So you want to buy your girlfriend/wife a gun

[KimberUltra]

My girlfriend is being difficult. She loves shooting my 1911, but it would be too big for her to carry. I had her try my lc9 and she hates the double action trigger (alot of it due to her being weak to stabilize the gun with the heavy trigger) She's not so much interested in carrying as much as she just want's to have her own pistol to go shooting with. She loves my Kimber and I'm looking into the 9mm kimbers for her.

 

[Haywireranch]

My wife wanted a pistol for s.d. We went to the local gun store and she got the s&w 637 she liked the fact That it was light and she can pull back the hammer and not have to worry about heavy trigger pull, and she shoots it very well. A perfect match.

 

[George1951]

My wife asked for a Glock for Xmas 2010... so I bought her a G17... much to the deep disappointment of us both.... total piece of crap....been in the shop [ Glock - Atlanta ] longer than we owned it [new} prior to problems.... when I asked that it be repaired under warranty, they refused, and wanted MORE money from me....

 

[RugerNut9]

"My wife asked for a Glock for Xmas 2010... so I bought her a G17... much to the deep disappointment of us both.... total piece of crap....been in the shop [ Glock - Atlanta ] longer than we owned it [new} prior to problems.... when I asked that it be repaired under warranty, they refused, and wanted MORE money from me...."
Really!? This is unheard of.... a Glock with problems?? You sure it wasnt a Sigma series

 

[RugerMcMarlin]

Wife/girlfriends gun

Maybe its because I've had more of the wrong kind of experiances with guns and women. But I've found it to be a bad mix. You should be prepared to deal with the irony, that not only is she shooting at you with the gun You got for her, but that you taught her exactly how it works.

 

[bigfatdave]

Sounds like the common factor was YOU, RugerMcMarlin, if that has happened more than once

 

[RugerMcMarlin]

I took a poll of my ex-girl friends and they are in strong agreement with you. Does it help to get along with them if you think like one?

 

[spyderhead]

I made the mistake of buying my wife's first handgun : Lady Smith 38 (talk about a total unshootable POS!) . . . after we got rid of it, we did it the right way. She shot every one of my guns (including the 10mm) and decided the Glock 26 was perfect for her. And it is. She is both very good and quite comfortable with it.

 

[Robbins290]

My wife shoots a ss 1911, carrys a colt mustang plus two and shoots a sks and ruger 1022

 

[PursesRHolsters]

Im a 30 yr. old 5ft 4in 130lb. woman. I have shot for years and find that firearms are very different for each woman. I use a Para .45 auto for home defense and a little .32 auto for carry. Most women who are new to firearms are more comfortable with revolvers, because of the simplicity. Listen to your lady and let her decide for herself what if anything she wants. I would also recommend that she put no less than 100 rounds thru it totally unassisted, before you both feel comfortable in her abilities. Its not a girl thing, its just a smart thing to do for anyone who is new to the sport.

 

[CHEVELLE427]

after letting my GF shoot my target 22's to learn on ,,,,,,,nothing less will do now. BOUGHT HER A WALTER P22 and it shot all over after going from quarter groups to all over the P22 had to go.

now she has her own target gun in the mail (hope it is as good as mine ), she also does well with her SW CS9 AND MY XDSC40 , SO I FIGURED SHE WOULD DO GOOD WITH A XDSC9 wrong, didnt like it WTH.

good thing i have a few for her to try on for size or we would go broke looking for that perfect one for her

 

[ErikO]

I'm (hopefully!) taking my wife to the range on Saturday to see what she wants to get. She and I agree that 22LR pistols are a good way to start learning (or in my case, re-learning) how to shoot properly.

 

[LowerLeft]

Ha! Went to a gun show over the weekend - wife was talking about getting a taser - turns out her flavor is .38 special...lol

 

[Patrice]

Hhmmm....I'm thinking guys might ought to just function in the role of a consultant (i.e., provide their best advice or refer to those who can provide such), and let the spouse/girlfriend choose. Being able to say she bought it for herself is far less embarrassing a tale to tell in a hospital, should the purchase ever be used in a manner not anticipated by the husband/boyfriend.--Patrice

 

[CathyGo]

What's with the hang up on compact pistols? Just because women have smaller hands doesn't mean they should have a smaller gun. Most of the time the grip diameter is the same anyway. And if you feel it's "less threatening" get over it. Once a new shooter gets over a fear/mistrust of guns anything short of the large bore magnums is about the same size and much more comfortable to shoot than those little compacts.

