First gun for girlfriend?

[pax]

Flopsy ~

Whaddya mean, he didn't get admonished? Didn't my post count?

(In fairness, note that Cousin Mike's post happened before that guy posted, eh?)

Meanwhile:

1) Whatever you and she decide to get, make sure it fits her hand properly. See http://www.corneredcat.com/FirstGun/TryOnGun.htm for instructions how to do that.

2) I think the XD9 in subcompact would be a good choice, being not too spendy, well suited for smaller hands, and a fairly soft shooter for a polymer framed gun.

3) Racking the slide isn't about strength, it's about technique. Once you know the "trick," it's never that hard ever again. See http://www.corneredcat.com/RunGun/rack.htm for more about that.

Hope that helps.

pax

 

[ugaarguy]

Flopsy,

On behalf of the folks of THR let me apologize for the strong comment a few members posted. In an effort to keep threads on topic and prevent them from turning into public arguements the moderators will often send private messages to folks who say things they shouldn't be saying. PAX has already posted here in reference to one member's post; no doubt the mods are aware and PMs have likely been sent. We don't intend to haze newbies, THR is supposed to be a comfortable place to learn. Hang in here with us, and I'm sure some good advice will follow.

 

[Cousin Mike]

If she approached you with strength concerns, then that's a whole other thing. I didn't call myself flaming you, I just wanted you to know why the other poster said what he did - that's all.. as for the other guy, and what he said about women - well - I didn't want to touch that with a 10ft. pole

You failed to clarify something.. He said something completely sexist
2 different types of responses. As for what my girlfriend said... well, look at that sentence again. Nowhere in that first post did you mention her being concerned about recoil - it sounded like you were concerned for her. My fault for taking it the wrong way I guess, and I apologize if you feel I was being hard on you. My fault for jumping to conclusions as well. Look up my first post about getting a gun for my girlfriend - someone had to put me in my place too.

Nothing personal at all...

As for your requirements:

1. A woman with slight strength concerns (recoil, springs, etc.)
2. Has good safety features (Please don't bother with the "BUT YA KNOW GLOCKS ARE SAFE"...yes, I know, in the hands of an experienced shooter they are)
3. Decent stopping power without spraining her wrist
4. Good for both home defense and carry

So far, all I'm getting from this list is you need a small gun, somewhere between .380 and .45ACP with a safety on it. That's why IMO the only solution is to talk to her about your shared concerns, then take her around as many places as you can, and get as many different guns in her hands as possible. Try to get her to a range - and rent a few pistols in a few different calibers - on a fairly regular basis while you guys decide what makes and models and platforms she likes. That way, by time she's ready to buy something, she has a general knowledge of firearms, how to shoot, differences between makes/models/calibers, etc.

Really no way around the process... It can be tiring and irritating, especially if she's like mine and tends to be unable to make up her mind. But when she does buy something she loves, and you see how happy she is with it, you'll thank yourself.

You might even thank a couple of us for "hazing" you.

j/k

Sorry about the misunderstanding.

-Mike

 

[Marshall]

.38 spl revolver

 

[Flopsy]

Thanks to all. You all gave us both a lot to think about, and that was my goal for launching the thread. Gratitude all around.

 

[Seancass]

ya want ideas...?

i hope you have fast internet.
go here: http://home.comcast.net/~americanfirearmpage/firearms.htm
click away, look at all the guns your internet conection can handle.
pick the prettiest ones and try em out. thats what i do. its kinda fun.

i have a lot of free time.

 

[Zhuge1]

Wow....very subjective issue.

My wife is 5.0 and slight. She started out with a Ruger SP101 snubbie, because she wanted "something simple", in her own words.

Within 3 months of obtaining the SP101, she wanted to "move up", and she liked my glock 23, but not any of my 1911's. I think she balked at the operating characteristics of the 1911.

Anyways, she wanted and got the g23 and was shooting/carrying it for several years and then decided that she wanted something with a grip more suited to her hand size.

From one point of view, when she was carrying and shooting the G23, we had commonality of caliber, mags, etc, so that was kinda cool.

About a year ago, she switched to the Springfield XD in 9mm. She is happy that the grip fits her much better than the glock, and I gotta say she does shoot it better. I think going from .40 to 9mm helped there.

She didn't have any problem in the transition, but by then she was already experienced.

On the other other side, I gave my sister (who had almost no experience with gun ownership) a G22 as a gift, and she has never looked back. She is a shooting freak, and now has purchased a G19 and G34.

FWIW.

Z