Carry gun for my wife?

[Aaron1776]

My wife has surprised me with getting her lifetime LTCH. We go shooting quite often but she has never mentioned wanting a LTCH. Don't get me wrong I've always wanted her too but wasn't going to force her. Anyways now the story aside...

Any suggestions for a small carry gun. Looking for something that will fit in her purse. She likes my Walther p22 but was thinking of maybe a LC9 or a Walther PK380.

After having helped my mom, former girlfriends, friends of mom, etc find guns, I have found these guidelines to be helpful when gun shopping for a woman.

1-Just stay away from the tiny .32 & .380 platforms. All the women swoon over these "cute little guns" that they can conceal, buy them, and then hate them because shooting them is very hard. The recoil is too much and the sight radius too little in the tiny platorms for the average CCW person to shoot well enough, unless they're willing to use it as a bellygun/assassin's weapon. (You really wanna go toe to toe with a 6'3" 200lb mugger using one of those?) Furthermore the penetration of the .32 & .380 are rarely worth their recoil. You can find small 9mms that even tiny women can conceal and shoot and it's a far superior round. Get her one of those.

2- Try Ruger LC9, Kahr 9mm (I've only known people to have good experiences with these, though other people here disagree), or, which I think is your best option, the XDS 9mm.

3- If she refuses to use a 9mm, explain to her that she will have to shoot the guy in the face to stop him reliably. I know that a .22lr will kill, but a killing shot and an incapacitating shot are two different things. If she still wants a small caliber, well then I guess a small gun is better than no gun.

4- Scratch what I said in #3. If she refuses, slip her something to knock her out and when she wakes up congratulate her on her new XD .45 compact with night sights.

 

[SmartAsh25]

As a woman here's my opinion.
There are a lot of options with a 9mm. Also please try to show her some options for carrying on body cause when a situation arises that you may need your firearm you don't want to be fumbling with a purse. Even a purse made for concealed carry can be a hassle. Check out iwb holsters. Now on to guns. I have two guns I use for carry. One being the m&P shield 9mm. Slim concealable and it shoots great! The other is my baby..my glock 26 gen 3 9mm. I LOVE it. Slightly bigger than the shield but still easily concealed. Its a glock so its reliable and shoots like heaven I know some people worry about racking the slide easily I personally keep one in the chamber at all times so I'm not worried about racking it in a stressful situation but The glock does seem smoother than the shield but both are easy. Well that's just a little of my input. Hope it helps. And its always nice to hear of new people carrying especially women

 

[jstiz]

Well as an update to all she is still looking! She is still waiting for LTC though so she is just taking her time. She likes the Sig but doesn't want to pay that price. She is leaning towards the LC9 I believe. Thanks for all the info so far though. She has been reading these posts too and looking at each gun.

 

[SmartAsh25]

Goodluck! Let us know what she decides

 

[junior438]

my buddys wife carries a 357 stubby, shes a tiny thing. she loves it.

 

[Jackson]

As a woman here's my opinion.
There are a lot of options with a 9mm. Also please try to show her some options for carrying on body cause when a situation arises that you may need your firearm you don't want to be fumbling with a purse. Even a purse made for concealed carry can be a hassle. Check out iwb holsters. Now on to guns. I have two guns I use for carry. One being the m&P shield 9mm. Slim concealable and it shoots great! The other is my baby..my glock 26 gen 3 9mm. I LOVE it. Slightly bigger than the shield but still easily concealed. Its a glock so its reliable and shoots like heaven I know some people worry about racking the slide easily I personally keep one in the chamber at all times so I'm not worried about racking it in a stressful situation but The glock does seem smoother than the shield but both are easy. Well that's just a little of my input. Hope it helps. And its always nice to hear of new people carrying especially women

You should definitely be worried about racking the slide in a stressful situation. There are all kinds of reasoons why you might need to do so. The most important that come to mind are stoppage reductions and in-battery reloads. I would encourage everyne who carries a gun for self-defense to be able to operate every aspect of it without undue effort or thought. It may take some trial and error and some practice to find a method that works for you, but its definitely important to put that effort in. The last place you want to be in a gunfight is holding an inoperable gun because you couldnt manually cycle the slide under duress.

