House gun for wife to use

[cocojo]

Either a 32 H&R mag or 38 special with standard velocity SWC or wadcutters. The 32 Mag is a nice shooter, I own one a S&W432. Another nice gun is a Colt Cobra or Agent if you can find one, they are out there. It's six shots not five and I prefer the unshrouded guns.
I carry my Colt Cobra 1968 model all the time, I prefer it to the S&W's I own.

 

[OldTXCop]

Another vote for a shotgun

Your wife sounds like my wife's identical twin. I solved the problem with a Stoeger 20ga. coach gun. She was a little wary of it at first, but I got her to go to the range a few times to get used to it. She didn't like shooting any of my pistols, but she handles the coach gun pretty easily. I found some Federal Low Recoil Personal Defense loads (#2 shot) at my local gun shop and #3 buck isn't too much for her either.

She would definitely lock herself in a room and wait for help, so the "manueverability" issue doesn't concern me. The manual of arms is simple enough for her, and she feels more comfortable with it than a handgun.

Something to consider....

 

[KBintheSLC]

Good call on introducing her on a .22. I did the same thing for my 5'2" 105lb wife. Now she is wrangling a 9mm and a 12ga with ease. Start her small so she doesn't get turned off. You could consider a 20ga shotgun with some #3 buckshot for her HD needs. For carry, I would avoid a .22 as rimfires are inherently unreliable. Remember that it takes a lot of skill to be effective with a snubby .38. Look into a subcompact 9mm... she will learn to rack the slide just fine with a little practice.

 

[Rex B]

The first time I took my wife to a gun show (we were still dating) I was buying a Ruger P89 and she wandered off. Came back in a few minutes with a mint Colt Agent .38 spl. That's now her bedside table gun. She shoots it no problem, it hurts my hand.
Last year she told me she wanted a short-barrel shotgun. So I bought a 18" barrel for my Rem 870 and Voila. We took it out to the skeet range and busted some pigeons with it no problem. Now it's the primary go-to gun for her.
I have my own set of options, but I don't worry about her too much when I'm gone.

 

[Black Adder LXX]

My wifey is the same size and she felt pretty comfortable with my GP100. The simplicity of a revolver was a big plus as well.

 

[Harvster]

pitch my tent in the shotgun camp

For home defense you just can not beat a shotgun. Easily 2, 3, 5 times the energy delivered per shot than many of the handguns being discussed. Plus you have the added accuracy of having a long gun with a stock. Unless you fantasize about room clearing in a house with a lot of tight corners, there is not much a pistol will do better. I bought my wife a Mossberg 500 in 20ga. (after letting her try out many, some good advice about that above). I wouldn't hesitate to grab it myself should a situation arise.

 

[PAPACHUCK]

Ruger SP101, 3" .32H&R mag.

"nuff said.

 

[stevemis]

I'm with the other folks here on the shotgun. If it's for home defense, you can't beat a shotgun. I'd be hesitant to recommend anything other than a 12 gauge, though.

Take a look at the shorter barreled models, like the Mossberg 500 Cruiser. We've got one here at the house. I replaced the forestock with a second pistol grip and my wife (small frame) has no trouble at all with #00 Buck. My 67-year-old mother-in-law even shoots it. I always start them off with bird shot/target loads (very low recoil) and once they've warmed up, we move to the higher potency #00 Buck. You don't want to shoot #00 Buck through a pistol gripped shotgun all day since it's pretty rough on the hands, but otherwise completely manageable. Not a bad investment for $229 + $20 for the fore pistol grip.

Also, don't forget "youth model" shotguns. While I don't have any direct experience with them, I understand they are designed for kids and young adults. One of these in 12 gauge would probably fit your wife very well.

 

[distortion9]

While it's main purpose would be "house gun", I want her to have something she could toss in her purse if needed. Basically the reason a shotgun isn't really an option. Plus, we have a large dog that would ( hopefully ) be all over a BG should one be in my house. She would never fire a shottie in the direction of our dog and I wouldn't either. I'd most likely wind up having to crack someone in the face with the butt end. But yeah, I'd say 90% house gun 10% carry...something like that.

