Something for the wife...

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gt3944

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What's going on guys, once again have a problem on my hands..I've always considered getting my wife a sidearm for her protection and my kids as well. Unfortunately she's always refused, she even gets upset about the fact that I carry about 75% of the time..Recently there have been breakins, and home invasions around my house, so ive made up my mind..Now can anyone give me advise on a small reliable cheap sidearm that i can get her...reason for cheap is that the expenive factor thing scares her..
 
This may be my naive, 19 year old way of thinking, but this doesn't sound like a good idea...
Sure, having a gun is certainly better than not having one.
But the idea of forcing a gun on someone who doesn't want anything to do with them sits sour with me.
As for small, cheap guns; have you looked at Kel-Tec?
 
Are you looking for a carry gun for her, or a gun to keep for home defense? If a carry gun then yes, size and weight will be a factor in getting her to even consider carrying it regularly. But for home defense a larger gun is probably more suitable since a revolver such as a K-frame Smith & Wesson with a four or six inch barrel is generally easier to shoot more accurately than a small snubnose or tiny pistol.

For people who aren't enthusiastic about carrying a gun, or even keeping one around the house, I always recommend a revolver for their simplicity and reliability. I also recommend going no larger than a .38spl. since the recoil and muzzle blast of more powerful calibers can be a real detriment to getting the person to practice enough to maintain their proficiency with the gun.

I've always felt the S&W models 10 and 15 and their stainless counterparts are ideal personal protection guns. Simple, accurate, reliable, well made and very affordable on the used market. The single action trigger pull is almost always light and beautifully crisp, plus the double action trigger pull can be lightened significantly by simply replacing the mainspring and the trigger return spring.
 
Don't get her a gun unless she is ready to shoot someone with it. Giving her a gun without the proper mindset doesn't help her safety.

Maybe you could start her off with some OC spray?
 
there's no doubt she would use one if she had too, but she worries about the kids and having guns around them...and if I hadn't mentioned it she has shot my p95 before and she will be taking lessons..and oh yeah she has small hands so it has to be small..
 
ShackleMeNot said:
Don't get her a gun unless she is ready to shoot someone with it. Giving her a gun without the proper mindset doesn't help her safety.

Maybe you could start her off with some OC spray?
Click to expand...


Best advice Ive seen! If shes not ready it could turn out to be more dangerous than the situation already is. Within the last 2 months my long time girlfriend/future wife got into to shooting when we went to the range. She loved my P22 and a 6" .357 but hated my P99compact 9mm. She then told me she wanted a gun that was hers for at home and one day to carry. She saw the S&W 60LS(LadySmith) .357 and fell in love. So I have one on order that Im gonna give her for Valentines Day!:D Romantic Huh! She is a very petite 26 year old women and I always worried when she was home alone. So I wanted her to at least know how to shoot some of the guns I have in the house in case of an emergency. She had never shot a pistol before. We went to the range one and she kicked ass. It made her feel great about herself and she got interested in guns and shooting. I suggest you get her to the range and go from there!
 
Without the will to use it, a gun is worse than useless.

pax
 
take her to the range and have her shoot the new smith and wesson .500 with the heaviest load you can find. that should help.:neener: just kidding...lol, i'm bored and in one of those punchy moods.

seriously though, if she does not want to shoot, and does not understand and practice proper gun safety then getting her a gun could be the worst thing you can do. you'd be better off getting her a hatchet instead. but if she is willing and has the desire to learn then get her some professional training, along with lots of range time. this will help to ensure that she will safetly and properly handle the weapon for home defense and fun. :)

i would get her a .22 first because it is easy, cheap, and fun to shoot. dont get one of those tiny guns that will slide bite your hand and have no accuracy. get one with at least a 4 1/2 inch barrel. ruger makes some nice .22 pistols that can be had for under $300 new, used would be even cheaper, and they are quality.
heres the website...http://www.ruger.com/Firearms/P-CategoryPistolsRF.html

good luck,
 
Ummm... Guys... Pax is right. You can debate the best gun to learn on till hell freezes over, but if she don't have the will to use a weapon, you might as well hand the weapon to the bad guy and tell him "have at it". Somebody mentioned a hatchet, but if she won't use a firearm, what makes anybody think she'll use a hatchet? The difference in contact distance between a gun and a hatchet makes the hatchet the nastier weapon to use. The gun is just a tool, but the mind is the weapon and if the intended user lacks the will to fight, the tool is useless.

