I am looking for a pistol for PP and possibly to carry. My wife may be the primary user. I recall a long thread with many recommendations for a higher end pistol. However, I just want something reliable with stopping power and reasonbly priced (Is <$500 realistic?) I have never owned a handgun before, but have fired a S&W .357 and a Glock. Revolver or Semi-automatic? Manufacturers to avoid?

I do have shotguns and rifles. Will enroll both my wife and myself in a gun safety class. Thanks.

I like my Glock 9mm, it's light and fits me nicely.

For what you want in a reputable mfr., <$500 may be doable for a revolver; probably not for a semi. In revolvers, I recommend (in decreasing order of preference) Ruger, S&W, Taurus. Depending on carry mode, hammerless may be a wise choice if you go revolver. I like the Ruger SP-101 series. Note that if she develops a revolver preference, you can load much lighter .38 Special +P loads in any revolver designated as a .357, and in essence get a "2 for 1" - one gun that handles both .38 and .357.

For a semi, understand that there's a bit more maintenance and cost involved but one tradeoff is that it can be slimmer and lighter than a comparable revolver - a major factor if it is to be used for CC. Consider the Glock 26, 27, 28, or 30 (all classified as "subcompacts" but some are much smaller than others), one of the Khar models, or a Walther PPK or PPK/S, the caliber determined largely by how much training/practice/confidence she will attain. In the semi world, my choices are Glock and Kimber, but I don't think you want to go down the Kimber road ($1K+ single action 1911A1's).

Everything else being equal I'd prefer a minimum caliber of .40, but confidence, mindset, training, and the ability to hit are far more important than caliber. If she can deploy and hit confidently with a .380 or 9mm, then that's what the choice should be. Remember, in theory you're talking about encounters spanning distances of 10' or less. "Splashback" distances. The smaller the caliber, the more important ammunition selection becomes. Very effective choices in the smaller centerfire calibers are available.

The most important point is that this is an extremely personal decision. If she will be the primary user, this must be a decision she makes. Many ranges have rental guns where you can go and try the different candidates. It's money well spent IMO.

Finally, there's a small book I recommend, in addition to any classes you/she might take. "In The Gravest Extreme," by Massad Ayoob. It has chapters on gun selection which are very outdated, but the chapters on mindset, training, what to expect if the worst ever does occur, etc., ought to be required reading by anyone considering carrying a gun.

I choose the Glock model 22 for many reasons a few of which are:

1) This particular handgun is used by many law enforcement agency's including the FBI and bullets are readily available and fairly inexpensive. You can still get the 15 round clips for a while only the 10 round clips were available to the public. Only makes a difference when your practicing at the range.

2) On this model the grip is larger and more comfortable than the other smaller Glock offerings. Allows you to practice longer without hand and wrist fatigue. Better control of the weapon.

3) Glock is known for it's ability to be dirty, neglected and keep on firing without jamming.

4) This particular model is a .40 cal and has pretty good stopping power. The 9mm is much smaller but may be ok if only plinking at the range.

Random thoughts: If you're going to carry this weapon it is full size and will be noticed. If your wife has small hands perhaps another model will suit you better. Larger .40 cal will go through drywall if used in a home defense situation. The safety is not child friendly. Not that any gun should be kept loaded at home with children around. All Glocks are considered light. Field strip one and you will notice the handle weighs almost nothing. Weight is concentrated in the barrel and slide.

Have fun. Be safe and keep it unloaded and locked up. If your concerned about home security use a shotgun it's much more affective.

This is what I recommend. Mine is stainless. No way I'd put a .357 in a woman's hands. The noise, recoil, and especially the flash are all really intimidating. A .380 is a .38 or 9mm short. It's "stopping power" is not that of a .357, but I sure as heck wouldn't want to be shot with it. But in selecting a house gun that a woman will not be afraid of, or drop it after firing it once, fits her hand, etc., this is a really nice gun. It carrys twice the rounds of a revolver, is double action, so it *could* be kept with a round in the chamber (I do - no young-uns here). I've owned it quite a while, and have no clue what I paid for it. I taught my first wife to shoot it, reasonably successfully.

Another thing I like about an auto, is you can store it empty, with a loaded magazine nearby, and load it with reasonable speed and ease. More so than a revolver.

http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg75-e.htm

Type: Double Action
Chamber: 9x17mm (.380ACP) or 7.65x17mm (.32ACP)
Weight unloaded: 640 g
Length: 173 mm
Barrel length:
Capacity: 12 (9mm) or 13 (7.65mm) rounds

The Browning BDA 380 pistol was introduced in 1980 or so as a compact and lightweight pistol for police and civilian use. The gun was manufactured in Italy under contract from FN Herstal (Belgium) and marketed as FN model 140DA (in Europe) or Browning BDA 380 (in USA). Some sources said that BDA 380 is a copy of Beretta 84, but close inspection shows some differences (i.e. Beretta 84 has frame mounted safety while BDA 380 has slide mounted safety). The manufacture of the BDA 380 was ceased circa 1997. It was adopted by Belgian police.

