One reason I reload is you can make a 38sp or 357mag brass very soft shooting powder puff loads . The first non-22lr ammo for our girls to try when they were about 8 or 9 years old each was a 105gr tcfp lead bullet from missouri bullets with a minimal winchester 572 or wsf powder can keep velocity's under 700fps a 4" barrel . MY girls learned to shoot at 6 years of age with my old 6" colt huntsman and then moved up the DW 15-2 357mag with a 4" barrel but with 38 special brass . Stepped up her 6" barrel and 148gr wad cutters in 357 brass soon after and heavier warmer 357 loads with in a year.

Our revolvers all wear hogue over mode3l rubber grips to help with control but early on I had a one stock small grip for my wifes DW 15-2 that the girls were good with for about a year or so before they learned to cock the hammer with the weak hand and so trigger reach was not an issue for fun shooting till they could shoot DA .

careful how you categorize female shooters and what they like !!

My wife for home defense has a several options from a 20ga pump to a full size m&p core 9mm is filled with 147gr hst or here ar15 5.56 and she may be limited do to being 5-2 and 68 now . Oldest daughter house gun is a m&p 4.25 40sw with 180gr hst and youngest has a old beater 5" 1911 of mine in 45 with 230gr ranger t-series in it . None have much interest in revolvers today for CC or HD .

Don't restrict your girls do to your health issues and s&w revolvers have some awful triggers today and still QC is an issue . A s&w 360J 357mag my wife bought about 8 months ago had a higher than 12lb DA and 7lb sa trigger that turns out to more normal today . I added a apex kit to it that bought it down to 7lb 4oz for the da and 2lb 10oz for SA . More like revolver use to have years ago . MY wifes daily carry is ether a kimber ultra 9mm or p365xl 9mm .

Taurus maybe building better revolvers today also do to all the issues s&w has had over the last few years . There 856 model is a 6 shot 38sp in both all stainless steel and a UL version and theres several larger and heavier of course versions too . How about a 9mm 4" to 5" pistol thats to easy change recoil springs in for a powder puff loads that makes for a soft fun shooter they can grow into with back strap changes and recoil springs .

Let the Lady Decide!!!!!
Have her try as many different guns as possible. Yours, a friends, range rentals. Some can be eliminated by just handling
Find out what she likes/dislikes about each. And then decide.
Remember, This is not an excuse to purchase a gun you might want!

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Super Snooper

After trying several handguns my late wife chose to carry a Ruger LCR 357, loaded with 38 Special ammo. My current wife carried a S&W 10-6 as a Forest Ranger for several years. Therefore her late husband decided she needed a S&W 442 as a house gun. She disliked the felt recoil of the 442. However after shooting my J frame in 32 S&W Long for the first time she decided that would be her pistol due to size and low recoil.

Point is I cannot remember how many different CCW handguns I've tried over the years before I settled on FIVE that I tend to rotate depending on situation and weather. Enjoy the selection process but let the choice be hers.

"Remember, This is not an excuse to purchase a gun you might want!"

Well, maybe!

73,
Rick

My wife shoots fairly well and understands the safety and operation of a wide variety of guns. On her walks she carries her Bersa Thunder CC .380. She likes the light weight, reliability, and accuracy of this inexpensive pistol. She also likes the safety/ hammer drop.

She surprised me by choosing, as her home defense gun, her little Hatsan Escort 20 gauge camo duck gun. It's a soft shooting and so far perfectly reliable 22" barreled semi auto. She's very familiar with it from many skeet sessions in the back yard and I believe hitting flying targets has given her a lot of confidence with it. I think she made an intelligent choice. Hard to argue against 5 rounds of #3 buckshot. Incidentally, these Escorts (she has the "Escort PS Youth") retail for $300.00 or less. They come with 5 choke tubes and spacers to adjust the length of pull and even drop and cast. We liked hers so much we bought another for me. Great guns for home defense and also wood ducks down in the swamp.

Another revolver choice that hasn't been mentioned is the Charter Arms Undercover, 38 spl or .32cal. My business partner owns one, she took a women's self-defense class and out shot all the gals with semi-autos.

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Super Snooper

After 20 years of wanting nothing to do with my guns my GF decided this most recent Christmas that she wants a gun. I let her try the slides on my pistols and the hammer/trigger on my revolvers. I took her to the LGS and had her look around and handle whatever handguns looked interesting to her. She decided on a Taurus 942M 3" .22 magnum 8 shot revolver. Since we live in NJ we have been waiting a month for her NJ Firearms ID card and pistol permit. She was approved today so we went to do the NICS. She should have her revolver in about 5 days, In the mean time I have been taking her shooting once a week and teaching her how to shoot my OG model 63. She is a naturally good shot. Go figure.
So for her that's the right revolver for a Lady.

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RIP Chloe 2007-2023

When my lady decided she wanted her own pistol, she shot as many different guns as she could between mine, my buddys, the gun range's rentals, etc.

All different operating systems, calibers, you name it.

She kept going back to the Glock 19

She does very well with it, has confidence in it, and its HERS

I gave my oldest daughter a 442. She works in downtown Pittsburgh; not really a garden spot in the city. I like the hammerless as it can't be snagged on anything. She keeps her hand in her purse and she can shoot right through the purse if need be. Keeps her head on a swivel walking to the bus. She shoots it well for what it is.

