Need opinions on CCW for sister - Purchase made

[mikeintexas]

My wife shoots a PT145, the same as mine. She liked the recoil better on the short barrel on the .45 than the S & W .38 special revolver that I bought orginally bought for her.

My wife's sister shoots a Kahr PM9. As mentioned above, it is small framed and fits both my wife's, her sister's and my hands.

We also have an LCP, but it has sharp recoil with a very thin, short grip.

Again, my $0.02 worth.

[lrb111]

My wife also has smaller hands. She carries the Taurus mil pro pt 745. It's the single stack version of my PT145. Hers has a 7 shot magazine, +1 in the pipe. The 145 is a ten shot mag, +1.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Dave01
Since you're in Rockwall, you're not awfully far away from the Bullet Trap
in Plano.

This gun shop has a large selection of new and pre-owned guns, as well as a range
where you can shoot a bunch of rental guns.

Some folks have complained that their range rentals for guns and ammo are pricey,
but hey, just like in the rest of life you have to pay to play.

Directions: From US 75 North, take the Park Boulevard exit, Eastbound.
Maybe the 2nd traffic light - you will be at Avenue K.
Take a left onto Avenue K, immediately go for the rightmost lane, and
BT is on your right.

PT745 Taurus - This is a SLIM powerhouse. 6 + 1 capacity and it's a .45.
PT145 Taurus - It's not that much bigger, but it's 10+1, also in .45.

My PT111 has been a great bargain and a trouble-free shooter.

Happy hunting and keep us posted on what she finally gets!

Thanks for sharing.

SIA

[Dave01]

Dave01
Since you're in Rockwall, you're not awfully far away from the Bullet Trap
in Plano.

This gun shop has a large selection of new and pre-owned guns, as well as a range
where you can shoot a bunch of rental guns.

Some folks have complained that their range rentals for guns and ammo are pricey,
but hey, just like in the rest of life you have to pay to play.

Directions: From US 75 North, take the Park Boulevard exit, Eastbound.
Maybe the 2nd traffic light - you will be at Avenue K.
Take a left onto Avenue K, immediately go for the rightmost lane, and
BT is on your right.

PT745 Taurus - This is a SLIM powerhouse. 6 + 1 capacity and it's a .45.
PT145 Taurus - It's not that much bigger, but it's 10+1, also in .45.

My PT111 has been a great bargain and a trouble-free shooter.

Happy hunting and keep us posted on what she finally gets!

Thanks for sharing.

SIA

I have never been to the Bullet Trap so we might check that out. I normally got to Target Master in Garland. They also have a number of rental guns (including a 4" 1911 in .45). We may hit both places this weekend so we can try out as many of the suggestions as possible.

Dave

[Jacob Staff]

If you're in Houston, she's welcome to test drive my PPS 9mm.

PM sent

[PX]

Dave,

P2000sk V3

Perfect for small hands, absolute reliability, amazing accuracy, offers 10+1 capacity, with the option of 13+1 (w/P2000 mags & X-grip). TDA platform.

I let my wife shoot the new P2000sk V3 first, and she loves it. She did experience a couple of "limp wristing" failures to eject very early on, but once I RESPECTFULLY SUGGESTED she adjust her grip, no more problems, period. My wife is 5' tall, 65 years old and has carpel tunnel surgery on both hands.. She was nailing the X ring from 7' before we quit.

For me the P2000sk V3 was perfect right out of the box. I'm 66, tired eyes, shaky hands, and the photo below shows the results of one mag shot from 7', two hands, resting on the frame of her golf cart. I consider 7' yards my personal maximum self defense practice distance, and I, obviously, was amazed at the inherent accuracy in this small sub-compact 9mm pistol.

My first few rounds were pretty much POA, but later rounds moved r. and lower. I'm a lefty, so I'm sure I was pulling my shots. Hopefully the more I shoot this little pistol the better my marksmanship will become.. No doubt the P2000sk is capable of smaller groups way beyond my skill level.

I'm an average marksman, at best... A younger person with steady hands and good eyes would blow the center of of the target...

A bit expensive? Yep.. But isn't she worth it?

Best Wishes,

Jesse

[mred]

Remember at the state fair when you could try to shoot out all of the red on the star with a bb gun? I never won but came close and ran out of ammo right before always. It was fun and they got Mom and Pops money too.

[pfgrone]

My wife is very small and has very small hands. I had her pick out the gun that fit her best. She picked the Kahr P9. She tried a rental gun at a range and decided that was the gun for her. It's her always carry gun in a Galco purse. She refuses to even try any other gun. (When she shoots at the range, there's usually men watching her because she is a good shot and is a little, 102 lb., gray haired 70 year old great grandma.)

[PX]

My wife is very small and has very small hands. I had her pick out the gun that fit her best. She picked the Kahr P9. She tried a rental gun at a range and decided that was the gun for her. It's her always carry gun in a Galco purse. She refuses to even try any other gun. (When she shoots at the range, there's usually men watching her because she is a good shot and is a little, 102 lb., gray haired 70 year old great grandma.)

