what handgun for my fiance

[hollywood88]

Ok guys, been looking into getting a handgun fir my fiance for personall protection. With my job i may spend a week or so at a time out of state which leaves her home alone with our son in a less than desirable neighborhood with nothing better than a full length 870 for protection. Want bigger than a 22 but not too big but im not sure semi auto or revolver. What would you guys suggest

 

[Hairtrigger]

Bigger is better as long as she can handle it.
I say take her to a shooting range where you can rent guns or take along several options for her to try.
A hammerless revolver just might be the best option

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I understand your mindset, that said just getting her a pistol is not enough. She needs to be trained in its use and employment, and if she is not that into it don't expect much. If its just for home defense a light weight AR is a better choice for her.

Shooting is a perishable skill, and one that needs to be maintained to be employed effectively when your brain shuts down. Cause when it shuts down, and it will the training is what will take over. Case in point I took a county sheriff to the rage 2 weeks ago, he carry's a gun every day and served in the army and he could not shoot a simple 7 round dot drill at 7 yards to save his life. It took us 600 rounds to get him back to the point he was at before work, and married life got the better of him.

I suggest taking a class they are not cheep but they are worth it.

I know I talk to much but the point I'm trying to make is it may be more dangerous for her to have a pistol than to not with, out formal training and the mindset.

Not knowing your wife's build, history and mindset its very hard to make a good recommendation. My wife is 5'6" and athletic, she carry's a glock 19. It fits her hand very well and she shoots it very well, now that I have convinced her to drift the sights. If your wife is smaller than my wife she may like the glock 26 or a S&W revolver. There are lots of options out there, see what she likes. Regardless of the weapon chosen I would shoot a minimum of 500 rounds through it before I trusted my life to it. On new guns this is key as most need a break in, it will also identify any issue on a used gun.

On another note, gun store sales men for the most part are not the best people to ask in my experience they are more dangerous wounded bear. A 9mm is all she needs, with today's bullets your not giving up anything to a 45acp. Especially for a smaller framed inexperienced shooter.

http://www.gunsite.com/main/

 

[hollywood88]

As far as shooting she loves it. She has used my dads full suze framed 9mm and my uncles 40 that is alsi full size and she does well with both. She is 5'3" with what i would call a full frame,not petite and her hands are roughly the same size as mine. Im thinking of a mid sized frame since small is just too small and full size looks a touch big and is a little bulky. For a revolver im thinking along the lines of a 38 with about a 3" barrel or at the small end a 22 mag. Semi auto im in a toss up between a 9mm and a 380. Are there any models along these lines you guys would recommend for me to lookat first? As far as ranges its about a 4 hour drive to one who has rentals, the only one around here is state owned outdoor range with nothing more than 2 birms and 3 tables. Also my buddy just got a taurus millenium in 45 acp thats a little smaller than my dad and uncles gun that ill have her try

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

As far as shooting she loves it. She has used my dads full suze framed 9mm and my uncles 40 that is alsi full size and she does well with both. She is 5'3" with what i would call a full frame,not petite and her hands are roughly the same size as mine. Im thinking of a mid sized frame since small is just too small and full size looks a touch big and is a little bulky. For a revolver im thinking along the lines of a 38 with about a 3" barrel or at the small end a 22 mag. Semi auto im in a toss up between a 9mm and a 380. Are there any models along these lines you guys would recommend for me to lookat first? As far as ranges its about a 4 hour drive to one who has rentals, the only one around here is state owned outdoor range with nothing more than 2 birms and 3 tables. Also my buddy just got a taurus millenium in 45 acp thats a little smaller than my dad and uncles gun that ill have her try

Never met a Glock 19 I didn't like

 

[acloco]

I teach CC. IMHO, with all of the varying size and experience of people that take CC class, I can highly recommend the Bersa Thunder or Thunder Plus series in 380 or 9mm. Add some of the better ammo available (such as Hornady Critical Defense), this combination will provide the value and price that cannot be beat.

