Bought my daughter (26) her first gun.

[Kentak]

No, she is not a shooter, per se, but she has been hinting she might like to have one. I think the motivation is the fact that she is single and recently bought a house. Previously, she had roommates in a condo. The new house is not in a "bad" neighborhood, but it is an older neighborhood not far from a well-travelled main street. She said it would provide a measure of peace of mind.

I agree. Although she has gone shooting with me a few times, she's not that gun savvy. So, I really had to think about what to get. I knew she would not, most likely, become a recreational shooter. This gun would be for defense in the home environment. With that in mind, I wasn't looking for a high-end gun that would have to be accurate at 50 yards or be able to stand up to years of heavy use.

My first thought was a revolver in .38 spl. Cost was an issue, so, along with the above mentioned considerations, wasn't going to get a new Smith, or even a Smith at all. I looked at some Taurus revolvers, which were around 300 or so--pretty much the upper limit of my budget for this item. Then I had a thought and asked to see some S&W SV autos. Well, they were on sale for 299.00. So, that's what I got. 9mm, NIB, and with the stainless slide and barrel.

Yes, I know this piece has its detractors. The DAO trigger pull is heavy, certainly compared to my GLOCKS. But, my daughter has no frame of reference. I will instruct and train her to shoot with this gun. Again, this is going to be a last resort weapon to be used at across-the-room distances.

I'm looking forward to being able to have some father/daughter time at the range.

K

 

[field70]

Good. I bought my daughtr her first gun at about age 32. She came to LOVE guns and shot everything up to a Desert Eagle .44mag. Ths eagle was too much for her. What I bought her was a Taurus mod 85. That was about 1992, we lost her to Ovarian cancer in 2005. My Granddaughter asked me if I wanted the Taurus back, I told her "no baby, just keep it, it was your mom's", along with a S&W mod 15 4" incher I gave her about 5 months before she passed away...

 

[Kentak]

My condolences, Sir.

 

[Srigs]

Congrats and it will be a great teaching tool for her!

I have a 40VE that is my HD gun. I put a light on it and sits by the bed. It was the gun I learned on.

The 9VE or 40VE are very reliable, feels great in your hand and point naturally. Some tips to help her with the gun are to practice dry fireing the gun a ton while practicing keeping the sight alignment. This will teach trigger control and make her and yourself a better shot with all handguns. The trigger will smooth out with dry firing and about 500 rounds down range.
I think it will be a great opportunity to do things with your daughter so congrats again and if you have questions on the gun check out the Smith forum at...
http://smith-wessonforum.com/eve/

 

[ArchAngelCD]

field70,
Sorry to hear of your loss, very sorry... You did a good thing telling your Granddaughter to keep he Moms revolver. Now you should take her out and show her how to use it safely. I'm sure your Daughter will be watching with a smile.

Kentak,
You said you didn't need a top end gun since she won't be shooting a lot but the gun you bought her is a very fine weapon, far from low end. The S&W Sigma Series pistols are well made and accurate. Well done sir, especially for the price you snagged it for. (did you think about getting in .40 S&W at all?)

 

[spartan55]

Glad to hear it

I always feel good inside each and everytime a new gun owner appears. I am sure you both will have a blast learning to shoot the gun, quality father daughter time!!!

Did you ever consider a scattergun in 20ga? You do not need to be very accurate, In the dark, or in the weee hours of the morning. A 20 is low recoil, very reliable and does not even require you to look down the sight at HD distances..... Point and shoot.

 

[Glockfan.45]

I must stress practice, practice, practice. I bought a Sigma identical to yours except in .40S&W on an impulse (it was a NIB Smith for 300 bucks, and it felt so good in my hand). Took it to the range the first day it came home, loaded up 14 rounds of .40S&W, pointed muzzle at the target squeezed trigger....squeezed trigger...........bang thats the worst trigger I ever pulled missed the paper completely. After lots of practice I have become much more proficient with it and learned to compensate for the trigger pull. It has been 100% reliable though. So far I have put over 500 rounds of JHPs through it with no malfunctions.

 

[Juna]

Congrats on the purchase! I strongly considered getting one of those for myself as my budget was about the same as yours, but I was turned off by the long, hard trigger pull. I did love the ergonomics, capacity, and features, though. As you said, since it's her HD gun & not a frequent range gun, the trigger would be less of an issue.

Again, congrats on welcoming a new shooter and on creating a new responsible firearm owner in America! Nice purchase!

 

[Sheldon J]

bought my daughter her first gun (for CCW) when she turned 21, + 1,000 rounds to practice with, but I adhered to the KISS theory and it was a S&W 649 .357

 

[field70]

Now you should take her out and show her how to use it safely. I'm sure your Daughter will be watching with a smile

ArchAngelCD, That is at the top of our list of plans...Thank you..

 

[hornadylnl]

I bought my daughter her first gun when she was still in Mama's belly(I knew she was going to be a girl to.) It's a little Cricket 22. She'll be 5 in Feb. I'm going to take her out to shoot it next summer. I also plan on getting her a Ruger 22/45 in the near future. I would like to get her a nice single 6 22 revolver but the semi autos are cheaper. Hopefully by the time I get her out of my house, she'll have a collection to make a prospective husband jealous.

 

[rangerruck]

actually, if that is new made, say within the last year, then they really upped the performance of these guns, I would have no qualms getting one myself.

 

[mustanger98]

Did you ever consider a scattergun in 20ga? You do not need to be very accurate, In the dark, or in the weee hours of the morning. A 20 is low recoil, very reliable and does not even require you to look down the sight at HD distances..... Point and shoot.

