Gun for the wife..

[HiImSeth]

I would imagine this has already been covered but in briefly looking over all the threads in this section I didn't see anything related. If there is a topic already covering it please do let me know. Thanks!

Now, on to the important stuff.. We're looking into a good reliable gun for my wife to carry. We'll be taking the class soon enough and are looking to get her a gun to go shoot around a bit to get familiar with it. Are there any suggestions? Her father has a Kel-Tec P3AT which is nice but it jammed quite a bit, but that could have been because we were shooting the cheapest ammo around. She liked that one and how small it is but I think I'd rather her have a 9mm. Are there any women here? If so, what do you carry? And to the men, what do women you know carry? Any suggestions would be excellent!

Thanks!
Seth

[Tulsa Shooter]

If I were married I'd get my wife a nice revolver(probably .38 special) in her choice of caliber and size. Those Smith and Wesson air weights are ridiculously light and would be 100% reliable, but I heard recoil is pretty harsh. I don't know how much experience your wife has, does she feel confident that she could clear most semi auto jams?

[HiImSeth]

She does feel pretty confident, and she wants a semi-auto. But like you, I'd rather get her a revolver to avoid that possibility. I've shot a Taurus similar to those light S&Ws but I can't remember their name for it. Anyways, it had some pretty serious recoil and she's a small woman so something with a little less recoil would be nice.

[dogbear]

My girlfriend carries a S&W 637 airlite and so do I.The recoil is more than most snub nose revolvers but not that bad.I also have a ruger sp101.It has less recoil than the S&W but it weight 27 ounces as compared to the 15 ounces on the airlite.She also has a semi auto 9mm but I feel more comfortable with her carrying a revolver.

[Michael Brown]

How does she intend to carry it?

That will cut down the choices immensely.

How you get your weapon into play is a much bigger deal than the actual shooting, which is generally a very easy problem.

Consider how she's going to carry and why she wants a semi-auto.

Michael Brown

[HiImSeth]

She will do one of two things, carry it in a holster of some sort in her purse (probably doing this more often). Or, depending on where she is at and/or if she has her purse, she would like to put it in her back pocket or something like that. That Keltec was perfect for that. I hope that answers the questions you had and can give you a little more info to help give some suggestions. I'm sure we're really going to have to just go out and handle some to get a real good idea but with the help of you guys we'll probably have a decent start anyway. =]

Now that I think about it though, I'm not sure the purse would really be a great place for it for a defense type situation. Am I correct there? Maybe the pocket or belt holster is the best? I don't know all of the terms for the different types of holsters, but i'm thinking the one that goes on the inside of the waist line.

[Michael Brown]

She will do one of two things, carry it in a holster of some sort in her purse (probably doing this more often). Or, depending on where she is at and/or if she has her purse, she would like to put it in her back pocket or something like that. That Keltec was perfect for that. I hope that answers the questions you had and can give you a little more info to help give some suggestions. I'm sure we're really going to have to just go out and handle some to get a real good idea but with the help of you guys we'll probably have a decent start anyway. =]

Now that I think about it though, I'm not sure the purse would really be a great place for it for a defense type situation. Am I correct there? Maybe the pocket or belt holster is the best? I don't know all of the terms for the different types of holsters, but i'm thinking the one that goes on the inside of the waist line.

Typically IWB holsters don't fit women all that well. There are exceptions though.

The selection for women in terms of legit concealed carry holsters is really pathetic, but generally the best choices are ones that are not cut off by leg motion. This really rules out pocket holsters as they are inaccesible as soon as you start moving which is almost a guarantee in a suprise defensive encounter.

Many people carry in pocket holsters, but many people drink and drive too.
:wink2:

My wife carries in a fanny pack or in a Galco Concealable. This model of Galco seems to fit women well if they are able to cover it. My wife is a Vet so she wears scrub tops all the time and this conceals pretty well.

The fanny pack is less desireable but it is detached from the body at the base so it doesn't suffer exactly the same maladies as pocket carry.

If your wife intends to carry in a purse, I strongly recommend a double-action revolver like the ones previously mentioned. Smith and Wesson has taken to chambering their light revolvers in 357 magnum, but don't go for this gimmick. 38/9mm is about the most you want to use in a pocket-sized gun.

If she's going to carry in a purse, she needs a gun that is forgiving of neglect and nothing fits the bill better than a DA revolver. You definitely don't want something like the Kel-Tec in a purse.

Some folks will tell you that they have carried their Kel-Tec in a pocket and never had a problem. I would offer that people have survived jumping out of a plane without a parachute but I would rather use one if I was going to jump.

