pistol for wife for concealed carry
My wife is getting her concealed carry license and I would like to hear from some of you about what you might recommend. A good compromise of smaller size/weight and a reliable cartridge for self protection would be desirable. Thanks for your input.
Tom
Tom
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Well you are already on your way. Small size and weight now go hit the shops and see what she likes. That is the best way. I would suggest a 38 revolver but she might not care for it. 0 -
Tom; Hope I can help with this one. Having been an NRA pistol instructor for almost 20 years, this is the most asked question I receive. My wife, who also is a certified pistol instructor, carries a light weight (15-16 oz)five shot chambered in .38 special +P. This revolver is "hammerless." She went through several other pistols that she liked except for one or two reasons. She keeps it in a DeSanti "super fly" holster in one of her inside pockets of her purse.The .38 has never been considered the greatest caliber, but a revolver loaded with +P hollow points will work almost as well as a .357 mag snubbie with CONSIDERABLY less recoil! Since I live in Florida I usually wear shorts and tee shirt concealment is a little tougher. I have gone to my .380 acp Kel-Tec in a DeSanti Nemenes holster in my front pocket. If your wife is comfortable with the semi auto,the Kel-Tec, at about 9oz, is a great purse gun. Through the years I have learned that most (not all) women aren't comfortable with the operation of the semi auto and opt for the light revolver. The hammerless makes a ton of difference when in a crowded purse.
The absolute most important thing you and your wife can do is to pick the pistol she really feels good with and then PRACTICE!!!!! Use the standard .38 rounds (cheaper) for practice, but before you end each session have her shoot a handful of the .38+P rounds. There is a definate difference in recoil and muzzle blast. Make sure you tell her when you load the hotter rounds. Sneaking one in for a laugh is the worst thing any instructor can do! The person that does it is an idiot, and the wife will flinch for the rest of her life. I always start new shooters on the .22 and work up from there.
Some people will tell you to go with a .357 instead of the .38 spl. My wife's favorite revolver is a 4" bbl S&W md 66. She loves to shoot it, but she worked up to the caliber. You have plenty of .38 snubbies to choose from, it depends on how much money you want to spend. Hope this helped a little.0 -
You can't beat a little .38 revolver. Forget the semi auto. 0 -
Some may poo-poo this as not powerfull enough, but I think a .22 Mag Snubby such as the Taurus or High Standard Sentinel would be a great purse gun. That .22 Mag is pretty hot little round that LEO's fear because it will penetrate their Kev-lar vests. But easy on the recoil. 0 -
I always thought a double-action small .38 revolver would be the perfect gun for a gal to carry. I provided my wife with a S&W Chief's Special and then later a Colt Detective Special, both in .38 Special, over the years. She never got any good with either of them in double-action; she wasn't likely to hit much of anything over a couple feet away. Not enough strength in her hand and fingers. Single-action cocking and firing was just not very efficient and didn't look safe. She is left-handed, but that didn't enter the picture with the revolvers. Tried a couple different grips, didn't help noticeably. Then recently I got a CZ-82 surplus Czech pistol in 9mm Makarov. She tried it one day at the range, and was able to hit consistently at reasonable distances. She could fire the first shot double-action just fine, whereas with the revolvers she almost always pulled the shot way to the side, no matter the coaching or practice. Follow-up shots in single-action with the CZ were even better. It just fit her; filled her hand, gave her control, pointed sort of naturaly for her, and was ambidextrous to boot. She said I want that one to carry! And there is no substitution for the confidence she has with it. So, no simple answer! As said, try and find one she'll like and be able to use that's effective. That will be the best one for her! 0 -
Answer is whichever gun your wife ACTUALLY LIKES and WILL ACTUALLY CARRY.
An alloy frame (ie lightweight) .38 Special revolver is a classic choice with substantial advantages, but neither she nor you should feel limited to that. If your wife prefers a small automatic, that could be good too.
