The PERFECT concealed carry firearm... for a small female.

[JuggaloCujo]

I am looking for a Revolver for my g/f to carry.

I want it to be reliable, powerful, small, and light weight.

I also want it to not have an external hammer. In the event she has it in her purse and has to remove it quickly it will not catch or snag on anything.

The Air Weight would be the perfect fit but I can't find a snub nose air weight in a .357 and I don't want to settle for a .38.

She want's it to be black.

If anyone out there has insight pleas help me out and send a link or some pictures. Thank you.

 

[JuggaloCujo]

I plan on buying her a "Flashbang Holster" when we find the right firearm for her.

 

[mpi]

i wouldn't suggest an airweight 357 for a small woman, they are very uncomfortable to shoot, even for men who are shooters. my 640-1 357 is a handful for most of my buddies. on the other hand, the 640 with +p 38's might be the ticket?

 

[A10]

I'd sure take her to a range to try out a .357 snub before you buy one. They tend to bite a bit. My all the time carry is a 442 with +P personal defense loads. They bite a little too. I trust the gun and the round. It is as much about where you shoot them as what you shoot them with.

 

[StanNm19]

i wouldn't suggest an airweight 357 for a small woman, they are very uncomfortable to shoot, even for men who are shooters. my 640-1 357 is a handful for most of my buddies. on the other hand, the 640 with +p 38's might be the ticket?

+1
You might consider going to the range and letting her shoot both the .38 and then the .357 in your proposed pistol and let her be the judge. You can't go wrong with .38 special. I know I would not want to be on the receiving end of one.

 

[bamabiker]

I am looking for a Revolver for my g/f to carry.

The Air Weight would be the perfect fit but I can't find a snub nose air weight in a .357 and I don't want to settle for a .38.

Have you or her shot a small airweight with 357s in it? I have not but my brother has and he said he would not again.
38s will do the job. MHO.

 

[Road Rat]

"... powerful, small, and light weight..."

Now there is a recipe for too much recoil!!

 

[ltxi]

scary......

 

[Ashlander]

I suggest you take her to a range where they rent or lend out handguns. She needs should a few and pick her own gun.

Large volume gun stores are full of used but pristine small handguns that guys bought for their wives and "g/f"s without the ladies shooting them first. Airweights are very unpleasant to shoot with magnum loads (especially for those new to guns). I bought a nice Kahr PM9 used and almost unshot -- it's 17 or 18 ounces loaded with 9MM. Snappy is a good word for it -- too snappy for newbies. Some guy probably thought it was the perfect gun for his sweetie.

So don't dismiss lighter recoil guns. .327 packs a lot of wallup and is not nearly as nasty as .357. 38 Special is tried and true. Even 22 Magnum makes for a helluva poor welcome to bad guys.

Good luck.

 

[Kelly Green]

The S&W 327 in .357 Magnum is one gun to consider. It weighs 21 oz. with a 2” barrel. The cost is around a thousand dollars. I would strongly suggest letting her shoot one before buying. It’s a stout gun to shoot and even harder to shot accurately.

 

[1 old 0311]

It's a Airweight. 13 ounces. It is so light sometimes have to 'bump' my pocket to make sure it's still there.

 

[feralmerril]

I agree with what the others said, that she doesnt need a .357 mag, a .38 is good. Whats the light weight model for the model 40? That would be good. I dont know if they ever made a hammerless version in .32 H&R mag but belive that would be perfect if they did. Its a powerful non kicker! If they made a snub with a hammer I would get it in .32 mag and just snub the hammer. That would be close to perfect as it can get!

 

[PMRet]

I dont know if they ever made a hammerless version in .32 H&R mag but belive that would be perfect if they did. Its a powerful non kicker! If they made a snub with a hammer I would get it in .32 mag and just snub the hammer. That would be close to perfect as it can get!

