Took my wife to the gun club.

[JoJo]

 This morning we went to the gun club to teach my wife how to shoot a pistol. When shooting bench rifle she has natural trigger squeeze so I knew it wouldn't be hard to teach her. She shot my Rugar Mark II  and wow what a surprise. At 7 yrds 3 inch group center mass 10 yrds 5 inch group in both center mass and head shots one white paper, 15 yrds  head shots 6 inch group one white paper all body shots good with one shoulder shot. She didn't like the 9mm at all and refused to shoot it after one shot. She is 75 years old and stands 5ft even.
 Now my questions;  Because she is recoil sensitive I was thinking for her self defense of a 22mag revolver or the Taurus 380 mini revolver. She likes a snub nosed gun.

http://www.jgsales.com/charter-arms-pathfinder-da-sa-revolver,-.22wmr,-2-bbl,-stainless,-new-p-77260.html

http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=904&category=Revolver&toggle=tr&breadcrumbseries=UL2

Any suggestions would be appreciated.     

[Nemo]

My wife is rather recoil sensitive also.  The only thing she had fired prior to a single action 22 which was ok was one round from a 58 cal black powder musket 40 years prior.

She got used to the 22 and decided she wanted her own ccw permit and pistol.  She decided she wanted a wheelgun.  She had fired a Taurus 380 one round and DID NOT like it all.

I was looking for a Ruger SP101 3" barrel.  She was concerned about grip and found a Charter Arms Mag Pug 357 2.2" barrel that fit her hand and she liked the feel of it.  It was used and a most excellent price, stainless steel one.  Look around here and you will find a post I made on it.

Bought it and went to the range and she loves it.  She started with some lighter wadcutter rounds and I got her to go with some commercial S&W 357mag 158 semi-wadcutter rounds.  She said they were tough but not too bad.

Look into that Charter Arms.  They make some fine wheelies at very good prices.  Size and recoil wise that Mag Pug is great also.

Nemo

[JohnyMac]

Mmmmm...

I will tell our story.

MrsMac handled semi's in the 9mm range well BUT had a hard time with the slide. I truly do not understand this but it was what it was. The best was a Sig in .380 but still she turned her nose up.

One day we where shooting a new H&K .22 handgun and she seemed to like it. So on a whim I bought her a a Ruger SP101 spurless in.357 mag.

When she first tried it out I loaded it with .38 Spl. rounds. She liked it and was able at 10 yards able to hit center mass with no problems. I then loaded some .38 spl brass with even a lower recoil load and it was a HIT! A nice mix of FPS and recoil. I will have to look up the load I came up with but my point is that you have to match up the right handgun and ammo mix.

With that all written, MrsMac's go-to weapon here at the cabin is an AR. She loves the power with low recoil.

All good stuff.

On another thought, maybe better served under a new subject line; I have not met one women that liked firearms. They may tell you all is OK but in our hearts we know they tolerate, at best, firearms. Your XYL may be different; However I have never met a female "shooter" in the sixty-one years I have been on this sphere we call Earth accepted firearms other than a tool, a tool to the end.

Let the    begin....

[CJS06]

I cant speak to Johny Macs ending statement . I shoot with 2 women that are definitely "gun-girls" as much as any "gun-guy" I have ever met. That said other than them I in general agree with him.

So many people go to the small guns when they start looking at something for a GF, wife, significant other.  Just because the grip is small and their hands tend to be smaller doesnt add up to a good fit.  As an example .380 is generally a terrible round for new shooters or people recoil sensitive.  Though it is a 9mm short it has more snap to the round than 9x19.  The smaller the frame the more the felt recoil.  A mid sized 9mm is generally much better than a small framed .380.  Even with the same gun in .380 and 9mm you will find most prefer the 9mm.

As a number of people pointed out they ended up going with revolvers. For people that are not "into" shooting this is a great way to go.  A .357 revolver will have a solid frame and can be used with .38 Spl to help reduce the recoil.

For people that have grip strength issues that make racking the slide of a semi-auto difficult have them try it fro a different angle.  Instead of holding the frame and trying to pull the slide back, hold the slide in place and push the frame forward. I know it sounds hokey but you would be surprised and how much it helps.

[JoJo]

 She made her choice a S&W  38+P airweight. The best part of buying the gun was the young salesgirl. She was wearing a turquoise pistol. My wife listened to her where she didn't listen to me about grip, keeping the trigger finger away from the trigger and other little things.
 It's my anniversary gift to her, June 30th, 33years.   

[Nemo]

That airweight is a fine weapon.  A bit light (IMHO) generally but well set up.  Start with some lighter loads and work up to the +p and +p+ rounds. 

Nemo

[JoJo]

That airweight is a fine weapon.  A bit light (IMHO) generally but well set up.  Start with some lighter loads and work up to the +p and +p+ rounds. 

Nemo

 That's  exactly what I intend to do. I bought a box of solid lead rounds and hope to get to the range on Monday. Problem is this is a tourist area and this is the 4th of July week.

[JohnyMac]

WOW! 33 years married. Your a good man JoJo! 

Good choice on your XYL's handgun 

[JoJo]

 Went to the range today for my wife to get use to her Airweight revolver. A big disappointment. The revolver works perfect without any ammo in it but when it is loaded the pressure to pull the trigger goes way up. She was unable to squeeze the trigger when loaded. I called Smith&Wesson and they said to send it back, that there should be no difference in trigger pull loaded or not.
 The good part is she now is not afraid of recoil and shot my nine mm with ease. It's a good feeling when wife, child or sibling shows pride in what they have accomplished. 

[Nemo]

Check the bullet length.  Make sure it is within proper specs.  Try it with some other rounds.  It could be the roundnose are a hair long, causing the rear end of the brass to stick out a few thousandths, making friction with the frame behind the cylinder.  Try some full wadcutter rounds. 

I have never had the issue, so I cannot say it is a real issue possibility.  But I have heard of it. 

Nemo

[JoJo]

 I checked clearance front and back and all is O/K. What I did notice was when I pushed the cylinder release it was a little tough to push out.