Carry weapons for women?

[Hibs]

Thanks to all that commented. We are following up on many of your suggestions. I do have a few follow-up comments:

She shot several different handguns at a range this week. 9mm doesn’t make her flinch. Of those she was able to try (including my SIG 365X) her biggest challenge remains racking the slide. The springs are just too much for her. She tried a revolver as an alternative, but didn’t like the double action trigger pull on the first shot.

I was able to get her on a S&W 9mm EZ to try. She liked it very much. But before we make a decision I’d still like to try and find a PDP-F for her to handle. I probably won’t find both guns side-by-side which would be ideal, but if not that then at least sequentially. Not saying it’s between just those two, but at least she now has a better idea of what’s a good fit for her and what’s not.

I still have my 9mm EZ Peformance Center for sale. Offer still stands, you free to try it any time you'd like. If you find a PDP somewhere, just come grab my Shield EZ to take to the range and shoot them side by side. No obligation or cost to use my Shield EZ.

 

[smokey]

Thanks to all that commented. We are following up on many of your suggestions. I do have a few follow-up comments:

She shot several different handguns at a range this week. 9mm doesn’t make her flinch. Of those she was able to try (including my SIG 365X) her biggest challenge remains racking the slide. The springs are just too much for her. She tried a revolver as an alternative, but didn’t like the double action trigger pull on the first shot.

I was able to get her on a S&W 9mm EZ to try. She liked it very much. But before we make a decision I’d still like to try and find a PDP-F for her to handle. I probably won’t find both guns side-by-side which would be ideal, but if not that then at least sequentially. Not saying it’s between just those two, but at least she now has a better idea of what’s a good fit for her and what’s not.

micro red dots aren't just for aiming. They make great ledges to yank on or to push against a hard object if someone has trouble manipulating a slide.

 

[OneGunTex]

Anyone familiar with the Ruger Security 9?
Mrs.Tex went to the gun show with me, handled a bunch, and this one fit her hand quite nicely. Unfortunately, none of the local ranges have one in rental. But I so see them for sale for exceptionally cheap (<$300!!)

 

[Boats]

I'll give you my standard advice. Take her to a range that rents guns and let her try a bunch of them. What "feels good in the hand" may not equate to "she can actually shoot it well." YMMV.

This.

 

[wingsfan]

You may also want to try a Walther CCP. We sell a lot of them to people who have a hard time racking the slide. On par with the Smith and Wesson EZ, minus the grip safety. The downsides are 8 round capacity and not optic ready.

 

[RFBfromDE]

Anyone familiar with the Ruger Security 9?
Mrs.Tex went to the gun show with me, handled a bunch, and this one fit her hand quite nicely. Unfortunately, none of the local ranges have one in rental. But I so see them for sale for exceptionally cheap (<$300!!)

We have the compact model.

If she can manage the slide, can handle the 9mm and can carry it, it is a reliable and affordable option.

 

[IronEye]

I bought a CCP in 380 in February. It is very soft shooting, the slide racks easily, and fits my hand nicely. In my opinion it is not reliable enough for carry purposes. I have counted 13 failures to feed the last or next to last round out of 600 rounds fired. It has been back to Walther but it was not fixed.

I really want to love this gun but so far i have been disappointed this gun and with Walther service.

The above may have no bearing at all on the recommended Walther CCP in 9mm.

 

[Defense Initiative]

I bought a CCP in 380 in February. It is very soft shooting, the slide racks easily, and fits my hand nicely. In my opinion it is not reliable enough for carry purposes. I have counted 13 failures to feed the last or next to last round out of 600 rounds fired. It has been back to Walther but it was not fixed.

I really want to love this gun but so far i have been disappointed this gun and with Walther service.

The above may have no bearing at all on the recommended Walther CCP in 9mm.

Interesting; what type of ammunition were you using when it failed to feed?

 

[IronEye]

Winchester (50 rounds - three failures), Federal (50 rounds, one failure) and Speer Lawman (400 rounds, 9 failures). All FMJ 95 grain.

Precision One XTP and New Republic were clean but i have only shot one box each of these. I am hoping these might be the ticket as the bullet shape is different.

Walther's suggestion is that i should keep testing. With so few failures they cannot attribute the failures to the gun itself.

 

[RFBfromDE]

The Federal .380 is very round.

Winchester/Herter's are truncated cone.

Is the New Republic a JHP?

After 50+ rounds or so, our LCP II and LCP Max have had no failures with either and runs Sig V-Crown JHP without incident.

