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February 19, 2013, 06:19 PM | #1 |
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Join Date: January 15, 2013
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This ones for the ladies...
Now that i have you all here, i have a question. What is your favorite or best or only caliber handgun? I'm looking for ladies only as i'm trying to help my girlfriend get her first semi auto handgun. She shoots my Ruger .45acp quite well, with the exception of a limp wrist here and there(mostly since its quite a hefty, unergonomic, cannon of a gun), i just got myself a Taurus PT92(bring on your Taurus jeers, but i love it), and she loves shooting it and any other 9mm someone will put in her hands. She has her eyes set on an SR9c, but with things the way they are, we'll either wind up paying $600 for one, or not getting anything. She's pointed out a few other 9mm subcompacts and compacts that she likes, BUT, back to the whole current situation with ammo and what not. Anyone carry a .40 cal? She's already made it quite clear that she doesn't like the look and feel of Glock, lack of manual safety also deters her. She likes the M&P line, as well as the Ruger SR series. I'm trying to sweet talk her into a Beretta PX4 subcompact or compact, but she locks up in the gun shops when she should be fondling everything in the cases. She has a smith and wesson 642 airweight, and likes it alot, but i screwed it up(made up for that with black diamonds on vday) and we're waiting for it to come back from S&W. There is currently a big serial rapists scare going on locally, and while i am usually with her at all times, armed to the teeth of course, she does want/need to go alone from time to time. Any suggestions, maybe a quick review of your personal experience with a good carry gun. Thank you.
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February 19, 2013, 06:25 PM | #2 |
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I know you said Ladies only, But I ran into this situation not to long ago. My solution? Smith and Wesson Body Guard .380...My girlfriend loves it. its small and compact, yet not so small that recoil is a big issue.
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February 19, 2013, 06:30 PM | #3 |
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Buy her some serious self defense firearms training.
Then the type of gun or caliber won't even be an issue. The gun is the least of it.
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February 19, 2013, 06:45 PM | #4 |
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been helping some ladies with first time shooting and purchasing, best way to say this ....they work different. If they like it, and the gun is "70% there" its good enough.
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February 19, 2013, 06:50 PM | #5 |
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Join Date: January 30, 2013
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My gf loves shooting a 22.
She can shoot a 380 and 9mm just fine, but she hates shooting a 40. It's just too snappy for her. Also, she prefers revolvers more than semi-autos. All in all, people like shooting different things and there's no way any of us here can really help you decide what the best pistol is for your gf. |
February 19, 2013, 06:55 PM | #6 |
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Femine side...
I'm not of the fairer sex, but I have a few handguns I would suggest for a new or entry level female gun owner.
It sounds like she can already safely load, unload, field strip(clean) & fire semi auto pistols & snub revolvers so I shouldn't need to ask. I would suggest; the new SIG Sauer P290 RS with SIG red laser aimer. It's a 9x19mm aka: 9mm Luger & it's DA only. The popular SIG Sauer P239 DAK in the SASII format(with 3 dot night sights) is a good pick. It's available in 9mm or .40 or the potent .357sig. She could add on a CT Laser-aimer grip too. www.CrimsonTrace.com The Glock 36 .45acp with Trijicon HD 3 dot sights may work well or the Beretta Nano 9x19mm. A Glock 26 9mm or a Glock 27 .40S&W with full size duty mags as spares could work for her, if she can safely fire/carry a striker fired sidearm. Make sure she carrys factory made, high quality ammunition too. CF |
February 19, 2013, 07:01 PM | #7 |
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Join Date: January 15, 2013
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This is what i was afraid of. The "get proper training" folks. Look, we live on 35 acres along with her aunt, uncle, cousin and his wife. I own 2 handguns, several long guns, and everyone on the property owns multiple guns long, short, and handguns. Her uncle is a huge safety nut and we took his "rules of the land" class. Quite frequently we will all get together at the back of the property and have a "range day". we share guns, just to get a feel of each others weapons, if it ever comes down to it, we'll all be well versed in each others guns. i was asking for ladies opinions on what they like, and what they look for. Not guys to tell me what to pay for. It's called youtube, gun shops, leo close by, and lots, and lots of ammo, oh yea, lots of ammo has been burned. we have all been practicing for concealed carry, currently waiting on the instructor to have a free day. Sorry, if you get offended by this, but if you read the title, that means you can read, and should be a lady. If you dont have the frame of a 5'4 woman with tiny hands, i dont need your input. I can shove training down her throat all day, and it wont make it any easier to help her pick a gun.
clyde frog, thanks for the input, she liked the sig250 in the gunshop we went in yesterday. i dont think they had the 229 though. she's hellbent on a cheap or free gun(mainly she doesnt want to shell out the money at one time, which is hard to do now). i have explained to her the difference between cheap and a good deal. If sigs were priced like rugers, she'd probably have 3, but if sigs were priced like rugers, they'd look and feel like rugers(nothing wrong with ruger, i love them, and want a ruger collection) Last edited by haliwa04; February 19, 2013 at 07:05 PM. Reason: responded before reading all |
February 19, 2013, 07:07 PM | #8 |
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Read these articles and let her choose for herself...
http://www.corneredcat.com/article/c...ss-adventures/ http://www.corneredcat.com/article/c...-on-a-handgun/
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February 19, 2013, 07:07 PM | #9 |
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You are wrong, there.