Again, so long as she can comfortably rack the slide, operate the controls, and shoot it competently, an auto is fine.
A few more points:
-Carrying in a purse. . .lost of women do this, but its really not ideal. Purses can be dropped, lost, or (most important) snatched away. Better to carry on the person, though with most women, that's not pragmatic.
-On .38 vs .38+P, I think this topic is WAY overblown. In practice, .38+P ammo costs so much more that the overwhelming majority of people only shoot a few rounds for practice and leave a few for carry.
Despite the hype, .38+P is really only slightly more powerful than "ordinary" .38s (which are themselves somewhat marginal to begin with).
If you look at the ballistics, .38+P only yield about 5-10% more velocity compared to "ordinary" .38s. Specifically, ordinary .38 special rounds will get you about 780-800 fps muzzle velocity .38+P might get you 850 fps. I've done the "Pepsi challenge" testing both blinded from the same airweight snubnose, mixing them in the cylinder, and in complete honestly, I'm not sure I could even tell the difference. This is 95% psychological, 5% physical, and if you are comfortable with one, you ought to be comfortable with the other.
Now compare to .357 magnum, which yields you 1250 fps from a snubnose, and you'll see that there is a *BIG* difference between .38+P and .357.
On .22 magnum, I'll reference this discussion earlier:
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=349694
A .22 magnum round may penetrate body armor, if fired from a full length 22" RIFLE barrel, from which it can obtain 2000 fps (but then again, pretty much any standard centerfire rifle round will also penetrate ordinary light body armor). This *MIGHT* be relevant, *IF* you wanted to shoot someone with body armor (you probably don't), and *IF* you were OK with carrying around a rifle (you probably aren't).
Take that same .22 magnum round (which was designed for a rifle) and put it in a 2" barreled snubnose pistol, and now you will get LESS than 1100 feet per second. . .with a little dinky 40 grain .22 caliber bullet. In other words you lose nearly 75% of the kinetic energy going from the rifle to the snubnose!
Furthermore, if you shoot the round from a 2" barrel, most of the powder that WOULD have gone to propel the bullet in a long rifle barrel gets burned OUTSIDE the barrel after the bullet has already left, creating a rather impressive (and potentially blinding) muzzle flash. Ever try firing a 22 magnum snubnose in the dark? Yikes!
The point is, while its a GREAT round for hunting small game from a rifle, in the context of self-defense from a short barreled pistol, the .22 magnum isn't particularly special.
Sure, its better than nothing, but I think there are far better choices in a primary CCW gun. If you are recoil-sensitive, you can consider just using light .38 special wadcutter rounds for defensive purposes. While not as good as .38+P, I bet they would still be significantly better than .22 magnum.0 -
I bought the mrs a custome finished Gaurdian in 380. looked great, but she could'nt rack it.
traded for a S&W model 60 (38spl) which she loved.
just my 2c
tom0 -
S&W 642. Make her practice hard and often. 0 -
Just bought myself a S&W 642 a few weeks back. My wife went tot he range with me recently and shot it. She has little interest in shooting and only shoots on rare ocasions and was able to handle it well.
I agree, let her get one that fits her hands and she likes....0 -
Sig P6. Need I say more? [8D] 0 -
Take her to a local range with rentals... and one more vote for small 5 or 6 shot revolver... 0 -
i would suggest a ruger lcp or if she likes revolvers go with the lcr only 15 ouces both highly concealable 0 -
Kel-Tek PF-9, also known as the flat nine.
Small and weigh about 9 ounces.
It has a locked breech, so it will fire +P+, but not as a steady diet.
Must be broken-in correctly. Shoot 50 rounds throught it; clean, clean; lubricate with CLP or other teflon lube. Keep clean.
Easy to operate the slide.
The little squares on the grip can be sanded of to decrease the thickness another 1/8-inch or so.
When in doubt, clean it.
Operates like a revolver after a round is chambered: double action striker fired only.0
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