Pistols for small hands

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braindead0

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Just thought I'd toss this in here. My wife has very small hands.. she's tried a lot of guns out and loved the Kahr K9, but the T9 was too big (that small)!

She had purchased a Taurus PT-111 which she likes, but the sight radius is pretty short and it sure didn't help with her times on the IDPA Classifier 20yard parts.

She liked the new "ladysmith" 9mm, but I pointed out the sight radius is not much better than her 111..

So, this weekend she handled a new G17 (with the molded in tac-rail and finger grooves). She loved it.. So, out comes the checkbook and off to the range.

The difference for her was amazing. I never imagined a full size Glock would work for her...but it did. Usually we start off with a warm up of 10rds COM at 7yds.... and usually she's all over the place until she gets a bit warmed up...

Not this time, all but one were perfect..
 
Recommending pistols for someone w/ small hands is very subjective. What may fit one may not fit another. Good to see your wife has found one that works for her in that Glock 17.
If you & your sife are still looking for alternatives, HK USPc, P7M8, and SIG 225 come to mind.
 
Maybe recoil is more of a factor than grip size. Small guns will fit small hands better, but they also will recoil more.

The G17 is bulky, but a pretty soft shooter.

The Kahr and Taurus have comparatively longer trigger strokes, too, which might make the difference. Dunno bout the Smith, but I'm guessing it's DA, at least on the first shot?
 
I think the smith was DAO. All I know is that prior to even firing she felt that it fit her hand well... she could reach all the controls and the like.

I agree it's way subjective, finger length, strength... lot's of factors.

I just found it amazing the difference the G17 made for her.. she's way jazzed now about shooting the next match ;-)
 
Have you considered Kel-Tec?

Nothing better than a P-11 if you get the right ammo for it. :D Hey, braindead0, good to see you here, assuming that you're the same monkeyboy that dropped in at KTOG. I know your Kel-Tec story, and I'm just having some fun you. I'm going down and ordering my P3AT sometime next week. Hey, I'm over 400 rounds now with my sorta new P-40 and no problemos - a really sweet little beast. Best regards, Keys aka John S.B. :cool:
 
Has she tried single stack pistols?

I found that I gravitated toward single stack pistols without realizing it. 1911s, P7M8 and a beretta 22 (throw in a double stack HK USPc). You might consider a revolver as well. A ruger sp101, S&W, etc., a good for small hands as well.
 
Yes, the Kahrs are single stack, she kinda liked BHP's but she couldn't quite reach the mag release easily. The S&W Ladysmith 9mm (not sure of model number) is a single stack as well..

I think people just need to keep trying to find the perfect firearm... I think she found hers ;-)
 
Hey, Brain
My wife has extremely small hands, too. Having just received her CCW, it's time to find her a comfortable carry piece. Will your lady be carrying the G17, or is it just for the range?
BTW...is there anything SEXIER than a woman shooting a gun??
 
Well, we don't have CCW here in Ohio yet...but we get out to PA pretty often (and I've got my permit there).

But, she'll be carrying her Taurus PT-111 or a Kahr K9 if she gets one. The G17 is a bit bigger than she would want to conceal..

Yeah, I know...practice with what you carry and all.. But she shoots the G17 so well that it keeps her practicing and shooting. Plus we both tend to swap handguns around and shoot them all.

Except my poor makarov has been a bit neglected lately...
 
I have little hands and I went around groping pistols at the gun show before I made my choice. I got plenty of attention from the salesguys. ;)

I absolutly hated the way Glocks felt, mainly because I couldn't get my thumb to touch my fingers. It just felt chunky. Apparently all Glocks are the same size grip-wise, some are just shorter than others. That's not cool.

I liked the Taurus mentioned above.

I ended up buying a Kahr MK9 because it felt best and also because of the aesthetics (hey - I AM female).
 
Way to go with the Glock. They fit my hand very well, especiall with a Houge handall on it. The Ruger P95 fits my hand very well too, but I don't like the way they shoot, but it sure does feel good in my hand.
 
My wife likes the Kahrs as well, but for competitive shooting the Glock is better for her due to the increased sight radius... That means she shoots better, and so she wants to shoot some more.. less stress and angst ;-).
 
If you can find someone at the range with a BHP and thin micarta Navidex grips, see if they will let her shoot it. She will be in love.
 
She's fired several BHP's, she likes them but she loves the Glock. I think the BHP's might be heavier than she'd like.. or something..

But I do agree, they seem to be pretty friendly for smaller hands.. even though they are full size.
 
I let them try everything. SOmetimes fullsize guns (with reasonable grips) are best, becuase they hit better, and sometimes the ergonomics on the fullsize guns are better than little guns. Hitting the 10-ring has them coming back for more.
 
It sure does, and she's had opportunites to shoot just about everything.. Funny though, when she took a Semi-Auto class.. the had pretty much everything you can imagine (I brought my Makarov, which one of the ladies loved)..

But I don't remember if she actually fired any Glocks, she tried this and that and then the instructor handed her a K9... and that was that..

Luckily we have a lot of people in our club with a wide array of firearms.. she's been able to shoot a lot of things.. I just hope she doesn't fall in love with something else.. cause she'll expect me to buy it for her!!! On the other hand, then I get to buy something for me!:neener:
 
A girlfriend of mine with small hands loved the feel of the 9mm/.40 frame, but *without* finger grooves. She said the finger grooves put spread her fingers too far apart.
 
That's funny, the had a pre-finger-groove used G17, she tried it and didn't like it...

Just goes to show how personal it is..
 
Your tale another good indication of why it's not good to just assume that a certain gun will "fit".

The very first gun I bought specifically for use by CHL students was a Glock 17. The second one was a "Lady K-9", purchased for use by those with smaller hands.

As it turned out, I liked the K-9 so well that it became my "always gun" for over two years. (And no one chose to razz me about the "Lady" engraving ;) Lady version, BTW, is no longer in production.)

But, I found the K-9 to be quite heavy, especially during the summer when in shorts. Loaded with 7 + 1, the K-9 weighs exactly TWO POUNDS, identical to much bigger Glock 17 with 17 +1.

I suspect the model number of the Smith single-stack mentioned is the 3913. About the same size as K-9.

You and/or The Wife might want to look hard at the polymer Kahrs. I picked up on new PM9 a while back and it goes loaded at 19.4 ounces with 6 + 1. With 7 round mag that comes in box, the grip length on PM9 is back about the same as K-9.

But ... If the 17 runs good for The Wife, hey, YEA! I, too, love to see 'em get to acting like professional Glockslingers!
 
Lady shooter...

I have piano hands and very small. I've never had trouble holding any kind of a gun but I own two Beretta type M compacts (permit restrictions). Single stack, slender -- worth at look at. I love mine.:D
 
Mastro, I can't believe I haven't asked this yet, but do your hands fit well around the full size Berettas?

Piano hands huh? I chopped off and reattached my strong hand pinky when I was a kid .... in a door...ouch. It's about a qtr inch shorter than my support hand pinky...made piano difficult as a kid. I quit piano but that pinky is useless in on the banjo and shooting so I don't really care! :p
 
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