Hello, New To Forum/ Got A Question

[kelvinf]

Hello guys/gals

I`m new to this forum but not to firearms. My wife on the other hand has very little experience in shooting and has shown no intrest in it until a neighbor three houses down had a home invasion about 3 weeks ago. This happened while i was at work. Thankfully, the neighbor was not hurt but was really shaken. The police captured the felons in the next neighborhood. Anyway, the next day my wife came to me and said she wanted a handgun and i told her to load up and we went to several gunshops and after handeling many types of handguns she picked a Taurus PT 111 PRO as her favorite. After a couple of range sessions to get her familiar she is starting to enjoy this pistol a lot. The first 300 rds were strictly FMJ. I then started looking at HP ammo and i`m still looking for the best load for this gun. I`m looking very hard at Corbon 115gr +P and Speer gold dot 115 +p. Since this pistol has a short barrel 3.25 inches, will these +p loads perform well? I know there will be some velocity loss, but will be significant? I`m new to compact pistols since i`ve always carried full sized handguns so i`m just wondering what to expect performance wise. Any input will be greatly appreciated,Thanks in advance.

 

[Butter]

One, let your wife make decisions for the gun(s) she likes. There are few threads here and elsewhere, and my personal experience with the missus says decisions on what she likes and dislikes should be hers. With that said, try before you buy is heartily recommended. I'm prefacing this prior to answering your ammo question since how a gun feels in the hand and behaves in recoil are subjective but are issues to be considered when firing a round with a little more 'salt' behind it.

If it is a home defense gun, my feeling is to get something full sized where the added weight makes it easier to attenuate the recoil of any round. Also, the added sight radius is probably not a bad thing either. The +ps and +p+s in 9mm are a bit snappier, but if you shoot them through and all steel, full sized gun, I am hard pressed to find too much difference, personally, in comparison to 9mm ammo from standard pressure rounds. With polymer guns, it all depends in how the sit in the individual's hand, and that's the conundrum you and your wife will have to figure out.

The other two things you really want to do is get some class work in for defensive pistol use for your wife and you, especially if she is new to guns; and to fire a few hundred rounds of whichever defensive cartridge you are thinking about using through your gun of choice. Not all guns like all rounds and you have to make absolutely sure of reliability in an SD gun. I know, Cor-bon ain't cheap, but if you have to use your gun, at least you know the round will work in it and not cause a malfunction. Peace of mind there for some cash spent on defensive ammo training.

 

[kelvinf]

Thanks Butter, i appreciate your reply. As i originally posted, my wife held many different pistols at the several gun shops in our area and she picked the PT 111 pro on her own and she loves the way it fits her. In just a couple of range sessions she has really shown a knack for shooting. She doesn`t even flinch when firing this pistol. As for me, i can hold my own with a handgun, not to say i couldn`t use some formal instruction, most people would probably benefit from it even if it`s just a refresher course. I do plan to find a professional instructer for my wife though as soon as i can find one within the area. My main concern is what HP ammo is better suited for shorter barreled pistols in the since of best performance. This gun is not for me as i own several full and service sized pistols for my personal use. My wife has very small hands and she doesn`t care to shoot my pistols because of the size and weight of them.

 

[Butter]

Good enough! As long as she likes it and can shoot it well, terrific! Look at the function of the cartridges and if they work in your gun, you're good to go. See how the wife handles the faster SD rounds...and if she can use 'em. buy 'em.

 

[rellascout]

Either of those SD rounds will work fine. Get a few boxes of both and make sure that they feed properly. You might also consider 124 grain Gold Dots.

 

[kelvinf]

Thanks again guys for the replies. Just went to the back yard and we both fired a box each of corbon 115 +p and they fed well and were dead accurate in this gun. My wife said she could definatly tell these rounds were souped up, but she had no problem hitting the target with them.