As an example, the other night I went to a hockey game with a buddy, stopped for a bite to eat and a couple of beers after the game. My wife is home when her sister calls and tells her that she locked herself out of her house. It's a little after 11pm and while it wasn't a far drive, only a couple of miles, I would have felt better if she could have tossed a pistol in her handbag.

Stupid little situations like that pop up from time to time....especially now with it getting dark early and Christmas coming up. My wife and sister in law go Christmas shopping together...mall parking lots....grocery shopping, etc.

She carries pepper spray now but she has her pistol license....may as well use it and get her a handgun.

 

[lanceman193]

My wife fits the above description at 4-11 and 100 with small hands.We settled for a 649 later pre-lock model,a .357 with 2 1/8 barrel.This one is small enough to put in her purse,but heavy enough so the recoil from a standard velocity 110 or 135 HP 38 special is easy enough to handle.I also had a local smith do a trigger job on it.I hate to admit this but the little one can outshoot me with this revolver.Just stick to lightweight ammo in a heavier small frame revolver.......

 

[usp9]

I recently went through the exercise of trying to get my wife to pick a gun she would use in a home defense situation. The BIG problem we faced was finding one she could load. Time after time each gun she tried was too hard for her to quickly, reliably rack the slide and load a snap cap. I didn't anticipate this being the problem it was. We finally landed on the HK USPc, my last gun before heading for the .22s.

 

[ThomasT]

Yes the .32 mag would be my recommendation. An sp101 with a 4" barrel if you can find one. For hame defense you don't need a snubby. The money you save buying only one gun can be used to buy practice ammo in .32 long and defense ammo in .32 mag.

Save your brass. Even if you don't reload now you might in the future.

The other alterative would be to buy a good .38 and try some of the light weight loads for Cowboy actin shooting for practice. I have a S&W model 10 for home defense mainly because my wife can operate it with little training.
I paid $200.00 out the door for it Its a skinny barrel marked RHKP on the backstrap. RHKP = Royal Hong Kong Police.

 

[ThomasT]

One other gun you might consider is a .22 caliber rifle. A Marlin model 60 can be had used for around $75.00 or so. I see them listed in the local paper and also pawn shops. I personally like the tube fed rifles because there is no magazine to misplace. The good thing about a detachable mag is you can keep it loaded and put up someplace high if you have small kids in the house.

The 22 is cheap to shoot, light weight and has no recoil. You can dump all 16 shots in less than 2 or 3 seconds into a target the size of a Grapefruit at 20 yards. Also no muzzle flash to blind you. With the extra velocity from a rifle length barrel hollow points should expand and not exit.

 

[bigred82]

My wife does not like the sharp recoil of the lightweight revolvers at all.

My wife has rather small hands. Around 5'4" tall. I took her to the gun store and had her hold everything available. She liked the HK P2000sk the most.

We ended up buying the HKP2000 instead, but she liked it so much that i eventually sold it to her.

I would certainly see what your wife thinks about it. The slide is pretty easy to pull.

 

[skarpenz]

My girl handles herself quite well with the Remington 870 Pump. It has pistol grips fore/rear and extended mag on it. She says it doesn't kick so bad with the #4 buckshot I keep in it. It is simple as hell to operate too, just click off the safety and pull the trigger, pump it, repeat. I think she would do fine with a shotgun, my gf is 5'3" and like 125lbs. Get your woman a shotgun!

 

[Jeff F]

We live in the country. The wife can handle an 870 pretty well so we have a couple three stashed around the house. Also have a revolver with .38s in it in the kitchen and another in the bedroom. Shes good with those also.

 

[Super Trucker]

Try a 3913 S&W 9mm, My wife sounds similar to yours and she loves this gun. Mine is about 15 years old so try to find her an older model, it is very easy to operate the slide and recoil is nothing.
BTW she did not like the long/heavy trigger on the 642 I used to own.

 

[sholling]

My first choice for her would be a S&W Lady Smith in 38spl. It's a great little snubbie for small handed ladies. And plenty of power to stop most bad guys. I'd pend some range time letting her practice with speedloaders and she'll be in good shape.

Later when she feels confident enough to look at semi autos I'd have her try out the S&W M&P Compact in 9mm. That's 12rds on tap and interchangeable grips so you can fit it to her small hands. There are a lot of tiny little things that swear by these.