Good Guns for Small Hands (please read 1st post carefully!)

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

pax

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
9,760
Hi all,

I am composing a list of guns which work well for small hands.

In this case, I define "small hands" as hands which easily fit within a ladies' small or medium glove. If your hands are bigger than that, they are not "small hands" for purposes of this question!

If you recommend a gun for the list, I'd like you to also answer the following.

Criteria:

1) Gun fit question (follow the link for pictures if my wording here doesn't make sense). Place the distal crease of your trigger finger on the face of the trigger. Do not pull the trigger back in any way, nor cock the gun (eg DA/SA guns are measured in DA mode). When you wrap the rest of your hand around the gun to attain a firing grip, does the gun's backstrap connect with your hand

a) somewhere along the thumb itself, or
b) at the base knuckle of the thumb, or
c) in the web of your hand​

2) Gun fit question. Holding the gun as in Question #1, and with your wrist as straight as you can get it, you draw an imaginary line from the muzzle of the gun along the barrel. The line continues indefinitely. Does the line

a) run over your thumb, but no other part of your hand or arm, or
b) run sorta-kinda along your wrist for a short distance, or
c) run exactly parallel with your forearm​

3) Gun type question. Is the gun a

a) SA revolver
b) DA revolver
c) DA or DA/SA semi auto
d) striker-fired semi auto
e) SA semi auto​

4) Gun type question. Is the gun a

a) revolver
b) single stack
c) double stack​

5) What caliber is the gun you measured?

6) In your subjective opinion, is the gun's recoil

a) mild (without gloves, you wouldn't mind shooting 100 consecutive rounds)
b) moderate (without gloves, about 50 rounds would be okay, maybe not more though), or
c) severe (without gloves, you'd rather not shoot more than 25 consecutive rounds).​

7) Note grips & any alterations done to the gun (eg shortened trigger -- brand, grip type -- brand, grip reduction -- gunsmith name)

8) Your glove size is

a) Ladies' small
b) Ladies' medium​

Thanks! I hope this will be a good resource thread for everyone, and I hope to learn some things.

pax
 
Answering my own questions with a few guns that just happened to be lying around ...

Glock 26

1: c (perfect)
2: b (a tiny bit big for me)
3: d (Striker-fired semi auto)
4: c (doublestack)
5: 9mm
6: a (have frequently shot several hundred in an afternoon)
7: Extended slide stop lever -- way more comfy for my thumb, and less shifting of hand to reach it. Gun has an internal laser, the now-obsolete frame-installed CT laser.
8: ladies' medium


KelTec P32

1: c (with lots of room to spare)
2: c (lines up well with forearm)
3: c (DA semi auto)
4: b singlestack
5: .32 Auto (too small for defense, IMO, but others' opinions vary!)
6: b (slappy, but not too onerous; after 50 rounds it always needs cleaning anyway...!)
7: none
8: ladies' medium

Note: the KelTec P3AT, which I had briefly last spring, fit my hand in exactly the same way as the P32. Chambered in .380 Auto, the recoil was so unpleasant that I was unwilling to launch more than 10 rounds in an afternoon ... or less. Yeowch.


Springfield Armory 1911-A1 (fullsize)

1: c (perfect)
2: b/c (teensy tiny bit big)
3: e (SA semi auto)
4: b (singlestack)
5: .45 ACP
6: a (I've often put a couple hundred rounds downrange out of this one)
7: Crimson Trace lasergrips. Short trigger. No other modifications.
8: ladies' medium

(Additional comment: I have to shift my hand around quite a bit to manipulate the slide stop lever, but I can ride the safety if I want to.)


Springfield Armory XD9 SubCompact

1: c (perfect)
2: c (perfect) (it pained me to write that ... when my beloved G26 didn't quite measure up!)
3: d (Striker-fired semi auto)
4: c (doublestack)
5: 9mm
6: a (can and have sent a lot of rounds downrange at one sitting)
7: bone stock
8: still ladies' medium

pax
 
I'm a guy and I have long hands. I'm still going to answer though based on what I've seen as an instructor.

Sig 239 - The grip of the 239 is small when measured from the front of the trigger to the back of the grip frame. As a result, this gun tends to fit those with small hands well. The 9mm version has the least recoil of the three calibers that are available. Single stack.

Kahr PM 9 - My wife likes the feel of this gun as well. She has medium sized female hands. Single stack.

Makarov - With Pearce Grips installed. Also fits my wife's hand well. Single stack.

