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You guys can pipe in if you want to, but I'm really looking for a woman's perspective. I planned on buying my wife a Bersa Thunder 380 for Christmas. She shot one when we took Crossfire's pistol training class and seemed to like it a lot. She didn't have trouble racking the slide and said the felt recoil was much less than other 380s she had shot.

I even posted a WTB ad and negotiated a price for one from one of the forum members. She wanted to go to the range "just to be sure", so we went today. Now she says she's not sure.

She telecommutes, so she's home alone all day. She doesn't like my guns at all (Sig P226 in 9mm and Sig P239 in 357 Sig), but she'd like to have something she's comfortable with in case someone tries to break in while she's home alone.

She shot the Sig P238 and didn't like it. She shot the Ruger 380 LCP and didn't like it. (Felt recoil was too much for her with both guns.) She shot several guns at Crossfire's class, and the only one she really liked was the Bersa.

Today we shot with my boss. She brought her .38 special (an older revolver, fairly small), so I had my wife try that. She fired three rounds and said she didn't like it at all. (I thought it was a great little gun, but smaller than what I would like.)

Her hands are fairly small (she's 5' tall and wears size 6 shoes - used to be size 4), so big pistols and thick grips (double stack) are out.

I'm not sure where to go from here. Do I need to try 9mm? I don't think she'd like the recoil of anything larger. What's some guns that might interest her? Is there somewhere we can go that caters to women (not just says they do) where she can get some advice? (We live in the Dallas area.)

My wife is a tiny little Asian woman.. 5'3, 110 lbs. She actually hated all the "smaller guns" she has tried thus far, save for one..i'll get to that in a minute. You know what she loved though? My Gen 4 Glock 17. Yeah, it's double stack and sits a little fat in her hands, but she shoots it like a champ...... For HD, i'd recommend you let her try shooting it some time. I'm in the metroplex frequently, and would love to let her try it out anytime I'm here. Also, G17 is a pretty common gun, so I'm sure there are plenty of ranges around here that could rent you one.

That said, for CC she settled on a Kahr CW9. It's single stack, 9mm, and about as small as you can get without getting into the micro 9mm's. She shoots it almost as well as the G17, it doesn't intimidate her at all. The recoil is manageable with almost everything we have tried. She runs Gold Dot 147 gr. in hers. Kahr also makes an all steel model... the K9 and P9 I think, that are probably much more comfortable to shoot due to the added weight, but are still small single stack 9mm's.

Anyway. Those are the two I recommend.

Edited to substitute CW9 for CM9. Sorry for the confustion.

Hello this is Mrs. GFMun.....I have tried many, owned several and as my confidence and skills increased so did the type of gun I prefer. To me the first thing was did it fit my hand, could I rack the slide, change the mag, unjam if necessary and could take it apart and clean it myself. If I was going to use/carry I wanted to have complete confidence that I could handle the gun I chose. I like Glocks, but I also have large hands and have no problems with the grip. I do not like small guns. We have a kahr pm9 that I have carried but it bites when I shoot it so it is not a favorite. However for self defense, I think it is a good place to start. My purse gun is a j frame 38 special with an oversized grip and I love it. Easy to shoot.
Realize the first one is only going to tell you what you want in your next gun! Make it something she can handle and you can sell/trade as time goes on.
Barb

Make a hand made gift certificate for a gun of her choice and let her go shoot some would be my best suggestion. I am befuddled at the p238 being to big a recoil... it is heavier, and one of the sweetest shooting guns I have ever tried. I love my M&P 9c as well as my P238. I am dying to try a P938 I sure like how they feel in my hand. I am 5'5, but have fairly small hands with some mild arthritis.

There is a tendency for people to recommend tiny guns and revolvers for new women shooters. It makes sense if it is a carry gun, but for a general self defense gun it just leads to frustration for any new shooter, man or woman.

The slides are harder to manipulate, the triggers are longer, the recoil is greater.

I'd let her shoot a range of "normal" sized guns with a little weight to them. If she likes .380, there are a number of non-pocket sized guns to choose from.

