What Is Your Best Idea on Which Handgun Is Best For Your Wife?

[Longwood]

One that she will never be able to shoot "YOU" with.

[daddyseal]

One that she will never be able to shoot "YOU" with.

HaHa~!..What..Me Worry?
Quote A. E. N.

[rintinglen]

Buying a gun for my wife would be an exercise in futility. She doesn't like shooting, doesn't like guns, and completely lacks any inkling of a "killer instinct." Any gun in her hands is just going to be taken from her and used against her.

My daughters, on the other hand both have handguns and would not hesitate to use them. My eldest is partial to her 30-30 Winchester, but also shoots the S&W M-36 3" HB pretty well. My other daughter bought herself a DPMS M-4 copy, because that is what she trained with in boot camp, but she also is fond of her S&W 422 22 LR.

[Good Cheer]

Well, with time, age and changing musculature her air weight starting bouncing on her finger enough to hurt. The solution was to visit one shop after another until she found the one that was right. Turned out that crimson trace grips on a double action 357 were a winner for her. Doesn't have much use for the laser out side of entertaining the cats but those grips on her new piece made all the difference in the world.
Comfort level, adequate power and preexisting ability were factors in her choice.

[shooting on a shoestring]

My wife shopped my battery and claimed a 4 inch 1923 Colt Police Positive in 38Spl. Its loaded with 358091 over 2.7 grs Bullseye. Not a screaming load, but she shoots it and she won't even pickup any of my .357s. The other gun she takes ocassionally is my old Winchester 62A and all the 22 shorts she can find. She is not afflicted with magnumitis.

[MasS&W]

2 inch model 19 or similar medium frame revo. Most crimes against women are crimes of opportunity, they don't need some airweight wiz bang 1000 shot auto. Give her a heavy-ish gun that she isn't afraid to practice with (no silly j frame 357s!) and you're golden. Lightweight gun =/= ladys gun, no matter how hard the shopkeeper pushes you. Chiappa makes a nice revolver in the rhino that she'll love.

[bobthenailer]

My wife doesent like semi auto pistols therefor she has abducted my S&W 2 1/2 " 66 and later on i bought her a 4 " 19 and she also likes my 22 cal 63

[pdawg_shooter]

M1911A1 in 45ACP. Its the only on of mine she will shoot. BTW, she shoots it very well indeed.

[snowwolfe]

Keep your nose out of what is best for your wife and take her to a indoor shooting range and let her pick a couple out to try and go from there.

If she didnt pick it out, and doesnt like it, it doesnt matter what you think might be a good choice for her. Same goes for your kids

[NoZombies]

My wife likes J-frame smiths. And very little else as far as guns are concerned.

[crazy mark]

My wife like a small frame 32 Mag revolver. She has had carpal tunnel surgery years ago and anything over a 38 spl with light loads is too much. The 32 Mag seems to work good for her.

[MasS&W]

Well this is timely. Happened upon a 12 minute video put out today on what constitutes a good gun for the females among us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80PZ3...&feature=g-u-u

[lbaize3]

She likes the SIG 238 in her purse, the Glock 357 Sig in the car and the XDm full size 9mm next to her side of the bed. Only a durned fool would cross her on the street, in her car, or at home.

[wrench man]

My GF seems to like the bigger guns?, she has average size hands for a woman, what ever that really is, last week I bought here an Uberti 1873 45 Colt, she sent over a hundred rounds down range with it on it's first outing and the one liter pop bottle that was the primary target couldn't be much worse off if two pit bull's were fighting over it!, and she was putting fair groups in 8" targets at about 15 yards too.
She also has a Ruger Single Ten and a Beracat also, she likes here wheel guns!

[BWelch47]

I had my wife shoot different caliburs of handguns. One day we were at the local range where there was a gentleman shooting a Virginia Dragoon in 44Mag. She asked him if he could shoot it. She did. As a result, we left the range and went to a local gun shop where they had a Super Blackhawk on sale(this during the Dirty Harry craz and 44Mag were rarer than hen's teeth). She bought the Super Blackhawk and all the 44Mag ammo on stock. We returned to the range where she shot all the ammo with a happy face. Her favorite CCW is a 2 1/2 629 which she can clear the x ring of a target at 50 yds all day long. (PS she is currently very ill with terminal cancer and has not shot her pet 44Mags for some time. God, I'll miss her when she is gone).

[Kraschenbirn]

Quite a few years back, I acquired a very nice 4" Colt Diamondback in .38 Spec. which, in a moment of mental dysfunction, I presented to my wife as a birthday gift. Since that time, I have on several occasions attempted to get that gun back...once, even, offering to trade her my favorite S&W M66 (round butt, 3" bbl, TK-Custom action job)...without success. Though she doesn't practice as often as I'd like, shooting double-action with +P JHPs, she can still hold all six shots inside the 9-ring of a PPC target at 10 yds.

Bill

[Thundarstick]

My wife, 50 and never shot a gun in her life! Told her I would teach her how, after she showed an intrest in learning. We started with safety rules over and over, moved to a 10/22 with red dot, then a single action .22lr. We went to gun shops where she handled several and found she couldn't opperate the slide of autos due to arthur in her thumbs, so the autos where out! She selected a SP101 327 Fed. that I can reload for. At the range we found out that the full power loads where too much for her hands, but the 32 H&R was a go. I reload very light wadcutters in 32h&r and she loves to shoot these for practice, but will run a cylinder full of full house loads at the end of a session. She also expressed some intrest in a Ruger Mark 3 and I did suprise her with a competition target model that she has fallen in love with!

[TXGunNut]

My experience and advice is very close to LoneGun's, very good advice. One thing I'd like to add is that if you have a knowledgeable salesperson I'd introduce them and let them try on a few and see what they come up with. If the wife or SO wants a gun then it's best that she buys a gun she wants and will shoot and if necessary, carry.
Another suggestion is to have her take shooting lessons and safety instruction if necessary. I've been surprised by the number of newbie female shooters that were actually very good shooters with a little instruction. Most newbie men need remedial training and continue to struggle against bad habits common among self-taught shooters...I'm still struggling with bad habits I taught myself over 30 yrs ago.

[danski26]

SP101 or a Smith Model 60 firing 38 Specials is where I would start.

[Bullet Caster]

Well, my wife already told me what she likes to shoot and that's her dad's old High Standard .22 rf 9 shot. She also likes to shoot my Remington Apache 77 .22 rf. Any other gun I try to get her to shoot and she complains that they hurt her ears and that's with hearing protection. Personally I think she is afraid of the recoil more than the noise on any of my centerfire pistols.

But then I want her to shoot whatever she likes just as long as she shoots. BC