Hello World

[HalcyonSon]

Been thinking about getting a handgun for some time, but never had the spending money. Getting serious now, since I'm traveling a lot and know I've got a good tax return coming. I've turned up a number of posts from this site in my web research. So yesterday I took my wonderful wife out to Targetmaster in Chadd's Ford, PA. First time shooting much of anything for her, and first time shooting indoor handgun for me. I've plenty of experience with rifles/shotguns/paintball/airsoft/BB to be comfortable with common calibers.

Looking for a home defense / practice gun for her, and a carry / practice for me. I'm looking for a metal frame full size semi-auto in a cheap caliber so that I can shoot a few boxes a couple times a month and not go broke. She's looking to get a small caliber revolver to keep at home when I travel and shoot just enough to stay familiar.

I'm most familiar with the M9, having seen it every day of my life on MPs/SPs. I rented the Beretta 92FS for myself, and enjoyed it, but she tried it and HATED the recoil and noise. Even before it sent a hot casing down her shirt. Hot flying brass, plus her inability to rack the slide takes all semis right out in her mind - and I agree. In the tight confines of a hallway, wearing pajamas or less, that would be a pain. She rented a S&W Model 63 after just a few rounds in the 9mm. Her fun started when she got to plink some zombies with the little .22LR.

Overall, I was happy with the Beretta. The exception being about 3-4 failure to feed and 4-5 spent rounds hitting my glasses in only a box of 50. I chock it up to cheapo range ammo (American something or other) and a dirty range gun. She really enjoyed the little .22, and easily kept it on a man sized target at 7 yards (which is as long as the longest straight stretch in our apartment). We had an issue with the extractor on the .22 being a nightmare to work - she couldn't clear the cylinder half the time. Again, chocking it up to dirty gun.

If they had had the Model 63 in stock, I might have bought it then and there. However, I'd really prefer she have something more likely to stop a man. My experience with the varmint gun is that it can take 3-4 shots to stop a large groundhog with it. I don't have high hopes of .22lr doing much to a nutcase or addict.

SO the question is: What can she get with simplicity and low recoil similar to the Model 63 (and less than a 9mm), but large enough to do lots of damage. I'm thinking a .38 special or maybe a .32 is next up for a rental.

[joelitespeed]

A Smith J frame revolver in 38 is a great bedside gun. they fire every time, no slide to rack and enough power to do whats needed. I have a 638 and am actively looking for model 60 to be able to use 357.

[R L Suehr]

A full size revolver in .357 would probably fit the bill. If it is speciffically for Home defense I would go full size for her. Much less recoil than the snubbies. You can have her practice with .38's and keep the magnums loaded up for HD. Personal prefrence for me is the Ruger gp100. I have a 3" model in .357 that my wife shoots very well with .38's. I keep .357's in it at the house and it is her bedside gun usually. You could also look into the SP101 in .327mag. Can shoot weaker .32's for practice and load up the mags for HD. It is a smaller frame and is lighter if weight is an issue for her.

I'm kind of a Ruger fan but, any of the larger frame .357's from the big manufacturers will shoot like a pussy cat with .38 target loads for her to practice with. You can work up to the full magnum loads. Even if she doesn't enjoy shooting the Mags if a situation arises that she would need to use it in a HD scenario the recoil would probably not be an issue.

[Twoboxer]

Too noisy, too much recoil, too heavy, too hard to rack the slide, to hard to pull the trigger. In the last year I've taken 5 women to the range, 4 as complete rookies and one who hadn't shot anything in 50 years, and - maybe the sequence changes - but overall the story was always the same.

There's no avoiding the noise (except for 22), and BTW it'll get worse in the house with no earmuffs The recoil of anything heavy enough for SD will be too much recoil. But the 22 was fine. The heavier the pistol the less the recoil. But it's TOO heavy . . . except for the 22. And so on.

For these women a satisfactory SD weapon can't be purchased in the beginning. So here's what I'd advise:

- For you, a CZ75B in 9mm. Heavy, full size, *very* accurate, decent trigger (though the shape may annoy you a bit). Out of the box it will shoot up with the best if not be THE best, and do everything else as well as any other 9mm pistol. Cheapest ammo in a decent caliber.

- For her, a 22 pistol. Ruger SR22 handles well but is not as accurate as say a Mark III. The Mark III would be *far* too heavy for her at this point anyhow. Can put a rail mounted laser on it and she won't even have to line up the sights. She'll *love* it, especially after you have her handle the heavier 22s.

- Take her shooting, and insist she shoot both pistols every time. Tell her the truth - one day at home she may need to shoot the 9mm too. Eventually she will get accustomed to the noise, she'll get used to the recoil, she'll realize you weren't fibbing when you said heavy means less recoil and she isn't gonna be carrying it around all day anyhow, she'll find out she can rack the slide, and the trigger isn't as hard as a revolver's. Eventually she'll find out.

Then you can buy her a real SD firearm if you think it's necessary. You'll want the 22 anyhow, and you won't have wasted money on an SD weapon she won't use anyhow And if she doesn't go all the way down this path, you have the right pistol for her. Even though empty cases will still bounce off the walls and down her shirt (move her to the left side of the bay).

YMMV

[Remington788]

If she cannot handle the 92fs, she will probably not be able to handle a j-frame .38 special.

I feel comfortable saying this as I have both. The Beretta is a full size steel frame that absorbs the recoil well. A j-frame is is a tiny frame that does not absorb, especially if it is an alloy frame, like an Airweight. Shooting it can be hard on the hands.
I suggest you let her shoot a j-frame before you buy her one.

The idea of starting her on a .22 and easing into bigger ones as you go sounds like the best approach. Stay away from .25acp and .32acp. Poor rounds and way expensive.

[red dog]

straight up no bullshit go with a mid size revolver. 357 or 38 doesn,t much matter. use 38 loads and you,ll be golden. recoil will be manageable for almost anyone and noise wil be no worse than anything short of a rim fire. learn then move into the world of the pistol. good luck, don,t be scared, just do it.

[QuackXP]

From my experience snub nose .38 kick way harder than any duty style 9mm. A medium frame .357 shooting .38 may be close to a 9mm semi.

Glock's I have noticed are pretty easy to rack the slide. But generally speaking its a training issue not a strength one. Novices, especially those who may have a fear of firearms typically are worried about getting fingers caught in the slide. Proper technique and getting over those fears and any able bodied adult can rack the slide on modern semi-autos.

I agree that if she is recoil sensitive get her a .22. I might even go with a .22 semi-auto as most I have shot have a very light slide to rack.

My wife likes shooting .22. Can tolerate my .40 S&W M&P and loves my friends CZ-75 P01 in 9mm.

She shot my fathers Colt Agent .38 aluminum revolver. It kicks like a mule.

Stay away from any of the small pocket autos.

[sprrdhawk44]

SIG/CZ for you, Smith & Wesson 686+ for her. Load .38 specials in it.

Why no polymer guns for yourself?

[firebird.77]

My fiance had trouble with the slide and recoil of my .40, as well as the double-action pull on a DA revolver.


The solution for her was a Sig 238. Large, clear sights, very easy to rack the slide, minimal recoil from the .380. The thing shoots great. I rented one at Targetmaster that was so dirty it hardly functioned, if I had paid for the rental I would have demanded a refund. Regardless, hers has been flawless.

[90volts]

I agree on the .380. And look around for an acceptable home defense round for your situation. The last thing you want to do it fire a shot at an intruder, miss, and the round goes through the apartment wall and hits a neighbor. Look for something that will expand quickly and not go through tthe wall if possible.