My wife likes my HK P2000 the best out of all my guns. The HK's are pricey but have great ergonomics. Like was stated before, the full size guns seem to be what my daughter and wife prefer over the smaller guns.

if she's at home all day and wants home protection, go for something big, a shotgun or rifle maybe? if she want to conceal...at 5 foot, she's looking at something small, I'm 5'3" and a size 8 (pretty small), honestly there are times my LCP feels huge

Now, keep in mind, I have a fairly weak right wrist, so recoil is important.
yeh, the LCP has a bit of a kick, but when I go to the range, I fire what I comfortably can, take a break, then go again. I have also fired my husband's Colt Mustang, like the Sig P238, his is heavy/solid steel, I find it to have a recoil that hurts, I don't like it, although I love the size and would probably love one in an alloy. Another gun we have that I have carried is a small J frame revolver, S&W 442, it's a nice little gun, I didn't find it to have a ton of recoil, I just liked the LCP better in that I could have more ammo with me, quicker to reload, and the LCP is smaller to carry, which is important when you are a small person.

something I consider about recoil...in an adrenaline filled situation, recoil isn't going to matter much, you're really not going to feel it, you might hurt later, but during the incident you're going to fire and fire and keep firing until the matter is dealt with. Recoil only matters at the range. At the range, shoot a bit, rest, shoot some more, repeat as necessary.

baldeagle wrote:You guys can pipe in if you want to, but I'm really looking for a woman's perspective.

There is a young lady that posts videos on youtube, some of which are oriented towards women. Here's one that may be of interest to your wife in her search: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B68ILSzggTc. Coincidentally, she has very small hands too. Look for her other videos; she has a nice review of the M&P Shield.

We spent several days trying out different pistols when my other half got her chl and she ended up getting the beretta nano (shes 5' even). She liked the feel and weight, and could manipulate it easily although she did think it kicked more than others. She also really liked the sig 250 sub, taurus pt709 and the beretta storm sub but the size of the nano for carry worked better for her. Trying as many as we could was the only way to find her one she liked and now she loves taking it to the range, even named it, lol. The best thing i did to help was keep my opinion strictly to the make and quality there of and not on what i 'wanted' her to have.

Kahr pistols have a much lower bore axis than most handguns on the market, which results in quite a bit less muzzle flip. My Kahr CW9 is the only 9mm that mrs. surv has ever shot more than 2 magazines through in a single session before resorting to her KT P32. The CM9 is about a half inch shorter barrel, and shorter grip (6 round mag rather than 7 round mag) than the CW9, but all other dimensions are identical. I have both, and think either would be a good choice for a small framed lady.

surv


oh...and IANAW

My ex was 4'10"! She loved her Baby Eagle, compact, steel frame 9mm. CZ clone, very heavy, very low recoil. Sweet shooting pistol, I was very impressed with it

snatchel wrote:My wife is a tiny little Asian woman.. 5'3, 110 lbs. She actually hated all the "smaller guns" she has tried thus far, save for one..i'll get to that in a minute. You know what she loved though? My Gen 4 Glock 17. Yeah, it's double stack and sits a little fat in her hands, but she shoots it like a champ...... For HD, i'd recommend you let her try shooting it some time. I'm in the metroplex frequently, and would love to let her try it out anytime I'm here. Also, G17 is a pretty common gun, so I'm sure there are plenty of ranges around here that could rent you one..

This exact same thing happened to my wife, she was having trouble racking slides, we borrowed my bosses Glock 17 (gen. 3). She shot it like a pro, loved the handling, and that is what she wants.

I learned the hard way (expensive way), you better let her pick out her own. My wife is 6'-0" and about 160# and she can't rack the slide on a 1911.

I did a lot research, shot several, and held many before I bought my Walther PPS. It is a single stack 9mm, very slim. It is easy to shoot, I have no problem racking the slide, and it's VERY simple to take down and clean. I also own one of the older 90's models of the Colt Mustang. It's also sweet to shoot, and the slide is almost too easy (I can rack it with one hand). It's kind of a pain to take down. I carry my PPS OWB with no problems concealing. As many have advised and as you know, the gun must feel good to her when she holds and shoots it. If she's not really wanting to carry, and your main focus is home defense, you might let her try the Springfield XD45. I shot one a couple of weeks ago and the recoil on it was almost non-existent. It was very easy to shoot. Lots of ladies stay away from the "bigger" guns but she might be surprised. Best of luck in finding the right fit for her!

Have a close friend that is a small woman and has severe arthritis problems, but has long fingers so she is not limited to really tiny grip, so she needs low recoil and/or an easy to rack slide. She doesn't like the felt recoil on the small revolvers (.38/.357) and many slides are nearly impossible for her to rack. One that she can rack and has low felt recoil is the Hi-Point CF380. The combination of a heavy (blowback) slide, not very strong recoil spring, and slide shape make it easy for her to manipulate and shoot. This is her house gun since I don't think she could conceal it in anything less than a parka.

The C-9 (9mm) version has a slightly stronger spring but the difference is small.