Pistol for the Wife

R

Runner

New member
I would like to find a pistol that my wife would be comfortable with for CCW use. She currently uses a .38 revolver, enjoys shooting a Ruger MKII, and qualified for her CHL with my Glock 27. Her problem with pistols (other than MKII) is working the slide. She has tried my Glock 27, Kahr MK9, and KelTec P32 but all seem to be difficult for her to work the slide.

Are there any other small pistol options that might work or should she just stick with a revolver for CCW?
 
If she's bound and determined to have a self-shucker, then a tip-up barrel gun like the Beretta 3032 Tomcat might be in order as the slide may need racking once every February 29th.

There's certainly nothing wrong with sticking with the wheelgun, though.
 
Runner,

I'm in the same market and was considering a revolver for the wife. She's not real familiar with hand guns and figured a revolver would be a better starter for her. What's your feelings? Just curious since your wife seems to be leaving the revolver for the semi auto. Is it just her personal preferance or are there some real disadvantages with the revolver that I would be interested in hearing for helping in my selection? Just curious. Thanks for any help! Ron
 
Tamara, I just checked out the Beretta web site. The Tomcat looks like a good option, we will check one out in person soon.

Any recomendations for something in 9mm?
 
windknot, The revolver currently limits her to 5 and soon 6 rounds w/o a complicated reload. However, more significantly, the longer double action pull seems to lower accuracy and makes for shortened practice sessions due to fingers (finger) getting worn out from pulling.

The revolver was a great way to start and after upgrading/upsizing to a M65 Ladysmith it will be kept. However, it is time to try some other options especially with the 3" revolver making carry more complicated. In the end she may decide to stick w/ the revolver but she will have explored some other options in the mean time.
 
I went looking for a kel tec p11 today. Although I didn't find one, I also took a look at a taurus pt-111. I found the slide to be extremely easy to work. Unfortunately, the trigger felt like it took two days to pull.
 
Runner,
I had the same problem with my wife ( who weighs 100 lbs) and heres what I did: I got her a Stainless Sig P232 .380 and have not looked back. She was always intimidated by large auto's and had a wise distrust of small pocket autos. The .38 revolvers were adequate at in your face distances but really hurt her fingers on recoil and she had a tendency to jerk the trigger. The recoil of the revolver hurt the web of her hand. In short, I didn't feel confident in her ability, no matter how she felt about it. The Sig takes care of the problems. With stopping power roughly equivilent to a .38 snubnose, and a firing drill thats easy to make from revolvers, its a natural. The semi auto action dampens felt recoil and the slide can be worked easily with minimul practice. Its also a sexy looking pistol and we all know that looks count with the ladys. Now she enjoys shooting "her" gun and shoots it very well. Now if I could just get her to clean it herself!:D
 
I went totally thru the store with my wife and she settled on a Glock 26 so if she did good with a 27 then that is what I would suggest. A little practice I bet she can rack the slide because my wife wasn't fanastic at it right from the start.
 
I posted to this site the same question a few weeks back.
My bride ended up with a Ruger p95. I could not believe how much easier the slide is than my p90. The price is right. It shoots 10 9 mm's and has a decent safety. It's light since it half Polymer and the recoil is MUCH LESS than the .38 smith Airweight she was trying to learn on. She put her first 4 clips of 9mm in the 5 x on the short range silhouette with it. She is so confident we're taking our CHL course on the 17th

Now loading the clip with long fingernails....well thank God for the little clip helper that comes with em.

Cheers and Good shooting.
 
Runner,

My wife is also petite and had trouble working the slide on her Colt Combat Commander. We were at a range and one of the RO's saw the trouble that she was having. He suggested two things. First on a pistol that has an exposed hammer, the hammer can be cocked first to reduce the amount of strength needed to cycle the slide. Second, use good body mechanics when cycling the slide. While keeping the barrel pointed in a safe direction, have your wife try keeping the gun directly in front of her and with one hand on the grip and the other on the slide, pushing her hands together. Kind of like a "clap" with the gun in her hands and close to her body.

This has helped my wife a lot with loading and cycling her pistol. Hope this helps.

PropellerHead
 
If you can find one you should consider the Lady Kahr. Very good size and designed so a lady can work the slide.
 
Pistol for Wife

The one and only time I bought the wife a pistol, I almost had to eat the blasted thing. I thought it was a good birthday present, but did I get any thanks for such careful shopping? NOOOOOOoooooooooo way !!!!:rolleyes:
 
Take a look at the Taurus PT111 9mm. It's small, lightweight, and holds 10+1 rounds. It's also a double-action-only pistol. And it isn't very expensive :D
 
Makarov in .380

If she can rack the slide, a Makarov in the softer shooting .380 is a nice gun. The felt recoil is less than the 9MM Mak caliber and its a safe and reliable pistol.
 
A quick comment on a Glock for a woman: Imagine it in her purse.
No safety.
A nice lipstick tube slides into the trigger guard.
She reaches to move the pistol to get at her wallet and....

Well, I just think a gun with a "true" safety might be a better choice for "purse carry".

Just my .02 cents:cool:
 
Even though most of the people on this board can rack a slide while upside-down, asleep, and whistling Dixie; "new comers" sometimes find the motion of racking a slide a little difficult. I'd let her become more familiar with the Glock 27, and see if she still has trouble in a week or so. Another thing to keep in mind is that subcompact, major caliber handguns often have stiff springs to prevent battering, especially with their lighter slides. Example -- the now defunct Lady Kahr, which had springs so stiff that most of the gun's target market couldn't rack its slide.

That said, a revolver's never a bad choice.
 
OkieGentleman,
ROTFLMAO! BELIEVE me I'm not laughing at you I'm laughing WITH you.
I made the same mistake once..note the once..at Christmas.
 
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