Pistol Suggestions for a Woman

[clandestine]

Don't get her a sub nose revolver. Lots of people suggest them for women and its awful advice. They recoil too much and don't have a good grip purchase for the amount of recoil they generate.

If she cant manipulate the slide on a centerfire semi auto pistol then QUALITY a mid size revolver would be the ticket. Opening a revolver cylinder is not hard. IMO a Smith & Wesson Revolver is easier to open than a Ruger Revolver but if she has nails she should try both to see which one is easier to open.

A 4" Stainless GP100 or a 4" Stainless Smith & Wesson in .357/.38 Special would be my suggestion. DONT get a lightweight model as it will recoil more. Porting is a good option to reduce recoil.

Stay away from .45ACP, .357 SIG, .40 S&W, 10mm, if you choose a Semi Auto. Don't get a compact Semi Auto as they also have grip "purchase issues". I suggest 9mm LUGER. If you can find one I suggest a Walther P99 or Walther PPQ as they are extremely ergonomic and have small grips. Make sire she can operate the slide though.

 

[SoMD_Gen4]

My wife did not like the 40 either. She ended up going the other direction to a full size 45. The round has a lot less kick and the gun has a lot more mass. And of course her having a bigger gun than mine was important for some reason only a wife could understand.

Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk

Haha that seems like something my wife would say!

 

[CyberBat]

One thing often overlooked with women is whether they have the upper body strength to rack the slide in a pistol. So that's one thing to verify.

I was worried about this - until I was told/taught to hold the slide and push the frame. This totally changed the dynamic and allowed me to use a different strength. So rather than pulling the slide back toward me, I hold the slide and push the gun forward. For a guy who can just manhandle the gun, this is a subtle nuance. But it made the difference for me on looking only at revolvers because I thought I didn't have the hand/arm strength to handle the semi-auto long term. As I mentioned before, the Glock 17 4gen is what I ended up with.

 

[aaron.foulk]

Don't get her a sub nose revolver. Lots of people suggest them for women and its awful advice. They recoil too much and don't have a good grip purchase for the amount of recoil they generate.

If she cant manipulate the slide on a centerfire semi auto pistol then QUALITY a mid size revolver would be the ticket. Opening a revolver cylinder is not hard. IMO a Smith & Wesson Revolver is easier to open than a Ruger Revolver but if she has nails she should try both to see which one is easier to open.

A 4" Stainless GP100 or a 4" Stainless Smith & Wesson in .357/.38 Special would be my suggestion. DONT get a lightweight model as it will recoil more. Porting is a good option to reduce recoil.

Stay away from .45ACP, .357 SIG, .40 S&W, 10mm, if you choose a Semi Auto. Don't get a compact Semi Auto as they also have grip "purchase issues". I suggest 9mm LUGER. If you can find one I suggest a Walther P99 or Walther PPQ as they are extremely ergonomic and have small grips. Make sire she can operate the slide though.

I'd second the PPQ suggestion. From my gun store evaluations, I think the PPQ M2 would be great for small hands. All the controls are right where they should be. I have an M&P pro with the small grip and think it's great for my small hands, but I think the PPQ is better. The ones I've looked at have great triggers out of the box, too. I'm considering changing over to a 5 inch model for IDPA and USPSA if I can find one and enough magazines.

 

[Mr H]

Yeah that is a good thought. She had difficulty racking the Glock 22.

My wife has hand strength issues, so decided on a revolver for her first.

Initially, she went with a S&W Model 60, which has a heavier pull than I thought she'd want, but she wanted a lesser chance of a mistake.

Eventually, she moved into a 4" Ruger GP100 because she liked the action on my GP better than her 60.

She also has a SIG P238 she's getting used to, but only because she can actually rack it!

 

[Mooseman]

If she goes the semi auto route check out the Beretta 92 Vertec. It is full sized so it handles the recoil well. It has a smaller grip for smaller hands.

 

[Mark75H]

Try a 1911.

1911 or Browning High Power. Of all popular semiauto handguns, these 2 have the shortest reach from the back of the grip to the trigger. The 1911 has such a balanced action, if you didn't know the caliber you would probably never guess you are shooting something larger than .32

 

[Matlack]

go to a range that rents different handguns.. only way to find out what fits her.

I double this. This is what I did for my wife and I got my BIL to take my sister before they made a purchase. They all ended up getting something that fit them.

 

[Boom Boom]

Look at 4" .357 revolvers with medium-sized frames. Large frame is good if her hands and fingers will accommodate it. S&W 8-shot revolvers in the large frame are especially nice, even for smaller hands.

For something a bit smaller, the Ruger SP101 is very nice. For older stuff, I love the S&W Model 66 and Ruger Security Six.

 

[Copper]

As others have suggested, let her find a gun that feels good in her hands. Dont let her be intimidated by the size if it is comfortable. Your wife doesn't necessarily need arm strength to rack a slide, its technique not torque. My wife can't rack the slide on her cougar with it pointed out in front of her, but when she brings the gun in close to her body with the frame parallel with her upper body, she has no problem with it. She learned that technique from a woman instructor....

