Which gun to buy/keep

[Hockeystar]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this site. I wanted to purchase a home defense gun so I purchased one for me. .40 M&P. Unfortunately, the wife can't rack the slide and refuses to fire it. I have a Beretta 92f about 12 years old. One choice is to install a rail for a light/laser and a trigger/spring job. With the right ammo this should do the job. Another choice is a new gun, possibly a Sig 229 ($). Any opinions?

 

[Hunterdad]

Keep the Beretta.

 

[Byrd666]

I just read about the new FN USA FNS Combination and think that might fit the ticket nicely. It's a review in the March edition of Rifleman magazine. It is a full size FNS that is a DAO model that comes with a 9mm slide, barrel, guide rod and spring, with (3) 9mm mags. And a .40 slide, barrel, guide rod and spring, with (2) .40 mags. This combination would fit all my fullsize pistol requirements. Might fit your needs as well. Too bad I'm running out of room and money for new dependents

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Is she trying the slingshot or overhand technique to rack? One is noisier ably easier than the other.

 

[rgwalt]

What is wrong with the beretta as a HD gun? Sell the M&P and go to a gun shop together and find something you both can compromise on. The FN package sounds like a good deal, but I would check and see how much money you would save with the package over simply buying two FN pistols.

 

[iyn]

what ammo is available in your area if you do not reload? where I live 12 gage is available. how about a shotgun for home defense?

 

[akv3g4n]

My wife has issues manipulating the slides on my semi-autos so we got her a nice S&W revolver for self defense. Another advantage of the revolver is it's simplicity. I want her to have as few things as possible to have to think about if she is under stress and needs to defend herself with it.

 

[Byrd666]

...And I forgot to add this.

Having the use of only one arm/hand, I've had to improvise with the way I chamber a round/rack the slide. I just use the rear sights on a table ledge, heal of my boot, belt, or my holster. And all of my carry holsters have been made with extra mouth support just for that specific need. This works with my CZ83, Ruger SR9, Ruger SR22, though with that I can pretty much just do it with my hand, and my M&P 9c. And it works well for me with any brand/model that accommodating rear sights. That technique should also work with both pistols you have.

 

[Indifferent]

I agree with a revolver.

 

[Robert]

Whatever you do, include her in the process and be receptive to her input. If she is to use it then she needs to be comfortable with it.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

^^^^^ What Robert said. If it were me, I'd be looking at S&E 686+. I let a small female frind of mind shoot my 460. Their triggers are great and most women with no hand problems like shooting a Smith.

Consequently, I loaded it with three 45 Colt, a 454, and a 460 so she could feel the progression. When she popped off the .454 she looked at me and her eyes were real big. She said "I don't want to do a bigger one!" And I said "Then you shouldn't. Don't do anything you aren't comfortable with." She loved the 45 Colt though. The weight of that gun made it hard for her to hold it up for very long, but completely tammed the recoil of a 45, not that 45 Colt has that buch recoil anyway. She still prefered that trigger though over my Ruger.

 

[golden]

Beretta trade?

HOCKEYSTAR,

If your wife is comfortable with the BERETTA 92, which is an easy gun to shoot, then you may want to consider trading in your BERETTA 92 for a BERETTA 92a1.
It is the same gun with a built in light rail. You would have to pay the difference, most likely, but the light rail will cost you and in my experience, be inferior to a built in rail. The cost of the trade may not be that much more than buying and adding a rail.

Take her to the range first and see how she does with the BERETTA 92. If she does not have any handling issues and can keep all the rounds on a silouette target at 10 yards, then I would say you have the gun for her.

Then let her decide if she wants to keep shooting the BERETTA.

You may also want to rent some guns at the range and let her try them as well.

Good luck,

Jim

 

[chris in va]

I went over this with my GF.

She was having an issue racking my 97b, but I noticed she was sitting down and keeping her right elbow rested on her knee. I had her stand up and PUSH with her right while keeping her left stationary on the slide, and voila...success.

 

[BYJO4]

What guns has she shot in the past and did she have any preferences? Maybe go a range that rents guns and let her try out a few. She needs to be the one to pick out what she is comfortable with.

 

[James2]

What worked for me was take the wife shooting and take her gun shopping. Let her choose. Now she has 4 guns. Two of which are revolvers.

 

[TBH]

I would like to suggest Ruger's gp100 or sp101. Two mighty fine revolvers, and you can start her out with 38 wad cutters and work up from there.