If she desperately needs a semi-auto even after you have TRULY considered all the angles, I'd recommend a Glock or Sig-DAK if her fingers are long enough. If not the choices narrow considerably. I've had a lot of women in classes and the ones that couldn't use a Glock or Sig generally did best with a DA revolver or a Kahr in 9mm. The downside of the Kahr is that it MUST be broken in well. I don't consider a Kahr reliable until it has digested at least 2000 rounds. I don't like to carry any gun until its had 1000 rounds through it and has proven reliable with whatever ammo I'm going to carry in it.

Hope this has helped.

Michael Brown

[HiImSeth]

Makes sense, thanks a ton for the helpful information. I don't see a fanny pack type working well for her, she just wouldn't do that. DA revolver in the purse sounds like the way it's going to work out. I'd like to go shoot/try some but don't want to sign up for a membership over at Tulsa Firearms so I suppose we'll just find one that fits well and others tend to like and see how it works out and then either keep it for her or add it to my small but growing collection. =]

What are your thoughts on the Taurus revolvers?

[Michael Brown]

The good thing about compact DA revolvers is that they're not all that different from each other, so choosing one shouldn't be a problem.

I personally lean toward Smith and Wesson J-Frames but Taurus and Ruger both make suitable compact, combat revolvers.

If she's going to go with a purse, a steel frame is not as much of a hindrance and will make the gun more useable. It will be heavier though if she chooses to carry some other way.

You definitely want a concealed hammer though. That's one area NOT to skimp on if its going to be carried in a purse. You don't want to need your gun badly and be trying to un-hook the hammer from some loose thread in the purse.

Also get a purse designed to carry a gun rather than just sticking the gun in her current purse. Most gun purses are FUUUUUGLY but I'm sure you'd rather keep your pretty wife around than worry about whether her purse is pretty. :wink2:

Michael Brown

[XRF]

I suggest(and this is from experience) taker her out to the gun shops, gun shows etc. and let her pick up and handle every pistol she thinks may work for her. If possible let her shoot it(rental) before you buy it. Do not go out and buy what you think she needs and hand it to her. This is a personal choice, after all she's the one that's going to pack it around. I have used this method for my wife and my daughter. It works. JMHO.

[HiImSeth]

I suggest(and this is from experience) taker her out to the gun shops, gun shows etc. and let her pick up and handle every pistol she thinks may work for her. If possible let her shoot it(rental) before you buy it. Do not go out and buy what you think she needs and hand it to her. This is a personal choice, after all she's the one that's going to pack it around. I have used this method for my wife and my daughter. It works. JMHO.
Definitely, it will be something she is comfortable handling and everything and she will make the final decision on which one she gets. I'm not sure of any place other than Tulsa Firearms to rent/shoot guns though.. if you have any suggestions let me know.

Thanks for the comment, good to hear all these comments from experience. Keep 'em coming.

[XRF]

As far as rentals go I have better luck asking friends who may have the model/caliber pistol I'm looking for and asking them to the range. Rentals are hard to locate and may or may not be in the best of shape. I just put out a few guide lines to stay within such as caliber, quality, etc. If you stay focused on the better makes and buy new you are more likely to get some support if it doesn't function as it should. My wife chose the Kahr K9 and it has proven to be flawless in function. It is hard to strip and clean for her though(that is my job now). My wife looked at revolvers but wanted a semi-auto, she couldn't rack the slide back on my G27 so we had to look around trying different pistols out for her. My daughter was dead set on a 9mm semi-auto. She's not old enough to carry yet so we found a larger pistol that fits her hand and is very easy to shoot and clean. Its a Steyr M9. Actually it was a lot of fun spending time with them looking for that perfect pistol.

[J.P.]

A hammerless .38spec. DA revolver would probably be the best bet in this situation.



:shocked:
Mike Brown just recommended a *SIG*

Ladies and gentlemen,get out your hat and gloves....
HELL just froze over.
:bolt:

[Mack45]

Michael, What are your thoughts about the Smartcarry rig for women.

[skyydiver]

My wife loves her Smith 908. (mm single stack w/ hogue grips fits her hand VERY well. They are a steal used.

[Michael Brown]

Michael, What are your thoughts about the Smartcarry rig for women.

I'm not very fond of the Smart-Carry.

It requires two hands to draw or holster which immediately disqualifies a holster from being practical in my opinion. It seems to have the same weaknesses as pocket-carry but adds a weakness of it own in needing two hands.

I do like how it looks on the Smart-Carry Girl with her pants undone though. :bigeye:

Michael Brown

[J.P.]

I use Smartarry in very limited circumstances because of the reasons Mike listed,but I do use it.
It is a viable option for extreme concealment requirements but there is a tradeoff.
IMO,it's better than no gun at all. (slightly better)

[J.P.]