S&W K frame revolver - I have several that I use as training guns, with different grips on each. For the smaller hands, the grips that are closest in size to the standard S&W wooden grips work well. Many students like the rubber grips better for the recoil control though. The Pachmyr Compac grips are popular with my students.
 
From my wife:

Bersa Thunder 380
1:c
2:c
3:e
4:b
5: .380 Auto
6:b
7:none
8:a

Model 60 LadySmith
1:c
2:b
3:b
4:a
5: 357 Magnum (But she shoots .38+P's)
6:b (Again, with .38s, she has not tried .357)
7:none
8:a

Kel-Tec P3AT

Not gonna fill this out. She fired it once last week, gave me the look of the devil, handed it back and walked away.

Said it felt good in her hand but one round was all she wanted. She said her bony fingers hurt for 3 days.
 
I have just a few moments but will contribute a few for follow up later...

Recommendations (all First Hand Experience) for a Grip-Challenged (Smaller Handed) person:

SA XD9
SA XD40
SA 1911 - LW 3.5" or 3" bbl preferred

SIG P239 9mm & .40S&W

Kahr P9, CW9, P40, T40

Taurus MilPro PT111, PT140 (Both NEW SA/DA Triggers are SWEET!)
Taurus MilPro PT745 (Outstanding Carry in .45ACP!)

S&W 3913, 908s (9mm)

S&W SW9VE, SW40VE

Browning Hi Power 9mm
 
Sorry, I didn't read your entire post but I do have a list. It's not so much how small the gun is but rather the trigger reach. A single-stack 1911 is actually easier held with a small hand than a Beretta Bobcat in .22LR. A small revolver barely fits my wife's hand but she can shoot a Colt 1911 no problem. What you need is a small single action-auto, derringer or mini-revolver.

North American Arms Mini
Raven .25acp
Any Ring of fire .22LR like a Jennings J-22 or Phoenix Arms HP22
Single Stack 1911A1 (Officer's model or Commander length)

These guns have the shortest triggers. Go to your local gun shop and try various triggers and take a small tape measure. They probably won't have a Jennings J-22 or Raven but you could probably find one at a pawn shop for cheap.

Good luck!
 
My wife has medium sized hands. (She's about 5'8" tall.)

She's fired a few of my guns, but her favorite is my K framed 22 with a four inch barrel and square butt. It has Smith and Wesson combat stocks (fingergrooved).
 
perhaps Wes Janson -

We will have to wait and see... The Kimber is nice - no doubt...

The SA is lighter and smaller, but not available yet...

The SA is also a ground-up design...

The Kimber is (from what I understand and have read) a redo on a 1911...

We will see!

What a Grreat Debate that is about to ensue!!! this will be a debate where there ARE NO LOSERS!!!

I can't wait! :)
 
I have very small hands for a big guy. Yes my hands would fit in a ladies small glove.
FN 5.7 USG
The grip at first appears large but it fits like a CZ75
I can hit all buttons without changing grip something I have to do even on a single stack1911
Low recoil
lite weight
Poly
internal hammer with safety that works like single action 1911 no decock etc
20 round mag
1)C
2)C
3)E
4)C
5)5.7X28
6)A
7)non
8)A when I buy work gloves I have a hard time finding ones that have the correct finger length NOT in the color pink
 
Trebor said:
S&W K frame revolver - I have several that I use as training guns, with different grips on each. For the smaller hands, the grips that are closest in size to the standard S&W wooden grips work well. Many students like the rubber grips better for the recoil control though. The Pachmyr Compac grips are popular with my students.
Click to expand...
I have to agree with Rob on this. My sister is 5'6" and weighs 110 lbs. She's a small girl. We've gone to the range together a few times, and she always chooses my round-butt 586. With the right stocks, it fits her hand perfectly. And it's a real pussycat to shoot with wadcutters.

That's the beauty of L- and K-frame S&W revolvers. Just by swapping stocks you can fit almost any hand. The round-butt versions are even more versatile (though I strongly prefer square-butt models).
 
Tecumseh ~

I had a P2000SK around last summer, but have long since returned it. In all honesty, I wasn't taking that kind of notes at the time and I could not give an accurate measure now; I remember enjoying the feel of it in my hand, but whether it was a "good fit" by an objective measure, I do not now know.

Hoping someone else out there who can fit into ladies' medium garden gloves has a P2000SK around, and is willing to share!

