Recommended handguns for a female?

[mrozowjj]

These threads always irritate me. There are not good guns for women and good guns for men, there are just good guns period. I see women at competitions shooting Glocks, 1911s, M&Ps and everything in between in a variety of calibers. The fact that she is a woman has no bearing on your decision.

I'll tell you what I tell all new shooters looking for a home defense weapon. Buy 9mm pistol. Not a 40 or a 45 because 9mm is cheaper so you will be able to practice more and what you should be focusing on as a new shooter is practice. Don't let anyone else fool you into thinking 45 or 40 is some magic bullet; a good 9mm round is perfectly capable of stopping any goblin that wishes to do you harm.

Also avoid revolvers. They are tricky to shoot well for a beginner, they hold only a few rounds of ammunition and they are very slow to reload. Yes you might not need the extra rounds but if you do and you are you are not going to devote a staggering amount of your free time to learning to reload a revolver fast you could end up dead.

 

[wilcam47]

I had a buddy whos wife was a petite asian lady all of 4'9" tall maybe 110lbs on a good day...she absolutely loved higher calibur guns! If you gave her a .22 she prob would have pistol whipped you with it...she needs to make the decision for herself...there are tons of options...taurus PT 92 is decent, even a ruger p94 "40" cal...Im not a super competition guy so for me its just fun to go shoot...some caliburs are more expensive than others as are different manufacturers

 

[seawolf823]

Thanks for all the input. I think we are going to continental arms on thurs since it is ladies night and rentals and range fee is free so she rents different guns and I get to shoot to all for 5 bucks per half hour plus ammo.

 

[CWood]

Great idea.

 

[BigMBobbyOP]

PPQ

/thread

 

[Mooseman]

Since she is experienced, I recommend Beretta, Glock, or Ruger. Something full sized. If you can, let her try out all three before you buy.

 

[mdvctry]

+1 Especially wrt the training. Even with some previous experience she may feel the need to have a refresher course so that she will be comfortable. Take her to several different guns stores as has been suggested to see and handle different models and types. ...and the number one rule, let her pick it out.

 

[sandeman]

The pistol has to have a good grip.I do not see how one could be accurate without that factor.

 

[clay_shooter]

Also avoid revolvers. They are tricky to shoot well for a beginner, they hold only a few rounds of ammunition and they are very slow to reload. Yes you might not need the extra rounds but if you do and you are you are not going to devote a staggering amount of your free time to learning to reload a revolver fast you could end up dead.

Revolvers don't jam or stovepipe. You don't have to rack the slide and its easy to see if they are loaded.

If you're inexperienced and you have shot all 6 and have to reload you are probably already in more trouble than you can handle...

 

[Magnumite]

"Thanks for all the input. I think we are going to continental arms on thurs since it is ladies night and rentals and range fee is free so she rents different guns and I get to shoot to all for 5 bucks per half hour plus ammo."

hmmmm, I might have to consider crossdressing

 

[Minuteman]

Thanks for all the input. I think we are going to continental arms on thurs since it is ladies night and rentals and range fee is free so she rents different guns and I get to shoot to all for 5 bucks per half hour plus ammo.

How did it go?

You did the right thing asking and doing the ladies night & rentals. From what I've read and clandestines recommendation, PPQ is probably winner; but let me suggest one more not yet mentioned: FN 5.7.

 

[seawolf823]

How did it go?

You did the right thing asking and doing the ladies night & rentals. From what I've read and clandestines recommendation, PPQ is probably winner; but let me suggest one more not yet mentioned: FN 5.7.

We actually didn't make it but I like the 5 7 as a gun but don't like the design of it.

 

[boardboy330]

Wifey likes the SA XD 40. She is accurate as well.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[mrozowjj]

Revolvers don't jam or stovepipe. You don't have to rack the slide and its easy to see if they are loaded.

If you're inexperienced and you have shot all 6 and have to reload you are probably already in more trouble than you can handle...

They don't stovepipe and they don't jam but they do go down and fail to fire and when they do go down they go down hard, to the point where you need to have to remove a side plate and venture into the willy wonka land of clockwork parts that is a revolver.

A good quality semi auto with good quality ammo will jam so infrequently as to make it a non issue and it is much easier to shoot than a revolver. Recommending in this day and age is roughly equilivant to telling someone "Oh you've never driven a car before? You really should learn on a Ford model T, there's less parts to worry about."

