Pistol for Wife

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I, too, am against revolvers with less than 3" barrels for beginners - too much muzzle blast, sights too cursory, too much felt recoil. My wife got a 2" .38 S&W - I really liked it, she hated it. It didn't help her confidence with it that it was hard to hit the target with the crappy sights (groove rear). Got her a SIG P230 (stainless) which she loves, and shoots often and well.

Remember, too, that women tend to be more stylish than we ruffians. When my wife opened the SIG, she imediately fell in love with the look and feel - "It's classy, like me!" She likes to shoot my USP40, but finds it ugly, mostly due to it's size. I'm hoping to get a USP compact for her, as she likes it much better.
 
I would have to agree with Jim K if she is just a beginner. By all means start her with a 22. I interpreted your question as for a personal pistol for defense and I will still say either a 38 revolver (3"or 4" K like a S&W 10, 15, 19) or the 3913. Go with a major name brand. If your off brand gun begins to malfunction, they are hard to get serviced and she will become frustrated by the whole affair and give up.
 
The best way I have ever found to do the "first gun" thing for a female is to seriously discuss ammumition as in what is best for different purpose and the drawbacks of each as in noise and recoil.
Chances are very good that she will narrow it down to .38Spl or 9mm. Whatever she decides on take her to a good gun shop and let her look at and handle a variety of guns in her chosen caliber. Answer her questions or better still let a good salesperson provide the answers.She will find a favorite.
Then if possible arrange for her to fire one of the type she has chosen.
In good quality handguns it is hard to find a worthless one.So much is personal preference and prejudice.Bottom line is help her make an informed choice.
This does not mean that I am pro-choice on all issues.

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Better days to be,

Ed
 
Kel-tec P32 is big enough to grip, but small enough to conceal easily. Has little recoil, isn't horribly loud. Very cost-efficient. Comes in "girly" colors, if preferred.
 
My wife's handgun is a 4" Ruger Security Six, bought new in 1976. She handles it reasonably well, and we keep it loaded with +P .38's. She has shot others, including auto's, but prefers this.

BTW, never refer to her as an "old lady" if she's armed!
 
I would see what calibre she likes to shoot first and then find a weapon that she is comfortable with. I have found that most women I have taught like the Kahr K9 and, Glock 17, for 9mm; the Kahr K40, and the Star Firestar 40, for .40S&W; the Ruger security six .357, and a woman had a sig 239 in .357sig. these are all good weapons, but you have to find the one she likes.

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I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
 
My wife Sandy carries a S&W 4516, she has completed Farnam's Basic Pistol Course. She had her choice of pistols and revolvers but just plain prefered shooting 45's.

John - NRA - Lifer

<img src=http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/6328/sw4516-2.gif>
 
My first gun was a Glock 17 and I have never owned anything smaller, so not all people need to start out small.

My wife is a petite 125lb 5'8" model and her first gun was a polymer framed UltraStar .40. It is the hardest kicking handgun in our house including my .45's. She loves it. She has never been intimidated by it. Have your wife wear ear plugs AND muffs so the noise doesn't scare her. Have her shoot the gun for feel before letting her stress about where she hits (just some advice that has worked for me).
I am not saying that the .22 idea is a bad one, but it is not the only one. Recently I borrowed my mom's .22 and when I go shooting with my wife she has no interest in shooting it. I think she must have that same drive that many shooters do, and she gets that rush from shooting a "real" gun, not wanted to waste her time with a peashooter (no offense to small-gun-lovers out there, but you big-bore lover's know what I mean...there is a rush that comes with mastering and shooting a larger caliber).

On the other hand, my wife and I went and rented a Kahr 9mm and she is in love! The recoil and index were far less than her .40 and she could shoot about twice as fast, accuratly. (It's rather intimidating, she is getting fast and accurate...maybe I shouldn't get her that Kahr ;) ).
The steel Kahr 9mm is a bit heavier than the polymer UltraStar and the barrel index is lower. Also, the handle fits like a dream. I cannot give enough praise to the Kahr 9mm after shooting it. What a great gun!!! Particularly designed for people with small hands (I had a little trouble with that, but it is a great CCW piece).
I am going to get my wife the "Lady Kahr" 9mm, which is the "full sized" version (still very small) with no changes other than a lighter recoil spring. My wife had a little trouble getting the slide back on the regular Kahr 9mm. She is a trooper at heart, but she is still physically weak and can't even get my Glock 17 slide back (a relatively light spring with a good solid grip area on the slide). The Lady Kahr 9mm is the perfect gun for her.
Another reason I opted for the Kahr 9mm is that no matter how many times we go shooting, my wife still takes a second to remember how to use the slide mounted saftey/decocker on the UltraStar. That extra second could cost her her life when she needs to defend herself with that gun NOW. I decided to get her a Kahr 9mm because it has no controls - just pull the trigger.


JMHO,
thaddeus
 
Boy was I confused. Here I was about to send a picture of my wife for consideration in the trade for the handgun.

Good thing she does not frequent this site, saves me an a** whoopin.
 
sskraft, you read my mind, but I would want a pic of the handgun in return.

My wife is not a small woman at 5'8 and 130 but she has very small hands, my youngest daughter is 14, very slender at 5'9 and 100 lbs with her mothers hands. Nither has a problem with my Rossi M68 2inch in .38, however nither started with it with full power loads. The 148 grn bevel base wadcutter over 3.5 grains of 700x makes a fine training/starting round. Get the best hearing protection you can find for her, that is very important. If you don't handload, (start!) there are many factory target wadcutter loads on the markett.
Just MHO.

Rew
 
Just jumping in here...

My wife had been wanting to start shooting, but wasn't comfortable with my Sig P226 (too large for her hands), so we decided it was finally time for her to get a pistol of her own. She is in a ladies only shooting program at the local range, so she was able to try out a couple different guns. Off we went to the gun shop (where I know and trust the people - not just any old place). What we did was have her try out different makes and frame sizes to see what felt most comfortable and fit her best. She finally narrowed it down to two - the Glock 19 and the Sig 239 (both 9mm). On the whole Glock vs. Sig thing, I just bit my tongue and stepped back to let her decide which she wanted. She went back and forth, but to make a long story short, we are now a two-Sig owning, happy family.

My recommendation is to determine what you(she) want(s) the gun for, then have her try a few different types. Narrow the field down this way, then go for what fits and feels the best TO HER. It was tough for me to not tell her to just get the Sig over the Glock (my own opinion - I know, we don't need to go there, this is about a gun for the wife remember?), but only she could decide what felt best The bottom line is fit and comfort. You want her to enjoy shooting, if she does, you'll get to do more of it. :)
 
If I could get a pistol for my wife, I'd think it would be a pretty good trade! :D

Oh! Hi Hon... no I was just kidding!....Really!!!!


Seriously, my wife has been refering to my Detective Special as "her" gun for years. Slightly bigger than a J-frame Smith and slightly smaller than a medium frame. Most women like it the first time they pick it up.
 
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