a small gun for a small girl

[jrdolall]

I started my daughter off at 9 shooting 22 LR pistols like the Buckmark and a couple of revolvers. As she progressed she worked her way up the ladder of calibers and at 13 she has no issue firing a 1911 but she's no fan of the .357 Trooper. She does NOT like the small .380's like the Bodyguard or the KT nor does she like the small .38's when loaded with +P ammo. For her I think it's more about "snappy" than actual recoil.

Working the slide, unless there is a medical problem, is really just a matter of practice. Full grown men that are new to guns will often have trouble working a semi until they understand the mechanics.

It will be 8 years before my daughter can legally "carry" so she has lots of time to decide what she likes. By then she will have shot a lot more guns and can hopefully make an informed decision.

Your daughter's size is unimportant as far as her ability to shoot the gun though it may be a factor for concealed carry. My daughter is already 5'6" and will probably wind up around 5'10" or so. Her "favorite" is a pink Walther .22.

 

[HexHead]

HK P30 V-1 with the light LEM trigger. All the grip panels are interchangeable so you can put small ones all around on for her. The buffer on the RSA makes it a very soft shooting 9mm. The LEM trigger will give her the same 5 lb or so trigger pull every time. And best of all, it's totally ambidextrous. She won't have to make any concessions for shooting left handed.

 

[buck460XVR]

At 14 and of slight posture, the last thing I would be concerned with is finding a small concealable pistol for her. CWC is 7 years off and possessing without you there and open carry is probably by law, 4 years off. What I would concentrate on is a handgun that is comfortable for her to shoot at the range. This could be a Buckmark or other .22 handgun, or even a L-Frame shooting .38s. Something that while it fits her hand, does not sting her when shooting like a LCR or other Lightweight snubbie. Something with a longer sight radius that is easy to have accuracy success with and can be shot comfortably all day. On the way home from the range you two can stop at the LGS and look for something that she may like in the future. Heck, by the time she is 21, the LCRs may be obsolete and a whole new much better platform and/or SD caliber may be available.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

For carry guns in this instance, primarily because she's a lefty, I would recommend the Walther PPS. The magazine release style is 100% ambidextrous with no need to strip the gun and switch the mag release to the other side. It is slim, small, concealable, and in a reasonably powerful caliber without having excessive recoil.

Obviously this won't really be a factor for a few years yet.

 

[Elvis1]

My wife is 4'11 and had a hard time with the P7, squeezing the cocker and wrapping her had all the way around to get a good purchase. She enjoys shooting a kahr k9 its heavy enough to reduce felt recoil and once broken in the slide is easy enough to rack. Her favorite though is an old S&W 36-1 with pachmayr grips. My Glock 42 was easy enough for her to rack straight out of the box, I assume it will only get easier as it breaks in.

 

[AirForceShooter]

how is she getting a CCW at 14?

AFS

 

[ArchAngelCD]

how is she getting a CCW at 14?

AFS

The OP didn't say she was getting her carry license, he said she "is already wanting to get her Texas Concealed card."

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I'll second Griz's comments. What pistol a young lady (or just about anyone) might really "click" with is sometimes quite surprising.

My 12 year old daughter LOVES my full-size xDM. She's been handed G19s and such, and has fired 1911s often, and revolvers. But nothing really does it for her like the 9mm xDM.

Why? Who knows? But she's working up to competition with it now (shot the IDPA Classifier again today, still working to break 300 seconds, though) and handing her a smaller, lighter possibly snappier gun just is unthinkable. Watching her work with this "big" pistol, it's right for her.

Now that's not advice to go buy YOUR daughter an xDM. That's just saying, let her try shooting a bunch of stuff and let her pick. Small, large, heavy, light -- whatever SHE wants to shoot.

Concealed carry is a few years out for her anyway. Get her shooting something she loves now and by the time she's ready for that, she'll be far better qualified than anyone else to decide what she wants to carry.

I have a very strong feeling the only way you are going to continue to have an XDM to call your own is to buy another XDM. lol
I lost my S&W M638 the same way, my son kept "borrowing" it from me!

 

[buck460XVR]

The OP didn't say she was getting her carry license, he said she "is already wanting to get her Texas Concealed card."

Yes, but it seems from that statement and others in his OP, that the desire is to find "a small gun for a small girl".

