her revolver... input needed.

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76shuvlinoff

76shuvlinoff

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Folks,
Occasionally my wife talks about getting a pistol, I've had her shoot all my bottom feeders, she really doesn't seem to retain the manual of arms or the hand strength to chamber a round plus she's recoil sensitive. The only one she was actual happy shooting was my fullsize 1911 with a 22lr conversion but again, there's that manual of arms thing because she does not want an auto laying around with a round chambered.

So now we're thinking revolver. I have a SA Ruger .357 but there's more to it than point and shoot, this brings us to a DA wheel gun. Please note concealed carry is not a concern for the near future. I want her to have something when I am not around.

Now the problem, and I realize maybe it's MY problem not hers. I have not said a word to her about this but I can't wrap my head around using a 22lr pistol for home/self defense. I would rather suggest to her a .38 minimum. Am I all wrong?

- Mark
 
Yes, a 22lr is better than nothing, but a medium framed 38 special, like a S&W model 10 with a 4" barrel is about as simple as they come, plus the recoil is minor.
 
do the 38 all steel revolver
aforementioned model 10 heavy barrel is mighty tough to beat, not less than 4"
old Ruger "Six" DAs likewise

they make more 38 factory loads than you can count without Google help
some mighty mild, but all trump 22 rimfire for Her-Home-Self-D

get some 38 target wadcutter or mild "cowboy" loads, have her try that in your Ruger SA
if that works, the field is wide open to many many DA choices
the most it can cost you to find out is one box of 38s
 
I used to have a pefect answer: S&W used to make a J-frame .357 (Model 60) with a 5-inch barrel. The grip was great for small hands, and the recoil with .38s was girly.

However, you're in luck. Ruger now has a 4.2 inch SP101. You can choose .22 or .357.

Hey, get her the .22, and when she's ready to "step up," get her the same gun in .357. Sweet.
 
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My wife loves her model 66 Smith .357 loaded with .38 special semi-wadcutters. Being a slightly heavier gun helps deal with recoil and the .38s dont hurt any either. For home defence it is loaded with full house .357 and she shoots a cylinder full each range trip then switches to .38s.
The best advice I can give you is to let her pick her gun and you pick up the bill.
T
 
I know exactly what you need. An eight taurus snubby 22 mag. Adequate power, increased capacity, low recoil, inexpensive ammo. I will be carrying one myself I believe.
 
If trouble comes, and the trouble-maker discovers that the lady has a gun, it's unlikely they'll stay long enough to inquire what cartridge it's chambered for.

Medium-frame revolvers are available in various calibers, including .22 Magnum (better choice then .22 LR) .32 S&W Long/H&R Magnum/.327 Magnum, and of course .38 Special.

If possible, I suggest that you and your wife visit a larger gun retailer with a good selection, and/or a shooting range that rents revolvers. Let her touch and handle, and see what direction she takes. Then come back. ;)
 
Ol' Fuff makes a good point. And if you're worried about them seeing the hole in the end of the barrel and laughing then get it counter bored to .429 for a quarter inch :D

If she's happy with .22 get her out shooting more. Maybe buy one of the new SP101 8 shot .22 revolvers for her. And maybe she'll let you plink with it here and there as well. At some point keep letting her try a 4 or 6 inch barrel Model 10 with those .38 wadcutter or softer cowboy loads. If she moves up to even the softer .38 loads then she's at least got a gun which will arguably end an encounter a little better than a .22LR. Just don't push her. Let her get used to the recoil at her own speed.

If she's decently accurate perhaps try to get her out to some of the local club level competitions. Or even invest in a set of armor steel target plates of your own if your range allows such things. She'll soon learn that it's superb fun to hear the DING! of a hit. Start her out with the .22 and then try her with .38 revolver as she gets more comfortable with it. Shooting to hit a target like these instead of punching paper will tend to take her mind off the recoil and focus it on the target so she can have the instant feedback of the DING!
 
the two of you need to read Pax's www.thecorneredcat.com - written by a woman for women (and their male others)

THEN take her to a place that rents guns and let HER pick out and then decide what SHE wants, not what you think. Matters not what she decides regarding cartridges, if you get her something she finds too harsh, she will not practice with it - better to be a crack shot with a .22 then refuse to fire the 38
 
Yep, where womenfolk are concerned it's well know that you can lead them to water but you can't make them drink.... or was that horses? I get confused about this too often. It might explain why I'm still single.... :D
 
Nobody disputes the so oft quoted www.thecorneredcat and/or rental range, etc., so oft repeated advice, folks
Because it always was great advice, still is

But OP has >1300 posts on the most heavily traveled all purpose gun forum on the net
My guess is he has seen that, read that, understands that.

