Advice for wife's pistol

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kowenjr

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Nicholasville, KY
Here's the situation, my wife has a Sig 232. She loves the gun and carries it everywhere :). I had been trying to get her to bump up to at least a 9mm. Recently we've been watching a lot of shows on pistols and calibers. They were talking about how good the .45 round is for personal defense and how the 9mm may tend to over penetrate and not have the stopping power. Now she is talking about wanting a.45 of some type. I have a couple .45's, a Sig 220 Carry, Para LTC, and a G36 which she has shot and shot well yet she's finicky about what she'll carry. She likes the recoil on the Sig and Para but not the size, likes the size of the Glock but not the recoil. I told her there is always a compromise between concealment and shootability. I was thinking of maybe a smaller (not necessarily lighter) 1911 platform. I am new to the 1911 with the Para being my first so I do not know what maybe a good choice. My wife is tall 5'-8" and about 145. I think she can definitely handle the .45 if I can get her to put the .380 away for awhile. I realize this is a pretty open ended questions with a lot of variables but maybe you guys can give some suggestions. Thanks!
 
There is a Kimber Eclipse in an all stainless version carry pistol. I had a custom compact kimber that was very accurate, small, and had very manageable recoil. It was all steel, but seemed light enough. It depends on a persons frame, I guess.
 
She loves the gun and carries it everywhere

She is milestones ahead just by this admittance. If she is truly happy with her Sig, shoots it well, and CCWs I say let her keep doing what she is doing. Let her choose. You are really lucky. Good luck.
 
In a different life I could see myself with a Springfield XD in .45, they are a nice compromise between a 1911 frame and a Glock style frame that shot a .45 round well.

The best .45 I have shot is an H&K USP, but it is a little large IMHO for daily carry. I hear nothing bad about the 220 Carry, but that is in your arsenal already.

I would try out the XD.

my $0.02

RFB
 
Look into the Taurus Millennium line. The third generation pistols have good triggers and they seem to have lower felt recoil for their size than most pistol. You can get a 10 round .45.
 
I say let her pack the .380 Sig. You say she's good with it and carries it everywhere, it's just as good as most .38's to my mind and most importantly SHE CARRIES IT WITH CONFIDENCE.
 
Why change?

My wife also carries a Sig P232. She likes it, shoots it decently (not often enough for my liking, though) and can conceal it well. Sure, it's "just" a .380, but it beats the heck out of not carrying anything. If she likes it, leave well enough alone until she finds something that tickles her fancy.

If, however, she's the one interested in upgrading, I'd look at the XD line of handguns. I owned one for a while, my gripe was that my left thumb naturaly wanted to rest on the takedown lever when shooting and it felt odd. Mechanically, great. Accuracy, great. Size, great (I had a "tactical" since it was the same general size as a 1911). They are also fairly mild in recoil.
 
see, what she likes. i shoot .45's. my favorite is a classic 1911A1. however, i am looking at the XD's for CCW. my big issue is the size of the grip. so i am looking to compare the .45 with the .40 and see if the diffrence is noticable. if the .40 turns out the be the better i will go with that.
see if you can't get her to try .357 sig. i don't like it that much (its snappy) but it might be a good comprimise for wanting a larger cailber. also she could get a glock with it.
as you said, it might come down to concilibilty vs. shootablility and makeing a comprimise based on that.
and besides, she can always get a .45 for fun!
 
What I'd buy her; SIGsauer .357SIG P-239 DAK/SAS

If you can afford it, I would buy a new SIGsauer P-239 DAK/SAS model in .357sig. The .357sig feeds extremely well by design and has a proven records with major law enforcement agencies; US Secret Service, US FAMs(air marshals), New Mexico State Police, Texas DPS(public safety), Delaware State Police, VA state police, Richmond VA police dept, etc.
The DAK is a smooth DA only pull to reduce false claims of SA/accidents and annoying hammer spurs.
The SAS design offers a small pistol with no sharp edges or corners. :D

You and/or your wife can also buy a Crimsontrace grip to aid in training or CC use.

www.gunsamerica.com
www.sigsauer.com
www.lasersights.com

Rusty S
 
If she's happy and shoots it well I don't see any reason to talk her into something else.
 
I agree with everyone's "if she's happy" opinion. Unless she "has to" have a .45ACP, leave her to her choices. Better she carries what she likes than have her leave behind the .45ACP due to size,weight, etc.

What you may want to do with that new gun money is to send her to a tactical training program.
 
Let her have what she wants just make sure she develops a defense around whatever she shoots. You should take into consideration her size, her strength, other combat skills she has learned, etc.

I truly believe that once you have chosen a sword make sure you know how to use the sword in the way that is best for you.
 
See if you can find a way for her to hold or shoot a SIG P245 or 220 compact. Seems like the perfect .45 for what you described, but as all have said, you're already 9/10ths of the problem solved because she carries her arm with her.

Also, I don't think that the 357sig in the sig P239 "recoils" or punishes the hand "more" than the P232, even the stainless one. They're about on par in terms of felt in terms of my hand.

My wife really likes my sister's P239 in 9mm, but my wife doesn't carry (yet, I will have victory there someday) so she prefers her 228 (which she does use in the house for defense).
 
Having a 9mm or larger caliber is a good thing I think. And really there's no reason not to, its not like the sig 232 is tiny, light, or that the blowback operation leads to low recoil. My advice would be the same for any other shooter, go to the range that rents guns and try out several to find what works best. Single stack guns like a 1911 or sig 239 seem to be pretty popular for people with small hands and are probably the first ones I'd look for renting.
 
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