 

[SmartAsh25]

You should definitely be worried about racking the slide in a stressful situation. There are all kinds of reasoons why you might need to do so. The most important that come to mind are stoppage reductions and in-battery reloads. I would encourage everyne who carries a gun for self-defense to be able to operate every aspect of it without undue effort or thought. It may take some trial and error and some practice to find a method that works for you, but its definitely important to put that effort in. The last place you want to be in a gunfight is holding an inoperable gun because you couldnt manually cycle the slide under duress.

I completly understand that. I wasnt minimizing the importance of being able to rack it. I personally have NO problem doing so with my guns. I know how to operate them easily and efficently. I was just pointing out if that crosses your mind the shield is slightly harder to rack than a glock. Glocks are smooth...

 

[SmartAsh25]

My wording may have been misleading but my main point was some women may shy away from semi autos because they think they will have difficulty racking the slide. I personally have no problem doing so. I just don't want to fumble with racking it in the onset of a stressful situation, therefore I keep one in the chamber. I wasn't trying to minimize the importance of being able to easily rack it. Any woman is able to with practice, like you said. But if you are worried with it being slightly difficult than go with a glock, they're smoooooth

 

[Jackson]

I completly understand that. I wasnt minimizing the importance of being able to rack it. I personally have NO problem doing so with my guns. I know how to operate them easily and efficently. I was just pointing out if that crosses your mind the shield is slightly harder to rack than a glock. Glocks are smooth...

I wasn't intending to call you out specifically or to accuse you. I just think its important to be able to manipulate the firearm effectively and wanted to make the point.

 

[Jackson]

My wording may have been misleading but my main point was some women may shy away from semi autos because they think they will have difficulty racking the slide. I personally have no problem doing so. I just don't want to fumble with racking it in the onset of a stressful situation, therefore I keep one in the chamber. I wasn't trying to minimize the importance of being able to easily rack it. Any woman is able to with practice, like you said. But if you are worried with it being slightly difficult than go with a glock, they're smoooooth

Indeed. I would discourage anyone from carrying with an empty chamber.

 

[SmartAsh25]

Ok. Text can be interpreted more than one way sometimes. The way I read what you wrote was it sounded as if you were trying to criticize me. But on another note I completly agree with you its very important.

 

[anthonycampbel7033@s]

My wife has surprised me with getting her lifetime LTCH. We go shooting quite often but she has never mentioned wanting a LTCH. Don't get me wrong I've always wanted her too but wasn't going to force her. Anyways now the story aside...

Any suggestions for a small carry gun. Looking for something that will fit in her purse. She likes my Walther p22 but was thinking of maybe a LC9 or a Walther PK380.

Sig p238 great gun for the lady's

 

[anthonycampbel7033@s]

They are a little pricey but they work when you need them to and you cannot put a price on her safety

 

[SmartAsh25]

I personally know a handful of people who carry without one in the chamber. Excuses being.. "I have no safety, I might shoot myself" I just tell them. its all about trigger discipline/control. The gun will not go off if you keep your finger off the trigger. Practice drawing and reholstering and it becomes muscle memory. I will always carry with one in the tube because that second it takes to rack it could cost me my life.

 

[Jackson]

I personally know a handful of people who carry without one in the chamber. Excuses being.. "I have no safety, I might shoot myself" I just tell them. its all about trigger discipline/control. The gun will not go off if you keep your finger off the trigger. Practice drawing and reholstering and it becomes muscle memory. I will always carry with one in the tube because that second it takes to rack it could cost me my life.

You are doing it right. If they don't feel comfortable it is indicative of their lack of training and practice in safe and effective gun handling.

 

[Underdogg39]

I've had the same experience with my wife on this matter. It took awhile to finally get her to shoot but once she did she loves it. She loves the p22 also but I've been trying to find a bigger caliber that she feels comfrontable shooting. Bersa 380, sig p290, and a 38 s&w revolver. The sig p238 looks like another one ill have her try. So far p22 wins!!!!

 

[Juris gunner]

I would personally recommend a Glock 26. I am trying to get the girlfriend into practicing with it more often so that she becomes proficient with it. 10 rounds double stacked (11 or 12 with the extensions) gives you a nice package (no pun intended, lol).

 

[thabombsquad]

My wife carries (sometimes) a ruger lcr. It's a great lightweight option that goes bang every time. Now if I could just get her to take it with her each time she leaves the house!