What type of firearm does your girlfriend/wife use for self defense?
- Thread starter iliketoshootguns
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tipoc
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She shoots and carrys a piece she chose for herself. I talked with her about calibers and about taking some classes and that was about it. I took her shooting with me and gave some initial instruction, for the rest, she's on her own.
I would no more pick a gun for her than I would for anyone else.
I'd rather someone else train her than that my ego get in the way (or that hers does), or that I pass on my mistakes to her and hear about it 3 years later. I still hear about $500. I loaned a friend 6 years ago without telling her. I forgot her birthday once 13 years ago and have not been allowed to forget that. Her receiving proper training in handling a gun is too important for me to get in the way of it.
She shoots what I do. A gun that she feels comfortable with, a caliber she has confidence in, and one that she shoots well enough to defend herself with. After that it's all fun.
If you feel Bruss flamed you, when he didn't, how will you stand up to your S/Os criticism? How will she respond to yours?
The objective here is for another potential shooter to learn to handle firearms well, to enjoy the experience and to choose a gun for themselves for self defense and sport. Some husband/boyfriends (maybe not you but many others I've seen) seem to think the objective is to impress their honeys with their manliness, power, or widerangeing experience, etc. Usually it don't work.
Nothing I've said here is in any way meant to be disrepectful.
tipoc
I would no more pick a gun for her than I would for anyone else.
I'd rather someone else train her than that my ego get in the way (or that hers does), or that I pass on my mistakes to her and hear about it 3 years later. I still hear about $500. I loaned a friend 6 years ago without telling her. I forgot her birthday once 13 years ago and have not been allowed to forget that. Her receiving proper training in handling a gun is too important for me to get in the way of it.
She shoots what I do. A gun that she feels comfortable with, a caliber she has confidence in, and one that she shoots well enough to defend herself with. After that it's all fun.
If you feel Bruss flamed you, when he didn't, how will you stand up to your S/Os criticism? How will she respond to yours?
The objective here is for another potential shooter to learn to handle firearms well, to enjoy the experience and to choose a gun for themselves for self defense and sport. Some husband/boyfriends (maybe not you but many others I've seen) seem to think the objective is to impress their honeys with their manliness, power, or widerangeing experience, etc. Usually it don't work.
Nothing I've said here is in any way meant to be disrepectful.
tipoc
KINGMAX
Member
38 undercover
A cheap five shot Charter Arms under-cover 38 special w/ a 2 inch barrel.
Chromed w/ light Walnut grips. At 18-25 feet she can keep it in the silhouette. Of all of the guns she could have chosen, 
this was it. 
The question is ?? How do I get her to carry all the time ?? She will carry on road trips most of the time. Around town = never.
She wants the little TARUAS .25 in Stainless Steel that looks like a box. It has those nice smooth Rosewood, (no checkering), grips.
A cheap five shot Charter Arms under-cover 38 special w/ a 2 inch barrel.
Chromed w/ light Walnut grips. At 18-25 feet she can keep it in the silhouette. Of all of the guns she could have chosen, this was it. The question is ?? How do I get her to carry all the time ?? She will carry on road trips most of the time. Around town = never. She wants
the little TARUAS .25 in Stainless Steel that looks like a box. It has those nice smooth Rosewood, (no checkering), grips. atlctyslkr
Member
Taurus Model 85 Stainless (regular version with the hammer, pre-lock), carries it in her very special designed gun purse.
choochboost
Member
My wife is spoiled and prefers my USPf 9mm over everything else.
iliketoshootguns
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- Jul 19, 2006
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.38 special snub
anyways,
a .38 seems like a good choice for non gun enthusiest lady looking just for protection. It is amazing how the .38 has stood the test of time. I could see the .38 still going strong many years from now.
I also noticed that glocks came up alot. I am considering looking into those for myself. I have an xd-9 but I like the glock finish better.
[also to respond to tipoc, if men love their wife they would at least help them when they have questions or seek assistance in seeking and operating a self defense firearm, (not saying you don't love your wife) just pointing that out.]
anyways,
a .38 seems like a good choice for non gun enthusiest lady looking just for protection. It is amazing how the .38 has stood the test of time. I could see the .38 still going strong many years from now.