It’s not size or caliber that matters. It’s what she can handle and shoot on her own confidentiality. I’d rather my lady had a 22LR Revolver that she can load and shoot even if she has to shoot it in single action on week sore hand days, than have to pick up a bigger gun that she can’t control or handle.

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Two Handguns every day

Have her take a class.

A GOOD instructor will be able to answer her questions and provide the correct guidance needed for HER to decide what she wants.

When done she will know that she made the decision on her own. She will benefit from the personal gratification of her accomplishment and boost her self confidence.

With women the psychological aspect of carrying a gun is equally as important as being able to operate it correctly.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

To weigh back in; one of the reasons she landed on the LCP was the thinness and compactness as when she opts to carry she refuses to do it off body.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

That's because there is a lot of bad advise on this thread.

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Live long and prosper

those are my wife's two handguns. The 696 is for carry (very much restricted here in Germany, only allowed when she is hunting in her licensed area). The LB 1911 is for range fun. Everything with a caliber less than a .4 she finds boring... In the 696 she loves my 215 gr lead SWC handloads that run about 850 ft/s. And she doesn't flinch...



5 rounds at 10 meter POA is POI






regards from Germany
Ulrich

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Life is too short to own a bad gun

Well…….don’t just sit there and talk ****.

Enlighten us with your wisdom.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

For what it’s worth… my ladyfriend recently asked me to help her obtain a firearm for self defense and home protection. She lives in the middle of nowhere by herself and feels vulnerable. She is petite, had never fired a gun, and we are both in our 60’s. After going over how everything works and the do’s & don’ts, she tried several of my handguns to see what she preferred. Several revolvers and semi autos were tried. The revolvers, all .38 spl, hurt her hand. Surprisingly, the M&P 9mm did not, but she could not rack it. So we knew a 9mm M&P platform would work and just had to find the right one. After trying to rack every 9mm at the gun shop, she settled on the Equalizer. She picked it and she likes shooting it. I didn’t think I would care for the grip safety but it’s really not an issue. It’s a nice pistol I wouldn’t mind owning, the trigger is pretty good compared to my M&P. It shoots really nice.

What part of this is bad advice????

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Super Snooper

I have not seen bad advice per se rather different perspectives which is the point of an open forum.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

My wife carries a G43. She handles it well.

Originally Posted by Echo40 View Post
Wow, is this forum overrun with faux-progressive liberal anti-gunners or what?

Honestly, it seems like every thread posted in regards to self-defense or 2A victories gets 1-starred into oblivion anymore.

Originally posted by PULLER
That's because there is a lot of bad advise on this thread.
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Live long and prosper


I don't understand where either of these posters are coming from, does anyone?
"one starred"??? What is that?
Plus they BOTH pull typical TROLLER moves and ghost after posting...

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RIP Chloe 2007-2023

For you and maybe for this lady friend If she would like a full size m&p for hd is to add a racking assist plate . You could add one to your m&p and see what she thinks after racking it .

Carry Slide Racker for Smith & Wesson M&P


TacRack for S&W M&P PRO Series Slide Assist

Lady I’m currently teaching shot my Browning 1911 .22 the other day and fell in love with it “it just fits my hand” . She’s hunting now for the .380 short barrel for her Carry gun.

(Haven't read the whole thread so sorry if this has been said), But, you are asking the wrong people. Ask her what she wants. Then, unless she picks something like a 70 caliber elephant rifle, let her have it.

How would you like someone telling you what gun you can or can't have?????

My wife has carried in her purse for years, everything from a keltec 32 to a sig 938. She has finally settled on a glock 42. She feels the recoil is very controllable and the slide is a bit hard but not to the point it is difficult. Even with the bigger size she prefers this gun over any of the others she has carried.

I like the idea of sending her to an instructor who has a clue. The advice will hopefully be more objective and she can try a LOT of platforms and calibers if the class is set up correctly. A big gun store/range should have lots of different systems to try, and if that's a 100+ mile trip, it is worthwhile.

If she likes revolvers, the new 432UC might be worth every penny.

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NHI, 10-8.

She needs to try them before she buys. At least as many as you can.

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Two Handguns every day

Yoda,
It doesn't matter what you or me or anyone here on the Forum thinks. The only opinion that counts is your Lady's.But I can assure you that if it is not light wieght and"cool looking" she won't carry it. Other than eliminating heavy and ugly let her decide.My wife has carried for the thirty years of our marriage. This442 is what she is carrying this month.Next month who knows

Attached Images

IMG_3742.jpeg (52.3 KB, 10 views)

I bought my wife a shield plus and she likes it a lot. Highly recommend.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Does she have the grip strength of a lightly built 12 year old?
CZ Rami with a Cajun spring kit.

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

I always enjoy thread resurrections and even though this one is not really old it was mine so I like it.

We're still working on the lady's gun choice so stay tuned!

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Come and take it!!

S&W Model 37 3" loaded with factory 148 grain W/Cs

Be careful of small autos. If gripped wrong slide can cut shooting hand.

Possibly this is another audience for the 432/632 UC revolvers. Less recoil than a lightweight .38, and if .32 H&R is still too stout then .32 S&W Long is still going to produce better results than any .22.

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Only a cold warrior