I know the Sigs are supposed to be accurate and the 9mm should be enough to stop any BG as long as it is a good shot. I was thinking about the 40 S&W, but then read the other post on how the recoil is very bad.

A little background. The first gun my wife has ever shot was a S&W 422 6" 22lr. She has also shot my Taurus 357mag a dozen times or so. I have it next to the bed at home and I did not want her to be afraid of the gun so she learned how to shoot it and not be afraid of it.

All info is welcome.

Thanks,
ChrisW
 
All the stuff I hear about the P239 as a CCW is favorable, except for one fact common to all SIGs. They have a relatively high bore axis (line of the bore sits higher when the pistol is gripped). This leads to more muzzle flip unless you have the grip of a tax collector. Don't know how much this would matter to her, so the best thing to do is borrow/rent one for her to test fire.

The Kahr K9 or P9 would be another compact 9mm alternative.
 
SIG P239

P239 - 9mm is highly recommended: Very accurate and totally reliable. Great for people with small hands. The only change I made to my P239 was to replace the grips with Hogue rubber grips.

When my wife shot my P239 - 9mm, she decided it was hers!
She traded me "my" S&W Model 60 - .38 Special back for the SIG.

As far as the high bore-axis is concerned, the 9 mm version is very manageable and control should be no problem especially with the aftermarket Hogue grips.
 
I like SIGs in general but I personally find the grip of the 239 to completely uncomfortable, too square in the frontstrap though the aforementioned Hogues do help a bit with this. It may be perfect for your wife though. Then again it may not. Get thee to a gun shop and drag her along. Let her handle several and see if any one fits her. If it is a 239 great, but don't zone in on any one model for HER before SHE handles them. Unless this is all just an excuse to buy yourself one ;).
 
The P239 is a high quality, nice looking pistol. For my medium hands, the Hogue finger groove rubber grips made it feel like it was made for me.

However, depending on how she's going to carry it, it's kind of heavy for the firepower it delivers. Although the grip is smaller, the overall gun isn't that much lighter or smaller than a Glock 19 which has superior capacity. Recoil is also very manageable in the Glock because of the low bore access and the polymer frame. Another thing I like about the Glock is that the trigger is the same all the time. My P239 has a great SA trigger but the DA is heavy and the transition between the two usually means that my first shot is a waste. This may be even more pronounced with a woman's relatively weaker hands. That's ok at the range but in a self-defense situation an errant first shot may mean the difference between an innocent being hurt or not. I suspect if you practice enough with it, you'll compensate but I never was able to.

The downside to the Glock is that its kind of functional looking (i.e. ugly) which turns a lot of women (and men) off to them. The G19 is also less easily concealed because of the double stack grip. For a large man that's not as much of an issue as it might be for a typical woman if she wants to carry it on her body. Perhaps a G26 would make that less of an issue.

If she's an X-Files fan, get her the P239. Then she can say she shoots the same piece as Scully (well, sometimes). Hell, she may practice a lot more with it in that case.
 
Look at a S&W used 3913 or 3914. Smaller than Sig. With Hogue grips fits the hand well. Big factor is they can be had for $350 or less. I bought a pristine 3914 a month ago for $300. I had a Sig 239 in .40 and sold it but not because it did'nt do the job. If it's primarily (sp?) a "purse" gun a S&W 60 or 36 might be better.
 
I owned and carried a P239 in 9mm for about three years. I don't think I have ever fired a more-accurate firearm. But I would agree with a few of the drawback comments made before: high bore axis leading to excessive muzzle flip (bad thing for followup shots), a little on the heavy side for daily carry, and DA/SA transition that can be problematic (typically 12-13 lbs. on the DA, and 1.5-2 lbs. on the SA).