The BDA 380 is a blowback operated, double action semi automatic pistol. It has aluminium alloy frame and steel slide. Ambidextrous slide mounted safety switch disconnects the trigger from the hammer when engaged. The pistol featured low profile fixed sightst and was available in either polished steel or blued finish, with wooden grip panels.

The gun deserved good reputation as reliable and comfortable to fire.

** You really should, as suggested, take her to a range and she how she reacts to various guns. Even a .22 is better than nothing, if she's afraid of anything bigger.

not sure i'd want to arm my wife with anyting more than a vacation suggestion.

Interesting thread. Thanks for the thoughts all. Have spoken to many lately that are considering such a purchase at this time.

Really good and well thought out points made by all! Thanks. I'm not sure if there is a range around here, but I am picking up the phone book as soon as I hit 'submit". Thanks again!

I sure can't add any better information than what has already been given. Though, if I were to give my wife a gun, I'd go for a good 22 semi automatic. Light, easy to load and fire, holds lots of rounds, and most likely won't kill anyone but will send them running or slow them down enough so you can run.

But seeing as this is a timely post, I was out at the shooting range yesterday and since my guns are still out, gives me a good oppertunity to post a pic of mine freshly cleaned.

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S&W.357 Magnum
SigSauer 9mm P226
Piece of crap Davis Industries P-380 (Good 'ol Saturday Night Special) Always jams but easy to carry in your pocket.

My friend that pulls out my boat, he just bought what he calls his "personal survival kit", which consists of a small automatic rifle with a 150 round clip, and a small, very lightweight automatic pistol with a 20 round clip. Both use the same ammo....For the life of me I can't remember the name or the exact caliber, but the bullets are about an inch long, about the diameter of a pencil, something like .280 or so. He says the rounds are very fast, accurate for 300 yards, and there's virtually no kickback. He just loves them. But one thing I do know, they ain't cheap...

I agree.

I talked my wife into shooting my Colt Python .357. I talked, and I talked, and I talked some more, and she finally agreed.

Scared the livin' he!! out of her.

Too much gun for her.

How about a .357 Magnum? LOL just a little more than intimidating. I'm thinking divorce, that is if the muzzle flash doesn't ignite the hair spray.

Such generalizations serve little use IMO. There are women out there who shoot circles around many men, and do it with large calibers. It's just an individual thing.

Oh just a little tip an old timer told me. Always wash your hands in cold water after being at the range and cleaning the guns. Thought is that the GSR or lead is less likely to be absorbed into the skin if the pores aren't opened up from the hot water.

All in good fun. Don't get the "panties" in a bunch.

Don't overlook Springfield Armory. Their weapons are supposed to be first class. My best friend is in Iraq and armed his stateside wife with a Taurus .38. He speaks highly of his Springfield XD. I've never actually fired either one, but I trust his judgement. He's career Army, and knows his firearms.

Agreed, the XD is the equal of Glock in most respects, and Springfield's warranty/tech support is first-rate.

A 22 would be a great choice and at least an easy way to 'break into' handguns. IF she gets comfortable with that, you could always upgrade to a .38 or higher.

I tend to think revolver, only because in the kind of emergency that she might need to use it in, I would not be 100% convinced she would operate an automatic correctly. No round in the chamber or safety on, not good when you need to pull the trigger.

A revolver, on the other hand, pretty much a no-brainer.

I'm hoping that your wife doen't have to be any place that requires her to have a handgun or that makes her feel so uncomfortable that she feels the need to carry. If that's the case, I'd recommend a change of workplace or change of where she has to frequent.

Otherwise, a .357 will leave the print of the pistol grips in her palm (I speak from a .357 Colt experience). A lesser caliber would most likely be more comfortable. You could, if you are so inclined, get her a .38 and load it with hollwpoints. That would leave a considerable mark on any attacker.

Again, if it were my wife, I'd not have her frequenting any locality that I'd be so worried that I'd consider having her carry a firearm.

Waterdog, before I make my suggestions let me 'splain my background without sounding like I'm tooting my own horn. Fifteen years as a cop during which time I was a firearms instructor for duty- and off-duty weapons, and gunsmith with a specialty in pistolsmithing. I've investigated numerous shootings and examined the damage that bullets have done to bodies, including during autopsies. I've been to factory gunsmithing schools taught by Remington, Smith & Wesson, Colt, Glock, Ruger, and Detonics. I've also taught home firearms courses to women.

Based on the limited information you provided, and not knowing anything about your wife's familiarity with firearms, I'll assume that that she is not a "shooter".

First, I would highly recommend a revolver over a semi automatic pistol. They're simpler to operate, almost jam free, and if a round fails to fire you simply pull the trigger again. Those things make a revolver a much better choice for a non-shooter.