All he asked was if he should just encourage her to consider other than 22 rimfire
(and yes, he should)
"I would rather suggest to her a .38 minimum"
They are married, they probably talk to one another every now and then, suggestions are probably ok.

The lady has had some opportunities to shoot some stuff, and sounds to me like she is not going to be forced by anyone to shoot whatever she doesn't want to. She is going to have more opportunities, I would bet on that.

The guy is just looking for some options for HER to try out, not "my way or the highway"; that is very clear. He cares enough about her opinion to ask for suggestions on what she might try out, other than rimfire.

Me, I "been there done that", and a day on the rental range really don't get it done, never did. (Or maybe rental ranges are on every other street corner where most folks live, but they never were in any place we ever lived.)
Some she picked out for her turned out not so great for her in the longer run
Some I picked out for her turned out not so great for her in the longer run
Some we picked out for her turned out not so great for her in the longer run
None were a waste of time or money
Some were better than others, some were great picks, but pretty much even odds across the board me/she/we.
How it most often works out, in the real world, if you are partners & friends, not adversaries. Music, parfum, jewelry, cars, clothes, fishing tackle, vacuum cleaners, sewing machines, or guns, all pretty much works out the same way, too, go figure. (Other than diamonds, you cannot go wrong with diamonds for ladies, large or small diamonds, trust that, guys. :))

Me, like most guys here,I have bought and shot a lot of different handguns. Most of us do that before we really figure what's best for our own hand. Ladies pretty much have to do the same. Best done with a partner who already cares about what he/she wants/likes, but I think this lady picked the right partner. Picking the right gun may take a little longer, and more than one range day/week/month.

(No offense to Kathy Jackson, there should be more like her, but a DH or DW really is the next best thing. Beats some guy or gal behind the rental range or LGS counter by a large margin.)
 
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Thanks folks,

after oldfool's well written last post I should mention the wife and I have been Mr. and Mrs. for 24 years. I know if I force any issue I might as well pee into the wind. Although it might gain me another iron.... hmmm.

It would be nice to go to a local range but there's nothing in the area (within 40 miles) I know about and I've lived in this same map dot for 51 years. I do have the room and a good pistol backstop at home but they just don't sign out guns like library books.. damn!

We did just have a new gunshop open up right in town a couple weeks ago. I have been avoiding it like the plague because I kinda have a weakness ...and my own wishlist. But they are on the to do list this weekend.

All posts above are welcome information but the most obvious next move is the earlier post by oldfool to try some lite 38s in my 4 5/8 Blackhawk. If that's really too much recoil and flashbang from that heavy piece then I know we have to start slower. Something else that Blackhawk has is a 9mm cylinder on the side. That gives us something else to try before laying cash out. Guess I couldn't see the forest for the trees.

When I pick out a defensive sidearm it must meet my personal benchmarks for stopping power balanced against follow up shots. I just feel I can't meet that criteria with a rimfire but I realize it is impossible to translate that for anyone else. ....... Especially the wife!! ;)

Sometimes I will tote a poly .380 but even that can be a handful due to the light weight so I am not even going to have her try that one.
 
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Married 37 years here. My wife doesn't like "guns that shoot back," semiautos. She could handle the slides on anything I had; she just didn't like them. What she liked was my Smith & Wesson Model 629 .44 Magnum 4 inch loaded with .44 Spl Silvertips, which I found out when I swapped it off after having my elbow disassembled and rebuilt. She's now enamored of my S&W 681 .357 Magnum 4 inch with Crimson Trace grips. It's loaded with .38 Special +P ammo.

The L-Frame is bigger and heavier than my 3 inch Model 13-3 round butt and my Model 10-5 square butt (4 inch pencil barrel), but the K-Frame grip fits her hands well. The added weight reduces recoil with .38 +P ammo to a negligible level, and she may yet try .357 Mags in it.

