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Britt
Posts: 1 New Member
Female gun recommendations
Britt
Posts: 1 New Member
Hi, I am trying to find a gun that is small enough to be comfortable to shoot but a large enough caliber for self defense.
I've tried a .22 pistol (easy to shoot but doesn't have a lot of stopping power) a .38 special (bulky/harder to hold and left me with a bone bruise on my thumb) and a .380 pistol (size/kick was alright but the S&W jammed 5 times in less than an hour and every casing came back and hit me on the face/chest).
I'm not sure where to go from here, any recommendations are greatly appreciated.
I have approximately a 7.5 in. hand circumference and prefer pistols to revolvers.
Thank you.
I've tried a .22 pistol (easy to shoot but doesn't have a lot of stopping power) a .38 special (bulky/harder to hold and left me with a bone bruise on my thumb) and a .380 pistol (size/kick was alright but the S&W jammed 5 times in less than an hour and every casing came back and hit me on the face/chest).
I'm not sure where to go from here, any recommendations are greatly appreciated.
I have approximately a 7.5 in. hand circumference and prefer pistols to revolvers.
Thank you.
Replies
My wife prefers revolvers as she doesn't like flying brass - but that's her and not necessarily you.
Get some professional help if you have no one else that knows what they are talking about, and then shoot almost any self defense type gun and you should be able to control it. I've seen petite little females run circles around the boys, with a .45, so I know your problem must be technique.
If it's a house or vehicle gun, it can be larger and may be less of a problem to learn to control.
The first thing depends on your training level, if you are going at it with the intent of using is as a SD/HD firearm get some good training ... more than firing rounds at a stationary paper target. If you have a good instructor you'll likely get good suggestions from him but second thing don't go on just what a person tells you, especially a sales person, as said above go to a range and rent what you think might interest you. If friends or family have something see if you can invite them your treat for lunch and an hour at the range. Do not buy a firearm no matter how great a reputation it has unless if fit your hand, you can operate it without struggle and you like it. My wife went thru quite a few guns from mouse subcompacts to compacts to even a smallish full size revolver before she stole my Sunday go to church Gun (Sig P239). Luckily I already owned all but 1 of them. As to caliber ... training and mechanics allow even the smallish hands of many women to fire larger calibers as long as she hasn't been told to much she can't by a man. My wife prefers a 9mm but can run my .45acps pretty damn easy ... and handles an old S&W 29 .44mag pretty damn good as well but she worked her way there.
- George Orwell
But for a female wanting a gun who fits her hand, given all the limitations, I'd try a S&W Shield. A single-stack 9mm.
You seem to be fitting sound advise so far. Stick around and keep us informed of your progress.
If you're looking for a HOME gun and have small hands, Look at a 4.2" barrel Ruger SP-101. These are chambered for .357 Magnum which can also shoot the lighter, shorter .38 Special round. It's an all-steel 5-shot that has some weight to absorb the kick.
Carry gun - S&W 640-1. Hammerless .357 with a 2.25" barrel. All stainless steel, so will kick less than the alloy framed lightweights.
Glock 43 9mm also would be good for house or carry.
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
And the Ruger LC9s.
As to the OP. If you can shoot a 22 well and it is a home defense gun, use it. At least until you get enough experience that you can handle something larger. One of the first things you need to understand about any gun small enough to be concealed and fired in one hand for the avg person, there is no such thing as "stopping power" like in the movies. The idea is to put enough holes in the target that the target decides that it is tired of receiving holes and is convinced that it is time to stop. Bigger holes should make the decision quicker, but there is no phaser out there that is a guaranteed one shot stop.
If you bruised your hand on a 38,,,, I am guessing you were shooting a airweight snubbie with heavy for cal bullets and dont have a lot of experience or a good coach. That is re-enforced by the 380 experiance. I took my daughter out for a range session, her first with handguns, and I had her shooting a 1911 45acp and a 357 with 125gr bullets within the hour and hitting a 12 in steel target at 20 yards more often than not. There was a day or 5 of familiarization before we ever put a round downrange.
And BTW, cute puppy.
Also, welcome to the shooting community. The advice you've seen so far in this thread is as sound as it gets. Use it, and keep us posted on how it's going.
Winston Churchill
Life member of the American Legion, the VFW, the NRA and the Masonic Lodge, retired LEO
Try a Bersa Thunder .380. Granted it is a small cartridge; but, if the .38 was too much, I suspect any more powerful cartridge in a small gun will be a problem for you.
Also, be sure your not limp wristing.
Clean can't shoot any thing with much recoil----she did like the Bersa. No brass in the chest or jamming.
Her hand is small like yours.
NRA Endowment Member