What do you recommend?

[jasonacann]

When i met my wife, she didn't like guns at all. She hated the fact I kept them after we married and charged me with getting rid of them. (ha!).
End of last year i was deployed to ERDC in Jacksonville for a forensic collection and she called me in a panic. It was late, and there was a stranger prowling our backyard. After that, I was both amazed and excited when she asked me to take her to the range. She figures she should at least learn to use them now that we have a little girl. I don't want her first experience to be negative or it might ruin it for her. I have a Makarov, my only pistol, and i would like her to learn it inside and out, but i don't know if that's the first weapon she should shoot. The range I like to go to is an indoor pistol / rifle range and they rent all calibers up to .45. What do you think would be a lightweight, clean firing, "non-scary" type of gun for a woman who has never fired before? (And still probably dislikes guns on principal).

 

[tv1217]

How do you feel about Taurus and the color pink?

 

[phil]

See if your range can rent you a Mosquito (.22). It's still a full size frame but not too heavy/bulky/"scary". After she puts a few threw that, maybe she will loosen up a bit and you can go for something bigger. My wife didn't care for guns at all. Now that she shot my friend's Mosquito, she wants one!

 

[Scutter01]

See if your range can rent you a Mosquito (.22). It's still a full size frame but not too heavy/bulky/"scary". After she puts a few threw that, maybe she will loosen up a bit and you can go for something bigger. My wife didn't care for guns at all. Now that she shot my friend's Mosquito, she wants one!

I second that, but I would suggest a Walther P22 instead. The grip is smaller than the Mosquito and it's a lot more fun to shoot. Plus they come in pink if that helps any.

 

[Joe Williams]

A .22. Low noise, basically no recoil, accurate, tons of fun.

Advanced shooters should be shooting lots of .22s, and there is no better way to start off a new shooter.

 

[IndyGunworks]

Jasonacan... where are you located... If you would be willing to drive to indy and meet me at pops, i can bring my Ruger MKIII 10/22 and G19... I have taught Several women how to shoot, and they are probably the best students. all i ask is that you pay your portion of the range fee... i can also bring a few other guns to let your wife try out in case she is looking at getting one of her own.
Send me a PM if interested.

 

[chrismw5551]

My wife enjoys shooting my SIG239 in .40 S&W, and she has small hands, they come in a couple different calibers as well.

 

[panzerkfw]

the best choice is a S&W airweight

 

[jeremy]

the best choice is a S&W airweight

Just for comfort of carry right? The recoil and handling of that is terrible. Especially in the hands of a new shooter.

Start of with a 22LR while she is learning both how to shoot and what she likes. It is small enough caliber that the fundamentals can be drilled and few bad habits developed. Let here get hands on as many types of pistols as you can, to see what feels "right" to her. After she has learned how to shoot rent/borrow different calibers/types and test drive them. Buying the 1,2 or 10 that she ends up preferring.

 

[jasonacann]

I ended up getting a .22LR Ruger and a Glock. She was hesitant at first, but was amazingly accurate with the 22 at 10 meters. She didn't want to shoot the GLock, but after we were done, she smiled and said "I will shoot the Glock next time." Awesome. Thanks for all the advice. My wife is a shooter now!

 

[phil]

AWESOME!!!!! Glad we could help!