 

[jim243]

Unless it is just an issue with the 40 S&W she does not like. Just buy a Wolf spring kit for the M&P to reduce the slide pressure and make it easier to rack. Since it is a new gun, the spring on it will loosen up with use.

Jim

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Unless it is just an issue with the 40 S&W she does not like. Just buy a Wolf spring kit for the M&P to reduce the slide pressure and make it easier to rack.

Couldn't that have an effect on the way the gun cycles and possibly on the reliability? Just asking.

 

[splattergun]

Most women I've shot with prefered a revolver. semiautos can be intimidating with all that blowback, recoil, and ejection going on right in front of their prety lil noses. Revolvers are simpler and have less going on when it goes bang.

 

[clance]

Most women I've shot with prefered a revolver. semiautos can be intimidating with all that blowback, recoil, and ejection going on right in front of their prety lil noses. Revolvers are simpler and have less going on when it goes bang.

I agree with what splattergun is saying. Revolvers are a whole lot simpler for anyone with weak hand strength to use or those unfamilar with handguns in general.

In addition, unlike semi-autos they're less prone to malfunctions due to ammo or weak hand strength resulting in "Limp Wristing" causing the pistol to have issues cycling. The only real weakness of a revolver is its' lack of capacity as far as the number of rounds that you can load and of course reloading is slower.

If you're looking for a HD handgun for your wife, I would seriously look at either a S&W 642 Airweight hammerless (what I bought my wife) or a Ruger SP101. I chose the S&W over the Ruger cause my wife can be really jumpy and I didn't want her while she was scared out of her wits, to be able to cock the revolver and accidentially shoot me or at least that would be her story.

Another HD weapon you might want to think about is a shotgun. While she might not be able to handle a 12ga. there are several out there in 20ga and even .410 that might fit the need. I personally have a Remington 11/87 Youth loaded with number 4 Buck so either my wife or I can use in the middle of the night. The Youth has the shorter stock and barrel where it's easier for my wife (only 5' foot and 108 lbs) to handle yet it's still handy for me to use.

Personally I would get rid of the Beretta and keep the M&P as it has the better trigger pull, it's a whole lot thinner and lighter in weight (Beretta 34oz. vs. M&P 24.25oz.) plus it's chamber in a caliber that is far more potent as a personal defense round then the 9mm Luger ever thought of being if that is your mindset.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

It doesn't matter that she doesn't like the M&P 40 since it's your gun. If she doesn't like the Beretta then she shouldn't have to shoot the Beretta.

Go to the gun store with your wife but only to make sure the "good ol boys" in the store don't talk down to her or lie to her. Other than that you have nothing to say about which gun she buys for herself. You get to pay for it but not pick it. Let her buy what she wants because this way she will shoot it, practice with it and it will be "her gun", not yours...

I'm a revolver guy for a lot of reasons and I like a revolver for HD. A shotgun is a good idea like said above BUT, if your wife doesn't have the strength to rack the 40 I highly doubt the recoil of a 12ga shotgun will be acceptable to her either.

Good luck and break out the charge card...

 

[techtac]

FWIW:
My wife had a similar issue with semi-autos. We went through testing a few and then revolvers.At first it seemed that that she settled on a K frame .38. But then she hesitated because of the 6 rnd. capacity and her concern about reloading six. Tried her on a Sig P 250. DAO system worked well, plenty of capacity, easy to rack right out of the box. Story for her is complete.

 

[Jaymo]

My wife has the same issue with racking the slide. Her personal defense guns are a Beretta 21/.22LR, a Taurus 85 Ultralight .38, and a Mossberg HS.410 (loaded with 3" 000 buck)

 

[c1ogden]

I agree with those who say trade the gun in for one that was built with an integral light rail. Personally, I'd trade them both for a pair of Glock 19s. You can probably get by with any generation for yourself but she'll probably benefit from the Gen 4's adjustable backstrap and the recoil reducing properties of the dual recoil spring but make sure she can manage the slide before you lay down your money. My teenage daughters have no problem running either of the G19s that I use as a nightstand gun. The two of you having the same gun, if feasible, means you'll always have a spare if one goes down.

 

[Spindrift]

Wow, I got my wife an XD Subcompact in .40 that she absolutely loves. She is also pretty small, only 5' 2" and 125 pounds, but strong and muscular so maybe that is why she doesn't have problems.
I offered to get her an Airweight or even give her my LCP but she opts to stay with the XD.