Large frame .380 pistols?

[Rescue]

Non-wife? So I suppose women can't shoot big manly calibers? Hmmm, THR Moderator Emeritus PAX (Kathy Jackson) is a long time handgun instructor and shoots whatever she darn well pleases. THR member Springmom has a Ruger SRH in 44 Mag that she shoots pretty darn well http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=235543. I reckon I should just PM these two ladies, and get their respective husbands' e-mail adresses.

Of course women can (and do) shoot whatever they want. What I meant by a "wife gun" is that many women are not confortable shooting big caliber guns, I´d go as far as saying that women are an absolute minority among all firearm enthusiasts. It is also common for a more experienced husband to help his wife choosing a pistol. Women have smaller hands, smaller frame pistols (like the .380s on today´s market) fit their hands more confortably than in the hands of a man.

You just read too much into my "non-wife" comment.

Seriously there's more too it than "non-compact, non-backup..." in a large frame .380. [...] Fact is many folks run into problems that make them unable to use a large caliber or ultra small/light handgun.[...]You've got to keep your options open and get a gun that fits what you want or many times need.

I appreciate your comments. My point is that, for me personally, all .380s currently in the market come in small, light, backup configurations, and I happen to dislike that kind of pistols. Preference for grip and frame sizes are largely a personal issue, so far all the kind suggestions I was given in this thread are smaller than what I am looking for. Me and others have pointed out that because of the inherent characteristics of the 380acp, perhaps there is little reason for a big pistol in that caliber, which brings us back to my difficulty in finding one.

 

[ugaarguy]

Of course women can (and do) shoot whatever they want. What I meant by a "wife gun" is that many women are not confortable shooting big caliber guns, I´d go as far as saying that women are an absolute minority among all firearm enthusiasts. It is also common for a more experienced husband to help his wife choosing a pistol. Women have smaller hands, smaller frame pistols (like the .380s on today´s market) fit their hands more confortably than in the hands of a man.

You just read too much into my "non-wife" comment.

I appreciate your comments. My point is that, for me personally, all .380s currently in the market come in small, light, backup configurations, and I happen to dislike that kind of pistols. Preference for grip and frame sizes are largely a personal issue, so far all the kind suggestions I was given in this thread are smaller than what I am looking for. Me and others have pointed out that because of the inherent characteristics of the 380acp, perhaps there is little reason for a big pistol in that caliber, which brings us back to my difficulty in finding one.

I didn't mean to read too much into the comments, and I'm sorry that I did. On the other hand I've seen too many comments from women who were put off by folks thinking that they can't something (many times not even gun related) just because they're female. I've also seen both men and women with very small and very big hands, many times not necessarily related to body size/build either. As far as a male dominated shooting culture I think some of has to do with how the gun culture specifically developed in the course of history, and also more complex socialogical issues in the overall human culture. Of course, I'm not a Pshycolgist, nor a Sociologist, so I'm a bit over my head on those areas.

I see your desire for a non-convential, by current thinking, .380 pistol. My thoughts again, involve our current "magnum culture" where we're trying to cram the biggest hottset cartridge we can into the smallest and lightest gun possible. Ruger's SRH Alaskan line, the S&W Survival Kit X Frame snubbies & PD series scandium revolvers come to mind. Sadly we've seen a loss of variety of guns like Colt's Officers target & Ace (dedicated 22 LR full size 1911 type pistol), the S&W K-22 series, and 22 LR or lighter centerfire chambered fullsize handguns as a result of this "magnum mentality". Unfortunately this has limited your options in a larger .380 pistol. The pistols mentioned in this thread are certainly heavweights for a .380 when the offering from Kel-Tec, SeeCamp, Rohrbaugh, NAA, and Kahr in .380, 9mm, and even a few larger chamberings, are compared.

Of course we can't ignore operating mechanisms either. Most fullsize pistols are tilt breech or otherwise locked breech designs, and most .380 and smaller pistols are blowback. It seems most folks want a .22LR top end for cheap plinking if they opt for a bbl & slide conversion. Everything just adds up against large frame .380s. Even if Glock could import their mid size .380s (GCA '68 aside) I wonder if they'd have enough demand that they would. I think you may have to compromise and get the biggest of the smallish medium .380s that you can find. Good luck in the hunt.

 

[Flopsy]

I carry my Beretta 84F often.

Actually, I had it at the range yesterday, and its accuracy always makes me smile. I suck, so when I was practicing headshots at 15 feet and I got 15 out of 17 rounds through the head I was pretty happy.