Good handgun for the wife?

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Pushrod

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This has probably been discussed before ad nauseum, but here goes again;
my wifes birthday is coming up in a couple of months and I wanted to get her a personal defence handgun as a present. She shoots with me at the local range and has become fairly proficient with my .45 and the S&W .357/.38 revolver. I think the frame of both are just a tad too big for her hand. I was thinking of a smaller .38 or the .22 WMR?

What are y'alls thoughts on the stopping power of these two rounds and if they are a good 'female' friendly weapon for both CCW and home defence?

Also any recommendations on models would be appreciated.
Thanks.
 
You could just buy a small compact pistol that you like. Give it to your wife as the gift. If she doesn't like it then tell her "don't worry we can go and you can pick one out". That way you get yourself a new CCW pistol and she gets one she likes...

But as the others has said let he make the choice.

Check out the Smith and wesson 642, Bersa thunder there are others that will fit her well.
 
let her pick

Forget the .22 WMR for a defense gun. I like the 642, but as others have said, let her pick out HER gun.
About 10 years ago I took my then girlfriend to her first gun show. I bought a Ruger P89DC I like, while she wandered off on her own. She came back a while later with an absolutely mint Colt Agent snubby .38 she paid $325 for. It had been a desk gun for a Dallas FBI agent since new in ~1970.

"How'd I do?"

"Just fine, Honey"
 
Mrs. Titan asked for the Colt Python for Birthday, Christmas and anniversary for several years. As slow as I am it only took a few years for it to sink in that she really wanted one. She has smallish hands and is not a large woman.

At 25 yards shooting .38 +P off hand she normally shoots 2-3'' groups with all rounds in the middle. With the .357 about the same but the kick is noticed more so she shoots the .38s. Let the woman get what she wants. She will shoot it better, train with it more, have a higher confidence level and be happier.
 
Let's see...you're a guy, right?
You have been married for more than a month?
.
.
.
Let her pick, you'll just get it wrong anyway! :D
 
On the original question, in my experience a small frame 38 is probably the most difficult handgun to shoot well. The 22 mag I wouldn't consider unless she had a real aversion to recoil. Since she shoots your larger calibers that doesn't seem to be the case.

I'll be the odd man out and suggest you buy a gun and surprise her with it. I have done this 3 times: stainless j-frame for wife (now ex), nickel model 10 for a lady friend and an XD 9 for my daughter. Each time the recipient was thrilled, and flattered.

The key to success: pick a gun that you would like to own. If she doesn't like it, tell her you fully understand and that you would be happy to have the gun for yourself, and then take her shopping to pick her own! This isn't sneaky, it's a good test of are you buying a decent SD weapon!

Win/Win

or, yeah, what rxraptor said...
 
A three-inch Model 13 or 10 round-butt using .38 Specials.

Should be a pretty one with a nice finish and maybe some custom wood grips.
 
I was beaten to the suggestion to read www.corneredcat.com . It's great reading for your wife and you and the author, PAX, is one of the most savvy gunnies I know, good writer too. She covers your question very admirably!!!!!!
 
Massad Ayoob has always advocated a Glock 19 for the female shooter, especially when just learning. The simplicity of no external safeties makes it easier to learn, and the 9mm kick is pretty tolerable. I'd let her sample that or even a smaller sized XD, however smaller revolvers are quite common for women to become partnered up with, but like everyone has said its got to be her choice. She knows if its comfortable to her or not.
 
To each her own

My 5'4" wife has no problem shooting her .38 snubby with small frame.
When I shoot it, it hurts my hand something awful. Doesn't take me more than a few shots to hand it back to her.
OTOH, I can shoot my little P3AT KelTec for an hour comfortably. Or a 1911 .45. Something about those small-frame revolvers just doesn't agree with me.
 
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I had the same question a month or so ago, and got the same result. LET HER PICK WHAT SHE WANTS!!!!! My wife picked a Walter PPK/S in stainless and a aftermarket engraving. It cost, but she has already put 250 rounds through it:rolleyes:
 

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First, make sure she will shoot a gun, have her try several if possible, then make the decision.

I have bought 2 guns for my wife, and she hates guns. I bought an old Sterling .22 auto (it actually was a reliable gun, at least that one), it was too loud for her and she never shot it. Then I bought a Taurus 85 .38 Special, she never shot that one. :uhoh:

Luckily, I was able to trade those guns for something I liked.

I keep a Walther PP .32 auto in her nightstand, just in case. She thinks if she had to, she could use it. (yeah, right)
 
Zundfolge ~

Shoes. You forgot shoes.

Pushrod ~

Seriously, one of the (many) reasons it is so important that she chooses her gun is because gun fit is so important. (Link to an article about checking for handgun fit.)

Just as you couldn't just pull a pair of shoes off the shelf for her and expect her to be happy with them, you really can't just pull a gun off the shelf for her. She has to try the gun on herself, to see if it will fit.

If you really want to surprise her for her birthday, I'd recommend getting her a gift certificate to the gun store, or a card that says you'll go shopping with her for her "perfect" gun. That way she can be involved in the process of picking the gun, and you are less likely to end up with something she hates (but is too polite to say so).

Another reason her involvement in the process is so important is that there is a definite evolution in thought that many defense shooters need to go through. For those who grew up with and around guns, or whose mindset has always tended toward, "Of course you fight back!", this can be hard to grasp. But the fact is that anyone coming into the defensive-firearms world as an adult needs to assimilate some basic concepts, and also needs both time and multiple opportunities to change long-established thinking patterns.

The research process involved in looking for your own gun provides a lot of opportunities to think through various aspects of the defense problem, opportunities that otherwise will not naturally occur. The looking-for-a-gun process itself is really instrumental in getting people to the right mindset, so when someone else chooses the defense gun, it can (and too often does) short change this natural process, to the defense shooter's long term detriment.

Finally (and as others have noted), if she picks out her own gun it will definitely be what she wants. That's important, too.

Even if she gets it wrong herself -- as many folks do, when buying the first gun -- it doesn't really matter as long as she owns the process of buying the gun. Because if you get her a gun and she hates it, she may just put it away and never shoot. But if she buys herself a gun and she hates it, she is more likely to do what most of us have done at some point over the years: sigh, put the gun up for sale, and go hunt for the next one.

Hope this helps!

pax
 
Consider a Charter Arms Undercoverette

This is a j-frame equivalent 5-shot revolver in .32 H&R Magnum.
 
This is how my wife chooses guns.

Has to be "cute".

Her designer nails have to clear the triggerguard(this rules out all revolvers)

Has to have low recoil

The slide has to be easy to rack

She has to be reasonably accurate with it.

She seems to gravitate towards my XD45 Tactical.

ZM
 
Rex, welcome to 2007, the .45 ACP is for little ninny boys.

:D

Seriously though, when did the .45 ACP become a beast?
 
My wife has a Colt Detective Special in .38, she keeps is loaded with +P ammo.
colt38small.jpg


She also likes a 5" 1911 and practices with target loads. I have some 185 gr. Hydrashoks for her if she chooses to keep that nearby.
 
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LIke others have said, she has to pick so the more important thing is what Caliber can she handle comfortably. And not just shooting once, resting and trying again. Can she handle say a .45 at a 2 round burst? what about 3?

For example my fiance can shoot my 1911, but then tell her to tap it twice. I literally had to stand behind her to catch the gun :) lol.
 
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