Need Help: Gun for Wife

[Deer_Freak]

I tried to shop with my wife. I never could find anything she liked. Finally I just backed out of the picture and let her select her own gun. After a couple months she came home with a Ruger SP101 in 357 mag. About a year after she got the SP101 she figured out how to pull the slide back on a semi auto. Now she carries a Kel Tec P11. The SP101 has become a safe queen. I prefer my old Charter mag pug.

If I didn't have the Charter or it needed service I would carry the SP101. I hunt with a 357 mag so there is always plenty of 357 ammo here.

 

[BLB68]

Cz 83 is similar; both blowback .380s but pretty big and heavy. Lc380 isn't a blowback so even though the gun is lighter the recoil is pretty mild.

The PK380 isn't a direct blowback. Here's a quote from the Gunblast review:

However, instead of using a blowback action, the Walther uses a locked breech short-recoil design. One of the primary advantages to this is that the PK380 does not have to use an excessively stiff recoil spring. While that might not be important to many, it is very important to those who might not have sufficient hand strength to pull back the slide in order to load most semi-auto pistols.

I was thinking that last bit might be useful to the OP.

 

[doc2rn]

I would look for a WW2 C&R in .32 ACP. I might even look for an old Bersa in .32. I shoot the .32 H&R Mag out of a 6 shot Ruger sp 101 and it is truely one of my favorites. I have a wrist injury and I am recoil sensitive, but these cartidges where used by police for a very long time, and they dont hurt me when shot out of a full sized platform. You might even try to find an old S&W revolver in .32 s&w if your a reloader.

 

[David4516]

Walther PK380 sounds good, at least on paper. It's a locked action instead of a blow-back, it's large enough that the recoil should be more manageable, and its single action so easy trigger pull.

But I've done some research and the gun gets awful reviews. Apparently it's not actually made by Walther, but some other company and Walther / S&W just imports them? :banghead:

If it were a more solid/reliable gun I'd consider it for sure, assuming of course that the wife likes it.

Does anybody else make a DA/SA or SAO (no DAOs please) .380 or .32 that is NOT blow back? Beretta Tomcat or Sig P238 might be the only other options?

In other news, the new grip for the Taurus 85 is here, I am going to pick it up later this afternoon at the post office. Will try it out and report back here. I am hoping that it will fit my wife’s hands better than the stock grips...

 

[David4516]

Ok installed the new grips last night. They are a little thinner, and they do make it easier for her to reach the trigger. Won't know for sure how well they'll work for her until we can go shoot the thing. We are planning to do so sometime later this week (possibly as soon as tomorrow), and I will report our findings when we do.

 

[Apple a Day]

Good luck!

 

[jringo]

99% of women and 98% of men will be better served with a double action revolver.

 

[David4516]

Well the new grips were mostly successful, we went shooting yesterday and tested them. They were small enough to enable my wife to reach the trigger while maintaining a proper grip on the gun. The only downside is that felt recoil is a little higher than it was with the old grips. She's still comfortable shooting it though, so I'll say mission accomplished.

The Taurus did have a couple of failures to fire, out of about 50 rounds total. First one went "bang" on the second strike, but we did have one round that refused to go "bang" no matter how many times the hammer hit it. I can't tell if we have a bad batch of primers (these were reloads with primers of unknown origin, my dad gave them too me but I don't know where he got them), or if the spring is weakening on the gun? If you pull the trigger slowly on a DA revolver, will it cause it to have a lighter strike?

 

[Ziggidy]

Great info here

Great information here.

I too am trying to find my wife something. She has rheumatoid arthritis in her small hands and is also very petite. She is very new (range once) with her MarkIII - she loves it but racking it is very hard, to hard for my eyes. She did very well, but.....

I have been looking around and was thinking something in a revolver that uses 32 mag. It seems as though they were being made, but I cannot find anything around. No one has one to look at and forget about trying to rent one.

I have read the recoil is light and the fact it is a revolver and does nto require a slide - sounds perfect to me but cannot find any.

Any thoughts on a 32 H&R mag pistol (Taurus, Charter?) The others are out of my price range at this time.

 

[David4516]

Ziggidy,

Watch out, there are 2 different ".32 Mag"s out there. You've got the original .32 mag, aka .32 H&R mag, and then there is the newer .327 mag.

If you're looking for lower recoil, I think you want to stick with .32 H&R mag. It looks like an interesting round to me, I am surprised that they aren't more popular. I've thought about getting one of these:

http://www.heritagemfg.com/site/department.cfm?id=201

I already have one of their .22LR pistols and really like it. This probably won't help you though, as I assume that you're looking for a double action, and not a single action?

If you needed to, you might be able to get a .38 and just buy "lite" ammo for it, check this out:

http://www.hornady.com/store/38-Special-90-gr-FTX-Critical-Defense-lite/

I would like to get some of these for my wife, but it's hard to find ammo right now. Hope prices and availability improve soon. In the mean time, we've just been shooting reloads with lead bullets.

In the worst case scenario, you could try .25 ACP. Yeah it's on the weak side, but it's a step up from .22LR (despite what some would tell you), and you can find some very nice pistols in this cartridge (again, despite rumors that they're all "junk"). If you get a Beretta .25 with a "tip up" barrel, there is no slide racking to worry about. It's a very cool feature.

I am tempted to have my wife check out the .32 Beretta "Tomcat", I think that she'd like it based on our positive experiences with the .25s...

 

[Apple a Day]

Double check me but I believe the .327 magnum can fire H&R magnums and S&W Longs.
Ruger used to make an SP-101 in .327 magnum.

 

[Potatohead]

Then we tried a Sig P238 and she loved it. Easy to rack, soft recoil for a small .380 (some can be very sharp), excellent Sig sights (uncommon on pocket size guns), light weight, and a very good trigger. The pistol is set up like a sub compact 1911 (but it's not a 1911) in that it's functionality, controls, and ergonomics are very similar. Really terrific small pistol. They can be tough to find, but worth the effort

This...

They are expensive though

 

[orionengnr]

You have received a broad spectrum of replies. Some are reasonable, some are ludicrous. You have not stated your wife's age. Others are saying that their 4'9" 90 lb wife can handle so-and-so...but she may be 20 years old. That is all well and good for her (and for him) but of no value to you.

Likewise, concealing a 686 is not in the cards for many full-grown men, much less an older, petite and possibly somewhat frail woman.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the cornered cat website (www.corneredcat.com). Kathy is a knowledgeable and valued resource, and her website specifically caters to women who chose to carry, and the men who love them. Start there.

If I read your posts correctly, and your wife is comfortable with a small (j-frame sized) revolver, I would encourage you to try the addition of a Crimson Trace laser grip. Some of them have add very little to the grip circumference (or trade length for width) while adding some air space as a cushion against recoil. Not sure what they make for Taurus, but they offer an extensive line of quality laser grips. (The laser helps as a training aid for point shooting, too.)

Finally, I am not going off on a Taurus bash here...but if this gun is not 110% reliable, get one that is. There are many different but similarly sized S&W j-frame revolvers in different calibers that all use the same grip (and the same size of crimson trace). External hammer, shrouded hammer, internal hammer...stainless, blued steel, aluminum alloy in black anodized or silver...Scandium ultralights...the world is your oyster.

Enjoy, and happy hunting.

Best, Rich