Training would help her learn the different features she might look for; training would help her develop form that might make recoil less unnerving. Having guns, a place to shoot, and people to shoot with is nice, but it is not the same as professional instruction. Edit: As far as guns preferred by women - there is not one best answer. A friend bought a SIG P238, thinking his small wife would like it. She has adopted his 1911... My wife likes her 3" S&W M65 .357, but likes a 12 ga 870 better. She hates my 442. Another friend's wife loves her J frame. |
February 19, 2013, 07:22 PM | #10 |
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Join Date: January 15, 2013
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Mleake, i know there is training available, and didnt say she didnt need it. we all could use a little teaching, i'm sure you're not perfect. The purpose of this thread was not to have a bunch of guys bombard me with get her this, or teach her that. The purpose was to get the honest opinion of the female members here of their carry weapon and what they like about it. I'm finally making her go to the actual gun range this weekend so she can try some other guns that she has hinted about liking, including a couple .40's, and i'd like to shoot some unfamiliar guns as well. She is already familiar with her j frame 642 airweight, and is quite accurate, even at 20 yards with light loads, and +p ammunition every once in a while. recoil isnt an issue with her, like i said, she'll dump 8 rounds from my .45 without hesitating. we've both got all the safety basics down. and believe it or not she's warmed up to watching the gun and defensive arms shows on monday nights. how many of you guys get your woman to cuddle on the couch and watch people going through defensive scenarios? i'm slowly working her into getting into the self defense deal, and dont want to blow it with mandatory training. i want her to find a gun she likes, that is available currently that she can alternate with the j-frame. she wont hear of the lcp or lc9(says she doesnt want a little girly gun). i want to get some ideas from actual women, if there are any around here.....
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February 19, 2013, 07:52 PM | #11 |
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Haliwa, ease up.... Every reply you've gotten was someone trying to help you. Just ignore the advice you don't like, but understand we're a community here trying to help.
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February 19, 2013, 08:53 PM | #12 |
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Exactly AW...
+1 to Andy's remarks.
My cousin does not like message boards & web forums. He wants to avoid the drama. To me it's like what I call, the fast car posts; A forum member asks about a fast car, members reply with a Mustang or a Ferrari or a Corvette then the poster writes; NO NO NO I want a fast car. Many people on the world wide web get to comfortable or personal too. We may not know each other or be fully versed in all details of the personal life. We aren't fishing buddies as my old US Army platoon leader would say... Clyde |
February 19, 2013, 09:16 PM | #13 |
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My girlfriend loves the .380.
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February 19, 2013, 09:24 PM | #14 |
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My wife confiscated my S&W Model 39-2 single stack 9mm. It fits her small hands and recoil is not too severe for her. At least I got my K38 Masterpiece back.
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February 19, 2013, 09:25 PM | #15 |
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I am actually looking into a Bersa Thunder .380 for my lady when the time comes for her to get a gun. The only thing slowing me down from that is that 380 ammo seems to be more expensive than 9mm.
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February 19, 2013, 09:31 PM | #16 |
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Yeah, .380 is up there in price which I never understood. It's on par with my .38 special or more at times.
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February 19, 2013, 09:39 PM | #17 |
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Wow bro, the guys that took time to give you little advice were not ignoring the fact that you are looking for girls on here. Perhaps they are just being nice because they knew you wouldn't get any (or very little) replies. It's a gun forum. There are not many active female members that I have ever seen.
What is here are a lot of guys many of which have been through your situation. Many of these guys had the knowledge to successfully fit their girlfriends/fiance/wife with a handgun that suited her needs without the aid of a forum. No offense. But it's just the fact. Good luck. |
February 19, 2013, 09:43 PM | #18 |
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Someone should start a thread about the handguns they got their lady, or what guns their lady shoots. The OP only wants direct feminine input.
