Hangun for my wife

[sanman]

I'm starting to look for handgun for my wife for target practice and personal protection. I've checked out the Bareta PX4,  but am undecided. First step is to get her to our local range and see what she feels comfortable with and will also do the job. Nothin' worse than to just piss off a bad guy. I also want her to have enough stopping power eithout knocking herself on her ass or breaking her nose.

Any suggestions?

PS - We're on some significant property so have room to shoot some weapons at CSDaddy. Emphisis on SOME.

Tim

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i'll bring you a vest

[Declaration Day]

Any suggestions?

Give me a price range and I'll give you my suggestion.

[sanman]

Maybe 300 -500 for starters.

[Boomhauer]

Maybe 300 -500 for starters.

I really, really like the S&W M&P series in 9mm. Interchangable backstraps, factory options for a safety, no pulling the trigger for fieldstripping, available with or without magazine disconnects and internal locks...

[sanman]

i'll bring you a vest

.
Can't sleep in that. Need to build a secure man cave bunker type structure. think I have a placepicked out.

[zahc]

I really like my M&P 9. It's very light-recoiling. I want a revolver right now though.

[sanman]

Thanks for the suggetsions...keep 'em coming.

I get to replace mine once she's comfortable with hers. She doesn't know how many I'll eventually have, but will happy to move the knife collection out og the LR.

[jackdanson]

I've checked out the Bareta PX4,  but am undecided.

I have a px4, it's an alright gun.  Is she going to carry it or is it for home?  Do you want a "manual" safety like on the px4?

I got the px4 for my wife because she didn't like the safety on the Glock I had originally given her, she wanted something you actually switched on and off.  

The DA trigger on the px4 is "meh", but it works.  I've had one stovepipe in about 3k rounds, and that was cheap ammo, so it's reliable.  Recoil is pretty dang tame.

I like the springfield XD series, though I've honestly never shot an M&P.

[280plus]

Unless she's already proficient I'd recommend a DA revolver so she isn't bogged down with the extra manipulations that an automatic pistol requires. Just point and shoot. Ocne she gets used to that you might try bringing her up to speed on an auto. S&W makes a J frame in .22 mag. The only drawback is the long hard trigger pull. My wife can't pull the trigger without a struggle but I believe a decent trigger job would take care of that.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=760575&tabselected=tech&isFirearm=Y&parent_category_rn=

Don't turn your nose up at .22 mag, it's a nasty round, 1300+ fps, but if you want something in a heavier caliber maybe a steel .38/.357 so she can shoot .38s and you can shoot the .357s. Don't get the lightweight, she won't like the recoil even with the .38s

Stay away from Taurus. I bought a 4" .22 mag revolver made by them and I think the action is junk.

[vaskidmark]

Dear Sweet Baby Jeebus!  Is there a death wish amongst the respondents?

Possibly one of the surest ways to get yourself killed is to go out and pick a gun for your sweetie.  The only thing that will get you killed quicker is to buy your sweetie a gun and present it to them as a fiat accompli -- that's Latin for "There aint no refund on this one, sucker."

There's this nice young lady that's been telling us for years how to deal with this obsession we have for arming our SO.  http://www.corneredcat.com/Men/buywifegun.aspx .  Go read and heed the words of wisdom there.

stay safe.

skidmark

[280plus]

Sorry, should have used the word "suggest" as opposed to "recommend". 

[BridgeRunner]

 

[Jamisjockey]

Stop!  Take her to the gun shop or gun show and have her help pick out the gun.

9mm is going to make the most sense, caliber wise.  But its going to have to be enough pistol to handle the caliber, too.

However, I've known plenty of petite women who handle .45 and 10mm without blinking.  Had a friend's little bitty hot wife in utah who shot a 1911 like it was part of her body.

[Lennyjoe]

My wife suprised me Sunday by saying she wants to get her ccw license. I've been wanting her to get one for years. Guess she finally took it to heart. She's shot my Kimber, XD-45, Glock 10MM and my .357 and .44 mags. She likes the .357 mag revolvers the best. Even though I have plenty of choices in the safe for her to chose from, I'm going to take her shopping and let her chose one. You should do the same.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

let her chose one. You should do the same.
ohhh goody! he'll be coming home with a barret .50!  always wanted to play with one!

[sanman]

Dear Sweet Baby Jeebus!  Is there a death wish amongst the respondents?

