Carry gun for the wife.

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WestKentucky

WestKentucky

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Mrs. WK has started talking about getting her concealed carry permit and we are to go shopping soon. She likes the looks of small autos but doesn't like the snappy recoil, even of a .380, been there, done that a couple times. We may look at 32acp if she really wants to get an auto, but I feel certain we are bringing home a j frame sized wheel gun, most likely a second tier gun like Taurus or Charter. On wheelguns I am plenty gun savvy, and can put her onto several good guns that she can try. On tiny autos (what she thinks she wants) I don't know much. Looking at guns the size of say a keltec p11 and smaller in 32acp or 22 mag. Any suggestions for mild recoil pocket autos?

My first thoughts are to run her through the g42 (.380) and hope it doesn't stick, followed by keltec p32, NAA guardian, and any used 32acp guns I can find. I can hand load for her in 32 but will not tool up for 380 unless it's a taurus mini revolver.

On wheelguns I will put her into a 32 cal or 38 cal of any flavor and hand load for her target ammo. In this realm I'm hoping for 32hr mag or 327 fed but expecting 38spl. Not ruling out 22 mag or 17hmr here either.

Anything I'm missing that needs put in her hands? Kahr, Sig (she likes the rainbow 238), ruger...any suggestions are welcomed.
 
look at the Beretta Tomcat 32acp. the Glock 42 while in .380acp does not kick much at all, unlike the blow back guns or mini 380 autos.
 
Bought a Ruger LCR (.38) & brought it home. Wife's first look at it brought an "its mine" comment! I load light .38 loads for her to practice with and she carries it with good standard .38 JHP's.
 
www.corneredcat.com

The KT P32 is indeed an option. I have one, and it's easy for me to fire and hang on to. However, I have talked to at least one lady who didn't particularly care for how hers felt.

My wife tried a .38 snub (all steel, not a "lightweight") and a Bersa Thunder 380. She didn't care for either. What she did care for her first range trip was the Taurus PT-22. Though she is not yet inclined to get a carry license, if she carried only that, I'd be pleased with the start.

A Charter Arms Undercover in .38 can indeed serve well. The Undercoverette is chambered in .32 H&R Magnum, an even lighter loading.
 
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You might want to look at some of the medium-size .380s rather than the very small ones: S&W M&P Bodyguard .380 with or without laser, Kahr CT380, Bersa BPCC 380, etc. The Sig P290RS comes in .380 and is a little bigger than most. Lastly, don't forget the old school, all-metal autos: Bersa Thunder or Thunder Combat (not the Thunder Concealed Carry, sights are too small), a Walther PPK if you're feeling spendy and, as mentioned, the Beretta Tomcat .32 ACP with no need to rack the slide.
 
Thanks folks, and I am stuck on small guns. My wife's hands are smaller than my 10 year old niece's hands are. She has tried all of my revolvers and only j frames work for her hands. She hates the "hump" of a square butt, so if it's a revolver it will be j frame round butt.
 
I would no sooner pick a gun for my wife as I would pick out her shoes or purse. If she doesn't like it she won't shoot it.

It took about 3 weeks before we found a pistol my wife liked. If helps a lot if you have ranges that rent guns or friends that will load you some of what they have.

I can promise you, if she doesn't like the recoil of something like a PPK in 380 she won't like and air weight j frame 38.

See if you can find a 1908 colt in 32 acp.
 
If you can find one , let her try a Sig p238 in .380. The HD model. It is all steel ,weighs a couple of ounces more than all the others,and is very soft recoiling.
 
Colt Police Positive or Pocket Positive in .32 S&W, or an inexpensive used H&R/NEF in .32 H&R, sounds like a great idea. But these are just ideas, I agree completely that it's your wife that needs to choose.
 
My wife choose the P.P.S. herself. I just paid for it and gave it to her for Christmas. It is 38 Special loaded with Hornady Critical Defense 90 gr. pink tip for low recoil. She has no issues with controlling it and she has small hands. I put a Hogue mono-grip on it and she pronounced it as perfect. She used it to qualify for her Conceal Carry Permit last fall.