The best bet is to let her try lots of different revolvers and not push her into a little "ladies gun."

ECS
 
All else being equal the 9mm rounds from your Convertable will have more kick than .38Spl. That's because the peak pressure from the 9's is almost twice that of the bigger volume .38Spl cases.

See if you can find some cowboy action ammo or a box of the 148gn target wadcutter stuff. The target stuff in particular is as soft as it's going to get and should be a good intro to the Blackhawk for her.

Any cowboy action shooting in your area? There's a higher portion of women that shoot in CAS than any other activity. And it's as much a social outing as a shooting event. If there's anything like that going on take her out to see what's going on. More often than not at the end of the day the participants will outfit you and her to try out a run through a stage. If she gets hooked by the whole thing it may just be the ticket to move her on up to .38Spl since she can't shoot .22 in CAS. And if she gets the bug it would be an activity the two of you can do together.
 
SP101 with 38s is hard to beat, tried and true. My wife has been packing hers since 1994. She carries 357 rounds when huckleberry picking and 38's on the nightstand, using the same gun for both jobs. Hard to beat a dual purpose gun that does not weigh to heavy on the hip, but can still handle the hot loads if necessary.
 
As said a bunch of times, it will be hard to to top a 4" Model 10 K frame revolver for HD. They are easy to use, produce limited recoil and are usually very accurate. If you can't solve your problem with 6 rounds of .38 Special within your home get a shotgun or a 20/30 round rifle.
 
My wifes HD pistol is a Smith 60 Pro. And it's a work of art in her hands. And I like it myself.

Look we men that have a women in our lives we love. Are the best thing that ever happened to us. Some times they show us how though and strong they really are. But put a semi-auto in there hands and all the sudden they can't rack the slide. The controls become confusing. They hate it, and the whole idea. Then comes revolvers and they can reload them as fast or faster than you and they out shoot you.

Took me years to figure out why trusting women close to me walked away from slide pistols. The thought of a hunk of steel recoiling twords there face or boobs scared the crap out of them. What if it breaks or they see a a good slide bite or get one. Screw that. It's funny they always seem to beable to work semi's. Then all the sudden, I can't do it.

I'm very proud of my wife and her 60 Pro. :)
 
How big are her hands? My wife is 5'2", and CAN shoot full size 357 revolvers like my GP100, but finds them far less comfortable than my SP101 due to the reach to the trigger. Since she's not a big fan of recoil (i.e. has no desire to fire 357 out of anything, would take a 380 or 9 any day over a 45, etc), I would've thought she'd prefer the GP100, but nope, go figure.

If your wife is smaller with stubbier fingers, as is mine, I think you really need to see what feels comfortable to her. I'd suggest having her at least lay her hands on a SP101, and on a k-frame s&w. Both have acceptable recoil with 38spl.
 
psyshack said:
My wifes HD pistol is a Smith 60 Pro. And it's a work of art in her hands. And I like it myself.

Look we men that have a women in our lives we love. Are the best thing that ever happened to us. Some times they show us how though and strong they really are. But put a semi-auto in there hands and all the sudden they can't rack the slide. The controls become confusing. They hate it, and the whole idea. Then comes revolvers and they can reload them as fast or faster than you and they out shoot you.

Took me years to figure out why trusting women close to me walked away from slide pistols. The thought of a hunk of steel recoiling twords there face or boobs scared the crap out of them. What if it breaks or they see a a good slide bite or get one. Screw that. It's funny they always seem to beable to work semi's. Then all the sudden, I can't do it.

I'm very proud of my wife and her 60 Pro. :)
Click to expand...
Good theories. I have wondered why my wife seems to have some mental block against semi-autos. If I'm there to remind her, she can get the manual of arms down fine, and shoot ok. But she seems to need re-learning every time. And has been a little afraid since that time the PK380 sent a brass casing down her shirt (protip to women out there: cleavage is not a desirable thing at the gun range). But she's got revolvers down fine. So I just gave up and bought her a LCR for carry.

Meanwhile, my step son had semi-autos down about 3 minutes into his first ever range trip at age 13. Now, at 16, he handles any gun like a grown man who has been shooting for years and knows what he's doing. Makes me proud :D
 
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