I think many folks think just because a gun is smaller and lighter, that is is a better fit for small folks. For CWC this may be true, but this 14 year old girl is far from CWC or even having a handgun on her person for quite some time. What the concern should be is to find a gun that she can become proficient with and feel comfortable shooting.

My youngest son's GF and my D-I-L are both petite girls that love to shoot. While they think my J-Frame 637 is "cute", lightweight and fits their hand, they do not enjoy shooting it, even with the most anemic of .38 special ammo. They prefer the Buckmark, the 6'' 686 or the 5'' Colt Government 1911. Why? Because the size of the gun reduces recoil and the longer sight radius makes it easier for them to shoot it accurately and without flinch. The more they enjoy shooting, the more they shoot. The more they shoot, the better they become. If and when they ever decide to CWC, they will have the experience and the confidence to do so. Then, at that time, finding a small, concealable firearm will be a concern.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Yes, but it seems from that statement and others in his OP, that the desire is to find "a small gun for a small girl".

I think many folks think just because a gun is smaller and lighter, that is is a better fit for small folks. For CWC this may be true, but this 14 year old girl is far from CWC or even having a handgun on her person for quite some time. What the concern should be is to find a gun that she can become proficient with and feel comfortable shooting.

My youngest son's GF and my D-I-L are both petite girls that love to shoot. While they think my J-Frame 637 is "cute", lightweight and fits their hand, they do not enjoy shooting it, even with the most anemic of .38 special ammo. They prefer the Buckmark, the 6'' 686 or the 5'' Colt Government 1911. Why? Because the size of the gun reduces recoil and the longer sight radius makes it easier for them to shoot it accurately and without flinch. The more they enjoy shooting, the more they shoot. The more they shoot, the better they become. If and when they ever decide to CWC, they will have the experience and the confidence to do so. Then, at that time, finding a small, concealable firearm will be a concern.

I completely agree. Just because someone is small doesn't automatically translate into needing to carry a small gun, in reality the reverse is often the truth. Small hands and thin wrists will be more effected by stout recoil and a heavier gun will aid in soaking up some of that recoil aiding in controlling the handgun.

 

[Sam1911]

I have a very strong feeling the only way you are going to continue to have an XDM to call your own is to buy another XDM. lol
I lost my S&W M638 the same way, my son kept "borrowing" it from me!

Yup. Now when she's shooting, I'm stuck with the old 1911. Or, like yesterday, I don't even get a chance to pull a trigger. Oh well, I'll deal! (And I got to shoot a match Saturday so I can't complain! )

 

[Drail]

My experience with females and shooting is that once they figure out how it works and if they then LIKE it - you'll probably never see that gun again except to clean it for them. Women can be VERY possessive of things they like. But that's OK. Some women can even learn to clean guns if they're not afraid to get their hands dirty and trash their manicures. At my house I have a collection of guns and my wife has her own collection. I almost feel sorry for any guy that chooses my wife for their victim. She won't just shoot at them - she'll kill them. She shot USPSA/Steel matches with me for about 7 years. I used to worry about her being alone at home if I had to work nights. Not any more.

 

[Hullraiser]

My wife is petite and has shot very little. She shot my model 10 /38 spl and it was ok. Shot TCP 380, ouch! Never want to shoot again! Shot the GSG 1911/22 and loved it and a darn good shot too. However her soon to be carry gun is. S&W 3" with low recoil 38spl hp.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

Don't go too small.

Subcompacts are not beginner guns. It takes a lot more skill to shoot a 2-finger (for us big guys) or 3-finger (for petite ladies) gun than a gun with all 4 fingers on the grip. Someone that small would probably find a compact fills their hand like a full size does for men (or a large frame does for me).

.40 if she is good with recoil, 9mm if not. I would not go smaller than .380 and even then you are giving up a lot of stopping power.

Mike

 

[Ramone]

my Ex was five-foot-nuthin, hundred pounds soaking wet with her boots on.

If I suggested she needed a smaller gun, it wouldn't have been pretty.

She pretty quickly settled on an officers size 1911 in .45ACP.

 

[Legionnaire]

Arizona Mike is right. My wife does not like shooting an LCP .380; very unpleasant. She did not like the compact Glocks (19, 23), either, because the grips are too thick for her. She did like the recoil-absorbing weight of an SP101 shooting .38 specials, and a Kahr P9, both of which fit her petite hands.

