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Personal Carry for Women

Kaos
I recently introduced my girlfriend to shooting, she really likes it. Just last night she told me that she wanted me to look into a gun she could use for personal carry and also be fun to shoot at the range. I shoot and carry a glock 23, she wants some thing smaller then a glock 23. Little guns aren't my thing the only pistol I thought of was a glock 27. So could you guys give me some sugestions on good little guns she could use for personal carry? Revolver or semi-auto dont matter.

Thanks

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Comments

12 comments

Date Votes
  • ginmaster
    Wouldn't go smaller than a .380 & some wouldn't go that small. Keltec makes a nice light .380. The Glock 27 is a bit much for most women and some men. Remember small means more recoil and bang. So most of the time when you go smaller you should also go smaller caliber.

    Stay Alert! Stay Alive. Good luck out there.
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  • dcinffxva
    I'm male, and carry a Glock 23 on-duty, and a model 27 off duty. Before getting the 27, I carried a S&W model 60. Both the 23 and 60 are concealable, and reliable. She should shoot a couple of different models, then decide what she feels comfortable with. Most females don't wear clothing that will allow a belt holster, so she should practice with whatever rig she will be using on a regular basis. Just my opinions !
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  • nmyers
    My first choice would be a S&W Ladysmith M36 or M60. Second would be any of the regular S&W snubbies, but with Woolf springs, wide smooth trigger, & an action job.

    Until she gets a lot of experience shooting, I'd stick with light loads that won't "bite". I'd rather she hit her attacker with a wadcutter than miss with a +P hollow point.

    Neal
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  • GUNFUNCO
    Try a Kahr P9 or P40. My 12 year old loves to shooot my P40. Or for less $$$-try a S&W 6906 Police trade-in that you see in Gun List for $289 or so. Great Guns for small hands.
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  • peabo
    It is better for a beginner to start with a revolver, especially for a defense handgun. A revolver is easier to operate than a semi-auto. If you have a misfire, just pull the trigger again and the hammer will fall on the next cart. in the cylinder. If a beginner has problems with an auto, you must hand cycle the slide to put a new round in the chamber. If it fires the first round and the case stove pipes, again you must hand cycle the slide to clear the jam. All of this is o.k. for an experienced handgunner but complicated to a beginner. Also after firing and the hammer is cocked, it can be difficult for a beginner to safely let the hammer down. Although you will not have this problem with a Glock (hammerless) but may have misfires that will have to be cleared before trying again. When self defense is the job at hand, the more potential problems that can be elimanated, the better.
    I sure like carrying my S&W j-frame model 638.

    Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see !!
    NRA Life Member
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  • select-fire
    Find her a Model 36,60 S&W or a .38 Colt Detective. Load it up with .38+P's and teach her how to shoot and load it. Remember.. finger off the trigger till time to fire and wear ear protection.
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  • groovinmonkey
    Kel-tec p3at (.380), look no further

    Monkey says:
    crowded elevator smells different to a midget

    man who go to bed with itchy butt, wake up with stinky finger!!
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  • mallard
    for sure a revolver. i have seen two incidents with women/autos. one in 1973/4 where a lady threw her purse on the car seat, went off, shot her in the thight. the other, a lady showing her gun to others at a girl's party, it went off harmlessly into the ceiling.

    man/woman that carries should know every aspect of a weapon before they stick it in their belt/purse.

    just my two sense,





    mallard
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  • beantownshootah
    Unofortunately for your girlfriend, easy to carry, and fun for the range usually dont overlap very well.

    Agree 100% with J-frame Smith revolver. Reliable, virtually abuse proof, easy to use, safe, and powerful enough.

    Remember, recoil is really only an issue on the SECOND shot!

    Also, if possible, I'd recommend against purse carry. A gun in a purse isn't all that easily accessible, but more important, the purse itself is a target to be stolen. That doesn't leave a lot of carry options for a woman, but a thigh holster and a pocket holster might still be viable. If you have to go the purse route, the gun in a holster in the purse is better than loose, and a dedicated "gun purse" with a built in holster is probably best.
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  • sharpshooter039
    everyone is saying S&W and I agree but everyone does not want to or can not afford to spend that much $$$$,The Taurus model 605 is a great little revolver,its a 5 shot .357 ,she can spend range time with light .38 loads so not to make her trigger shy and to make it fun to shoot,then as she carries it for defense you can load it up to +P or even .357,if she ever actually needs it to defend herself she will never feel the extra recoil.RANGE TIME,,RANGE TIME,,RANGE TIME,,,,I bought the first one I have just because I found it at a deal,I bought the other 2 just because everyone "including a group of younger children" liked shooting the first one so much.I even have a 7yr niece that shoots them with light loads,,,no problem

    [image]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/869284/nogunnextdoor.gif[/image]
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  • BigGun74
    I say a .357 snubby would be a good choice. It's fun to shoot at the range with .38 Special, and you can load it up with .357's for defense. Also if it gets left in the purse loaded for a while, you don't have to worry about magazine freeze. And as has been said before it's less likely to go off accidently if the purse gets tossed in the car or something.
    If she decides she wants an automatic, make sure she has the hand strength to rack the slide quickly. A girl at my office was interested in buying a gun, and wanted to look at my 1911 and my glock. Should had to struggle to get the slide back on the Glock, and she couldn't even budge the 1911.
    Whatever She gets, She should also get a holster for her purse, if she is the cluttered type, so that if she needs to pull it for defense the gun is not buried underneath assorted bric a brack.
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  • tr fox
    Get her a 2" 5 shot stainless/alloy revolver, double action only and in .38 +P with some good ammo (Hydroshock, etc). Get the most expensive, lightest gun you can buy. Otherwise she will soon quit carrying.

    If you get her a semiauto here is what can happen. From carrying it around in a purse, letting it sit around without checking it from time to time, from being a new shooter and not being immediately able to recognize that her semi-auto has for one of a couple of reasons become inoperable, if she ever needs to pull that semi-auto in a split second, life or death situation and the gun will not fire, SHE WILL NEVER FIND OUT WHY!

    Even my own daughter and her boyfried went to the range the other night. Later she told me that on two occassions her S&W 9mm model 6906 would not fire. She said that this happened when she had fired the gun dry, slide locked back, she inserted a new mag and released slide and pulled trigger. On two differenct occassions the gun would not fire. I have never had any trouble with her gun.

    To this day she still can't tell me why it wouldn't fire. I hate to think what would have happened to her had she been facing a deadly assilaent.

    For her carry purposes, when KS gets CCW, years ago I bought her a 5 shot 2inch .38 +P revolver with a bobbed hammer so as not to hangup when quickly drawn.

    It always fires.

    If it didn't she would know why.

    JMHO

    4lizad
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