And I would be in total agreement with taking her to a range and renting as many different firearms as she is willing to try out. A couple of them will "speak" to her, and since you're looking at a P239 right now you'll likely find yourself in that $350-450 price range. But her comfort level has GOT to be the number one priority, or else she'll never feel good about the gun and won't practice with it or carry it. Make a day of it! Take her to lunch and then to the range (or gun shop, but I'd recommend actually dropping the hammer on some rounds rather than just handing the gun). It'll be fun, and she'll figure out what suits her. Enjoy!
 
I second the recommendation that you need to take her to a gun store to at least handle (or better yet rent) the possibilities. If the gun is for her, then it needs to fit her hand. And what fits your hand might not fit hers...

I have a Sig P239 in .40. It is realiable and accurate. For CCW, it's a bit heavy and also a bit bulky. The slide is both wide (side-to-side) and thick (top-to-bottom). The high bore axis gives it a fair bit of muzzle rise. I'm not a fan of DA/SA as I find it hard to make the transition from the long, hard, double-action first shot to the short, easy, single-action second shot. The Sig is very easy to field strip.

Glocks are certainly reliable. The Glocks are lighter and have a lower bore axis. The trigger is consistent from shot to shot -- not transition from double-action to single-action. Unfortunately, I find the Glock trigger quite hard to get used to. It has this nasty, creepy, sproing when the striker is finally released. I find it hard to shoot accurately. Note, I'm not saying that Glocks aren't accurate -- I've seen some folks to remarkable things with Glocks. Instead, I'm saying that I have problems shooting them accurately. YMMV. One potential issue is that the Glock has a double stack magazine and thus a relatively large grip circumference. Women often have shorter fingers which just can't comfortably reach the trigger. Your wife will have to see if a Glock works for her.

Another possibility is the Kahr K9/P9. It is a single stack with a thin grip. Works very well for folks with short fingers. It is striker-fired like the Glock, but has a longer, smoother trigger pull than the Glock. Because it is single stack, you do give up capacity. Very good for CCW.

M1911
 
Thanks for all the replies. We do have a local shooting range/shop that rents. We are going to stop my in the next month or so and spend the afternoon shooting and see what she likes.

She also saw a picture of the P239 on the web in the stainless/black and her first comment was "do they make one that is pretty?". It may be hopeless trying to find a "pretty" gun, but we will see what fits her hand best and try them out. I also reminded her that if she does ever have to use it that she is not going to hear the BG say "that is sure a pretty gun, please don't shoot me with it". I reminded her that as long as it is accurate and does the job, who cares how pretty it is.

Thanks again for all the replies.
ChrisW
 
Two-tone guns might attract her. Also, take any black, functional looking, pistol and put a set of nice cocobolo or some other exotic wood grips on it and you can change its character instantly. I just bought a Kimber Pro CDP with a bright stainless slide, black aluminum frame and stunning cocobolo grips and its just a beautiful pistol to look at. They don't make these in 9mm, though.

I suspect that as she gains more familiarity with guns, and particularly if she learns to enjoy shooting, her opinion of what makes a gun "pretty" will likely change.
 
Sig P239

I like this model only in the 9mm version. I find the .40 and .357 Sig P239s have more muzzle flip than I care for. As others have posted, I think the high bore axis contributes to the increased muzzle flip.

So......if she rents a P239 in 9mm and likes it, get it.
If she does not like it, look at another model or brand. In terms of reliability and combat accuracy, the P239 is excellent.
 
Glocks, more than most any other handgun, are a matter of taste and fit. Most people either love them or hate them, based on how they like the feel of the gun and the unique trigger action.

To make my bias clear, a Glock is the only gun I ever sold, and I don't regret it.

The P239 is a great gun, but its light weight makes it flip more than larger guns, which may be a problem for a smaller person. If concealability is not a problem, take a look at the SIG P225. The grip is about the same size as the P239, the slide is larger with less flip and more recoil absorption. It is much easier to shoot and more accurate than the P239. P225s, especially new ones, are getting hard to find, but used ones can be found for $400-450 in like new condition.
 
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