Hand gun for wife??

[snakepit]

My wife wants to get a pistol for protection. What would be a good hand gun for a girl who is scared to shoot, cause she don't like the noise or recoil. It would have to be very dependable and prolly something in .22 mag or equivalent. Anything louder or more recoil she would not shoot. If I can start her out on something small, we will work up to a gun with some more horse power.

Gordy Mitchell

North American Arms 22 Magnum 5 shot revolver. Comes in a 1 5/8" or 1 1/8" barrel. Approximately 5" long and 6 oz. I carry mine in a large sunglasses case that also has a belt loop or just loose in my pocket. I have many size pistols but there are times when this very small pistol comes in handy.

 

[Old Navy]

After I got my S&W Sheild the wife had to have one to. They are great little guns for carrying

And it has an outstanding double action pull. Later! Frank

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

If she can't shoot at least a 38 just get her a dog.

 

[CPorter]

Take her to the local indoor range and rent several. The smaller automatics kick more so try something bigger that still fits her hands. Make sure she can rack the slide by herself. The Lady Smith is a good revolver but has a bit more kick than the longer heavier models. See if they have some of the Hogue rubber grips on some and if they fit her hand try one.

 

[BoydAllen]

IMO she needs to get completely over the afraid of guns thing and become very comfortable around, and competent handling firearms, including pistols, before even considering getting a concealed weapon permit. I have been around a lot of folks, including men, who have no interest in firearms, are basically afraid when they handle one, and after they buy one, never practice, and basically forget what little they learned within a month or two. These people are the last ones that should be carrying. They need to either do a 180 (not likely) or forget about it.

If she wants to put out a real effort, I would make sure that she wears double hearing protection, and eye protection, and work with a high quality .22 revolver, with a 4" barrel, grips that fit her, and good sights. When and if she relaxes with that, and gets over her current mind set, then I would think about moving her up to a light .38, and if she manages to become comfortable and competent with that, think about a permit. This would be at least a year long project with trips to the range a couple of times a month.

 

[Outrider27]

+1 on Boyd's comments.

I was NRA self defense course instructor for many years and ran into a number of people with noise and recoil fears. Starting them with good hearing protection and a quality .22 RF and progressing from there worked every time.

 

[gaboon]

IMO she needs to get completely over the afraid of guns thing and become very comfortable around, and competent handling firearms, including pistols, before even considering getting a concealed weapon permit. I have been around a lot of folks, including men, who have no interest in firearms, are basically afraid when they handle one, and after they buy one, never practice, and basically forget what little they learned within a month or two. These people are the last ones that should be carrying. They need to either do a 180 (not likely) or forget about it.

If she wants to put out a real effort, I would make sure that she wears double hearing protection, and eye protection, and work with a high quality .22 revolver, with a 4" barrel, grips that fit her, and good sights. When and if she relaxes with that, and gets over her current mind set, then I would think about moving her up to a light .38, and if she manages to become comfortable and competent with that, think about a permit. This would be at least a year long project with trips to the range a couple of times a month.




+++1

 

[normmatzen]

Recoil, or the fear of it, is a strange thing.

My wife is afraid to shoot my 22 target gun! I can't get her to try my 6BRX bench gun either.

She has shot my PPK clone in .380 and doesn't mind shooting it, but she doesn't have the strength in her hand to rack it.

A number of years ago I bought her a 38 special small frame Smith and Wesson. I hate to shoot it as the recoil is brutal for a 38. She, however, thinks it is fine? My guess is that fear of recoil has more to do with the size of the gun than actual recoil. Her 38 is a very small 5 shot revolver, therefore a "small" gun and no recoil.

Besides, .22's and .25's just piss people off!

 

[johnmyers]

If your wife is going carry for protection. Get a revolver simple point and shoot. In a 38. Don't carry a 22 rim fire for protection. Life depends on it.

Exactly right even bigger if she can handle it. S&W air lite hammerless so hammer won't get caught on anything if she has to pull it.

 

[bheadboy]

i find the 1st question tobe - does she expect to shoot "a lot" or just enough toknow the gun.

if "just to know the gun" then get her a good pair of hearing protectors and use light/medium reloads in a ladies size 9mm -- then have it loaded with factory for carry.

i found after getting mine to "just know th gun" with reduced reloads and good hearing protection, she got to like shooting and the problem of reduce recoil and noise being a road block went away

same with my daughter.