The newer PD 380ACP from Walther looks/feels nice. I hope it's reliable....

 

[Defense Initiative]

Winchester (50 rounds - three failures), Federal (50 rounds, one failure) and Speer Lawman (400 rounds, 9 failures). All FMJ 95 grain.

Precision One XTP and New Republic were clean but i have only shot one box each of these. I am hoping these might be the ticket as the bullet shape is different.

Walther's suggestion is that i should keep testing. With so few failures they cannot attribute the failures to the gun itself.

It sounds like it's finicky with certain ammo types.

 

[IronEye]

New republic is a FMJ but it is somewhat cone shaped.
Yes, Federal is very round as is the Speer Lawman. The Winchester that i tried are FMJ flat nose.

 

[IronEye]

I can settle for finicky if I can find some ammo that works. I wouldn't claim success with the two brands that didn't have failures after only 50 rounds of each. Only after a few hundred rounds without a failure will I feel better about the gun.

 

[rein217]

Look at the Girsan MC14T Lady. It's a real beauty. And it's in 380. Also the LCP Max would probably be a good choice. But like previously mentioned have her shoot as many different as she can. She has to be comfortable with it

 

[wingsfan]

I've had Walther PPK/S', Sig Sauer P230 and Sig Sauer P232 all in .380 and none of them liked hollow point ammo. I got rid of all my .380 guns except my Colt .380 Government. Most of the Walther CCP's we sell are in 9mm. Haven't gotten any complaints about ammo yet. I understand the attraction to the .380 and it does have a place in carry guns, just not for me.

 

[Defense Initiative]

I can settle for finicky if I can find some ammo that works. I wouldn't claim success with the two brands that didn't have failures after only 50 rounds of each. Only after a few hundred rounds without a failure will I feel better about the gun.

Another consideration is to eliminate any possible magazine issues. Number them to see if the failure to feed happens with all magazines or just one.

 

[IronEye]

Already done. Failures on all 4 magazines. Two came with the gun, two were bought separately. All new Walther factory magazines.

 

[Squaregrouper]

She shot several different handguns at a range this week. 9mm doesn’t make her flinch. Of those she was able to try (including my SIG 365X) her biggest challenge remains racking the slide. The springs are just too much for her.

Late response, but something for her to try...
Grab the slide and push the grip forward. This is a lot easier on weaker hands than pulling the slide back. It doesn't make sense from a keyboard, but it works.
Let me try to find a short video.

EDIT- Found a video. She starts explaining it at 2:45
.

 

[gforce]

View attachment 453162
micro red dots aren't just for aiming. They make great ledges to yank on or to push against a hard object if someone has trouble manipulating a slide.

Yep, extremely useful for those with weaker hands to use as a handstop

Late response, but something for her to try...
Grab the slide and push the grip forward. This is a lot easier on weaker hands than pulling the slide back. It doesn't make sense from a keyboard, but it works.
Let me try to find a short video.

EDIT- Found a video. She starts explaining it at 2:45
.

Iv'e been showing family members who thought they were physically incapable of using glocks (or any semiauto) this method. All of them, age/arthritis and all, have been able to successfully manipulate full size and subcompact slides. Optics make it a breeze. Only change in that technique i've found helpful is to orient the hand so that the thumb is on the rear serrations pointing rearward. This puts the thumb through heel of hand in contact with the slide, oposed by the first knuckle of the fingers instead of the second, allowing for a much tighter grip. The extra hand contact from this hand orientation seems to make all the difference

 

[DanGuy48]

Winchester (50 rounds - three failures), Federal (50 rounds, one failure) and Speer Lawman (400 rounds, 9 failures). All FMJ 95 grain.

Precision One XTP and New Republic were clean but i have only shot one box each of these. I am hoping these might be the ticket as the bullet shape is different.

Walther's suggestion is that i should keep testing. With so few failures they cannot attribute the failures to the gun itself.

No idea if this is helpful but want to mention it because it sounds similar. My wife had an Sig 226 with the Sig “short trigger” for her small hand. She kept having failure to feed jams on a couple visits with different ammo. I didn’t have the problem when I shot it so knew it had to be something she was doing.

Long story short, the Sig magazine had a small protruding lip on it at the bottom front. There was just enough play in the magazine that, if you used a loose grip, the recoil would rock back the gun just enough to cause your pinky to push down on the lip, pushing the magazine down so that the top round jammed against the feed ramp. Firm grip, problem gone.