Why I chose my GF's handgun.. and it's a ___

C

Coffee357

New member
Ruger LCR in .357 magnum. I hear all the arguments against small revolvers for new shooters - and the importance of new shooters picking out their own firearms. Now my GF is not a gun person and, although she has recently expressed interest in getting her carry permit, is not hugely interested or comfortable in surfing the gun counters.

I have a variety of firearms I let her try but she has trouble cycling the slide of my semi's and liked the simplicity of the revolver. My J-frame and SP101 triggers were on the heavy side for her though. The answer, after some research, looked to be the Ruger LCR. I found a good price on a used one after some searching and picked it up. I went with the .357 for the extra weight of the gun, anticipating that magnum loads will never be used.

The choice of a revolver also allowed her a lot of realistic dry fire practice without having to cycle the slide between shots. A couple thousand dry fire sessions before her first range trip with the new gun resulted in some fine groups.

I picked her gun, but with her feedback and needs in mind - and she shoots it great. Don't discount the small revolvers - or the benefits of practice!
 
sounds like you made a good choice! For my wife ive decided once she decides to carry i will get her an LCR in 22magnum. I trust the power of that round if she ever had to use it, it is much better than nothing, and ive decided on the lcr for many of the same reasons!
 
The LCR is great. I feel like it takes revolver design into this century. The trigger is phenomenal too. Of course, to really take it into this century, you should have got it in .327 Federal. :p
 
I chose my GF's handgun
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For my wife ive decided
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I have been married for 32 years. I admire your courage. :D

Seriously, good choice since she participated. On the subject of her manipulating the slide, technique makes a lot of difference. Kathy Jackson, known here as Pax, teaches extensively and has a website that your lady friend might well find useful: corneredcat.com. (And really it's full of good advice for shooters of either sex.) Basically the technique is to hold the slide still and to use the pistol grip to push the pistol away from you until you push the slide out of your other hand. Few and rare are the folks who can't rack a slide with this technique. I bring it up because there still might be a time when your GF needs or wants to work the slide on one of your pistols.
 
Only pistol my wife has enjoyed shooting is a single action 22 revolver, she wont put a full mag through a glock 19 or any of my other semi autos. its a whole different story when its an AR15 though ;). She likes the idea of a gun for concealed carry but wont ever train with it and would rather not deal with rentals or gun counters. I know her well enough to make a good decision on a gun for her, she would rather that than deal with learning it all her self when she trusts my knowledge :)
 
FWIW I've seen a lot of new shooters that were UNABLE to rack the slide of a semi-auto pistol (some of the female persuasion that were related to me) until they decided for some reason that they WANTED to rack the slide. Then they could. Shrug.
 
Good for you! Revolvers are great starter guns, imho. If she never gets interested in shooting, it is probably better off sitting in a drawer for decades than a semi. If she gets into shooting, she can buy plenty of semis later on.
 
Good to here that she went along with your choice. My wife picked her own gun. After going thru six or more different guns in the last eight years at 75 years old she is down to four guns that she can pull back the slide, load the gun, her finger can let the trigger rest, see the sights and last hit the target. She has two Sig P238's one black for the range and a P238 rainbow to carry in her bag. She also has two revolvers one Ruger LCRX 38spl. and a Rossi R46202 .357 mag SS for the range to target shoot. This month she is caring the Ruger :)
 
I let my wife handle a few semi 380s (first pistol and didn't want to over gun her )and she liked the lc380 from ruger the best .myself I have a lcr 38+p and we proceed to the range and after a few trips I asked if she woul like to shoot my lcr, well now we own 2 lcr's she absolutely loves it and has no problem shooting full tilt +p loads out of it, she likes the 380 but much prefers the simple revolver.
 
My GF isn't a gun person and had a .25 acp her parents had given her. Well I decided all things being equal something in a bigger caliber would be better so I got her a ruger lcp. No was a little worried about it at first because of all the people online who say their wife/gf has trouble with the recoil. I warned her about it, and after shooting it he first time she looks back at me and gives me a blank stare and asks if that was it. She found the recoil very underwhelming to say the least. She's only had a bit of time with it but we plan on some more next
Time she's in town, and I managed to weasel my way into reloading by telling her how cheap it would be to reload .380 instead of buying it.
 
I'll pick out a gun for my wife in a heartbeat. What's the worst thing that will happen? She won't like it? Big deal. I'll sell that one and buy her another one.

But realistically speaking, we've been married long enough, and shot together often enough that I have a pretty good idea what she does and doesn't like. And she trusts my judgement.

Really she just shoots whatever I like. I don't know how many guns I've gotten for myself that became "her" gun after a range session. I thought I'd stop that with a 44 Magnum Model 29. She said "I thought you said this thing kicks? I LIKE this."

She'll steal my fishing rods too.
 
My then girlfriend now wife is stubborn. So I let her pick her own gun out. I tried to give her advice, but doubt she listened. I now own a Ruger SR9C. She got her carry permit, but never carries. So the gun stays in the safe.
 
It's true, some women don't really want to pick out their own guns, but want a gun they can carry and rely on. I see nothing wrong with how the OP handled this. For them, going to a gun store is like me going to a clothing store in the mall. It's a chore that I would avoid at all costs! If my wife picks out several shirts for me that she thinks looks nice when she's out shopping (even if I pay for them), I'm happy as a clam!
 
It's true, some women don't really want to pick out their own guns, but want a gun they can carry and rely on. I see nothing wrong with how the OP handled this.
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I agree, and the OP used some very valid reasoning for his choice for her. If the way she carries it is not influenced by weight, the heavier .357 model will hurt less when shot at the range(when used with .38s) and will lead to more practice and thus, more proficiency. If at some point she no longer wants it, it is a very sellable firearm and the OP will more than likely, not lose any monies on it. The main thing is she now has a firearm that she can handle to protect herself.
 
Hi Coffee,
I too helped my wife purchase the LCR 357. She is 200% satisfied and actually went with me to our range multiple times in the past few months. She never did this before.
Hope this works for her because if your Lady isn't happy, you are in deep stuff.
regards,
Doc
 
I didn't pick the gun for my wife, but I eliminated some options I didn't like. Limited her to things I wouldn't hate owning if she either did not like it or decided not to ever carry shoot it but wanted me to keep it around anyways. If she is interested she can pick out whatever she wants later.
 
I have a variety of firearms I let her try but she has trouble cycling the slide of my semi's...
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What's really interesting about this is a lot of women do have a mental block about cycling the slide. For a number of them, it's a "manly thing" that they think must take a certain amount of strength which is beyond them.

Generally, it's not difficult to teach them to cycle the slide unless they have some type of physical disability like arthritis in their hands, nerve damage, degenerative muscle condition, etc.

My wife is an NRA Pistol Instructor and helps with a women's introduction to pistol class. The main instructor is also a woman - between the two of them, they manage to get every woman in the course operating semi-autos of all types.

When the women in the class see two other women operating semi-autos with no problem...it's apparent to them that you don't have to be manly strong to cycle a slide.

Seeing two women easily operate semi-autos seems to break the mental block because, "If those two can do it, I should be able to do it too."

They have women of all ages, including women in their 70's, and have managed to teach all of them to cycle semi-autos.

If you have a local class of that type available, you might want to encourage her to take the course as she'll get to see other women shooting and handling guns, and it may help her in understanding she can handle a semi-auto.
 
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