Hello. I need some help and I need a lot of hits so the thread is here.

I need advice out there on a quality handgun for a lady. She is petite.

Thoughts?

Make it a revolver, uncomplicated! I prefer semi-autos. But for simplicity you can't beat a wheel-gun.

Does she want it for hunting or carrying?

First of all, a lady who isn't any type of gun looney, will not shoot a gun that bites her so, despite any dreams you have or her being armed with a 44 Remington Magnum, get something that she won't mind practicing with.

Secondly, the actions/magazine of many autoloaders are hard for a petite lady to operate. Also, they are more subject to jamming than a revolver so, I would go for a revolver.

Thirdly, the grips will need to be small enough to comfortably shoot.

Recoil wise, my petite wife can tolerate 38 Special, 44 Special, 9mm Parabellum and rimfire cartridges. Grip wise, something like the Lady Smith and Taurus clones fit OK.

What I would suggest is go to a gun store that preferably has a shooting range. Let her try some guns on for size and then rent some likely prospects and have her shoot them so see what she tolerates.

One last thing; I would not get a handgun with one of the integral locks as they can fail and make the gun worthless as a defense weapon.

http://www.taurususa.com/products/gunselector-results.cfm?page=5

Every handgun I have bought with the built in locks, I have unlocked it and thrown the key away!

Well, she is a patient of mine and emailed me the question about a handgun for her. This is most likely due to Obamessiah now being prez-elect and Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Anti-gun himself, being head pit bull.

She is not a hunter...this is definitely for personal use/protection. Thanks for the quick replies. I plan on emailing her this link too.

quote:

Originally posted by Grumulkin:
What I would suggest is go to a gun store that preferably has a shooting range.

That was my first suggestion also. We have Target World here and they rent all kinds of handguns.

And if she can afford it why stop at one handgun.

Get a revolver and an auto.

I think she can afford it and I also suggested it. So far I suggested a P232 and a Lady Smith revolver. She does work out so I don't know if she'll have trouble with a slide on any semi auto or not. Though she's petite, she's not weak.

Walther PPK in .380.

quote:

Originally posted by 30378:
Walther PPK in .380.

could be practicle for some women but not most. Heavy pound slide spring on those if I recall. Read this: Handguns for women

"Having a Walther PPK or PPK/S is not the way to go because it's very difficult to operate the slide as the pistol is equipped with a 20 lb. recoil spring. The trigger pull out of the box averages approximately 16 to 18 lbs. in the double action mode. This is out of the question for most women."

My dad wanted that exact pistol many years ago b/c it is the James Bond handgun. At the time, I was working at a gunstore and asked our in house gunsmiths about it. They all agreed that they see that handgun quite a bit for repair, so dad got the Sig in 380.

I don't know if it is practical or not but my girl friend loves her Ruger GP100 in .357 Mag. She is almost 5'10" tall and loves the way it feel in her hands. She practices with .38 special but keeps it loaded with .357's in case some prowler in her house needs to assume room temperature.

While the slide is pretty stiff on the Walther PPK/S, I don't think your friend/patient should totally disregard it. Try it out. My wife, a petite lady in her own right, loves her PPK/S in .380. She has to work at the slide, but once it's back, watch out! She's deadly with that thing. If a bad buy comes through our door and I don't take him out with the .45, he's gonna have 7 .38" holes in him in short order.

I had the same situation about a month ago. My friend is 5'1" and weighs 98 lbs. She was a gymnast and still stays in shape. We went to one of the large gun shows in Dallas, and she was able to handle many pistols. The one that fit her hand best was the Kahr 9mm. After the morning dove hunt the next day, she had target practice with the Kahr. She shot it very well and didn't have any problems racking the slide or with recoil.

Thanks fellas.

My daughter who has shot handguns for 13 plus years she 23 now. Really like the Kahrs but she had a hard time working the slide.

When she shot my ppks about every other shot she would accidently hit the mag release during recoil and drop the mag. She like the ppks a lot but a single shot auto isn't much good.

She shoots her full size 9mm well no trouble she shoots her model 10 S@W well also. She shoots my 44 mag 315 gr loads when I asked her about recoil she just smiled and says no trouble.

She settled on a small taurus light wieght 38 revolver loaded with plus p 125 gr at around 900 fps for her ccw weapon. She groups the in one hole at 50 feet.

I find that for most uses a good revolver is hard to beat. Easy to use easy to load easy to carry.

quote:

So far I suggested a P232 and a Lady Smith revolver.

I don't think you could have made a better suggestion.

While deceivingly strong for her size, my wife's hand strength is lacking, and cannot rack the slides on any of my large frame semi-autos, and is a chore for her even on the .380s. Therefore, the gun at our bedside is a model 66 S & W in .357 mag (2" barrel). She shoots it well. I only use .38 special with her for practice, though it's stoked with full house 158s where it rests next to our bed. If she ever needs it for anything that goes bang in the night, she'll never notice. The recipient no doubt will, I imagine...