I also noticed that glocks came up alot. I am considering looking into those for myself. I have an xd-9 but I like the glock finish better.
[also to respond to tipoc, if men love their wife they would at least help them when they have questions or seek assistance in seeking and operating a self defense firearm, (not saying you don't love your wife) just pointing that out.]
Coltdriver
Member
I had a Colt Pony Pocketlite .380 tricked out by a great smith in North Carolina.
My wife saw it when it came back from the smith and thats the last time I saw it.
Its somewhere between small and tiny, you just point and shoot, very manageable recoil. She loves it.
Some advice, however well intended, is just presented poorly in written form and it sounds more harsh than is intended by the author.
Welcome to the board, theres a ton of great knowledge here. Let us know what you settle on.
My wife saw it when it came back from the smith and thats the last time I saw it.
Its somewhere between small and tiny, you just point and shoot, very manageable recoil. She loves it.
Some advice, however well intended, is just presented poorly in written form and it sounds more harsh than is intended by the author.
Welcome to the board, theres a ton of great knowledge here. Let us know what you settle on.
oneshooter
Member
Loving Wife carries a S&W .357. Her "house gun" is a IJ 30 carbine with a 30rd mag in the well and 2-15rd mags on the stock. All three loaded with Win. 110gr JHP.
Oneshooter
Livin in Texas
Oneshooter
Livin in Texas
Or presented well and taken poorly. Since we can't see each other face to face, things sometimes come off wrong on the internet. Let's get past that.
OK, to answer the question; my wife carries a j-frame LadySmith IWB. loaded with +P 125 gr hollowpoints. She prefers a four inch Model 10, but can't conceal it well.
Shadowwolf80
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- Jun 19, 2006
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For what it is worth my girlfriend (fiancee she would correct me) tends to carry one of those Taurus tip-up barrel .25's. She owns and regularly shoots a really wonderful model 19 S&W in the 6 inch configuration, but feels it might be a little much to carry.
I gave her a Star Firestar in 9mm a couple of years ago at her request, but she still loves that little .25.
G_d help anyone who bothers her at home though....that .357 could poke you in the eye from across the room.....
I gave her a Star Firestar in 9mm a couple of years ago at her request, but she still loves that little .25.
G_d help anyone who bothers her at home though....that .357 could poke you in the eye from across the room.....
iliketoshootguns
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- Jul 19, 2006
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- 49
Give me the beat boys
This will brighten the mood.
Give me the beat boys
and free my soul
I wanna get lost in the rock and roll
and drift away
everyone sing along....
This will brighten the mood.
Give me the beat boys
and free my soul
I wanna get lost in the rock and roll
and drift away
everyone sing along....
My wife doesn't carry, but keeps a Ruger SP101 in .357 near the bed. She like to shoot it with .38s more than .357s.
As to the teaching bit:
I taught my wife to shoot when we were first dating. It seemed fairly easy, and all work was done with .22 rifles and a mix of paper cups and pop cans for targets. She learned to shoot a handgun (again from me) the day we became engaged. Note that we were engaged less than a year from starting to date.
However, now that we are married, I've found it MUCH harder to teach her any more about shooting. More familiarity perhaps? A closer relationship? Don't know why, but I know that others are more effective at giving her additional instruction.
As to the teaching bit:
I taught my wife to shoot when we were first dating. It seemed fairly easy, and all work was done with .22 rifles and a mix of paper cups and pop cans for targets. She learned to shoot a handgun (again from me) the day we became engaged. Note that we were engaged less than a year from starting to date.
However, now that we are married, I've found it MUCH harder to teach her any more about shooting. More familiarity perhaps? A closer relationship? Don't know why, but I know that others are more effective at giving her additional instruction.
TrapperReady
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- Jan 29, 2003
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- 2,732
The house gun is a 1300 Defender, with the stock cut down to 12.5" LOP and a premium recoil pad installed. That's specifically because my wife is more proficient and comfortable with shotguns than anything else.