But it sounds like the O.P. is going to choose a semi-auto for his wife.
 
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WestKentucky, I will tell you that if she does not like a snappy recoil, the Charter Arms is not the gun for her. It is light and a great gun, me and my son bought one for my wife for mothers day a few years ago. She didn't like shooting my full size S&W because of the recoil and the CA was more snappy than the S&W. She loves the gun and shoots it well, but she is not crazy about the recoil. I loaded some soft loads for her to plink with, but a full house load is quite snappy even for me to shoot. The grip is small and my hands are larger than hers so it don't exactly fit my hand well, so that is a factor. I see you are in Hoptown, so I would suggest you come down to Paducah and go to Shooters Supply on Cairo RD and rent a couple of handguns for her to shoot. They have several different options and a in house pistol range. Good luck.
 
Let her read www.corneredcat.com and let her pick her own handgun.

There are bunches of threads and posts on THR about husbands/boyfriends/significant others buying their wives/girlfriends/significant others handguns, and it usually results in ladies not shooting the handgun and not carrying the handgun.

As mentioned let her go to a range that rents handguns, find a couple that fit her hands, then let her shoot them :).

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
THR...where a man can clearly state that he will put a gun in his wife's hands before purchase, and still get bashed about buying one without her input. Some folks here need to either read the whole post, or need serious help in comprehension.

As for rentals at ranges, we have 1 within an hours drive that rents guns out. They cater to military guys and their rentals very much represent that. The selection is dismal in carry gun options. The best I can do is hand her a bunch, let her try to get a feel for operation, and make a purchase.

I have not made my mind up as BSA so eloquently and errantly noted, I simply stated that with her hands being so small a j frame is about the largest she can grip in a revolver, a thin auto will be similar in how her limitations affect her choice. As stated later in the string, I am picking a small auto for her, again not the case. SHE is drawn to an auto, but she has experience and ability with a j frame...but she isn't taking mine leaving me without a carry gun, especially since it's not what SHE wants. Last but not least I clearly stated that I reload, so in a revolver recoil is a negligible point. If she chose a 480 ruger I could still load it light enough to manage, but still people talking about recoil in revolvers.

Some of you have helped by adding options to the list of things to look at. Others, well keep trying fellas.
 
They have plenty of other options, but my wife, daughter, and MiL all prefer 32 H&R revolvers for SD. They also use them for plinking with 32 S&W long or 32acp.
 
Keltec is a good option, as are most of the above mentioned 380s, but it's tough to beat a j-frame if she likes revolvers. My wife decided to get her concealed carry permit last year, decided she would just use something I already owned. I thought she was being practical until she chose my S&W 1917 revolver in .45acp as her purse gun!
 
Neat thread.

You might try the glock 42 if she's leaning towards and auto. Should fit her small hands reasonably well and very low recoil. If she doesn't like it you might. It's a dandy and not too expensive. Trigger stack is heavier than other Glocks.

A nice J frame in 32 (model 34 S&W?) might be more difficult to come by. For practicalities sake a J framed 38 would be the likely direction. It's good that you can load your own ammo. I've been using 125 gr. rainers with a light charge of Titegroup thats descent enough for me but I think there is still a bit more (but not much) recoil than the g42 and factory ball ammo in an air weight 642.

Never really liked the sig 238 and wouldn't even consider it as a carry gun for myself much less someone else. It is accurate and very well made. Trigger is very nice but it's a heavy for size gun and I can't get past a cocked and locked carry pocket gun.
 
Of the one’s you mentioned, the only ones I’m familiar with are J frames (Specifically S&W) and the P-11. I carry J frames. I don’t like the P-11.

The P-11 shoots fine, and maybe it’s just me, but the texture of the frame takes skin off the knuckle of my hand in recoil. I would not recommend it to anyone unless they can shoot a couple of mags through it first.
 
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