You might also consider a revolver in 327 magnum in the ruger SP 101.

Rad

IMO, the best handgun for a beginer, man or woman, is the S&W 442/642. Simple, reliable, and easy to shoot. Let them start with one of these and move up if they wish.

My wife's first pistol was a S&W 686 7 shot (357). She shot it very well at the range using single action. It is great to be able to practice with 38 then keep it with 357. However, she could not shoot it well using double action. The harder pull sent her groups into unacceptable sizes. I discovered that she shot my Sig P229 better--that she hated the feel of--and shot my 1911 great when doing defensive shooting. I recently picked her up a Springfield EMP (1911 in officer size with a slightly reduced frame) in 9mm. She absolutely loves it (named it Palin) and shoots it like crazy. She likes shooting her pistol for the first time. The slide isn't too heavy for her, she really likes having a safety, and the crisp single action trigger makes it tough not to shoot well.

To your patient: defensive shooting should be a critical factor. If you can't shoot the weapon well defensively, you might consider a different model or style. Much can be overcome with practice, but after two years my wife still was not shooting her revolver well (she could have practiced more). That being said, whatever you pick will be better than nothing. Good luck and have fun!

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:
Thanks fellas.

Doc a pistol that I highly recommend is the Sig/Sauer. I shoot the P-228 in 9mm. My hands are small & it fits me quite nicely. Recoil is reasonable. Sig doesn't list the 228 any more but they do list the 226 & 229. The 229 is shorter which might suit her but being shorter & a little lighter the recoil will be a little bit stiffer.

P-226

P-229

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:
Hello. I need some help and I need a lot of hits so the thread is here.

I need advice out there on a quality handgun for a lady. She is petite.

Thoughts?

Doc.
My personal concieled carry gun is a Tauras 650SS. It is a nice little hammerless 357mag. It is great she could load it with 38 specials for practice and load it with 357mag when carring it. Hell she could carry with 38+P for that matter. Mine is very nice to carry. Bionci(SP) leather makes a pocket holster that costs $10. That is how I carry it in my front pants pocket and know one knows.
MM

I have both a PPK and a PPK/S, and the slides of both are difficult to rack, especially for a woman (my wife shoots). Though I love them, I don't think I'd start a woman out shooting with one.

It's tempting to suggest a small, easy to conceal revolver like a J-frame with 1.5 inch bbl, but a woman might find practicing with something like that off-putting because of recoil and blast. And practice is a must.

So for a first gun, I'd argue against any gun that isn't fun to shoot at the range. In fact, I'd argue that, as her first gun, a woman should get a one that's a real pleasure to shoot at targets .

I started my wife off with a K-frame .357 with a 4 inch bbl and very mild .38 Spl. handloads. Neither recoil nor muzzle blast was bad, and when parked by the bedside with full power loads, it's a serious piece of artillery.

She still doesn't like full power .357 loads much, but has fallen in love with a SIG P-239 in 9mm (she named it Ziva after the character played by Cote de Pablo in NCIS), and she's now shooting a SIG 1911 .45 ("Jethro") which she loves even more. She practices a lot with both SIGs, and has become quite a good shot.

She carries the P-239 in her car, and keeps the K-frame beside the bed.

But it's hard to know what to recommend to you without knowing more about your friend: How willing is she to practice? Is she interested in something to be kept exclusively by the bedside, or will she just leave it in her car? Is she planning on carrying it on her person? Is she interested in testing the waters and starting with, say, a .22 and then working her way up? Is there someone who can ease her into shooting, someone who is tuned in to how she's reacting and able to make changes that would make shooting more accessible her?

Just some thoughts.

Funny! I was just sure with all the replies somebody would have mentioned the S&W Airlite in .22 lr or .22 mag. Un noticable weight, negligible recoil, ease of operation and cheap ammo to plink/ practice with. I don't own the .22 mag yet, but my gal really enjoys the .22 lr.

Revolver (point and shoot, little to remember)

38 Special, lite loads to practice with, +P's for real.

Or go with a .22 like a 317. What you might give up in stopping power you make up for with confidence and the fun factor. Doesn't hurt that she can shoot a whole bunch for under five bucks.

I've been shooting handguns for nearly 35 years and carrying one to work for a living for over 33 years. My everyday 'with me' handgun is a S&W 642. Even used it this morning to dispatch a wounded deer that was slow in giving up the ghost following a couple poor slug hits,(not mine!)

It's light, easy, and no complicated drama. Most importantly, it's close to my hand rather than back in the truck or at home. Those handguns don't matter. You don't need a handgun very often, but when you do, you really need it!

A variation of the S&W Model 60, .38Special and the concealed hammer version would probably be the best choice.



Second choice; a Colt Detective Special because it is a 6 shot, and the empties will be clear of the star on ejection.

Glock Model 26 chambered in 9x19 is far and away the best choice.