Basically, I'm hoping to hear from people who are willing to take the "as objective as possible" standard above and give us some real data. I weary of being told (for example) that ___ is "good for small hands" when I don't know the poster's hand size (body size does not tell hand size!), and when the poster doesn't necessarily explain whether he is speaking from personal experience, observed experience, or simply heard it on the internet somewhere.

Worse, some of the "good for small hands" guns I have seen listed on various sites are, in my experience, lousy for the small handed people I have seen shooting them, and don't fit my hands well either. But I am only one person, a rather opinionated person at that, and I am by no means the measure of all small hands in the world (mine are medium-small rather than small-small, and it makes a difference; furthermore, I have more flexible tendons than most and that makes a difference too.)

Nevertheless, I don't know how some guns get on anyone's "good for small hands" list. It is entirely possible that they are out there simply because someone's wife (with big hands for a woman maybe even?) managed to shoot one well, and thus the gun becomes "a good girl gun" to that guy & his buddies, and girl hands = small hands in most minds, so whenever someone asks that guy or his buddies for small hand recommendations that gun is named, and if it's named online it is easily copied from one list to another, by people who don't have small hands themselves or who don't know how to check gun fit and who assumes the first guy knew what he was talking about. Or maybe I'm just all wet, I don't know. I've been wrong before, and probably will be again. Which is why I started this thread.

So.

I'd sure like some data to work with ...

pax
 
To show that my hands are small to new female firearm shoppers I commonly hold my hand up to their's. I have worked partime for years at the same shop so I see a large cross section of hands. There are also alot more guys out there than you would think with small hands. The look I get as a 6'2 250 guy with fingers somtimes inches shorter than the Ladies I am comparing with is priceless. From the web of my hand my thumb comes to just under 2 inches.
Blocks and Beretta back straps reside in the area of my last thumb joint, I hate them.

good luck
 
I am a female with medium hands but kinda short fingers. Glove fingers are almost always too long for me.
Some pistols I love and fit my hands very well (in no particular order)
1. Browning Buckmark
2. Beretta 92 compact type 'M'
3. Browning Hi Power
4. 1911's with short triggers and flat mainspring housings
5. S&W 3914
6. Springfield XD9-subcompact and service
 
P225(best feel, trigger wasn't so hot)
P239(grip is very small, better trigger)
P232(more recoil than you would think, only .380)
P220(surprisingly, it fits well and is powerful- short trigger is nice)

Kahr 9mm(perfect fit, great trigger)

S&W J-frame(good fit, great pocket gun/summer gun)
 
Here's my wife's impression of the CZ P-01. She wears a medium glove and has long fingers.

1. c
2. a
3. c DA/SA
4. c
5. 9mm
6. a
7. none
8. b

All told, she feels that it fits her pretty well.
 
My hands fit easily into a pair of woman's small gloves. In fact, the fingers are usually too long for me. Here is my info:

1. c) in the web of your hand

2. c) run exactly parallel with your forearm

3. e) SA semi auto with a short trigger and a flat mainspring housing. With a long trigger and/or an arched mainspring housing, the above two answers are NOT correct for me.

4. b) single stack

5. 9x19, 9x23, 10mm Auto, and .45 ACP

6. a) mild except for 9x23 which is moderate to severe

7. All are 1911s with Grieder short triggers, Baer flat mainspring housings, and high-gripped front straps. Stocks are regular thickness, including Nutmeg Sports ivory and VZ micarta. All smithing done by John Harrison.

8. a) Ladies' small
 
My wife

My wife is 5'2" and exclusivley prefers single stack 1911's with a good beavertail and a flat MSH.
She HATES shooting my 642 .38 special airweight, she didn't mind shooting my Rossi .357 with .357 or .38. A big part of it is due to the trigger reach and pull. She could cock the hammer back on the rossi for a sweet double action shot (I'd kick myself for selling it if I hadn't made more than I bought it for).
She doesn't like the heavy 642 DAO pull and long reach even though it's very smooth.
She also doesn't like Glocks, but she does like the Beretta Minx .22 short I also sold for a profit. (Bought it for $50 and sold it for 125$).~Nathan
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

H
  • Locked
small hands
Replies
23
Views
1K
Sauer Grapes
S
T
  • Locked
Slippery triggers and small hands
Replies
0
Views
394
TMann
T
F
  • Locked
Big Hands- Small Grips
Replies
9
Views
1K
jad0110
J
D
  • Locked
IDPA, small hand
Replies
16
Views
1K
David E
David E
C
  • Locked
What are your winter carry practices?
2 3
Replies
55
Views
2K
The_Quartermaster
The_Quartermaster
Back
Top