Looking for options for my daughter

[ericdean]

I bought my wife a taurus 617ti with ported barrel and she learned to shoot it on her own for protection when I'm gone. I am looking for another one or something similar for my daughter. (Just had a rape in our town).
Any help or recommendations are appreciated.

Thanks

eric

 

[melensdad]

Why not get the SAME gun for your daughter? There is an ease in training and handling if both have similar models.

 

[JetGirl]

Take her someplace where she can get her hands on several guns and see what feels best to HER.

 

[ericdean]

That is good advise as I initially bought my wife a semi-9mm and she hated it. She loves her Taurus revolver.

 

[Pami]

I'm the exact opposite -- I haven't really liked shooting revolvers much, but I love my semi-autos.

I'm definitely with Annie on this one, and if you read in the Women & Guns section, you'll see that it really is important that your daughter pick her own gun. She needs to be comfortable with it, or she'll never practice with it, much less carry it, no matter how much persuading you try to do.

 

[ericdean]

Thanks Pami. She has handled my wife's Taurus and likes it but she has never tried anything else.

 

[KevinH]

Took my daughter out shooting on Sunday. Did an intro to guns at home one day. Revolvers (dao and sado), Walther PPK, and of course a real gun my Glock 19. Took a .22 wheel gun to get her started. She must have weak hands. Can't pull the sao triggers. The Glock worked fine except she can't lock the slid back. Her mom CAN so it's not genitic. She actually did fine with all she could shoot (like her mom) She is not interested in owing/carrying. But 6 months ago she thought guns were bad. I agree with you have to choose your gun. If it isn't something you aren't willing to tote you won't take it along. My wife chose the S&W Airlight with Crimson Trace laser grips. Cool but she no longer uses the laser, just not practicle. Wasn't money well spent on the grips, need to replace them with something that has more cushion. If/when you go to outfit her see if the store will let her try it on with a holster or in her purse or where ever she plans to carry it. I, probably like most guys, have a drawer full of holsters that just don't work. Definately try to shoot possible keepers. Check out trigger pull stats too. Remember women don't have testosterone/egos in their trigger fingers. My wife likes her 642 in general but the 12# trigger really wears her dainty finger out quick. The Glock with the 3.5# trigger is much easier. But there are trade-offs.

 

[munky_3434]

Take her someplace where she can get her hands on several guns and see what feels best to HER.

i think someone said some variant of this on here once. but buying her a gun is like picking her underwear out for her.

just don't force it on her. they make affordable tasers and pepper sprays that she may feel more comfortable with

 

[Jeremiah]

Pepper spray should already be on everyones's keychain,( why not have the option).

That being said defininetly take your daughter to find one that feels good to her. Remember that not enoug women have a healthy interest in firearms( no offense ladies) so she probably won't practice much, hope I am wrong on that one. picking something she like is good but other options need to be considered, such as safeties, trigger pull, concealability, and reliability.
Revolvers are very reliable and a good choice for inexperienced shooters, since there is no chance of "limp wrisitng", you don't have to worry about wheather she can rack the slide. gennerally no safeties but the one between your ears. ( alot of tauraus guns have a built in key type trigger lock a bad idea for a carry gun since if she left it on she will have to work very hard in an intense situation to find the key and disable the lock) They also have a heavy trigger pull wich helps lower the chances of an accidental discharge, unlike the light trigger pull of a glock, this will deteriorate accuracy. I prsonaly carry a sig P6 or 225 it is a single stack 9mm ans is roughly the size of a glock 19. I picked it up at gander mtn. in For Wayne for 325 dollars, the onl problems for many small framed women is that sigs posses notoriously heavy recoil springs and a heafty D.O. trigger pull.

No matter what you end up getting her, you need to make sure that she
-knows how to handle a firearm safely
- practices
- and is COMFORTABLE with all of the workings of the gun.

I really like sigs, glocks, the walther p99, S&W M&P's, and any other pistol that doesn't have a bunch of safeties since more than likely, if I ever need it, the situation where it is called for will facilitate the loss of fine motor skills.

 

[KevinH]

I agree about the pepper spray and tasers. I have some for places that aren't, well, so free for honest people. However, where do you practice? Dad is the first choice, but how many shots can one guy take? Homeless peope aren't game either. Are there inert training alternates? My wife and I took an impact weapons class. Expandable baton, kubaton and the trusty old cane. Give you some options and you can take a cane on an airplane. Don't forget something like the Surefire E2D defender flashlight. Has serations on the switch end. Can't do someone any good slammed into the noggin. Might try to get her some close quarter defensive training with the above-mentioned devices or knives. You shouldn't bring a knife to a gunfight, but if that's all you have...