 

[Uncle Duke]

go to a range that rents different handguns.. only way to find out what fits her.

+100

The very best choice for her is the one she decides she wants to shoot, feels confident with, enjoys shooting, and ultimately becomes proficient with.

 

[gizzard]

38 revolver, mid size to large frame.

 

[ShallNotInfringe]

Don't get her a sub nose revolver. Lots of people suggest them for women and its awful advice. They recoil too much and don't have a good grip purchase for the amount of recoil they generate.

If she cant manipulate the slide on a centerfire semi auto pistol then QUALITY a mid size revolver would be the ticket. Opening a revolver cylinder is not hard. IMO a Smith & Wesson Revolver is easier to open than a Ruger Revolver but if she has nails she should try both to see which one is easier to open.

A 4" Stainless GP100 or a 4" Stainless Smith & Wesson in .357/.38 Special would be my suggestion. DONT get a lightweight model as it will recoil more. Porting is a good option to reduce recoil.

Stay away from .45ACP, .357 SIG, .40 S&W, 10mm, if you choose a Semi Auto. Don't get a compact Semi Auto as they also have grip "purchase issues". I suggest 9mm LUGER. If you can find one I suggest a Walther P99 or Walther PPQ as they are extremely ergonomic and have small grips. Make sire she can operate the slide though.

Depends on the purpose for the firearm. I purchased a wide variety of handguns (from a PK380 to 1911-45) for different purposes, don't regret any of them. Opening slides was tough until A guy at 2A showed me the slide hold method.

I LOVE my PPQ M2, is the go-to one. Fits little hands perfectly. Easy to operate and breakdown.

One counterintuitive lesson learned: heavier is better.

 

[djcerna]

My wife likes her S&W 637. Great little carry gun and accurate for a sub 2 inch barrel.

 

[AlpineDude67]

Weight is key - more weight = less recoil and easier to control for someone with limited hand/arm strength.

Steel revolver is a good idea. Simple and easy to control. I would get the biggest .38 special or .357 magnum she can comfortably hold up and manipulate. Teach her to shoot it single action first, then move to double action. She can shoot .38 specials out of it but there is nothing wrong with getting a slightly heavier built gun capable of .357 magnum. (You can shoot .38 special rounds out of a .357, not the other way around).

 

[Bob A]

My wife can't manage the trigger pull on my S&W Model 60, but has no problem with the M38 Bodyguard Airweight. Go figure.

If semi-auto is preferred, remember the Beretta Cheetah 86; .380 with a tip-up barrel, so you don't have to rack the slide to charge the chamber. Out of production, but still available.

 

[diesel-man]

Look at 4" .357 revolvers with medium-sized frames. Large frame is good if her hands and fingers will accommodate it. S&W 8-shot revolvers in the large frame are especially nice, even for smaller hands.

For something a bit smaller, the Ruger SP101 is very nice. For older stuff, I love the S&W Model 66 and Ruger Security Six.

I second this choice, get a 3" 357, but only use 38 specials in it.

 

[stu929]

Take her to a range that has a lot of options try them all. Pick what she likes.

Not being a jerk tried to help my wife pick twice and she always picked something different based on actually shooting them.

I love 1911s and xds. She does as well but I would not have thought that was there case. She hates 9mm prefers 45 recoil she picked a 40xd for her personal pistol.

Give her a lot of options and let her pick.

 

[omegared24]

Revolver. Why you ask? Because women are incapable of shooting complicated semi automatic guns. All those moving parts just confuse and intimidate them.

I am kidding of course. Take her to a range where she can rent a variety of guns. Let her choose what she likes.

Some of you people should reread your posts and edit them.

 

[Trumpet]

Don't get her a sub nose revolver. Lots of people suggest them for women and its awful advice. They recoil too much and don't have a good grip purchase for the amount of recoil they generate.

If she cant manipulate the slide on a centerfire semi auto pistol then QUALITY a mid size revolver would be the ticket. Opening a revolver cylinder is not hard. IMO a Smith & Wesson Revolver is easier to open than a Ruger Revolver but if she has nails she should try both to see which one is easier to open.

A 4" Stainless GP100 or a 4" Stainless Smith & Wesson in .357/.38 Special would be my suggestion. DONT get a lightweight model as it will recoil more. Porting is a good option to reduce recoil.

Stay away from .45ACP, .357 SIG, .40 S&W, 10mm, if you choose a Semi Auto. Don't get a compact Semi Auto as they also have grip "purchase issues". I suggest 9mm LUGER. If you can find one I suggest a Walther P99 or Walther PPQ as they are extremely ergonomic and have small grips. Make sire she can operate the slide though.

Agreed with all of the above. If it's proven reliable the new Remington R51 looks like it could be a contender. For a revolver, if you can find an older S&W 65LS get it. FANTASTIC revolvers. Very well thought out and worth every penny. I regret selling mine.