Advice / Suggestions....CCW Pistol for my wife.

[choppers]

My wife also loves her Seacamp .32. Easy to conceal in a purse and shes dam good with it. She also likes her S&W J frame .38(SQB) in stainless, SA/DA and the weight keeps muzzle jump down.

[tdyoung58]

Mine has a XD-45 compact . . . tried to talk her into a 9mm but she wanted the .45

[gf45acp]

Both of my p3at's are reliable with the Cor Bon PowRBall that I use in them. The thing to remember about these is that they are not range guns. If you shoot a couple of mags through it your hand will have had enough.
You may want to check out Ruger's new .380, very close to the p3at, but it is said to have better finnish.
Also a Taurus PT22 may be interesting to her, 8+1 .22 LR pocket auto. No need to rack the slide with this one, as it has a tip up barrel. My mother stole the one I got.
Try to get to a range that rents guns and have her try what interests her, and ennjoy!

[aryfrosty]

After I bought 2 different revolvers for my wife I realized that she was only going to be happy with what SHE picked out. She ended up with an SP-101 with a bobbed hammer and it's heavy enough that she shoots it comfortably with light .38spl loads. I also have a Beretta Tomcat she tried and doesn't like "as much", and a NAA Guardian .32 which she is comfortable with since it's DAO. It's a lot like Louis Seecamp's little jewels and is very well made.

[Mom Calls me Rambo]

Thanks for the replies, all

While I realize the way I posed my question may have led to the belief that I was going to buy a gun and say "Here, carry this", this really isn't the case.
In all honesty, I just wanted some starting points as a good base to start looking. Right now she loves to shoot for the pure fun of it, but she's also willing to talk about and understand the neccesity (and right) to carry. She's a petite girl, and I want her to understand that having the right firearm in her purse is one hell of an equalizer....but she also needs to know there's a time and a place.

Anyway, thank you all for you replies. Hopefully, sometime here in the future I'll be letting you know what she picks out.

[Shawn.L]

please dont carry in the purse.
If the purse gets snatxhed you just armed a criminal, they are hard to get into and IF she ever needs it chances are she will need it QUICK.

[PennsyPlinker]

I have both a wife and a Kel Tec P3AT. Both are very reliable. She has fired the Kel Tec, and does not like it, and decided to go with a M&P 9c instead. Rule #1 is let her pick what she wants, and Rule #2 is she should fire what she wants before spending money on it if it is at all possible.

[mythaeus]

My wife is 5'5, 105lb, obviously small frame and works in a professional business environment. We have done extensive research on this questions and in the process have bought 3 different guns for her. Here are our/her experience with it.

1. Glock G26 - difficult to shoot right off since she was so used to the G19. It's also her first few weeks of shooting. After a 200 rounds + though the gun. She has no problem shooting it; however, gun is rather big so it became unconcealable given her size/environment. Now I carry it.

2. Beretta Tomcat 3032 (matte black) - also very difficult to shoot in the beginning; however the size is perfect. It's almost 1/2 the size of the G26. The popup barrel loading doesn't require racking the slide (which is a BITCH to do even for me). Manual safety is a plus if she HAS to purse carrry. Best of all, it's DA/SA. She can cock the hammer for the first shot (very easy) and shoot the rest in SA. The caliber is has limited effectiveness. After a couple 100 rounds, she's very accurate and comfortable with it.

Now the biggie...just as she got her LTCF, the gun broke while being fired at the range. The inside part near the trigger broke and a piece actually came out! She's extremely upset, but only thankful that it happened at the range and not in a SHTF situation.

3. NAA Guardian .380 - this was the most difficult to shoot of all due to the 12lbs trigger. The problem with such a heavy trigger and no external (at least cockable) hammer causes her to limp wrist because so much energy is exerted in pulling the trigger. This causes jams every 3 rounds or so. I have no problem shooting it on the other hand. She has only shot 20+ rounds though the gun though. I have no problem with jams.

The NAA is actually smaller than the Tomcat, but weighs a lot more. The Tomcat is 1lbs fully loaded, the NAA is 1.3lbs empty.

OK, so that the premise and experiences. Here are what we learned.
1. EVERY mouse gun is difficult to shoot at first. It takes practice to get it down to a comfortable level. Unless you have the patience to let her try 5 different guns at at least 200 rounds each, buy her one that she feels comfortable in her hands, fits her taste, and let her practice the heck out of it. WHY do men think cuteness is not a factor? Sure you can educate practicality and feel, but if cute works into it, let it be.

2. Take your CCW out for shooting often in the beginning to ensure proper and consistent operation. We are sending it back to Beretta and requesting for a replacement which we will swap with the dealer for a Inox version, which is a lot beefier. Believe in your research. I read about Tomcat matte version's frame cracking, but thought Beretta has addressed the issue. If my wife becomes comfortable with the NAA after 200 rounds, she will be carrying it; otherwise, she'll go back to an Inox Tomcat.

3. DA/SA beats the heck out of DAO for a weak trigger fingers. Long/heavy trigger is a poor "safety" feature in this case. Glock got it right with its lighter "Safe" Action. Finger off the trigger of a 5lbs pull is plenty a safety.

I realize that I didn't comment on the actual conceal process for her, but she has not yet have a experience to relate back. We are still in the process of selecting the right gun. Best of luck to you.

Al

[Tootie]

As a wife I own 2 guns for carrying, 1 for winter, 1 for summer. My summer gun is the KelTec 32, it fits my hand and is easily concealable, my winter gun (bigger coat) is the SW9VE. Oh and carrying in a purse is a really bad idea, imho.
Take your wife to the shows and let her handle some of the guns she likes. Let her see how they feel in her hand and if the weight of the gun is light enough for her to hold. Once she narrows it down to the few she really likes then take her to a range that rents guns so she can try them out.