Bob

 

[Lapua40X]

Many women find the mechanics of an automatic difficult to master. My wife is a tiny girl with small hands and limited hand/lower arm strength. Asking her to work with a large automatic (.45, 9mm, .40, etc.) would just frustrate her and cause her to lose interest.
I began her instruction with a .22 Ruger Mark II. It only took a couple of weeks to work her up to a .38 S&W revolver. Good ear protection took care of the noise issue, practicing loading and unloading at home with .38 snap caps works very well as a training method and selecting a grip that fits her hand is also important. Some women do have difficult pulling the DA trigger on a revolver. I used to train women at the academy with trigger finger strengthening exercises but a wife may not want to work that hard at it.
If you elect to try a revolver, take her to a gun shop and let her try several makes/models to see if you can find one that she handles reasonable well on DA.
I don't worry too much about her being able to "stop the fight" with a large, heavy caliber weapon.. A well placed .38 expanding bullet at center mass will take a lot of fight out of an intruder. Which means she'll need some marksmanship under stress exposure with her new gun.
Personally, for someone who can handle it, this is my favorite home defense weapon:
http://www.chuckhawks.com/taurus_judge.htm

 

[ShootDots]

Lapua40X, so you think that a .38 with a well placed shot in center mass will take the fight out of someone? Well let me tell you a few things you may not be aware of. Most criminals are drug addicts and alcoholics. The VAST majority of them commit home invasions, robberies or burglaries while they are high on "their" substances. When you have an abundance of cocaine, PCP, heroin or any of those derivatives, their nervous system is very difficult to shut down with pistols of any sort, much less a pistol that delivers considerably less tissue destruction and energy than a larger caliber. I had "more than a few" training films about "Officer Safety" where "the actors" as they are called in esoteric police language, have been shot with 44mags, 12 guages and the like and it took time for them to "bleed out" before they "stopped the fight".. Now admittedly, those hopped-up people are not the "norm", however, they are not all that unusual either. A "well placed" .38 in an average "non drug induced criminal" will take care of business. However, unless you have a crystal ball and can see who may attack you, you had better be prepared for the criminal who is on something or other. His wife CAN and SHOULD learn to use a larger, more lethal weapon>>> her life may depend on it! Trust me, there are reasons why law enforcement agencies have abandoned the old .38Special and it was not because it worked so well on a large percentage of criminals.

 

[Raythemanroe]

I agree on larger caliber to some point, while I also feel the .22lr would promote learning shooting principals easier. MHO on most pistol calibers is there not enough stopping power, I too have watched training video's and the understanding when firing a pistol is to hit vitals..I like my Kimber .45 but is a little heavy for most..

 

[ShootDots]

Ray, a .22 is an EXCELLENT learning and training tool. I promote that line of thinking all day! One of my sons, Jeffery, has kidney failure and looks like a 90 year old man and has almost no muscle tone left.. He is doing a lot better of late. However, I taught him to use pistols as he loves them. He has 2 / 45's and a 40. One of the 45's he has is a Kimber that is pretty small.. It is the prettiest pistol I have ever seen. It has a gray metal frame, blued slide and rosewood grips. You may know it.. At any rate, that pistol recoils as much as any auto I have fired and he shoots it with excellent precision. I said all that because if HE can fire that pistol, anyone short of being paralyzed can learn and do it too. You have an excellent pistol, be proud of it>>>It will serve you well for many, many years to come!

 

[Raythemanroe]

Sorry to hear that, I know what one your talking about..My Kimber is the Stainless target 2 but I added nice walnut grips..I am glad to hear he is good with the bigger calibers..

 

[jkohler]

My wife is small also. When she started shooting handguns she could not rack the slide on most of them. After shooting a while she figured out how she needed to Approach it as to work for her Strength she had. She can now rack the slide very easy on any handgun. I bought her a Les Baer 45 she was able to rack it just fine. Thouse are the some of the hardest fit slides I have felt on a gun.

 

[Lapua40X]

Trust me, there are reasons why law enforcement agencies have abandoned the old .38Special and it was not because it worked so well on a large percentage of criminals.

You make some excellent points, ShootDots. I spent thirty years in law enforcement; I know there is no perfect answer. I also know that a very capable firearm in the hands of a person who cannot use it is useless. I didn't expect my opinion to provide a utopian solution for the OPs issue. Just that he might find some value in a wider range of possibilities. Some of the female officers I trained in the academy washed out because they couldn't use the firearms issued to them. Those are not theories, they are facts. Thanks for the input.

 

[ShootDots]

Listen, I do not / did not want this to degenerate to some argument. We are here to help each other out, especially the OP's needing the help. If I, in any way, offended you, I apologize. It is not my intent to debase anyone's opinion. In this area I feel VERY strongly and can become somewhat vociferous in my wording... Please accept my apology, we are here to help one another..

 

[Raythemanroe]

I don't want to start a argument either, Best things is for the OP is get her practicing and shooting..If for defense she should understand that most (hand guns) guns don't have or are lacking on stopping power..My philosophy on my hand gun is it is a means to get to a real gun! Practice and usable experience is gonna trump caliber, with that said I would still take a big thumper for self defense..

 

[Lapua40X]

... can become somewhat vociferous in my wording ... we are here to help one another..

Oh, how well I know. I suffer from the same malady.
This, after all, is not an advice forum. Rather it's an opinion forum. Your opinion is as welcome as anyone's.
No harm, no foul. No offense taken.