Girlfriendly CCW?

[hso]

and having control over the selection of a weapon.

The only person who actually has "control over the selection of a weapon" is the person that is going to be carrying it.

The simple fact of the matter is that unless the handgun properly fits her and she likes it she'll carry it or not regardless of what some stranger, friend or spouse thinks she should carry. Pretending otherwise will lead to enormous disappointment (or an eyeopening educational opportunity).

Find out what fits her and then get that. To do this she'll need to be the one to pick it. The best thing that you can do is facilitate the selection by finding out where the greatest selection that she can try out can be found, doing what is needed to make it easy to get to and then paying for what she tells you fit her best that she liked.

 

[Hawthorne2k]

Take her to a rental range and have her shoot everything she can. Let her make the choice of firearm and holster. Anything else will mean she won't feel involved in the process, which will limit her willingness to carry and will have a bad impact on your relationship as well.

 

[TexasBill]

My favorite for women to carry is a 38 snubbie revolver. It can easily be loaded with +P hollow points and makes a great small weapon to carry.

Reality check: As was mentioned earlier, the snubnose is also one of the most difficult handguns to master meaning lots of practice is required. Revolvers like the frequently recommended S&W Airweights or scandium/titanium models work against frequent shooting because they kick like a Missouri mule and can actually be painful to shoot when loaded with +P or Magnum ammo. The tiny boot grips just make the gun more difficult to control.

There is/was another thread on THR where forum members shared where they draw the line on recoil. The usual suspects (.500 S&W, .454 Casull, etc.) were mentioned but a number of participants said the lightweight snubbies were the most unpleasant to shoot -- more unpleasant than the hand howitzers.

In the final analysis, this decision could possibly mean life or death to someone of whom we supposedly are rather fond. We are mostly likely not going to be there when she needs the gun so she needs to be mentally and physically capable of using it and confident she can use it. That means she is the only one capable of making a decision about a handgun that meets her requirements.

 

[White Horseradish]

I can't think of anything worse than a lightweight snubby in .357. A woman in my carry class had one on the advice of a "friend". She literally beat her hand blue in 50 rounds.

I don't get this obsession with light weight for carry. It is not at all difficult to carry a steel snub.

 

[goon]

Agreed on the snubby recoil. I owned a S&W Model 60 and a 36. Both were good carry guns but recoil wasn't light. I had decent grips on them so it wasn't that bad, but after forty rounds or so of standard pressure 158 grain ammo, I definitely knew I had been shooting something.
If a snubby is the choice, the SP-101 or something of similar weight and barrel length of at least 3" would be my suggestion. Many of my female friends have shot mine and found it comfortable.

 

[BigMustard]

Thanks for all the advice/suggestions it seems as if she'll have to get what she thinks she likes and spend a lot of time at the range until she changes her mind. But now at least I have a starting point.

 

[White Horseradish]

One thing to consider is that there may be a difference between what she is willing to shoot and what she is willing to carry. My wife loves shooting the 1911, but she will not carry it because of the size.

 

[Tomcat47]

You can pick your friends....

You can pick your nose......

You can even pick your friends or your Wife/GF's nose! (technically!, Wierd but technically)

But you cant pick your friends or your Wife/GF's CCW Firearm!

If she wants to carry a Dessert Eagle .50 AE Thats just cool ! ........maybe hard to conceal but cool.

Could you Imagine BG seeing the business end of a DE .50 from a 5'1" victim......

 

[RandomPerson]

5'1" girl wants to carry 50 AE you say?

I think that someone left his account logged in to a public computer and another person is trolling us.

 

[627PCFan]

I kinda dig a girl packin a Full sized 1911....and Im a revolver guy

 

[Hawthorne2k]

Thanks for all the advice/suggestions it seems as if she'll have to get what she thinks she likes and spend a lot of time at the range until she changes her mind. But now at least I have a starting point.

That's the best you can do. It's like choosing a car or furniture, sure you think you know what she wants/needs, but in the end, it's something she needs to live with, so it's best for everyone (especially you ) if she makes the decision herself.

And let others train her. I found that one out the hard way.

 

[-eaux-]

Not to beat a dead horse, but it's her choice to make.
In our case, the wife (who shoots my .44remmag better than i do) picked out her very own Ruger SP101 in .357mag and loves it.
It's small enough to easily conceal and heavy enough to not beat you up firing full-grown .357mags.
The grips are a little small for my larger hands, so it beats me up worse than it does her, but she fires it like a pro.
By the same token, the DA trigger pull is on the heavy side for her, I score better with it in DA than she.
Well, I guess she gets a trigger job on her SP101 for her birthday.
Dangit. I gotta learn when to hush.

 

[doc2rn]

I took a female friend to the range who had two 45s, she couldnt hit the broad side of a barn while standing in it. Meanwhile I am drawing smile faces with a S&W 41. She gets flustered and says let me see that thing. I let her. Next thing I know I am up 2 45s and down one 22. After a couple of weeks I let her try my old no blue left mod 10. I get the 41 back and she takes off with my favorite. Oh well at least she is happy. Hogue grips on a model 10 or a Tyler T make a world of difference. I also prefer a 3 inch barrel.
Bigger doesnt mean better, and its better to have than have not.

P.S. I would give her back the 45s if she wanted them
Keep 'em safe.

 

[sargas23]

First of all, your girlfriend needs to find a gun that fits her hand the best - this is not something you can do for her. The only way she can do this is to go to a rental range and try out some different guns, calibers, etc. and see what suits her.

Then you need to look at ammo availability and cost - I love my .380, but during the ammo shortage, it was a real pain to find that caliber.

Next, she needs to find a holster and start carrying the gun around to see how well it conceals and how comfortable it is for her to have on her person. I'd discourage purse-carry simply because a lot of bad guys are more interested in grabbing purses and valuables over grabbing your girlfriend. I wouldn't want to lose my purse AND my self-defense gun to a purse snatcher, but by having it on my person, I can defend my life much better anyway.

All of the above suggestions, especially consulting the corneredcat website (and the USCCA) are all very good. There's lots of information out there, so encourage your girlfriend to start investigating different training programs, etc. that will take her beyond just the licensing part of concealed carry.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

A small .45ACP is more controllable than a .40, and I definitely DON'T recommend a 9mm or smaller for personal defense.

If I had a small frame, I'd seriously think about a .38 snubbie. If no that, then a small .45acp (single-stack).

And don't short her on good training and lots of practice.

 

[Magoo]

I've got a PM40 for sale in the classifieds here. A fair price on a great gun.

 

[atavist]

my girlfriend carries a sig p238, 380.... great little gun, good shooter, and small enough for her to wear IWB with jeans and a tanktop.. and she's not a big girl by any means.

I first advocated her carrying a walther ppk/s, which I already had, but she has small hands and the grips were a bit big for her, not to mention it was bulkier and didn't conceal well in summer wear...

... I think she must have "tried on" about 50 guns before she decided on the p238, and I'm a big fan of its 1911 profile.