Yes, semi auto pistols have higher magazine capacity, and are much faster to reload. However, if the pistol jams (and there are many types of jams that can occur), unless the shooter is highly trained in clearing the malfunction, the gun is pretty much out of commission. To me, that huge negative far outweighs the extra magazine capacity of a semi-auto pistol. Besides, in most shooting situations, they happen at a distance of 10' or less, last about 2.5 seconds, and fewer than 4 shots are fired (total).

Having taught all skill levels from non-shooters up to very experienced cops how to use a semi-auto pistol (I taught a course for the state of Washington that was designed to teach cops how to transition from a revolver to a semi-auto pistol) there's no way I would recommend a semi-auto for home protection to people with limited shooting experience.

Now that I've recommended a revolver, let me suggest that you buy a .357 Magnum revolver and use .38 Special +P+ or +P ammo in it or buy a .38 Special revolver.

The problems with .357 Magnum ammo are numerous: Loud report, large muzzle flash, extreme recoil, excessive penetration, ammo is much more expensive, etc.

The perfect round is one where the bullet passes through the normal layers of clothing, expends all of its energy inside the body, and does not exit the body. If a bullet exits the body and carries with it a high amount of its energy, that bullet has the ability to injure an innocent bystander, family member, etc.

.38 Special +P+ or +P ammo is designed to expend a high percentage of its energy inside the body. The bullets expand quickly but retain their weight well.

As to a revolver brand, from my gunsmithing experience I prefer S&W. Colt's are as good, but generally higher priced and not quite as simple to work on. Rugers are heavier and bulkier than they need to be so if you're going to carry it concealed the weight difference might become a nuisance. Also, if you're carrying it concealed (or in inclement weather), stainless steel is important.

If small size is important to you for concealment purposes, I'd look for a stainless steel S&W revolver in either a .357 Magnum or .38 Special. They can be easily concealed on a belt or in an ankle holster. I carried a S&W Model 60 in an ankle holster for years.

Also, don't overlook the gun shows and/or buying a used revolver at a gun shop or from a private party through a newspaper ad. When you consider that most guns never have more than a box or two of shells fired through them, buying a used gun can save you lots of money, and most have not been used much. By way of a measure of longevity, I have a S&W revolver that I used in competition for many years. It's had well over 100,000 round through it and it's still in excellent shape.

got my wife the Taurus cia model 850 38 special revolver fully enclosed hammer light weight 5 shot very simple to use. autos can jam revolver leaves no shell casings

I agree with what most of GFC had to offer.

I think you should start out an inexperienced female shooter with a .38 revolver. Make sure to let her pick one out that she feels comfortable with. A weak wrist with a semi automatic will give her nothing but problems.

And don't forget to teach good trigger control!

very true .....

I just went through the same thing with my wife. Hopefully our experience helps. We ended up with a S&W Ladysmith in 38spl basically for the reasons GFC listed above. It felt comfortable in her hands and will handle +P loads. At the moment I have both Ruger and S&W revolvers in different calibers along with a H&K USP compact 40. While I tend to buy Ruger in the larger calibers the S&W is easier to conceal than any of the Rugers I've looked at. As far as revolver vs auto I wanted something simple and reliable for her. She's shot autos but she's not comfortable enough for an emergency situation so auto's were out.

As far as price we paid just over $400 used from a friend. Over the years I've bought and sold countless guns and GFC is right. The vast majority of guns I've bought had less than a box of shells through them so finding a good used one shouldn't be a problem.

Actually, after buying her Ladysmith I'm looking for something similar for me. I like carrying it and it's a lot easier to conceal than my H&K.

the admiral has a .38 6 shooter and loves it.

Personally, I am not a fan of the S&W Airlight or Ladysmith, especially for the fairer sex. Too light, the recoil is more noticable. I helped my mother pick out a .38spl and she ended up with the standard .38 revolver, but with the covered hammer. While not overly light it is a reliable and easy shooting revolver.
My recomendations is to get the handle fitted to her hand. Go to a store that has a bunch of handles, rogue, uncle Mike's, etc, and get her a handle that fits well. Possible the stocker will work, but you don't want it jumping on her. Get the weakest ammo to get her started, low recoil = high probability she'll like shooting. Work her up to self defense rounds as the ones GFC mentioned.

I also like the smaller 9mm or .380 autos. i know many do not like them due to jamming and such. As with any auto, test fire the carry ammo, a bunch. Be sure it doesn't have a tendency to jam. I also like autos with Traditional Double Action, if the first shot doesn't scare them off, the second shot has to be on target.

My wife's pistol is a SigSauer P229, .40. Not exactly what I'd put in a beginner's hands but very nice weapon once you are familiar with it. I wouldn't call it overly concealable either. Personally, well, I'm 10' tall and bullet proof, so....