I have to disagree on this point. Not about a shotgun, but about there being no need to aim. At HD distances ("across the room distances") a shot pattern has not had air time enough to spread out. A shotgun will not take out a room full of badguys in one shot. You do have to aim. Even point shooting, done right, is aimed fire, but not everybody knows the proper stance. And in how many HD situations will someone remember how to position themselves to point the weapon? A properly outfitted shotgun, specifically for HD; not general purpose or hunting or skeet, will have ghostring sights. That said, my pick of shotguns is a general purpose 12guage coach gun, but that's me and I know what I intend to do with it.

 

[spartan55]

too literal

Mustang, Of course you have to aim, my point is.....you do not have to line up front and rear sight, aim center mass, squeese a round that may be jerked or flinch, with your heart pounding after being woke up to one or more tresspassers. Scattergun Knows best..... point and shoot down the middle of a hallway, or in the best known direction of your bad guy and if you flinch, jeck, or unable to shoot center mass, let multiple shot fly.......... Ill put my life on more lead down range per shot then one little round at a time.

 

[FieroCDSP]

nice thinkin

The Sigma isnt as bad as a lot of people make it out to be. The trigger does wear in after several boxes of ammo, and you also get used to it. No doubt switching between it and say, a 1911, you would tell the difference immediately. It feeds reliably with good ammo, strips in only a few easy steps, can take abuse, and the ergonomics are first rate. The choice in the 9mm is probably better. The .40 weighs quite a bit with a full load and the muzzle-snap certainly startled me on my first shot. HP rounds in close quarters situations probably wouldn't differ enough to matter, short of the assailant wearing armor.
Oh, yeah. The noise difference between the 40 and 9mm lends itself to the latter likely being better in her case.

And if you decide you want the 40, I'd consider a fair price or even trade for mine.

 

[swingset]

The NEW Sigma's are good guns. It's the first couple gens. of them that stunk. They've made alot of progress making them more reliable. We're outfitting the Iraqi army with them, btw.

The trigger is still kinda crappy, but for a HD gun? It's fine.

Congrats to your daughter, get her some training.

 

[shooting time]

I bought my daughter a Chipmunk when she was born. Now she has a collection of guns of her own mostly .357's. I bought her a Kel-Tec P3AT and concealment holster for this christmas.

 

[dmftoy1]

It's funny . .my daughter (22) bought a house in a very similiar type of location and immediately became interested in shooting. I've got a Browning Buckmark that I let her pick out and it's hers as soon as she can hold 30 shots out of 30 in a 5 inch circle at 25 yards . . .she's damn close now. We started out with the 4 rules and she has to repeat them everytime as we're walking to the firing line. The sad thing is she's got her eyes on my Kimber gold match . . I have to say that some of my best times in the last 8 months have been the fun I've had shooting with my daughter.

Have a good one,
Dave

 

[Ukraine Train]

My girlfriend has a hard time racking the slide on a semi auto, she really likes revolvers, though. I think she's seen too many Westerns lol. I took a female friend shooting one time and she didn't have the strength to pull the trigger on a P11.

 

[Kentak]

Hey dmftoy

it's hers as soon as she can hold 30 shots out of 30 in a 5 inch circle at 25 yards

That's a pretty high standard. I appreciate what you're trying to do with that kind of training, but how about letting her have the gun if she can put 10/10 in the kill zone of a silhouette at 25 feet? Anyway, good luck to her and good shooting.

K

 

[dmftoy1]

LOL . .You'd have to know my daughter to understand. She played competitive volleyball at a very high level for a number of years and thrives on pressure. When she's trying to shoot her 30 out of 30 I'm actually standing there playfully throwing abuse at her about how she shoots like a girl, can't possibly hit another shot etc. I guess it's just our relationship . . . .but she probably wouldn't be shooting if I didn't treat her this way. Right now she's pretty regularly hitting 25-28 straight before a miss and that's with just 3 1/2 months of work.

I think my favorite experience this fall was when 3 guys I had hired to help with some work decided to follow the gorgous 22 year old down to the range . . .and then watched her take my .45 and knock down rack after rack of 5 inch steel plates without a miss. Definately changed their motivation.

We do some shooting at 12 yards, but she really likes the "pace" of bullseye shooting.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Dave

 

[mustanger98]

dmftoy1, That last post reminds me of this bunch I've been shooting with at the local club range. That last .22 rifle benchrest match I shot, I shot in the iron sight division, but in the regular BR 50-50 there was this lady showed up a mite late wanting to shoot it too. Well, a couple of the guys said something to the effect that she was going to sit down and shoot 50 X-rings and win. Women have a way of doing that or getting real close to it. Which brings me to the point that "shoots like a girl" ain't a bad thing. Most of the guys on the line wish they could. BTW, I'm the older brother of a woman who started learning to shoot at the same time I did- I was 8 and she was 4- and she can do as well and sometimes better than I can.

 

[GRIZ22]

My wife and daugthers like revolvers. They worry about their support hand being hit by the slide. They don't shoot that much and that's what they feel comfortable with.

 

[ElSnapitan]

I prefer my moss 500 for home defense since I have thin walls hehe. I like the pistol you chose don't get me wrong, But for home defense I think a shotgun is best.

 

[dmftoy1]

Which brings me to the point that "shoots like a girl" ain't a bad thing. Most of the guys on the line wish they could.

You're not kidding . .her concentration is so much better than mine it's scary. I had to start shooting extra sessions every week just so I could maintain my bragging rights. What really impressed me is that when she transitioned to shooting the .45 at the end of every session it was like she'd been shooting it for years. Those people who tell you to practice/practice/practice with the .22lr have it right ..the trigger control and hold really does transition well.

Merry Christmas! (Early)