 

[nobletucky]

My two cents, RELOVER. Pepper spray and knives are good, but if a guy did enter her room or residency, pepper spray will put the guy behind bars for maybe 10-15 years? maybe-who knows? And she will have to live the next 10-15 years of her life thinking about that release date. Use a revolver, or semi auto, finish the job, and she does not have to live in fear of the day "THAT MAN" gets out of jail. You don't want to see her live in fear of an earthly monster. Put the devil in his grave and fear no more. Just my two cents.
Just make it fun for her to start out with. Take her to the range, make sure she shoots better than you as a way to encourage her. Thats how I got my daughter hooked on her Marlin .22 when she was 9 years old. We go to the range now, and I don't get a chance to shoot, she loves it. And just recently she asked to shoot my Kel Tec PF9, she liked it, put about 20-30 rounds through it. So a KT PF-9 is another option if you feel comfortable w/ her not having a safety button- Thats a dad call though. But easy on the pressure. Encouagement and praise should get her diggin it.
Good Luck!

 

[JetGirl]

but if a guy did enter her room or residency, pepper spray will put the guy behind bars for maybe 10-15 years? maybe-who knows? And she will have to live the next 10-15 years of her life thinking about that release date. Use a revolver, or semi auto, finish the job, and she does not have to live in fear of the day "THAT MAN" gets out of jail. You don't want to see her live in fear of an earthly monster. Put the devil in his grave and fear no more. Just my two cents.

Whoa whoa whoa there, pardner...
I think it's gotta be her decision what she feels capable of doing and IF she feels able to draw a bead on a human, much less pull the trigger. I'm advocating personal protection shooting classes that go into every day mindset, defensive training, and that sort of thing before just chucking a shooter in her hands and saying "Now you can shoot him dead, honey!"

 

[Jeremiah]

Also if your daughter isn't old enough to get a carry permit, or isn't interested in carrying, can I recomend a carbine. mount a flashlight and leave it close, they tend to be powered by pistol rounds and have litte or no recoil. are more accurate in untrained hands then pistols and will probably lead to more confidence in your daughters handling of the firearm

 

[Pami]

Moving this to the Women & Firearms forum, since this is leaning heavily toward .. well, Women & Firearms.

 

[Crystalship1]

My two cents, RELOVER.

As in ... "to LOVE again"???

 

[JetGirl]

As in ... "to LOVE again"???

...better than to never have loved at all?
OK, it was close enough!...

 

[Tinman]

You really should read the thread on wifey wants her own. The same rules apply whether it's your wife, daughter, son, brother, mom, dad, best friend, whatever. THEY should pick what's best for them.

As far as tasers and pepper spray, yes there are inert models of the peperspray, but not the taser. Training is essential with these tools. They are not full proof, so you need to be prepared for a plan B if you don't get the results you expect. Tasers pose a problem both for getting them, as well as the legals. I know a lot of jurisdictions are playing games with classing those as LE only. "stun Guns" are little more than a novelty, I don't recall ever hearing a story where one was used as a true self defense tool. Not to mention the issue of needing to be in contact with the threat to be of value.

I'll throw a few things out there on the pepper spray. I am not aware of any jurisdiction that considers it lethal force, so it has some legal advantages to other options. It also gives you a bit more leeway to use without quite so much fear of legal repercussions. In my last OC class, the instructor (Paul Gomez) had a real interesting take. He said pepper spray gives you a moment in time to do something else about the threat. That's all. The misconception that the threat goes down screaming in pain the instant you spray him just isn't true. It will affect them, as someone who has been exposed multiple times, I can tell you that you never develop an immunity to it. It sucks every single time. What you do develop is an understanding of your physical reactions that helps to negate the panic that normally sets in with first exposure. I recommend that if you’re going to carry it, you go through an exposure training class so you have an idea of the affects of the stuff. In all likelihood, if you deploy it, you will be cross contaminated and you need to know what to expect. My last class, we were sprayed, had to run 25 yards back to the line of waiting victims, oh I mean student, then run back to the spot you were exposed where there was an instructor with a kick pad. You had to strike that pad until the lead instructor was confident you had done enough to persuade the attacked to leave. The point of the exercise was not let’s spray 20 unsuspecting students, but to prove the point that if you can fight through the affects, so can a bad guy. You have one instant when the attackers eyes close, what you do in that instant determines success or failure.

Just a few thoughts for you all. Maybe it’s about time for a few hour pepper spray class? Any one interested? I'm always looking for a reason to paint people orange

Tinman…..

 

[munky_3434]

as someone who has been exposed multiple times, I can tell you that you never develop an immunity to it. It sucks every single time.

Just a few thoughts for you all. Maybe it’s about time for a few hour pepper spray class? Any one interested? I'm always looking for a reason to paint people orange

Tinman…..

and no thanks on the training. i have had more than i would ever care to have had (once is enough)

 

[Tinman]

Oh come on, it aint that bad

Besides, if I told everybody it sucks, they'd never let me spray them. What fun would that be?

Tinman....

 

[rhino]

I can't even tolerate the crushed red pepper at pizza places on my food. Pepper spray in my eyes would be unpleasant indeed, and I would not volunteer to have it done to me. If someone did it to me, I suspect it might anger me.