Need a snubby revolver for my wife....

here's your polymer!

The Ruger LCR. It weighs in at a mere 13.5 oz empty. My wife has one with a laser and she hated the gun at first because of the recoil. I had her practice with wadcutters and then move up to .38 special which has less recoil than the +P. The LCR is in the <$500 range but the laser presently adds >$160 to the price.

I did the same thing for my wife a few years ago, and she hated the gun I selected for her: a 5-shot .38 revolver. Did I say that she hated it? Yup -- hated it. Absolutely, posivitely hated it.

The best thing you can do for your wife this Christmas is to put a card under the tree telling her that you'll take her to the gun store/range and let her pick out the gun she wants. It'll save you a lot of anguish and messing around and "Yes, dear" later on.

The gun that I picked out for my wife, by the way? She hated it. Just hated it.

And there are no stronger hands than a lioness protecting her cubs.

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Strong, yeah sure, but accurate with a small revolver? Maybe with a great deal of practice.

I am a woman, that I am sure so if you ask me, I'll tell you not to go out and buy me a gun. I want to choose the gun I am going to have, not be chosen for me. I like to feel it in my hands, see if it fits, how well I can hold it...if it is a present, then I will let you pay for it.

But then, what do I know? I chose my two guns, a Glock 23 which is my primary carry and a Bersa Thunder 380, my BUG. I am happy with both and I paid for them both. Christmas will be easy this year for dearest hubby to chose a gift for me. I want upgrades to my Glock.

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Most folks don't want a gun picked out for them. They may think that they do if they don't have any experience with guns. IME, most women like autos more than revolvers. My wife likes my SP101 a lot, but if she had to go for a gun in an HD situation, a revolver is going to be her last choice. She is just way more comfortable with autos (large autos at that: Sig 226, PX4 .40).

You really have to let your wife try a Ruger LCR. The most important factor for accuracy will be trigger control. Most women and even a good number of men find it very hard to shoot a S&W J-Frame accurately, due to the extra heavy trigger pull.

My wife's hands shake when she tries to shoot one of my J-Frames, but she is steady as a rock with the LCR's light and smooth trigger.

Better trigger control = Better accuracy.

My wife has been wanting a snub nose revolver for a while now. She has her Makarov and a full size Tanfoglio 9mm for HD, but I agree a revolver would fit her nicely as she is a great shot. I started out looking at Ruger SP101's and the one I found was real ruff and gritty and also DAO. ALL those features dont go well with DAO.
The next week I went to my local Smith's shop to get a few extras for my guns and what do I see but a beautiful blued Taurus 605 357mag with 2''bbl. I did all the tests I learned off forums like this one, and it turned out to be an excellent specimen. I got it on trade for a 9mm I dont use much.
Last night we went out to test fire it and it was great!! We ran 110gr 38spl FMJ, 125gr Rem 38spl +P HP, and 110gr 357mag Win HP's and they all fired great. It was not near as bad of recoil as I thought it would be, even with the full 357mag loads. The best part is that the wife loved the little snubby and shot it well even with the 38spl +P loads.
All in all I am real pleased and glad it is a good fit for my wife and that for a change somebody has a good report on a Taurus firearm!!!lol. This is a great snub nose!! The action and the trigger in DA and SA is buttery smooth. And I can't get over how well this little J frame like snubby handles recoil, I was expecting much worse.

Need a snubby revolver for my wife.... Most likely a .38, used for home defense.

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Hope the OP is rethinking this based on the good info above. Is he still around?

"Strong, yeah sure, but accurate with a small revolver? Maybe with a great deal of practice."

With the Crimson Trace grip she was shooting 100% CM at 20+ feet immediately. I mean, the first 5 shots and the next 25 were all CM, and it was only the 2nd time she'd ever shot a snub.



And did the same with a hard-pull, 9mm SIGMA and laser.

Best thing I've ever done for her and the guns she uses for SD.

doc540 said:

"Strong, yeah sure, but accurate with a small revolver? Maybe with a great deal of practice."

With the Crimson Trace grip she was shooting 100% CM at 20+ feet immediately. I mean, the first 5 shots and the next 25 were all CM, and it was only the 2nd time she'd ever shot a snub.



And did the same with a hard-pull, 9mm SIGMA and laser.

Best thing I've ever done for her and the guns she uses for SD.

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Yeah, but she's shooting well IN SPITE OF the trigger. And I wouldn't call just managing to get on the target at 20 feet accurate, I'd call that acceptable for a new shooter. The fact is, a heavy trigger pull does negatively affect accuracy. This is magnified in inexperienced shooters and people with weak hands.

Not saying a revolver is out, but that you have to see what she's able to shoot well. Generally I find that a gun that is EASY to shoot accurately is a better choice for a beginner, rather one that is difficult to shoot accurately (ie snubby) and discourages them.

"And I wouldn't call just managing to get on the target at 20 feet accurate.."

I wouldn't either.

That's why I didn't say she "managed to get on the target".

I said with the CT laser grip she was able to immediately shoot center mass, meaning heart, lungs, solar plexus and did so only her second time to shoot a snub.

Then she switched to the hard-pull SIGMA with a laser and did the same.

And she's also not shooting well "IN SPITE" of the trigger(s).

Since her life may depend on it, I've had trigger work done on, first, the Smith, then the SIGMA.

The point is this, in our experience a laser has made a significant and immediate improvement in her ability to shoot accurately and confidently with little practice and with unfamiliar guns.

ymmv

for illustration purposes here's the type of target she used (but not the actual target she shot)

Why a snubbie for home defense? If she's not carrying it around, why not something more easily controlled?

chuckusaret said:

The Ruger LCR. It weighs in at a mere 13.5 oz empty. My wife has one with a laser and she hated the gun at first because of the recoil. I had her practice with wadcutters and then move up to .38 special which has less recoil than the +P. The LCR is in the <$500 range but the laser presently adds >$160 to the price.

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This one is a good suggestion and I wanted to emphasize the laser...also great for home defense/nite shooting.

And it will be a great help when dry-firing and learning at the range. It has a positive reinforcement effect (for me anyway).

The snub have a long history of being purchase for a self defense weapon by people that didn't know much about weapons. They do take some getting used to but there are many instances where a person with little training with a small weapon have been able to save the day with one of those. Fine out if she like the small revolver just by sight and feel if she like it she will learn to shoot it just fine. That of course assuming she will shoot it, if she not going to practice with it then get her a good baseball bat.

be safe