Pistol Recommendation for my female friend..

[jshwak]

A female teacher and co-worker of mine is seriously contemplating a gun purchase for personal defense. While I could not be happier to see her take the initiative to be responsible for her own safety, I am worried that I will point her in the wrong direction for a beginners firearm. This spring (once she can afford one), I am going to take her to the range a few times and give her the skinny on firearm safety, handling, etc... as well as point her in the direction of PAFOA.

I am going to let her try a few of my firearms at the range in the meantime, but my pistol collection is pretty small. The only ones I have are:

.357 Blackhawk revolver
.380 Keltec P3AT
.38 snub-nose revolver
.45 G21
.45 Springfield 1911

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I honestly don't believe that any of these would be the right choice for her and I'm concerned that anyone of these will actually discourage rather than encourage a purchase. I think the 45's and .357 are much to big for the time being and the snappy snub-nose and pocket rocket are tough to hang onto.

Does anybody have any recommendations for a good SD pistol for a woman? She has relatively small hands, she's approximately 5'0 tall and has a large frame. She has never shot a gun in her life, so I want to start out very small.. I'm going to get my dads .22 revolver as a start and build up to a larger caliber. Much advice requested !

what gun would you recommend for her ?

[Grizz2720]

My Wife decided she wanted a gun. We tried shot 9 different firearms. The end result was my Wife buying a Lady Smith and Wesson in .357 mag. The Lady Smith is a 5 shot J frame that has been changed to fit a woman's hand. My wife has been around guns her whole life and she has been shooting with me for 30 + yrs. She can handle the 357 mag round with out a problem but she prefers .38+P JHP. My wife did not like the semi autos because there was just too much stuff going on. The slide moving back and forth the casing coming out the top and oh by the was the mag falls out if you hit that button.
Start your friend out with a .22 and then work your way up. Have your friend take a look at revolvers, a lot of women prefer them over autos.

[bluehen59]

Just bought my wife a Glock 19, simple gun to operate, big enough to control the recoil and small enough to fit in a purse. Brand new well under $600.

[jshwak]

Just bought my wife a Glock 19, simple gun to operate, big enough to control the recoil and small enough to fit in a purse. Brand new well under $600.

a dear friend of mine has a g19 that he volunteered to let her try.. That exact model did cross my mind; I'm a Glock fanboy myself, but my concern with Glock is that I'm worried about it not having an external safety. I know that if she adheres to the golden rules of safety then she'll be fine, but I'm a little worried about the very small margin for error that glock has. For myself I feel totally comfortable with it, but for her I'm not sure..

I appreciate the feedback, I'll keep thinking and taking suggestions.

[TGS]

I recommend she read The Cornered Cat. It's a fantastic resource and I believe is written by one of the female instructors at Tom Givens' Rangemaster (a premier self-defense instructor for those who don't know. His students have gone 56-2 in gunfights, so he knows his stuff).

I recommend you read it as well, she has tips on taking a woman to the range for her first time as well as helping a woman choose a gun.

[LynnE]

I'm new to the forum and haven't posted yet, but I think I can offer some advice here being a female new shooter. Some things to consider are how will she carry the gun (in a holster on a belt, in her purse?). I've only gotten involved with guns in the past year, at first for self-defense, then I found shooting was a lot of fun, I now have several guns, all 1911's, some full-size, some small. The one I've been able to conceal carry comfortably is the smallest I own, a sig sauer P238. My co-worker, she's got a 40 cal Beretta that does her no good as it's too big and heavy to carry, so she only shoots it at the range. We argue all the time over how small my .380 is compared to her 40, but yet I'm the one actually carrying.

So I'd say let her shoot all of your guns, that way she'll see how much choice there is out there. I went to an open house at my local gun club and was able to shoot many different guns and it was very educational. And start thinking realistically how she'll carry it. I tried many holsters that I didn't like. I ended up with a custom-made lowride holster, it fits my smaller frame.

[ray h]

Is she going to carry the gun or will it be a nightstand piece?
If its a nightstand piece, my suggestion would be any number of DA fullsize or midsize (3-4") 357 revolvers. Shooting 38s at the range out of a fullsize revolver is pretty tame while the 357 is a great defensive round. Lots of options for revolver grips so she can find the one she likes best. Teaching and learning a revolver is relatively easy and not very scary.
If she is going to carry, I would suggest a smallish auto in a smallish cartridge like 9mm or even 380. Something light that she wont feel is too heavy or bulky for her to get used to carrying. A little Keltec PF9 or 3AT. They are basic, light weight, unintimidating, reliable, lots of holster options and inexpensive. Inexpensive is important because as she realizes what her needs really are, she will probably go through a couple guns before she finds the one that works well for her, may as well not spend a fortune on her first carry piece.
Although you are right about the small pistols being "snappy", I think their small size takes some of the "scary" factor out of firing them though.

[comsubin61]

Possibly a Khar pm9 or a cm9. Both are small guns and in a not to small caliber, the 9mm. A well proven round and yet not a lot of recoil. Some ranges have them as a rental. They are also harder to shoot accidentaly, but perhaps a small pocket holster would help keeping it secured in the purse or in her pockets or whatever is her choice of carry.

[harold63]

Most of the men and women I help start out with one of my .45 1911's. I know two of the females I worked with recently purchased 9mm 1911's for their nightstand/range work. I don't use the "she's a female, get her a revolver, thing"; they get good with semi's, quick. There is something about mixing dexterity and attitude with a female that makes it lethal, most of the time, anyway. Obviously, there are exceptions (men and women), but for the most part, this is what I see. The G19 would make a better carry than a revolver, IMO, but I always like the extra rounds, and learning with a semi isn't hard at all. If she is on a budget, her carry/nightstand/range gun will have to be all wrapped into one. Taurus makes a couple of great compact 9mm and .40 cals. that have all of the external features, and they are very reliable pistols, now (the 24/7 G2 compact is fantastic and looks great, to boot). No safety features on the Glock (it does have the "keep your finger off the trigger" safety) and very easy to shoot. Ruger, Springfield Armory, Sig, and HK all make great compact firearms, and the compact 1911's are great choices, as well. The one stereotype I will use is she is a female, let her shop after she tries out what you have. Try to get her to stick with something that has a decent size grip for better control and accuracy.

[harold63]

No matter how much she shoots a .22, there is still going to be the "wow" factor to deal with when she moves to a larger caliber. My opinion is this is a waste of time. If she is going to use a 9mm, then start her out with that. She will get used to it fairly quickly. My method has been to never expect a new shooter to try to hit anything other than the dunes behind the targets, at least for a couple of mags worth. After the person has a good feel for the gun, I then help with how to hit a target. Your mileage may vary, but I get very good mileage using this approach. Just FFT.