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February 19, 2013, 09:55 PM | #19 |
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haliwa,
Want the advice of a 5'4" woman with small(ish) hands? I can give it to you, cause that's what I am. When I was first getting started shooting more than a decade ago, we were at a family reunion when my over-talkative husband told all his relatives that I enjoyed shooting. Fifteen minutes later, all the women were in the kitchen saying nasty things about me (I got a blow by blow later from a shirttail relative too young to know better ... heh!) while the men were gathered around me happily chattering away. To a man, these guys wanted to tell me:
Since -- as I found out later -- those were the same wives and girlfriends that had quickly headed into the kitchen to say nasty things about women who enjoy firearms, it seems reasonable to believe that there may have been a slight amount of either exaggeration or denial going on among the men. Of course, things have changed, socially speaking. Lots more women do enjoy shooting these days. But because of that early and somewhat traumatic experience, I'm still a little skeptical when a man tells me how much his wife/girlfriend enjoys shooting, and what she likes to shoot. Call it a gut response, but I figure, if she enjoyed it that much, she'd be here among us telling us about her gun for herself. Since she's not, she's probably in the kitchen, rolling her eyes -- even though she might humor the man she loves from time to time, she does not truly love the gun he got her. Just my own personal little insecurities speaking, I'm sure. Meanwhile? My advice is to get her into a women-only class where she can compare notes about guns directly with other women. If she wants the advice of other women about how to choose, use, and carry guns, that's where she's going to find them. She could also take a trip to a gun store that rents guns and try a few that way. However, let her be in the driver's seat for that trip. Let her narrow down her own choices. Don't do it for her in advance, or she won't get the full benefit of making her own selection. If she doesn't have some ownership of the process, she probably won't feel much ownership in the gun either. If she isn't interested in getting involved with the process of choosing her own gun, *shrug.* Her life. If that's the case, just buy whatever you want to buy that you will enjoy shooting when she doesn't. No sense throwing a lot of effort into choosing a gun for a woman who doesn't care what she ends up with anyway. Oh, me? I've happily carried a Glock 26 (9mm) for the past 14 years, though I had a brief flirtation with the G19. However, if I were starting out today, I would probably go with an M&Pc in 9mm, with a side of M&P .22 for fun plinking. The interchangeable backstraps on the 9mm make a big difference for smaller hands. But I have so many years of shooting the G26 that it would take a serious effort to change now; my hands are Glock shaped from all the shooting I've done. pax |
February 19, 2013, 10:47 PM | #20 | |
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Join Date: January 15, 2013
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Re: This ones for the ladies...
Quote:
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February 19, 2013, 10:58 PM | #21 |
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Ha! That sounds like a fun little merry-go-round for both of you.
Since she enjoyed shooting the j-frame, she probably would enjoy a .40, too. More likely than not, anyway. It's not my own favorite caliber (I prefer either the soft 9mm or the big push from the .45 over the 'slap' of a .40), but since she didn't have problems with a small .38, she's like to do just fine on the .40. 9mms are still more fun in my book. Has she tried any of the Kahr 9mms? I'd look at the heavier ones -- T9 or CW9 or (on the lighter side) the P9, but not the tiny PM9 -- for shooting fun. They're definitely good for small hands, though some people are put off by the long trigger press. Not sure how the supply of those is right now. Good luck. pax |
February 19, 2013, 11:53 PM | #22 |
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Join Date: January 15, 2013
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Re: This ones for the ladies...
Yea, I started carrying my pt92 instead of my ruger for that exact reason, along with 17x3 others. Although I love shooting .45 and feel that its a better stopping round(opinion), the 9mm just feels natural and doesn't rattle my teeth. She loves my pt92 and would like something similar, just a little smaller.
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February 20, 2013, 12:20 AM | #23 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
The best course of action is to let her choose for herself as has been said. Bring her to a store that has a decent staff that won't get uppity at showing a number of items. Let her hold anything that gets her fancy. She'll come out of it with a small list. Maybe you can rent some of those things she likes. Take that list and then look online to see if any of those have glaring problems. Most likely they won't, IMO it's harder to find an unreliable handgun than a reliable one. For what it's worth, my wife loves the SR9c. She picked it out from all the ones in the store. It's the easiest for her small hands to hold and get a good grip.
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February 20, 2013, 12:40 AM | #24 | |
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Re: This ones for the ladies...
Quote:
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February 20, 2013, 01:25 AM | #25 |
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My GF came along on a few range trips and a couple IPSC matches.
She liked my CZ 75bd but had trouble reaching the DA trigger. Once I got a Glock 21sf, it was all over. She liked the shorter, simpler trigger, easy controls and...45 caliber. "45 makes a big hole", she said. I sense you are budget minded. Have a look at the Bersa line, runs about $350 and reportedly excellent firearms from Argentina. I saw a 45 version for $375 yesterday at the LGS. |
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compact , females , women |
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