Female friendly defense pistol?

[wakefield724]

I want to buy the wife a new pistol for home defense. She shoots a kel-tec 9mm and she can not hit a paralyzed rhino in a confined room. She does well with my glock and HP and all my defense shotguns and rifles in the house but hates the kick. Kel-tec has a terrible trigger for her. What's a good .380 or 9mm that is female friendly. Preferably something low in weight, light trigger, and for small hands. I like to keep a weapon on every floor of my home just in case and this one is in our bed dresser

[dannyb]

I'll give you the standard advice for this type of question:

Go to a range that rents pistols. Have her try a bunch until she finds one that she likes.

Alternative: buy her one that will become part of YOUR collection when she doesn't like it. This is a strategy for expanding your collection rather than solving your HD problem.

[cdi]

Need you look any further than your friends at Hi-point?

[Hawk]

I went down this road years ago with the wife. She wanted something for at home, that was her "go to". She tried at least 5 semi-autos of various sizes in either 380 or 9mm. She either hated the recoil, or was unable to manipulate the slide (hand strength), or felt the gun was too complicated to operate (she's not that into guns and shooting sports). About 2 years ago, I got a deal on a S&W model 19 .38 4" barrel.
We took it to the range and she wanted to try it. I showed her how to load it and fire it in both single and double action. After about 50 rounds she was operating and shooting it like she had been shooting it for years. It was just the right gun for her. A point and shoot type of gun, a nothing to mess a round with type of gun. She loved that gun. Of course, the gun ended up being hers.

[rodspade]

If I were shopping for a .380 pistol, I'd look at the new Glock and the Colt Mustang XSP. (The latter is more of a pocket gun.)

In 9mm, the Walther CCP (available Real Soon Now) "Soft Coil" feature sounds interesting.

(Please note that I do not have personal experience with any of those guns.)

[Ronin]

If you're just looking for a HD gun, then any size gun should work. My loves her Sig P226, but her HD gun is her M&P 9. She also has a M&P Shield in 9mm, which is her carry gun. It is a lot more comfortable to shoot than the PF9 (which is my carry gun). The trade off is that the Shield is a little bit heavier and bigger than the PF9.

The best thing you can do is to take her someplace that rents a variety and try out as many as you can afford. Range time and rental fees can add up really quickly.

[wakefield724]

Need you look any further than your friends at Hi-point?

Quit trolling brotha

[carwash]

I agree with the others, let her try some out and pick out her own. From my own experience I can recommend...

Kahr CW-9, better trigger and shorter trigger reach than a Kel-Tec, full size grip, simple controls and lightweight but surprisingly comfortable to shoot.




I've never shot one but I've read that women love the "baby 1911" - Sigs P238 and P938 or ANY full size 9 will probably work.

[PA1936MN]

In .380ACP I'd look into the new Glock. Also the BERSA Thunder 380. The BERSA is nice I owned one for a bit.

In 9mm why not a Glock 19 or one of the newer XDs 3.3 or 4.0 models.

.38 special is is another consideration in a small revolver.

[wakefield724]

I'll give you the standard advice for this type of question:

Go to a range that rents pistols. Have her try a bunch until she finds one that she likes.

Alternative: buy her one that will become part of YOUR collection when she doesn't like it. This is a strategy for expanding your collection rather than solving your HD problem.

You are a very wise man. It's a win win situation in this case. Either she will find a gun she likes or it will add the the collection without her getting mad at me. Your less of a pafoa poster and more of a prophet