Feel free. If it saves only one hand.

I knew a guy years ago when these scandium guns became all the rage who carried one. One day I asked and he said he no longer carried it. I ask why thinking it must have been a dream to carry.

His reply....

I figured one day I was gonna get mugged and as I was tossing him my wallet I be tossing the gun to saying and here take this damn thing too so I don't have to shoot it.

If you can find one:
S&W Model 10 Heavy Barrel 4 inch. Or 3 inch.
Start with standard pressure 38.
Then transition to +P.
If all goes well, try the snubs or a 9mm auto.

I don't pretend to know what is appropriate for women, but apparently women know what is appropriate for women. Several women in my family, who could have whatever type of firearm they wanted and have shot various semi-autos,etc, chose S&W J-Frame 38 Spcls. Within my humble experience, women who are not "into Guns" have little interest in guns with significant recoil and muzzle blast, cycling semi-auto slides to load, unload and check chambers, manipulating manual safeties, decockers, mag releases,etc. For her protection of course, an acquaintance bought his wife one of those Taurus Circuit Judge revolving carbine .45/.410 things. Of course she had no interest whatsoever in having, shooting or touching such a thing. Seems to me, some guys tend to buy and/or encourage guns for women, that the guy thinks are cool......ymmv

I can't even remember how many guys I've talked out of buying a Taurus Judge type weapon for a daughter/wife, but it's a lot. And yes, just because the non-gun guy thinks they are cool. And some stupid rationalization revolving around a better chance of hitting someone with a 410 shotgun shell... sigh...

So those Judge/Governors/Majority whip guns really sell????

Be honest though you'd love to see the Ruger Majority whip or the Glock oberburgermeister

I got my wife a .380

Sig Sauer P238 Edge with rosewood grips. This gun is a real shooter!! Hardly any recoil at all. It works for her great!!

What do you want with a novice shooter? Simple....you want them to enjoy shooting...enough to look forward to shooting,...a lot,..hundreds and thousands of rounds. I know of no revolver, excluding a .22, that will allow that, especially with women. A good compact or larger 9mm is the ticket. I can't tell you how many women over the years I "saved" because of some dip shit boyfriend or husband pushing a revolver to learn on. Women in particular do not enjoy them with extended range sessions especially. Teach her on a good semi, THEN, if there is an interest, let her try a revolver. Most won't like them once they've been using a good semi. That's my experience with teaching women.

.32 is about as good as it gets if you want a revolver,

32 short
32 long
and
32 HR Mag all fit in the gun and take you from a mouse fart to a +P9mm in terms of recoil

quote:

Originally posted by gatopescado:
I got my wife a .380

Sig Sauer P238 Edge with rosewood grips. This gun is a real shooter!! Hardly any recoil at all. It works for her great!!

And its slide is very easy to rack. I like the Nitron, the least expensive model, best. I'd replace its grips with Hogue brand G10s, but I'd do that with any P238 model.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
So those Judge/Governors/Majority whip guns really sell????

Believe it or not, they do.

My LGS gets a sporadic trickle of folks looking to buy a Judge. Our shop stopped carrying Taurus many years ago, so we'll try and keep a Governor or two in stock.

As for a first gun for a novice female shooter, start 'em off with the basics on a .22 semi auto.

If they want to go straight to defensive gun, then either a .380 or 9mm. I always steer them toward the rental ranges nearby to test drive a few different types and see what works best for them after they've had a chance to handle several at the counter.

When I started teaching my 12 yo son how to shoot, we started with a .22 auto (Colt 1911 conversion unit) and my N frame Smith M28 with 38 special target loads, which in that gun are real powder puffs. He liked shooting it as much as the 22. The revolver is a big gun, but the weight and 6-inch barrel contribute to the low recoil, making it very unintimidating to shoot.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
If you can find one:
S&W Model 10 Heavy Barrel 4 inch. Or 3 inch.
Start with standard pressure 38.
Then transition to +P.
If all goes well, try the snubs or a 9mm auto.

This.

Or If an adjustable sight is wanted the S&W Model 67.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
So those Judge/Governors/Majority whip guns really sell????

Be honest though you'd love to see the Ruger Majority whip or the Glock oberburgermeister

I know a lot of guys that carry them just for a snake gun. I tried to tell my brother that a .44 Special (that he already had) with ratshot would be just as good and serve other purposes as well, but he insisted on spending the money on a S&W Governor.
A snake gun for trout fishing would be about the only reason I'd carry one. Or maybe horseback riding, if I did that.

How are your Ladies doing with the double action of their DA revolvers?

My wife is great with revolvers. Cowboy loads or wadcutters to start and work up. Learning on something heavy like a gp100 is good too. Sp101 in 327 mag is great as well but a bitch to get ammunition for.

If a revolver is decided on, have had success with Ruger LCRx 5431 with 3" barrel, great grips, smooth and constant force double action, and exposed hammer to allow single action.

Some have insisted on the 5430 with much shorter barrel. Replace the grips with the grip used by the 5430 and it too works for a host of strength challenged people.

As others have observed, light 38 special to get comfortable and the potential for serious 38 +P for defense. 38 sp are easy to craft.

However: P238 (seen by some as too busy), or Glock 42, work well for carry. The great PPS-M2 and LCRs Pro seem not to be favored. PPQ-M2 9mm 4" and P320SC9 work for many. PPQ-M2 (mm 4" comes with what is needed to fit - can be almost impossible to have P320 to fit because few grips are being made available. The superb M&P M2.0 (and by extension P10C, 509, APX) are seen as being too heavy or too difficult to operate. ( I am just reporting)

The PPQ-M2 9mm 4" has slide lock on both sides that turn out to be a great aid for women (even if right-handed). A slightly lighter recoil spring might be desirable.

Start with a .22 revolver and she will be hooked and eventually want to move up to the bigger calibers.

If decide to start with 22LR, consider Ruger Lite. It has grip of full size, and yet is indeed light. Good iron sights with immediate capability of installing a red-dot sight. . . .and anyone can maintain the pistol if a Mark IV.

Add V's trigger parts set and she will have a pistol she wants to shoot.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
No, but .38 Special could be a good beginner caliber, and a .357 Magnum revolver can shoot .38 Special as well.

This was the method I used when introducing my wife to shooting. I reload so I made powder puff loads for the DW revo I bought her, eventually moving her up to .38 Spcl. We havent made it to .357 yet, but seemingly no need at this time.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: apf383,

I'd ask her what she plans to use it for and gauge her size, willingness to practice, etc.

Too many men try to steer their wimmenz towards a tiny .380 that was inexpensive and often times pink. Except those aren't enjoyable to shoot and if they aren't going to enjoy it, what are the chances they are going to practice with it?

A reliable 9mm subcompact or compact with good ergonomics might do well.