And listen 90% of the population will go their entire life needing a gun and sure most of the remainder of that 10% will not "need" more than 6 rounds but by virtue of having a gun you have already committed to the idea of being prepared for the unlikely event that you will fall into that 10% so why not commit to the idea that you might be the small part of that 10% that might need more than 6 rounds?

 

[Marauder]

A good revolver! Keep it simple, stay away from autos if they never shot before....
Another good thing is get some training.

 

[mikec]

Revolvers don't jam or stovepipe. You don't have to rack the slide and its easy to see if they are loaded.

If you're inexperienced and you have shot all 6 and have to reload you are probably already in more trouble than you can handle...

You might want to read some of Jeff Cooper's writings before saying that wheel guns do not jam.

 

[mikec]

We actually didn't make it but I like the 5 7 as a gun but don't like the design of it.

You can't shoot a 5.7 at Continental. It is one of a small list they do not allow due to velocity or muzzle energy. Just a heads up.

Funny thing is that they will sell you one.

 

[Inigoes]

Why not let her pick something out and support her decision?

Worst case, you get a new handgun, while she moves onto something else she likes. Try to stay with a gender neutral color.

 

[smokey]

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?p=1464039#post1464039

m&p-9 jg(julie goloski edition)

Things that are wrong when looking for a gun for women:

1) girls are small, get her a small gun that she won't be scared to shoot:
Fnet=MA. A=Fnet/mass. ...this means, with a given amount of force(we'll say that of a 9mm or .38 spcl firing), the smaller and lighter guns will have faster acceleration back into your hand. In practical terms, it means they pop and sting with a sharper recoil impulse vs. a longer and duller push of a heavier gun. Give her a smith 442 to shoot and a 686 and then see which one she like pumping .38 spcl through more. I'm betting it's the bigger gun that non-gun folks thinks kicks more because of it's size. Also, a bigger gun will have more grip area, which allows for more control of the gun's handle.

Larger guns will have a longer sight radius and will also have longer barrels. The longer barrels mean more velocity for more reliable penetration and expansion from hp ammo.

2) she's not very experienced so get her a .380 that doesn't kick much
.380's are typically smaller like the lcp, ppk and such. A full-size gun in 9mm is often much easier to shoot well for a new shooter than an itty bitty .380. In addition to the recoil characteristics mentioned above, and the grip area, the larger guns will have a higher capacity and longer sight radius. The longer sight radius will enable more precise aiming. The higher capacity(18 shots in the m&p, 20 in the xd(m)-9) is obviously a good thing.

while i wouldn't want to get poked by a .380, it's fairly underpowered compared to a 9mm or larger. A 147 gr hst vs. the best .380 you can find and you'll notice a pretty big difference in wound cavity.

3) You know more about guns, so just pick one out for her
If you don't know enough about guns to pick a comfortable one for yourself, you'd better benefit from training. Instead of offering to pick a gun out for her, offer to go through a beginner's shooters course. There are some offered at local ranges like on-target. they're usually about $50 and involve 2 hours of class-room time and one hour of range instruction. During the range time, the instructor can help introduce her to various types of guns(that you can rent) to find what best works for her.

4) Get a revolver, because those auto's are too darned complicated and fail all the time

oh raalllllllllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Turns out it's pretty easy to take a glock, insert mag, rack back slide and pull trigger. If an auto fails to fire, tap rack bang and go back to firing. To fire a revolver, you've got to open it and insert the ammo, then close and fire. If a revolver fails....it's often something big that you can't fix quick. It's also much more complicated to keep revolvers fed during a stressful situation(tac reloads are interesting).

training is still everything

 

[NP556]

No one but your wife can answer that question. Give her directions to one of the ranges that rents handguns and let her pick one. If she doesn't have any experience then get her some training and let the instructor know that they should bring a variety of guns.

I would concur with this! And also would like to say that how FAT you are has nothing to do with what caliber firearm you can handle! I own a glock 19C 9mm for home defense, also a colt 1911 as well as an M4 and am more than comfortable handling many other firearms. I am not from any kind of German stock... Not that there's anything wrong with that... Just saying. Size is not everything!
Hand size does affect grip, I would have to say. In addition, ability to rack the slide can affect which firearm feels best for which woman. Best advice is to involve her in this decision