Hand Gun for Wife

[hunterridgefarm]

We will be moving into our new house around December of this year. It is 500 +/- feet off the road and cannot be seen from the highway. My job requires me to travel at times as far away as New Orleans and Canada. And my son will be going off to college in the next year or two.

I have a couple of revolvers and sold a .357 last year. Now I want to get my wife a automatic pistol for protection.

I think anything too loud like the .357 and up would scare her, but they do have stopping power. So I was thinking .25 or .32 and show her how to empty the clip if needed. It also needs to be easy to "put one in the chamber" as I don't think she would want to have one in the chamber with the safety on.

I plan to go look at some pistols in the next few weeks and take her with me to make sure it fits her hand and she can work it ok. I don't want to spend over $400 if possible.

I do plan on having her shoot enough rounds to be comfortable in operating and loading. I just don't want her to be intimidated or scared of the gun and I think a large caliber will intimidate her and cause her to miss what she is aiming at.

Does $400 sound like a good price to spend? I sold my .357 inorder to buy me a 9mm but want to get her something first.

So I am open for suggestions as to make and caliber. Any of you buy a pistol for your wives?

 

[Egon]

Get .22. Or a .410 double barrel shotgun with short barrels.

 

[shvl73]

She's got a Firestar M-43 9mm. I'm not sure if its a current model anymore.

 

[Kendall69]

They have a guns made specifically for women and their hand etc. $400.00 will by a lot of gun for that, Bass Stores just had a huge sale guns they were $900.00 were selling for $400.00.

See if there is a local range where she can try out a variety of guns.

I just took the wife looking and I was impressed by the size and power they are making for women, also amazed at all the purses with hidden pockets for guns, but that's for another show.

 

[jimg]

Yes, a G19 and G17. We consider them 'family' weapons and everyone in my home is checked out on them. The ammo is inexpensive so practice doesnt break the bank & recoil isnt unpleasant. Normal cap magazines (as opposed to low cap versions) are also easy to get (in most states).

 

[SnowRidge]

Had the same sort of issues for my wife, who had never handled a gun. I too thought an auto loader would be the way to go. After discussing the issues with a couple of handgun/self defense pros, I bought her a S&W .38 revolver.

Lightweight, relatively low kick, point at intruder and pull the trigger. No worries like is there a round in the chamber, is the safety on or off, failure to chamber properly after the first shot, etc.

She turned out to be a pretty good shot. She is now asking for a shotgun.

Just as a humorous aside, this is a direct quote from a deputy sheriff regarding wives and guns. "They can have an insurance policy on your life, or they can have a gun, but they can't have both."

 

[gordon21]

Look into the S&W M&P 9mm compact model with the magazine safety. It will NOT fire with a round in the chamber with the magagzine removed. Very nice gun. Slide the mag in and you're ready to shoot. The compact fits a womans hand nicely.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Egon,
I have several 22 pistols and a couple of double barrels but she can't have mine .

shvl73,
is the M43 a small grip?

Kendall69,
No local range to try out different guns. So I have a few friends I can get to come over and let her shoot their 9mm. I am going to let her shoot my 22 and 32 revolvers to see how she reacts to them.

jimg,
What is the G19 and G17? I am a rifle and shotgun man, never been into pistols that much. But like shooting the 22 and 357 when I had it. And now that I have a good place to set up a range I will be shooting pistols a lot more. And it will let the people around me know the "new neighbor" is armed .

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Look into the S&W M&P 9mm compact model with the magazine safety. It will NOT fire with a round in the chamber with the magagzine removed. Very nice gun. Slide the mag in and you're ready to shoot. The compact fits a womans hand nicely.

Lewis,

If I look at the 9mm I may have to look at different grips so I can us it to. However I need to let her shoot a 9mm to see if ti is too much gun for her.

She is kinda girly you know, but thats a good thing .

 

[gordon21]

That's the beauty of the M&P series. They come with three different size interchangable grips standard. You can also get an extended length magazine for the compact which takes it to almost the length of the standard 9mm magazine. I have one of each; full size and compact. The full size was first. My wife complained about the size and weight, but mostly that it was front heavy. She handled a compact and was very happy. Her hands would be considered normal or slightly small for a woman.

She can shoot as fast as I can keep her extra mags reloaded with a speed loader. She is a girly girl too.