I do like how it looks on the Smart-Carry Girl with her pants undone though. :bigeye:

:smack:

Something tells me Mike is "backed up".

[GMThunder]

The downside of the Kahr is that it MUST be broken in well. I don't consider a Kahr reliable until it has digested at least 2000 rounds. I don't like to carry any gun until its had 1000 rounds through it and has proven reliable with whatever ammo I'm going to carry in it.

Why do you say this? Not challenging anything....asking out of ignorance. I"m truely asking because I looked long and hard at these for my g/f.

[J.P.]

Why do you say this? Not challenging anything....asking out of ignorance. I"m truely asking because I looked long and hard at these for my g/f.
I can't speak for Mike but Kahrs seem to be notorious for having break-in (feed) issues.
You read about them on the boards,I've had them,my friend had them,and Kahr even recommends a break in period.
I don't exactly recall what they recommend but I think it is 500rd,IIRC.

As with anything else,some are reliable out of the box but I do not have the same confidence in them as I do a Glock or SIG.
YMMV.

[stepper]

As far as Kahr's go, I bought a PM9, and mine didn't have any issues at all. My dad bought one like 2 days after mine and he's never had a single problem at all. He liked it so much that he bought a K9 too. It too, has been perfect.

Kahr recommends 200-250 rounds for break-in period.

I love my little PM9. It is a fantastic pocket holster.

[okla-lawman]

I used to work at a large gun shop/range. I have had this question asked many times.
Womans purses are probably the worst place in the world for a gun. The stuff they get insid them dirt, lint and so forth is amazing. It is not a good enviroment for most semi auto and most women do not clean their weapons regular. For that reason I reccomend a good revovolver. My favorite is a model 65 with a 3". Why ? I used to take a LOT of women over to the range. They all bought 2" .38's.They would shoot them and could not hit anything. I would pull out my model 66 and they would shoot it and love it. Better sights, longer sight radius, it had a fantastic trigger and Pachymar grips. More than one customer left with a 3" 65 after they shot one. If i were going for an auto a glock 19 or 26 would be all I would put in that enviroment.

I have to disagree with Mike. I like pocket holsters and have carried one daily for years
on my weak side. As a backup on duty and for extremely discrete off duty. I have a couple of the sport bags and they scream gun to the trained eye. You do have to know it's limitations. A sport bag is a slow draw. But since I nearly always carry a pocket holster I practice with it. I just realize its limitations. Right now I either carry a GLock sub compact or an AMT 45 back up which I totally reworked. It is great for a jeans pocket due to its short length. 6 rounds of .45 and an extra clip should end most off duty incidents. Though I may be getting ready to retire both and go to a Kahh PM9. It is smaller, lighter and thinner. Listen Santa...I mean mrs Clause you can have my 26 if you .......

[GMThunder]

I can't speak for Mike but Kahrs seem to be notorious for having break-in (feed) issues.
You read about them on the boards,I've had them,my friend had them,and Kahr even recommends a break in period.
I don't exactly recall what they recommend but I think it is 500rd,IIRC.

As with anything else,some are reliable out of the box but I do not have the same confidence in them as I do a Glock or SIG.
YMMV.

Intresting, is this the all steel guns or polymer aswell?

[Michael Brown]

Reference the Kahr break in period, I have noticed that brand new Kahrs seem to have some feeding and extraction problems. These seem to disappear as the gun gets closer to 1000 rounds.

I recently assisted a woman in purchasing a Kahr P9 and i believe the manual even stated not to rely on it until t had 1000 rounds through it. I could be wrong on that number though.

Bear,

Regarding pocket holsters, I used to carry one too. I also used to eat too much pizza and drink too much beer. :wink2:

In all seriousness if you'd like to come test out your pocket holster a little under stressful conditions, we have an LEO group that meets twice a week and does some hard rolling with gear on. Its free and we meet Tuesday and Friday at 10:30 am. Just be prepared to work hard and sweat.

If you're interested pm me.

Michael Brown

p.s. I think we'll agree on pocket holsters after. :wink2: I'd love for you to be right as a pocket holster is very convenient. I just don't think it will do what a practical holster needs to. It works fine on a range but against another person, my experience has been that it falls short.

[J.P.]

Intresting, is this the all steel guns or polymer aswell?

I only have or know of first hand experiene with the Steel versions.
I had a K40 stainless that was reasonably reliable but still bobbled from time to time.
I bought it used so not sure of the total round count but it looked pretty clean.they must have sold it for the same reason i did...they didn't like the trigger. ;)
I put only 300rd of FMJ and 200rd of various JHP through it.