I like the above because they have a decocker/safety, small size, lightweight, capacity, DA/SA, and seem to be easily shot by just about hand or strength size.....accurately.

 

[C.O. Shooter]

For the money and ease of use: S&W Bodyguard 38 with laser! I think it can be had for under $500!

 

[bronco]

For the money and ease of use: S&W Bodyguard 38 with laser! I think it can be had for under $500!

+1 Nothing complicated when the SHTF!

No safety to leave on, magazine to accidentally release or slide to bite her hand.

I have properly introduced/trained my wife and at the range she has proved proficient in many platforms. But for my wife or any other novice: in the house, scared and alone; keep it simple with a revolver! Aim and pull the trigger until the gun stops going bang! At the end, the assailant will either be dead or gone.

 

[hollywood88]

+1 Nothing complicated when the SHTF!

No safety to leave on, magazine to accidentally release or slide to bite her hand.

I have properly introduced/trained my wife and at the range she has proved proficient in many platforms. But for my wife or any other novice: in the house, scared and alone; keep it simple with a revolver! Aim and pull the trigger until the gun stops going bang! At the end, the assailant will either be dead or gone.

Thats my theory

 

[BountyHunter]

For the money and ease of use: S&W Bodyguard 38 with laser! I think it can be had for under $500!

+1 on that choice or the new scandium frame 38 hammerless with laser. Same price is right at $500.

Put Rem 124gr golden saber in them.

If an automatic, the the Kahr CW9 is the best IMO. Easy to manipulate slide, best double action trigger out there and extremely accurate and best feeling in the hand.

 

[bmcnabb02]

S&W Airweight Hammerless in .38

 

[Damol]

What is your price range? How does she handle the shotgun? If she likes the shotgun, you might think about a shorter barrel for it.

Its a good call on the revolver also, but small and light means easy to carry but less fun to shoot for some one new to them. Consider a bit larger frame like a S&W K frame, A model 10 is quite comfortable to shoot all day, and a
M-19,M-66 is good to go with 38s and she can move up to 357 ammo when she feels comfortable with it. They can be found with 2 1/2 inch barrels if you want something short .

You said she can handle 9mm and .40, so you might look at places like Summit Gun Broker, if your on a budget. Mark is great to work with and he had used Glock 17s (9mm) and 22s (40) both are full size service autos, and a good number of SIG P229s (mid size auto with decocker) in .40 in stock as police trades.
I picked up a nice P229 with no rail from him about 3 weeks ago and its a nice gun, came with night sights. The sights seemed dimm but after I cleaned them they turned out to have a good bit of life left in them. He also runs a weekly special that starts on fridays and has been very good, he had the SIG 229s for $395.00 about a week after I ordered mine (just my luck).

Ammo cost is something to consider. 38s used to be as cheap as it got but not any more. 9mm fills that role now and .40 is not to bad. Defensive ammo will set you back a good bit more than practice ammo, but with an auto you still need to run enough defensive ammo through it to be shure it will work in your gun. No matter what you get as has been said all ready get some training for her and practice practice practice. If you can convince her to do dry fire drills it helps out more than you might think.
Good luck and have fun.

 

[Zep]

My choice for this application would be a S&W hammerless 38 Special +P. If she gets nervous as any of us can she would just cycle thru a weak trigger pull and she would naturally cycle thru a bad cartridge. I have a friend who teaches women and this is his choice. I have practiced with the issues listed above and the revolver does work well. Formal training is really important with handguns.

But I must add I am a big fan of Glocks. And I must also add, with an automatic I have seen all of the jamming issues, not a big problem if you practice, practice, practice but that might not always be the case, especially with this application. Formal training is really important with handguns.

I also knew a man many years back who said he would never buy a woman a handgun because they can get hormonal. I also knew a man who got shot several times by his wife and he had the scars to prove it. Formal training is really important with handguns.

 

[Capt. D]

My wife is not a fan of the revolver. I got her a little SIG P238, .380, and she does very well with it. Sweet little shooter if I may say so myself.