However, she is perfectly capable of shooting our SIG P228 9mm or any of the S&W revolvers (mostly in .38) which we've got.
She's planning on taking a defensive handgun course later this year, and will probably pick up a Springfield Armory XD-9 beforehand.
However, she is perfectly capable of shooting our SIG P228 9mm or any of the S&W revolvers (mostly in .38) which we've got.
She's planning on taking a defensive handgun course later this year, and will probably pick up a Springfield Armory XD-9 beforehand.
Blacklabman
Member
Wife carries a H&K P2000SK 9mm
5string_dean
Member
When I recently got a CZ-75BD for my main "play at the range/IDPA" gun, my wife claimed my Ruger P95 as hers... however, what she usually carries is a Kel-Tec P3AT with the parkerized slide, either in a pocket holster or in an ankle holster.
Vitamin G
Member
The girlfriend is protected by a Delta Elite or a glock 20, on MY right hip... She's seemed moderately open to learning to shoot, but hasn't gotten to it yet. We both have opposite schedules and usually only get to see each other once a week or so.
I only skimmed the thread, but it seems as though there was some grinding interpersonal conflict, so i thought i'd post a nifty little poster that I decided to hang in my office for family sessions
I only skimmed the thread, but it seems as though there was some grinding interpersonal conflict, so i thought i'd post a nifty little poster that I decided to hang in my office for family sessions
aerod1
Member
My wife carries a Colt Government model Pocketlite .380.
My daughter carries a Taurus model 85CHSS chambered in 38 special.
Both chose these guns as the ones they want to carry.
I carry a Taurus model 605CHSS chambered in .357 magnum.
Jim
My daughter carries a Taurus model 85CHSS chambered in 38 special.
Both chose these guns as the ones they want to carry.
I carry a Taurus model 605CHSS chambered in .357 magnum.
Jim
Limeyfellow
Member
My wife tends to use a Smith and Wesson snubby in .38 special.
.45 CZ-75 clone or .40 CZ Rami or .380 P3AT depending upon what she's doing.
AK 47 (7.62X39) for long gun.
AK 47 (7.62X39) for long gun.
pfgrone
Member
Petite wife shoots a Kahr P9 and loves it.
Paul
Paul
MachIVshooter
Member
Controlling a firearm on the range in a modified weaver, etc. is one thing. Controlling that gun one handed and possibly not with an ideal grip (or with the weak hand) is quite another. While most women can easily handle a 1911 on the range, I have met very few that could control a compact .45 ACP with their weak hand, firing one-handed.
Case in point, my wife shoots great with my Kimber 10mm at the range, even with full-house loads. But even with her dominant hand, when firing one handed, she limpwrists my little Taurus PT145 so badly that it jams 2 or 3 times going through 1 magazine. Consequently, her HD gun is a S&W 4006 and her daily carry is a Beretta 9000S 9mm. As much as I'd prefer she be protected by something more potent, it won't do her any good if it jams or if she misses.
A defensive gun needs to be something that you can control easily under the most undesireable conditions.
Silver Bullet
Member
I've thought about buying the wife her own gun, but I'm in a quandary. She doesn't have the hand strength to easily cycle my 9mm pistols. She even had a hard time cocking my SP101, even after I had a softer spring installed.
I thought about a Beretta .380 with tip-up barrel, but I don't see those in their catalog any more. I guess a .32 would be better than nothing.
I thought about a Beretta .380 with tip-up barrel, but I don't see those in their catalog any more. I guess a .32 would be better than nothing.
MeanStreaker
Member
My wife doesn't carry, but she's a darn good shot.
When she first starting heading to the range with me, she thought anything above 9mm was too stout. She also didn't like my polymer XD9. After trying a few out, she settled on the Browning Hi Power and loves it.
She'd rather shoot our Ruger 22/45, but still likes the Hi Power.
When she first starting heading to the range with me, she thought anything above 9mm was too stout. She also didn't like my polymer XD9. After trying a few out, she settled on the Browning Hi Power and loves it.
She'd rather shoot our Ruger 22/45, but still likes the Hi Power.
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