Carry options for wife- Need opinions

[LDB415]

I've heard a whole lot of people badmouth the .22 and talk about it being no good for defense. I've never heard a single one of them say let me show you how bad it is, shoot me with it.

[CC Italian]

A 22 can kill you just like a 45, but it is far more likely that you will unload a mag and then reload if nothing critical is hit. Do people get hit with 8 rounds of 45 and keep fighting? Yes it happens but not nearly as likely. Your goal is to end a fight or stop an attack asap. Can a 22 do it? Yes, but 32acp,32h&r and 380 are low powered and are a far better choice if the shooter can handle it. My point is that there are several in those calibers that are easy to handle in recoil or racking the slide .a 5th grader could rack the slide on a lc380,sig238 or pk380 and shoot it.

[patterson]

my wife cannot rack the slide on my 1911s or my Sig P226 and has tried on a glock 19 at the LGS but couldn't but she could on a Sig P938

[LDB415]

Back in another lifetime when I worked at a major gunshop we had many women in who couldn't rack the slide on various models. After a demonstration with proper tips on hold and technique almost every one of them were fine operating the slide on their own. On a Sig or 1911 or similar the first thing to do is cock the hammer. That has to happen when the slide is racked anyway and that eliminates having to overcome that amount of spring tension. Then the pistol is held close to the body at the same level as crossed arms like a movie Indian. The pistol is held 90 degrees from normal shooting hold, strong hand around the grip and weak hand on the slide. At a count of three the hands shove toward the opposite elbow for all they're worth. It's 99% guaranteed the slide is going to lock back. Obviously you can't pull the hammer on a Glock or similar but usually the same sharp snap in opposite directions will work on those as well.

[CC Italian]

I understand, my wife has gone through a ton of trial and error finding what works for her. Like I said so many times before, my wife is 4 10 and has hands that are smaller then most 11 year old girls. Here are some of the guns she can rack easily.

9mm 1911 5inch citadel (same as rock island just a little nicer)
S&W 908s
sig 238
Ruger LC380
Walther pk380
Glock 17 (barely)

I am sure there are more but those are the ones I have seen her do. The citadel is easy for her to do and in 9mm it is a tack driver. Pretty much the lightest recoil I have ever shoot in any semi auto expect a 22lr.

[CC Italian]

Well just got back from the range with the LC380. Ran 20 rounds of Federal Hydra shok and 100 of magtech 95 grain ball. Loaded first mag full of HS and 3 out of 7 stovepiped. Ok I thought maybe the ammo. Then the same happens with 14 more rounds of magtech in the same magazine. Not good I thought but then I went to the second mag that did not come with the gun from the factory. Ran 14 rounds of HS and the next 80+ of magtech without a single problem. So I have a bad mag. Like I said I bought it used and I know from looking on the Ruger forum that some of the earlier LC380 had mag problems. The second mag was bought after the gun was purchased more then likely and is the reason why it ran fine. I called Ruger service and waited 3 minutes to talk to a tech. They said no problem and are sending out a new mag priority. Great customer service!

As for the accuracy of the gun it was really good. It is the most accurate 380 I have ever shot. My groups were way closer my first time out then I could ever get with my old Bersa 380cc and it was leaps and bounds ahead in accuracy then the sig 238 I rented. Same went for my wife. While her grouping wasn't as tight as mine she did very well. At 7 yards she was getting 3-4 inch grouping her first time out with a slow but steady rate of fire. I was getting 1/2 inch-1inch groups at 7 yards with a decent rate of fire. At first I thought I was missing the whole sheet but then I realized that the grouping was so tight that they all touched. Very accurate and easy to fire gun imo. The trigger is a little long but nothing wrong with it for combat distances at all. All together my wife likes it a lot and it is easier for her to shoot then the shield. This will be her new carry gun.

[patterson]

I understand, my wife has gone through a ton of trial and error finding what works for her. Like I said so many times before, my wife is 4 10 and has hands that are smaller then most 11 year old girls. Here are some of the guns she can rack easily.

9mm 1911 5inch citadel (same as rock island just a little nicer)
S&W 908s
sig 238
Ruger LC380
Walther pk380
Glock 17 (barely)

I am sure there are more but those are the ones I have seen her do. The citadel is easy for her to do and in 9mm it is a tack driver. Pretty much the lightest recoil I have ever shoot in any semi auto expect a 22lr.

probably recoil is tamed by the weight since its a 9mm 1911

[patterson]

Well just got back from the range with the LC380. Ran 20 rounds of Federal Hydra shok and 100 of magtech 95 grain ball. Loaded first mag full of HS and 3 out of 7 stovepiped. Ok I thought maybe the ammo. Then the same happens with 14 more rounds of magtech in the same magazine. Not good I thought but then I went to the second mag that did not come with the gun from the factory. Ran 14 rounds of HS and the next 80+ of magtech without a single problem. So I have a bad mag. Like I said I bought it used and I know from looking on the Ruger forum that some of the earlier LC380 had mag problems. The second mag was bought after the gun was purchased more then likely and is the reason why it ran fine. I called Ruger service and waited 3 minutes to talk to a tech. They said no problem and are sending out a new mag priority. Great customer service!

As for the accuracy of the gun it was really good. It is the most accurate 380 I have ever shot. My groups were way closer my first time out then I could ever get with my old Bersa 380cc and it was leaps and bounds ahead in accuracy then the sig 238 I rented. Same went for my wife. While her grouping wasn't as tight as mine she did very well. At 7 yards she was getting 3-4 inch grouping her first time out with a slow but steady rate of fire. I was getting 1/2 inch-1inch groups at 7 yards with a decent rate of fire. At first I thought I was missing the whole sheet but then I realized that the grouping was so tight that they all touched. Very accurate and easy to fire gun imo. The trigger is a little long but nothing wrong with it for combat distances at all. All together my wife likes it a lot and it is easier for her to shoot then the shield. This will be her new carry gun.

if its used could be the mag spring I bought by Ruger SR1911 new and it came with two mags and I believe they are made by Checkmate and I have never had any FTF or FTEs but I also bought some aftermarket mags and had some issues with them but the springs in those don't seem to be as stiff as the Ruger mags

[patterson]

Back in another lifetime when I worked at a major gunshop we had many women in who couldn't rack the slide on various models. After a demonstration with proper tips on hold and technique almost every one of them were fine operating the slide on their own. On a Sig or 1911 or similar the first thing to do is cock the hammer. That has to happen when the slide is racked anyway and that eliminates having to overcome that amount of spring tension. Then the pistol is held close to the body at the same level as crossed arms like a movie Indian. The pistol is held 90 degrees from normal shooting hold, strong hand around the grip and weak hand on the slide. At a count of three the hands shove toward the opposite elbow for all they're worth. It's 99% guaranteed the slide is going to lock back. Obviously you can't pull the hammer on a Glock or similar but usually the same sharp snap in opposite directions will work on those as well.

already tried that and she still couldn't rack the slide on one of my 1911s or the sig p226 so I bought her a revolver

[patterson]

she cant load the magazines by hand either and has a tough time loading the last few rounds with the uplula mag loader as well but she wants to shoot so I thought she should just go with a wheel gun

[SewTexas]

I carry an LCP, get her to look at the Kusiak holster for it, their website needs a complete overhaul, but....I have one that has an extra slot for an extra mag...I have a hard time loading mine, too. Their holsters sits just right on me.

http://www.kusiakleather.com/store.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[myntalfloss]

she cant load the magazines by hand either and has a tough time loading the last few rounds with the uplula mag loader as well but she wants to shoot so I thought she should just go with a wheel gun