Finally!!!

Well, I have been trying to get my wife to carry for a couple years now. She has not wanted any part of it. Don't get her wrong, she doesn't mind guns (I have a lot of them and a ton of ammo), and will shoot mine sometimes. She just doesn't want to carry one. Well, that all changed today! She is out of town right now and received a suspicious phone call this morning from someone claiming to be "house keeping" asking how many in the room, was her husband with her, how many children, ect.. She got nervous and called the front desk and reported it, and was told no one from house keeping would do that. So, she decided to go to a different hotel. As she was packing up the car the police showed up. She walked over and asked if they were there about the phone calls. They said "no, one of the rooms had been broken into." :shocker:
So, she told me when she gets home, she wants a gun to carry! Now I need to figure out what to get her. Any suggestions?

merc460 said:

Well, I have been trying to get my wife to carry for a couple years now. She has not wanted any part of it. Don't get her wrong, she doesn't mind guns (I have a lot of them and a ton of ammo), and will shoot mine sometimes. She just doesn't want to carry one. Well, that all changed today! She is out of town right now and received a suspicious phone call this morning from someone claiming to be "house keeping" asking how many in the room, was her husband with her, how many children, ect.. She got nervous and called the front desk and reported it, and was told no one from house keeping would do that. So, she decided to go to a different hotel. As she was packing up the car the police showed up. She walked over and asked if they were there about the phone calls. They said "no, one of the rooms had been broken into." :shocker:
So, she told me when she gets home, she wants a gun to carry! Now I need to figure out what to get her. Any suggestions?

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Oh boy. The sky's almost the limit with this. How small are her hands? How does she plan to carry the gun? Does she prefer a revolver or a semi-auto? Which calibers has she had experience shooting on a range and does she like? Is she recoil sensitive? Is price an object? Is weight a consideration? What about the gun's size?

I could go on and on with this, but you understand, I'm sure. Two things I would suggest you and her do. Go to a gun show and/or a large gun shop and let her handle a variety of guns. Let her feel the heft and see which ones feel more natural to her in terms of being natural pointers (the gun comes up with virtually no corrections on her part to get a sight picture or good hold). Next, if you can have her fire the guns she has narrowed down in her selection to see how they feel to her.

A very nice, but pricey, gun for women is the Kahr K9. This is an all steel gun with an nice heft and feel, and has a great grip shape and feel for smaller hands. And it's a solid performer. The Glock 26 and 27 are also a good choices, but if she is going to carry in her purse, I would advice against a Glock.

Once again, there is a large selection of some really fine guns for your lady to shop. Good luck and let us know which one she winds up with.

I was more excited that she has decided to start carrying (hence posting in this forum).

Yeah, I knew I left it wide open. Was just wanting to know what other women are carrying. She will do both open carry and concealed.

I started a thread for suggestions here (in the proper forum).... http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?78077-Something-for-my-wife.&p=1309328#post1309328

Take her to a range that rents a variety of handguns over the next few weekends, and let her try two or three different models each time.

Get the one she is most comfortable with with regards to hand-fit, recoil, operation, and size.

An expensive, top-shelf gun won't do her a bit of good if she doesn't enjoy practicing with it, and can't feel comfortable operating it.

Before committing to renting guns, though, you might go with her to a good gun store with a LARGE selection of handguns, and just let her handle a BUNCH of different guns. Check for hand-fit and placement of controls. Again, a gun that she can hold and operate easily and comfortable is going to do her a LOT more good than something that is not comfortable and ergonomic.

Good luck. There's a gazillion makes and models out there. You can't go wrong with most of the "big names" like Taurus, Smith, Glock, Colt, Para, Ruger, Walther, etc.

If she can operate the slide on a semiauto, I'd suggest that over a revolver. More capacity, easier to shoot, lighter recoil with bigger rounds.

Bit if she insists on a revolver, I'd suggest something with a bobbed or shrouded hammer or a "hammerless" model--less likely to get snagged in her purse or on clothing. Women's clothing tends to be more flowing and snag-prone than men's, especially "business professional" type women's clothing.

Smaller is NOT always better. Smaller guns tend to have more perceived recoil, are harder to hold in adverse conditions, are limited in the caliber they come in, and have lower capacity and are a LOT slower to reload. For Self Defense, I'd rather have a 6-shot sub-compact 1911 with one or two spare mags than a 5-shot .38sp with a coat-full of speedloaders, JUST for the reload issue...

Plus, bad guys might not be as scared of a woman with a pink revolver as they would if those pretty hands were holding a stainless .45acp or a black .40S&W. Perception alone can be a GREAT deterrent...

Good luck!

Kel-Tec P11. relatively small and light 9mm. She may hate the trigger though.

Depends on carry style. My wife has the compact 9 S&W M&P. Great gun interchangeable grips to make more comfortable.

She shot my freinds new Taurus 9 I can't recall the model but it is compact and slim and has an external saftey which makes it safer for purse carry in my opinion. If she is not wearing a holster.

For yur own safety's sake, go to The Cornered Cat and read the section on selecting a gun for a woman. http://www.corneredcat.com/FirstGun/missadventures.aspx

Follw Cathy's advice. It will prevent you from spending much of the rest of your life (which, if you do not follow the advice given, may be either mercifully short or painfully long and interminable) in various and sundry doghouses.

The short read is this: you should get for your wife the gun your wife wants, after she has had a chance to try out a few and find out what she likes and dislikes. Pretty much anything else you get will be your gun and a constant reminder to her of your abject FAIL in this endeavor. Even if you get it and then sell it/give it away/melt it into slag, it will be a constant sore spot.

stay safe.

My wife and mother have a hard time with the slides on semi-automatic guns. They have a hard time with the glock 36, desert eagle .50ae, browning hi -power 9mm, springfield professional, kahr k40 , k9, and p9. My mom has a 2.5" smith model 66 .357 revolver and I need to get another revolver for my wife since I sold her 3" smith model 65 .357 revolver. They are easy to load and shoot. They use .38 special and the weight of the gun is perfect. She liked a 6" smith 686 .357 revolver I had, but it was just too big for her.

I think the 65-3 lady smith is an especially nice revolver.

skidmark said:

<snip>

The short read is this: you should get for your wife the gun your wife wants, after she has had a chance to try out a few and find out what she likes and dislikes. Pretty much anything else you get will be your gun and a constant reminder to her of your abject FAIL in this endeavor. Even if you get it and then sell it/give it away/melt it into slag, it will be a constant sore spot.<snip>

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I think that depends on the woman but fits my ex-wife to a tee!

Skidmark, I didn't know you were such a man of the world!

Heed his VERY wise words!