My daughter like my Sig and wants to get her own gun and shoot.
Local gunshop/range gotta be 16yo to shoot. She wants this to be her birthday present.
Gunshop guys say bring her in when she's 16 and rent some stuff to see what she likes.
She's petite 5'-0" 95 lbs.
She just wants a pink one. I told her she could customize maybe. Try to get a good one not necessarily a pink one. She calls my Sig a dad gun.

A lady friend of mine suggested Kimber. Same lady suggested 9mm to start. I had been thinking smaller caliber.

Thoughts?

Is a revolver out of the question? Ruger's making a nice little SP101 in .38 Special with a 3" barrel these days.

Revolver not out of the question.

First firearm my daughter ever shot was a rental P228 when she was 14, that was 11 years ago.
This was her first shot at 5 yards.



I started with 1 rd in the mag, then 2, then 5, then a full mag.
She did quite well considering.



She has since shot everything I've owned from my LCP (she didn't like) to my S&W 629 44mag (didn't like that one either), to 15 different Glocks, to a rental Sig556, AR15, 20ga shotgun to name a few..
She does like my Glocks in 9MM and my G21.

She also does favor the 3" S&W 686 in 38, but not so much the 357mag rd.



As to the Kimber, I wouldn't start a new shooter with a single action 1911 even in 9mm.
I've owned several 9mm 1911s, there are nice soft shooting pistols, but that SA trigger.
Hell what do I know, that might be a great starting pistol.
In the end, the 1911 just wasn't for me.

I've throwing around the idea of a 22 j-frame revolver, but have not committed.

I do agree with renting several, in 9mm, and she what she likes.
If they have a Glock 43 or 43X, that would be a good start, Glock 19 as well.
Teach her about the trigger reset to make follow up shots easier.

22cal, boring after a few rounds.
380, more recoil than a decent sized 9MM.
YMMV....

A few years ago bought a near mint 1991 (she was born in 1994) Sig P228 and put it in the safe to give her as a wedding present, whenever that happens.

I think a 9mm is fine to start out with. As far as the pistol to shoot it out of, I can't help you much there. I would let your daughter select a group of guns that she is interested in, then let her handle a few and choose the one that feels right to her.

I would just make sure that what she selects is not too small to shoot comfortably for her.

Myself, I think a P228 or P229 would be an outstanding pistol for her to start with.

quote:

Originally posted by Laity1:
My daughter like my Sig and wants to get her own gun and shoot.
Local gunshop/range gotta be 16yo to shoot. She wants this to be her birthday present.
Gunshop guys say bring her in when she's 16 and rent some stuff to see what she likes.
She's petite 5'-0" 95 lbs.
She just wants a pink one. I told her she could customize maybe. Try to get a good one not necessarily a pink one. She calls my Sig a dad gun.

A lady friend of mine suggested Kimber. Same lady suggested 9mm to start. I had been thinking smaller caliber.

Thoughts?

Locked breech .380's are softer shooting than 9mm and the Ruger LC380 isn't a bad gun. You can even get it in pink.

https://ruger.com/products/lc380/models.html

Not available in pink but the Beretta PX4 Storm Compact is a great shooter. Every woman that has shot mine love them. Some have even bought one after shooting mine. One had a Ruger LCP and hated it so much she was about to give up shooting. Then she shot my PX4 and now she owns one and my nephew (her husband) can barely keep enough ammo around.

The controls on the PX4 are so much easier to use than a Sig and the PX4 is an extremely soft shooter with natural point, shoot, hit abilities.

Definitely 9mm PX4 Compact. Not full size, not sub compact and not 40 cal.

Again, the S&W 380EZ is made for these circumstances. Other than the coloring.

Aluminum framed 9mm 1911 with the grips of her choice. I've taught more high school and college shooters how to shoot well with 1911s than any other handgun. The trigger is exactly why they love it. The thin grips and the history don't hurt either.

"It just works"

Stay away from anything blowback, DA/SA, J-frame, or with a slippery grip (most polymer guns).