And the correct answer is:

IF your wife is happy with her Kahr P9 that's all that matters..

Best Wishes and good shooting to you both..

Jesse

[The Annoyed Man]

I don't know if my wife has small hands for her size or not, but they are definitely smaller than mine. When I first introduced her to shooting, it was with a Colt Government .380. (I didn't own a .22 at the time, or I would have started with that instead.) I figured the small grip size would make it work for her. Eventually, she moved up to shooting a single stack full sized 1911. That grip seemed to work for her too, and even though the round was more powerful, the additional weight of the gun and the native character of the .45 round combined to make it not any more traumatic than shooting the .380. But although she shot reasonably well with both guns, she never really enjoyed shooting.

Skip forward 15 years and we have moved to Texas. She takes the BHSC course from Crossfire's husband, Marty, and shoots a number of different pistols in different calibers. She keeps coming back to the Glock 19, with its fat (to me) double stack grip. The next year, she takes her CHL course from Crossfire, and rents one of their G19s for the qualification part. That was the most fun she has ever had shooting. So the next day, we go shopping for a pistol for her. We looked at a lot of options that would be small enough for her hand, and small enough for purse carry, but powerful enough for reliable self-defense. The pistol that best seemed to meet those criteria was the Walther PPS, with its interchangeable backstraps, but she didn't seem to like it. She kept coming back to a Glock 19. Being a 1911 guy, I tried not to roll my eyes and kept my opinions to myself. It was to be her gun, and I just wanted her to feel good about the purchase, and to feel comfortable shooting it. So ultimately, that is what she bought - a Glock 19, with the Mepro night sights. I am convinced that the thing she most likes about it is the Glock's revolver-like simplicity, although she has assured me just now that she really likes the ergonomics too.

Fast forward to today, and her daily carry is the S&W 642CT I bought her for Valentine's Day last year. She hates to shoot it (so do I) because it is not a comfortable experience, but it fits in her Coronado Leather purse better than the Glock does, and consequently she can deploy the little revolver more quickly and reholster it in the purse more easily than the Glock; and most importantly, she can shoot it.

Go figure.

Funny thing about that Glock... They kind of grow on you. I'm still a 1911 guy, but I do enjoy shooting my wife's Glock. It is a well made gun, surprisingly accurate, and it has a bottomless magazine. My wife still enjoys shooting it too. So, although the gun is mostly a safe queen, it is her range gun (when she goes to the range), and on the rare occasion when I am spending the night elsewhere, it is her bedside gun. But unless she can be convinced to carry in a regular holster, she will likely never use it as a carry weapon.

[Mike from Texas]

I was in Academy yesterday and there was a guy looking at stuff in the gun counter. He pulled out a new Taurus "slim" 709 in 9mm. He apparently knew the gun guy pretty well because he removed he trigger lock and let he and I try out the trigger on it. It was a little stiff, but like Glocks it should loosen over time. It was still MUCH better than the PPS guns that I have handled. It has a safe trigger similar to the Glock and the PPS, but also had a manual safety if you so desire to use it. Overall I came away pretty impressed with the gun. I will do a little more research. This may end up being a fine choice fro a small statured woman.

http://www.taurususa.com/2009newcatalog/?catalog_page=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's the only decent review I could find on it. It's about half way down the page.

http://www.averagejoeshandgunreviews.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dave01]

My sister made a purchase this weekend. I wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions. I had her hold almost every weapon suggested in this thread. Some had grips that still felt too wide for her. Oddly, she felt the Kahr was too small . We had a chance to fire an S&W M&P in 9mm (CompVest Recommended) and a Rock island 4" 1911 in .45. She liked the M&P, but the grip was still a little big. They did not have the exchangeable backstraps available so we had to try another store to check that out. The recoil on the 4".45 was manageable, but she liked the 9mm better.

So we went to another store to see if we could try out the other grips for the M&P when she saw the SA EMP. I never really brought this gun up to her because 1) they are hard to find and 2) They were out of the price range she was looking in. After about a month of holding and firing various guns, she thought my SA micro-compact was the most comfortable, it just had too much recoil. The EMP and Micro-Compact are practically identical in size. She got the comfort she wanted, in the caliber that she liked (I warned her that it may have more felt recoil than the M&P due to shorter length), just not in her original price range. Two out of three isn't bad.

And, just as icing on the cake, we stopped by Walmart in the desperate hope that we could find 1 box of ammo. To my surprise, they had 8 boxes of 9mm (and about 20 boxes of .40). No .45 though, which is what I wanted. I guess a fully stocked Walmart ammo counter was just too much to ask for.

Thanks again everyone.

Dave

[Jacob Staff]

Sounds like she made a good choice. You had her try everything you could lay your hands on and then she picked something else

[joe817]

Gosh that EMP is a good looking conceal gun! If I could afford it, I think I'd pick one up. Seems just about the right size.

Congrats to your sister!

[seamusTX]

Even if the Springfield cost $1,300, it will last the rest of your sister's life and still be working when her great-grandkids are old enough to shoot. Many people spend more than that a year on cable TV or cell phones. Some spend more on Starbucks coffee.

- Jim