 

[Buzznrose]

I'll second Griz's comments. What pistol a young lady (or just about anyone) might really "click" with is sometimes quite surprising.

My 12 year old daughter LOVES my full-size xDM. She's been handed G19s and such, and has fired 1911s often, and revolvers. But nothing really does it for her like the 9mm xDM.

Why? Who knows? But she's working up to competition with it now (shot the IDPA Classifier again today, still working to break 300 seconds, though) and handing her a smaller, lighter possibly snappier gun just is unthinkable. Watching her work with this "big" pistol, it's right for her.

Now that's not advice to go buy YOUR daughter an xDM. That's just saying, let her try shooting a bunch of stuff and let her pick. Small, large, heavy, light -- whatever SHE wants to shoot.

Concealed carry is a few years out for her anyway. Get her shooting something she loves now and by the time she's ready for that, she'll be far better qualified than anyone else to decide what she wants to carry.

My daughter is 21 but 5'1 and tiny hands. She hated my Glocks, but fell in love with an XDm 3.8 compact 9MM

I'm not saying the XDm is the right gun either, but my girls will shoot theirs over any other pistols I own other than my SR-22. Just seems to have great ergonomics for smaller hands

 

[Armor Snail]

I'll second the CZ83 or CZ82.
Even in the .32ACP 15+1 is nothing to sneeze at especially with Buffalo Bore.
Super controllable.
My very petite wife has an 83 in .380. She guns quite well with it.

Very nice gun and aside from the slide stop it's fully ambidextrous.
12+1 is nice too.

 

[paintballdude902]

check out the walther PK380, it was almost designed to be a chick gun

my wife is relatively small and the pk380 fits her hands perfect

left handed wont be an issue either with walthers ambi mag release.

also have her check out a beretta 84

 

[DNS]

Thanks for all the replies.

After a little more research it looks like a number of Glock 42s are having ftf's due to some outrageously stiff mag springs so for now its off the list. I'm going to see if they have any Walthers or CZs locally tomorrow and if they'll let her handle them.

Btw, her favorite shooter up until now has been a Beretta Neos.

 

[coloradokevin]

[quote="DNS"}Thanks for all the replies.

After a little more research it looks like a number of Glock 42s are having ftf's due to some outrageously stiff mag springs so for now its off the list. I'm going to see if they have any Walthers or CZs locally tomorrow and if they'll let her handle them.

Btw, her favorite shooter up until now has been a Beretta Neos.[/quote]

I'd be interested to hear about that stiff magazine spring issue causing failures to fire. It was my understanding that Glock stiffened the springs on some guns to prevent that very issue.

With that said, I've got a Glock 37 (.45 GAP) duty weapon that also has VERY stiff magazine springs. The gun has cycled about 10,000 trouble-free rounds, assuming that I don't induce a malfunction through user error (and the 10 year old magazines are still stiff enough to make you cuss). One user error that I've found to be far too common with this gun is that the magazine may not lock into place unless slapped in there with some pretty ridiculous amount of force. As such, the magazine may fall out when you begin shooting, at which point you'll discover that it wasn't fully seated (this happened to me once during an IPSC match in which I shot this gun — one of my friends caught it on film, and it looked a bit silly).

Anyway, regardless of the issue, I would encourage you to steer clear of the more stiffly springed Glocks on the market. I hate shooting mine simply on the basis of the fact that I really hate loading those magazines!

 

[jcv]

My 25 year old daughter is 4'10" with tiny hands. She recently settled on a Sig 238 with an ambidextrous safety. For her that little thing is a full size pistol. She can handle the slide just fine, but the recoil that feels minimal to me is a challenge for her. I'm trying to persuade her to get some formal training so it isn't just Dad watching her form and giving advice.

 

[Nom de Forum]

I definitely think you should let her try a variety of pistols at a rental range. Picking what she feels works best for her will encourage her to stay interested. I would be very surprise if she picked a HK P7, but if she did I would suspect it was more due to a desire to be different than because of shooting characteristics. I have always found women to really like the looks and feel of the Beretta 84, especially the ones with the original trigger guard design. See if you can find one of those for her to try.