My sister likes her Taurus 85 too. She can make fist-sized groups with it at normal in-house contact distances out to 7yds. She can hit gallon jugs and bottles out to 20-25yds with it. While she's had it out a couple of times thinking "home invader", she's never had to confront a BG and she don't like to talk "tactical" even though she married an ex-cop who seems to like that sort of thing. The times she had it out was when he heard something outside or in their garage and she was going to cover his six.

Legionnaire said:
Read this thread: http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=172170

pax makes some excellent observations relevant to your question.
Click to expand...

I second that suggestion. It's a real good read.
 
As others have said before me, she's got to have the will to use the gun. You need to ask her if she could kill an intruder with the gun. If she says no, she shouldn't have a gun. If she says yes, you go from there.

If your wife does decide in the affirmative, she needs to practice regularly with whatever gun(s) she chooses. She needs to know its manual of arms, malfunction clearance, defensive marksmanship, as well as the state laws & legal issues involved. Professional training is also highly recommended.

As far as what gun to get, I would suggest you have her try out various types of guns, so she can pick what works for her. When I went gun shopping with my wife, everyone suggested .38 snubbys and baby Glocks; she ended up picking a CZ PCR, and later a Firestorm .380, and she shoots very well with them.
 
Since you mentioned the firestorm, I wanted to ask what you guys thought abouth it and the Taurus Millenium??


DirksterG30 said:
As others have said before me, she's got to have the will to use the gun. You need to ask her if she could kill an intruder with the gun. If she says no, she shouldn't have a gun. If she says yes, you go from there.

If your wife does decide in the affirmative, she needs to practice regularly with whatever gun(s) she chooses. She needs to know its manual of arms, malfunction clearance, defensive marksmanship, as well as the state laws & legal issues involved. Professional training is also highly recommended.

As far as what gun to get, I would suggest you have her try out various types of guns, so she can pick what works for her. When I went gun shopping with my wife, everyone suggested .38 snubbys and baby Glocks; she ended up picking a CZ PCR, and later a Firestorm .380, and she shoots very well with them.
Click to expand...
 
I recommend you buy her a gun that you yourself really really like ...



... since you're the only one who's ever going to shoot it.

Don
 
While I am not a wife, has anyone picked up a "new" S&W sigma? I have heard they are much improved and going for around $250. I'd like to get one, but I have heard nothing but bad things about their predecessors.
 
you want cheap or you want reliable???

gt3944 said:
What's going on guys, once again have a problem on my hands..I've always considered getting my wife a sidearm for her protection and my kids as well. Unfortunately she's always refused, she even gets upset about the fact that I carry about 75% of the time..Recently there have been breakins, and home invasions around my house, so ive made up my mind..Now can anyone give me advise on a small reliable cheap sidearm that i can get her...reason for cheap is that the expenive factor thing scares her..
Click to expand...

For heaven's sake. This is your wife. You want her to be able to reliably fire this thing, right?

First of all, YOU do not buy it FOR her, you let HER pick it out. You cannot judge what will feel good to her grip, what will be "too much gun" for her to control (maybe she can shoot a .50 cal, but it is for HER to find out). Take her to a range and let her try a series of guns; XD, S&W J frame revolvers, Bersas, and tell her "Honey, we'll get whatever you want; you are worth whatever it costs a zillion times over; we want you to have the best."

And then DO THAT.