Every single female MP learns on the Beretta M9. That's a large frame pistol. Let me repeat that. Every single one of us handles and fires a large frame pistol. Get over the small pistol mentality.

 

[RugerMcMarlin]

I had 1 girlfriend that came already proficient with handguns, guns of choice,
Browning High Power, CZ75, iron curtain edition. She was one of the scariest chicks I've ever known, god I miss her.



Problem "...my girlfriend enjoys shooting my 1911......" so get her one. what problem?

 

[thedrewcifur]

ig i buy my girlfriend a gun its a gift that she wants. she knows what she likes and is good with guns.

 

[bassdogs]

Purchased a Judge Public Defender for my wife. Have it loaded with 2 winchester PD 410 rounds followed with a 45LC HP. #4 is another PD round and #5 another 45 HP. The Public Defender has a snub barrel and a much smaller grip than the full sized judge. Fits a small hand and the rubber grip is easy to grip.

Its a point and shoot gun so you don't have to be a marksman to hit your target.

 

[Rorschach256]

My experience so far buying my wife her first gun

My wife has never really been real interested in shooting. She CAN shoot, but it just hasn't been a high priority with her. I've had her and the daughters to the range to familiarize them with the guns I have in the off chance that they find themselves needing to use one of them. They've fired my .380 Taurus PT 58s carry pistol and my S&W Model 65 .357 (using .38 Spl loads), and my Ruger Mk II Gov. target model so they are familiar with the mechanics of shooting (for the most part, i find I have to remind them how to grip it and manipulate the levers and such because they haven't done it in a while). My wife however recently decided she wants to get a CHL. But she is a very frugal sort and blanched at the prices of new shooting irons. (one reason why I don't have a larger collection.). She did not want to carry a revolver because she doesn't like that it has no safety, so the model 65 was a non-starter (besides it is big.). she likes the Taurus, it fits her hands and the recoil is manageable. but I've had problems with it of late and besides that is my carry pistol, if she carries it i'd have to get a replacement. so off to the range we go with a buddy that has a more extensive collection. She really didn't know what she wanted or even what criteria to look at/think about so we talked about the advantages and disadvantages of various types of guns and features. She was not at all a fan of what Glock euphemistically calls a "safety" (neither am I.). She is still kinda skiddish around guns and likes the idea of a positive safety for something that will be stuffed in her purse. She at first thought she might like a mousegun like a Ruger LCP until she shot my buddy's. She hated the long DAO trigger and the thing kept trying to climb out of her hands. So the microgun concept was also a non starter. she shot my buddy's SR9C and liked it a lot. so now I had two examples of what she liked. now it was time to go find something similar enough that she'll carry it and shoot it but was cheap enough that she didn't use it on me when she saw the bill. so for cost reasons buying used was the only thing that made sense. So I started crawling through the online gun auction sites looking for ideas. I ended up settling on a S&W model 915 which is the same size and approximate weight as the Taurus, shoots the 9mm like the SR9C but with a little more mass to eat recoil with, and has a good reputation as a reliable workhorse gun while being relatively inexpensive on the used market. It arrived Wednesday and I've been giving it the once over in cleaning and maintenance to verify it is functional. This weekend we will begin going to the range to acclimate her to it. If she likes it, great. If not she can have my Taurus and I'll carry the S&W. While I did the "choosing", it was based on feedback and discussions with her. Hopefully things will work out. If not, I guess we'll be gun shopping again real soon....