Possibly one of the surest ways to get yourself killed is to go out and pick a gun for your sweetie.  The only thing that will get you killed quicker is to buy your sweetie ANd present it to them as a fiat accompli -- that's Latin for "There aint no refund on this one, sucker."

There's this nice young lady that's been telling us for years how to deal with this obsession we have for arming our SO.  http://www.corneredcat.com/Men/buywifegun.aspx .  Go read and heed the words of wisdom there.

stay safe.

skidmark

I'm a civvy that'll lilkly to get deployed to "nice" spots soon after some period and after some training, forward locales. Still wait and see. Want to get her up to speed before I go...if I do.

[bedlamite]

After reading the title, the choice is obvious 

[AJ Dual]

Pretty much the advice given above.

I'd have her handle any number of top-shelf firearms from 9mm/38spl (even .357, since you can load with .38 and .38 +p...) to .45 with no preconceived notions as to what she should shoot. Start with whatever feels best to her and has ergonomics that work. Can she rack the slide, reach and manipulate any safeties or controls?

I would not go into any preconceived notions of recoil or what caliber is "too much". IMO, smaller calibers may recoil less, but be "snappier", it's all personal preference. The important thing is that she be invested in her choice because it is her choice.

Then, once she has a contender she likes the feel of, rent/beg/borrow an example of that firearm, and have her try it. If it works for her, great, if under recoil it's not working for her, repeat the above process.

Is this arduous and time consuming? Yes. However, a pistol she's comfortable with, has good ergonomics, and just has that "hittability" for her will keep her interested in shooting and practicing.

[BridgeRunner]

Is this arduous and time consuming? Yes. However, a pistol she's comfortable with, has good ergonomics, and just has that "hittability" for her will keep her interested in shooting and practicing.

Quoted for truth. 

My pistol is primarily recreational rather than defensive, but I haven't actually shot the thing in a bit over a year.  For various reasons, I haven't been able to (illness, pregnancy, etc.)  The past couple of months, yeah, I could have found the time.  But I don't really have that much FUN with my pistol (an S&W m59 in 9mm).  I can shoot it pretty decently, but I don't really like 9mm.  It's both not enough recoil and it kind of beats up on an old injury because of the snappiness of the recoil.  I LOVE shooting .45.  It feel more substantial, and I feel like I get more feedback from the gun.  I recover better for the follow-up, and it still has the excitement factor of a heavier recoil.  If/when I can afford a 1911, I will probably shoot pistol a whole lot more. 

[coppertales]

My wife has two Steyr pistols, a S9 and a M9. She also has a Kahr 9mm and a Kel Tec PF9.  She also likes my Glocks in 40S&W.  The best thing to do is take her to a gun show or larger gun shop and let her feel out everything on the shelf.  One thing to remember, don't load her pistol up with the hottest ammo on the planet.  Load it with ammo she can shoot well.  I notice all the 10mm, 357, +P, etc suggestions.  Let her shoot standard ammo until she becomes proficient.  Accuracy will beat out velocity any day of the week......any hole in a bad guy is better than no hole at all.......chris3

[Marnoot]

However, I've known plenty of petite women who handle .45 and 10mm without blinking.

This. My 5'4" wife prefers the recoil of a .45 because she perceives it as less "sharp" than a 9mm. I had her try out handguns in both calibers (didn't bother with .40S&W if she felt 9mm was too sharp), and she consistently preferred .45, so when she picked out the XD as her weapon of choice, we made sure to get it in .45.

[AJ Dual]

I'd say barring injuries arthritis etc. that 75% of recoil is perception.

You obviously want to be careful doing this, and exercise sound judgment, but I've found you can also manage recoil perceptions by giving a shooter a sharper, less pleasant firearm to shoot, then let them return to their previous "problem" firearm.

Even a compact .38spl might be unpleasant as compared to most semi-autos.

From his time in the Army in the early 60's, my father thinks 7.62/.30 caliber semi-auto battle rifle recoil is "bad". After his first experiences with 12ga slugs, bolt action .30 caliber rifles, especially my M44 Mosin-Nagant, he does not mention that anymore.   

[Balog]

Heck, I can't stand the snappy recoil in .40's myself, but I lurvs me some .45. Of course fit has a lot to do with it too. Back in the day we had a pair of single shot break barrel shotguns in our house, one in 12 one in 20. The 20 beat the living crap out of me in 3-4 shots, while I could burn a box of 12 without much bruising.

[Fly320s]

Any suggestions?

Let her choose.

I say again, let her choose.