I had a K9 (again lightly used) that was a pure nightmare even with FMJ
I dropped it quick.

A good friend of mine is on his 3rd or 4th Kahr and they have all had issues except for his current K40 Stainless.
I don't know why he keeps trying them but i think it is a "beer and pizza" issue. ;)

[Michael Brown]

I don't know why he keeps trying them but i think it is a "beer and pizza" issue. ;)

I think we have a new OkShooters term.

From here on out all bad, but tempting, ideas will be referred to as "Beer and Pizza issues".
:rollingla

Have you noticed that all of our "terms" are related to food?

Michael Brown

[J.P.]

Have you noticed that all of our "terms" are related to food?

Michael Brown

Yes....and I've also noticed that we all have disproportionate mid-sections.
:ugh2:

[J.P.]

From here on out all bad, but tempting, ideas will be referred to as "Beer and Pizza issues".


Give me an example in sentence form....

[Michael Brown]

Going and talking to that hot chick with the Adam's apple after you've downed six screwdrivers is a "Beer and Pizza Issue". :rollingla

She MIGHT really be a chick this time!
:anyone:

Sadly it never works out that way.

Michael Brown

[J.P.]

Going and talking to that hot chick with the Adam's apple after you've downed six screwdrivers is a "Beer and Pizza Issue". :rollingla

She MIGHT really be a chick this time!
:anyone:

Sadly it never works out that way.

Michael Brown

:rollingla :rollingla :rollingla

I don't know if you remember but I used to live in New Orleans,and I've got a funny Mardi-Gras story to tell you sometime....
(not here though...and it wasn't me :smack: )

[skyydiver]

Why do you say this? Not challenging anything....asking out of ignorance. I"m truely asking because I looked long and hard at these for my g/f.

This is a blatant LIE! You don't have a girlfriend, you just want to buy a little pistol. :wink2:

[GMThunder]

This is a blatant LIE! You don't have a girlfriend, you just want to buy a little pistol. :wink2:

I'm more of a "Lady Smith" kind of guy. :)

[skyydiver]

Hey, the little grey grips ARE cute.

[ok_patriot]

My wife carries a model 27 Glock in 40 s&w, and she handles it great. I did however make her clear jams and disassemble it enough that she knows the function and fit of her firearm. I think it has become more of her best friend than I will ever be.

[paken-24-7]

My wife has a glock 26 9mm and she loves it. It's small and very easy to use.

[SoonerGlockGirl]

Yep, love my 26!

[c10bonanza]

My wife hates to shoot. The only gun she will shoot on a somewhat consistent basis is my 10/22.

On another note, I own a PM9 that has been an absolute dream. The manual states a 250 round break in period I believe. I have had around 1200 rounds through it with nary a problem (FMJ & JHP). The slide does tend to get a bit 'sticky' after 200-300 rounds though, and a good cleaning gets everything back to normal.

The key with these I have found is that if you keep them clean, and well lubed they run just fine.

I also carry in a pocket holster. While I will agree that this is not the best way to carry, it is sometimes the only way to carry for me. (dress code, work environment, etc). I would much rather carry in a less-than-ideal way than to leave it at home. Maybe I am naive, but that is my reasoning.

[HiImSeth]

Well, it's been about a year since I started this thread but I figured I'd update it anyhow. We finally took the CCW class through TDSA. Marshall Luton is a great instructor, we learned a ton from the class and even learned how to shoot much better.

Soo, while we were there she shot G19 that belonged to another female about her same size. She loved it and was able to get some pretty impressive groupings with it. We're looking to buy one now and plan on picking one up from OPS within the next month or so.

Thanks again to everyone who chimed in here on this thread. Our next challenge will be figuring out how she'll carry it.

[YukonGlocker]

The Glock 19 is an excellent choice.

[Soulman]

If you can't knock 'em down, then you glock 'em down.

[Buzzdraw]

A Glock 23 or 19 seems to fit most hands, especially smaller ones. With high performance ammo, the G19 will do just fine. Best of all, the 9mm ammo to practice comes inexpensively at the store.

[Soulman]

+1 on the inexpensive ammo for plinking

[Glock 'em down]

If you can't knock 'em down, then you glock 'em down.

HEY! That's MY line! :madbox:

Uh...yeah...what he said...:grumble:

[Soulman]

HEY! That's MY line! :madbox:

Uh...yeah...what he said...:grumble:
yes, you've just been quoted :thumb:

[Glock 'em down]

I feel...uh...honored...I guess? :selfangel

[Soulman]

I feel...uh...honored...I guess? :selfangel
You should be.

[cheach]

i carry a G27. i dont carry a purse- so it is IWB for me. makes me feel manly. lol.