My first gun, FWIW, was/is the Springfield XD-40. Not a bank-breaker, shoots every time, shoots where you point it, makes a nice hole.

Springmom
 
gt3944 said:
Since you mentioned the firestorm, I wanted to ask what you guys thought abouth it and the Taurus Millenium??
Click to expand...

I am impressed by the Firestorm. I think it is a twin of the Bersa .380. Nice sights (like Glock factory sights), excellent grip, 100% reliable. I wish my wife had liked the Kahrs, as I'd rather she carry at least a 9mm (her PCR is a little big for her to carry), but of all the guns we tried she liked the Firestorm the best, and it's got to work for her.

The Firestorm's finish is blued, and it has a safety/decocker like the Beretta 92 etc. The mag release button is very stiff, so much so that unless I can loosen it up, a speed-reload would be very difficult, if not impossible under stress.

The wierd thing about the Firestorm is that some of the trigger parts are outside of the frame, and underneath the rubber grip on the right side. A little odd, but it works.
 
My ex-wife saw no need for guns; wasn't I there to protect her? She also thought guns were an expensive hobby, but she kept her tongue still because she had some expensive hobbies herself.

I'm seeing a lady now who wants to learn to shoot, wants her own handgun, and is asking questions about concealed carry. She understands the local PD can do very little to help her once the bad guys are inside her house. She has children and wants to protect them.

Pilgrim
 
+1 on the Taurus 85...my wife's carry gun. Inexpensive, reliable, simple manual of arms.

She wanted some training for her birthday, so I signed her up for a women's handgun course at my range. She loved it.

When I mentioned to a couple of friends at work that I had sent my wife to a handgun class, their response was classic: "You must have a GREAT marriage!"
 
Introduce other women who shoot

A local range should have contacts for women who shoot. My local indoor range has a Granny-type front office manager that is an active shooter and great for breaking the ice for newcomers.

All recommendations that I've heard from women shooters is to have a newcomer take a class (from a woman instructor) and then pick her own firearm. It would be nice to have a range like some I've been to that lets you pay a flat fee to shoot several 9mms for comparision, or several 40 S&W, etc.

I subscribed to Women & Guns [ http://www.womenandguns.com/ ] in my wife's name (great read for the guys too) and talked to her about some information on the Women's Firearms Network [ http://www.womenandguns.com/wfn/articles.html ] and the Second Admendment Sisters, especially successful defense stories. Having Areta Franklin's "I will survive" music in the background also helps.

My wife found that bouncing tin cans with a 22 LR was a non-threatening introduction to the sport. We're taking baby steps for the rest of the journey.

By the way, she thought that my new Hi-Power was a nice looking firearm. Appearances count with the gentle fems.

North"wet"
 
I made the classic mistake of buying my wife guns...we went through 4 revolvers before she tried my Witness....then through 3 differant Witness pistols before she found out her love is the CZ 2075 RAMI. She loves it.
BUT, I let her pick it out, and she already liked to go shooting.
For someone who obviously doesn't like guns, maybe a can of OC, (nasty cleanup), the new Tazer, (will ONLY give you a few extra seconds to run.), or something slong those lines, even a good used Louisville Slugger.
If it must be a firearm, get one of those Mossberg 410s with the huge muzzle brake and verticle foregrip, if you can find one, with folding stock. Looks like the Terminator, recoils like a pussycat....
 
My Friend Tried That, Didn't Work

I have a friend who carries, is a former IPSC club prez ... who's wife is not totally on board if you know what I mean. He bought her a little Taurus and a Dan Hillsman Kydex Holster to go with it (nice set up) and she got so pissed off at him that I think it did real damage to their marriage. She still brings it up in a tone of disgust and it's been about 4 years.

If she doesn't like guns, doesn't have the mindset to do whatever necessary to survive and protect the family, then it's your job to protect her. Your role, your reponsibility. I feel for you, my friend!
 
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