AStone
Member
Good choices, dude.
LCR Alternatives
- Thread starter 2WheelsGood
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Magnumite
Member
2WheelsGood, my LCR is a 38 Spec gun. I am sure it would help. My old model 36 was almost 23 ounces and it wasn't gentle, though not fierce either.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
I'm surprised your wife picked the SP101, it's on the large side for it's weight. The S&W M60, M640 or M649 is slightly smaller with better lines IMO while they still weight enough to take the bite out of the ammo.
I own a M640 and it's fairly comfortable to shoot with .357 Magnum ammo or at least no worse than a M642 or M442 with .38 Special +P ammo is to shoot.
I own a M640 and it's fairly comfortable to shoot with .357 Magnum ammo or at least no worse than a M642 or M442 with .38 Special +P ammo is to shoot.
Tacoma
Member
Anything in a similar weight range is going to be "snappy". If you started her with 38 target loads, she might be all right but if your thinking full bore loads, she may shy from the gun quickly. Worse yet 99.9% of people who try 357 in a sub 15 oz gun are going to HATE it. I doubt your experience will be any different. It's not snappy, it painful. It's unrealistic to think she will be different.
That said, she is smart in wanting a revolver. It will suit her much better to learn on and is simple as a hammer to use under stress.
I would point you towards a S&W K frame in a 2.5-4" barrel to start . That will give you the extra weight to absorb recoil and let her work on her comfort/accuracy skills. It will also give you HUGE options for grips to help control recoil. When the time comes for CCW, she may want something smaller and lighter but then she will have an excuse and the skills to move her down in size. My second choice would be a full steel/stainless J frame S&W . Same size as the J frame/LCR but a full 9 oz heavier. Not a great learnign gun, but acceptable.
You need to understand that like golf clubs you can't get one gun to do everything even remotely well. CCW needs and lthe ideal skills building needs are not closely related in most cases.
hth
That said, she is smart in wanting a revolver. It will suit her much better to learn on and is simple as a hammer to use under stress.
I would point you towards a S&W K frame in a 2.5-4" barrel to start . That will give you the extra weight to absorb recoil and let her work on her comfort/accuracy skills. It will also give you HUGE options for grips to help control recoil. When the time comes for CCW, she may want something smaller and lighter but then she will have an excuse and the skills to move her down in size. My second choice would be a full steel/stainless J frame S&W . Same size as the J frame/LCR but a full 9 oz heavier. Not a great learnign gun, but acceptable.
You need to understand that like golf clubs you can't get one gun to do everything even remotely well. CCW needs and lthe ideal skills building needs are not closely related in most cases.
hth
2WheelsGood
Member
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- Dec 2, 2010
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Agreed, and I have no intention of pushing her to try a .357 at all. I got the .357 for me.
The M640 is beautiful but a bit more money. This is an experiment, so cost was an issue. If she ends up loving it, I'll let her decide if she wants to spend more money on something else.
I was shocked how much lighter the .357 version of the LCR was than the SP101. It was a huge difference. I can't imagine yet another 4 ounces less! Admittedly I wanted the LCR more than the SP101, but I still pushed her towards the SP101. It does feel good in the hand. Hopefully the Hogue grip makes it even better.
alemonkey
Member
Good choice on the SP101. I picked one up for my mom as her first gun. With .38's it's pretty mild. Much easier to shoot than my 642. With +P's that gun is just downright nasty. The SP101 has a full grip and a lot more weight, so recoil is very manageable.
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