SCCY CPX-2 (or CPX-1 if you prefer a safety).
Not great but not bad.
DAO is safe beginner trigger.
Comes in lots of colors so pick her favorite.
Cheap enough not to break the bank.
Once she gets more time in she can make her own choice.

quote:

Originally posted by caneau:
..........

Stay away from anything .......... DA/SA, ..........

Please explain your reasoning.

quote:

Originally posted by craigcpa:
Again, the S&W 380EZ is made for these circumstances. Other than the coloring.

My neighbor settled on one of these after shooting several 9mm of mine. Has a thumb safety. Pretty affordable. Probably have a local shop ceracote if for a decent price.

Another vote for the S & W 380EZ. It will be far easier to operate and shoot than a small gun.

Thanks everybody!

Browning Buckmark.
Not available in pink, but a pistol is not a doll baby, it is a recognition that she is growing up.

To quote Mr. .45 himself, Jeff Cooper:
"You can learn about 80% of what you need to know with a .22."

I am lately shooting more boring old .22s than I have in years and loving it.

I foolishly handed an adult novice a Beretta 9mm and it is going to take a while with a .22 and a more shootable centerfire to recover from a gun that shook her up.

https://ruger.com/products/markIV2245Lite/models.html

Comes in variety of colors.
You can change grips out easily to whatever color or style you want.

Rail can be taken off the top, or left on and a red dot sight added.

Any new shooter should probably start with a .22 to avoid the bad habits that recoil encourages. A Ruger SR22 would fit your description.

After initial exposure to firearms, nearly anything is possible. There was a girl about your daughter's age who practiced at a range I frequented; she was a regional junior champion and shot 1911s.

quote:

Originally posted by craigcpa:
Again, the S&W 380EZ is made for these circumstances.

quote:

Originally posted by WPeeler:
Another vote for the S & W 380EZ. It will be far easier to operate and shoot than a small gun.

Yep. Designed specifically for less experienced and smaller-statured shooters. It's a great choice for a first "real" (non-.22) handgun. I call them "granny guns", because they're ideal options for Grandma to keep around for self defense, but they're equally ideal for a petite 15 year old. Simple. Easy to load. Easy to rack the slide. Low felt recoil. Not too big, and not too small.

The (now discontinued) Sig P250 .380 Compact is a similar option. The plus side is that it has a higher magazine capacity than the 380 EZ. But the downsides are that the overly long DA trigger pull may be tougher for her to master than the S&W 380 EZ's trigger, plus its discontinued so it may be tough to find a nice used P250 .380 and some spare magazines.

Otherwise, any of the various medium-sized striker-fired 9mm handguns (G19 or similar) is a good beginner pistol. Slightly more felt recoil than the above .380s, but more effective too.

Just don't get her a subcompact pocket pistol, like a LC380 or a J frame. Tiny little pocket guns are harder for even experienced shooters to shoot well, they have more felt recoil than a medium- or large-sized handgun, the recoil springs on subcompact semiautos are necessarily stiffer so the slides are harder to rack, and their magazine capacity is limited. They're terrible choices for newer or weaker shooters. But counter-intuitively, those tend to be the guns that are offered in pink "for the ladies".

If she really can't live without a pink gun, get her something like a 380 EZ or G19 and send it off to have it coated pink.

quote:

Originally posted by Tusk:
Locked breech .380's are softer shooting than 9mm

That part is true. But the medium-sized S&W 380 EZ or Sig P250 .380 Compact are both locked breech .380s, and are better options than the smaller subcompact LC380 for the above-stated reasons.

Sig use to make, (may still) a 22 cal conversion for their 226. I found it an ideal introduction for young first time shooters who were interested in Sig's. The 22 conversion worked flawlessly for thousands of rounds and is still going!

I'm with GC on this. The OP would have to answer this, but I'm guessing this is a target/training gun, NOT a self defense weapon. .22 would be the right caliber for the job. I'd go Ruger also, but I was thinking a Mk-IV.

quote:

Originally posted by gc70:
Any new shooter should probably start with a .22 to avoid the bad habits that recoil encourages. A Ruger SR22 would fit your description.

After initial exposure to firearms, nearly anything is possible. There was a girl about your daughter's age who practiced at a range I frequented; she was a regional junior champion and shot 1911s.