 

[CHEVELLE427]

my GF has gone through more guns then i care to pay for.

when she was in the navy she got to shoot a Beretta M9 but says they didn't get to shoot much at all, that shocked me somewhat i would have though shooting would have been a have too, but i guess an er nurse didn't have to as much ,,, i don't know. she has shot 10x more with me then the 8 years in the navy

she has settled on practice gun it is a HS SK100 & A browning nomad i had so i bought her a nomad just like it , now she says she has two, accurate and affordable quarter groups at 15-20yd standing (NO REST). we have had people say they cant get groups like that with there gun so she lets them shoot her's and after a mag they ask

WERE CAN I GET ONE OF THEM

she can spend all day shooting at 1 shoot - n - see target, think she has gone through 8k of my 22 stash , she will shoot the center out of 1 one inch squire and move to the next.

as for a larger gun it has come down to

a SW cs9 small enough to conceal and heavy enough to help with recoil.

and she has laid claim to MY xdsc9

she has shot my xd45 and xdsc40 but the 9 has it.


she also has very week wrest (medically) so light guns don't work well
(been through a lc9 , keltec 380, pf9, p11 , keltec 32, lcp, bersa 380, she did like a Walter p22 but the one we had sucked for accuracy, MY sw mod 10 38 is ok but she does not like a revolver much)

so you can see i have spent a lot to find a gun that fits her .
shot placement is key word for finding a gun for the wife/GF,


PS: she has laid claim to all my guns even though she cant shoot some.

we go to the rang she has 5-9 on her station and i have 2

 

[Picher]

Actually, there is a new CCI? round for .22 WMRs that will give respectable velocities out of short-barreled revolvers. The ideal situation for someone who doesn't want heavy recoil would be a convertible double-action revolver in both .22LR and .22WMR. It could be a 2.5" barrelled cutie with decent grips. I believe that Taurus and perhaps S&W are making such guns. Charter Arms said they were, but I never saw a real one.

Such a gun may get a woman shooting and enjoying it, then have pretty close to .32 stopping power with the Mags. A bullet that hits the right place is much better than a more adequate one that doesn't because a person is afraid to practice with it.

 

[Jath]

this is a very good post. I think all of us should take this advice. If I hadn't gotten my wife what she wanted, she likely would never have shot it. As it stands, she LOVES her Bersa Firestorm. She practically won't shoot anything else except to try it out. And she is deadly accurate with that thing too. Her first shot always hits. I say, who cares that it's a .380, so long as she has a gun that she's willing to shoot at all.

 

[gloucestergarand]

The wifey learned and practiced with a 6-inch Colt Trooper and a 6-inch King Cobra. She's a better shot that I! But when it came time for her to choose, she wanted something she was comfortable and confident with that she could use and not hesitate with....sorry previous poster, but her S&W stainless Ladysmith in .38 is her personal firearm of choice!

Actually, her favorite (on full auto to boot) was a .40cal H&K MP5 with our county SWAT team! That put one heck of a smile on her face!

 

[1858remington]

WOW!!! this thread really took off. Its great to see that it has helped so many.

 

[petitelady]

from a female point of view...

You guys have it figured out about letting the lady pick it out. I have bought for myself a Colt Python w/6" barrel and another .357, a S&W 640-1 Centenniel J-frame which is my favorite daily carry firearm. My CC instructor favored semi-autos and I didn't mind qualifying with a Glock 9mm. BUT, then I let myself be talked into (by my husband and other well-meaning friends and assorted relatives) buying a Bersa Thunder .380. I haven't been to the range with it yet. So I will go and give it a chance, but I don't think I'm going to like it; I don't feel confident racking the slide. I have had two semi-autos jam on me, one of them being the Glock I qualified with and yes, you really can jam a Glock. I think I have a talent for jamming semi-autos. I don't like "plastic" guns (I'm not saying they are bad; they just aren't right for me.) I think they recommended the .380 for me because I'm small, (5' 2" and 115 lbs.), female and have delicate looking hands and wrists. I still prefer the two .357's I picked out and bought for myself (previous to my marriage.) Maybe I will like the .380 enough to carry as a BUG in a gun purse. Or maybe I'll trade it in on something else I like better when I see it. All that being said, I really appreciate all you men who have had the good sense to let your lady pick out her own gun; she'll LOVE you for it!