They made it, the Model 632 Centennial Airweight in .32 H&R Magnum, 15.5 ounces. They also made the Model 631, all stainless, 22 ounces. You could bob the hammer on the 631, or maybe find an old set of Bianchi Lightning hammer shroud grips like these. Both will fire .32 magnum and .32 long ammunition, the same way a J frame .357 will also fire .38 special. Both hold 6 rounds, which gives them one up on the .357 J frames. Both are great carry guns, but both are discontinued and are fairly hard to find.

A more obtainable option may be the current production Model 632 in .327 Federal, which will fire .327 magnum, .32 magnum, or even .32 long ammunition.

 

[Kavinsky]

I would think that 1 old 311's model 38 alloy framed bodyguard would be the ideal choice for this kind of a deal although you might want to have the trigger smoothed out as the groves of the j frame trigger after a little bit of snap cap practice can start to cut into your trigger finger skin after awhile

also it might be a good idea to look into finger grove grips to allow her to get a better grasp of the gun when drawing it, like the PGS grips I have on my steel framed model 49 bodyguard

http://www.precisiongunspecialties.com/hideout-main.html

their the ho - 3's just like on the 44-2 airweight here

Grips for S&W j-frame revolver that won't interfere w/speed loaders? - Glock Talk

except in a dark blue that really looks nice against the blued finish of my pre dash 49


the second alternative would be some sort of a 380 semi auto if she doesnt like to shoot a gun DA all the time and when it comes to the stopping power department just remember that no one likes to get shot as the yankee marshal explained here in this video

.380acp Adequate For Self Defense? - YouTube

and while sig doesnt make the blued 230/232 with a steel frame the sig 230/232 is available in blued finish and with an alloy frame so that would probably be the best first choice for a woman looking to carry her first gun although it might be abit on the big side for daily carry but as a first timers gun it would probably be the ideal choice as it would probably fit her hand pretty well unlike something like an LCR or an NAA guardian and be easy and plesant to shoot.

 

[orangehole]

The Air Weight would be the perfect fit but I can't find a snub nose air weight in a .357 and I don't want to settle for a .38.

Believe us when we say, you dont need 357mag. Once you fire a 357mag out of an airlite, you dont want to do it again. 357mag has very punishing recoil and most women would not be able to handle it. Todays modern 38special JHP ammo is not like the old lead rounds. I feel very protected carrying my airlite with 5 rounds of Gold Dot 135gr JHP+P 38 specials.

If you must have a 357mag airlite, you can buy a S&W 340pd 357mag but I will bet you switch to 38special after the first cylinder full of 357 mag rounds.

 

[RGMoore]

Sounds like the guy who is going on safari and has to have a 460 Weatherby but when he gets there he finds out he is so afraid if it he can't hit the broad side of an elephant.
I have a BG38 and with +p 158gr it is not my favorite pistol at the range. The same load in my 686 is a pussycat. Light weight means more recoil! You have to practice enough to make sure you can hit what you are aiming at.

 

[riverrat38]

If you have access to an M 442 Airweight, you could shoot some of Buffalo Bores .38 plus P ammo through it. You could, but I wouldn't! It has near magnum velocity levels. I find the much less energetic Speer 135 gr plus P short barrel mentioned in some of the other posts to be a handfull, and sometimes I think I should carry some 148 gr target wad cutters, as many do. The Speer short barrel ammo was developed for, and used by, police officers in their back up snubbies.

rat

 

[scooter123]

As has been noted, in some cases more power is NOT the best answer. There was a thread a while back about the S&W with the mst vicious recoil and the 340PD loaded with 357 Magnums beat out the 500 Magnum for being the most difficult to control. This is an area where Try Before You Buy is the only way to avoid purchasing a handgun that you, or your girlfriend will never shoot more than once. IMO the 340PD is too light even for powder puff wadcutters, a 12 ounce revolver and half a grip don't add up to a package that is easy to shoot.

 

[getoff]

442 is clearly the answer. i carry one daily loaded with the +p stuff. i dont feel like im under protected. drop a speed loader or speeed strip in with the 442 and she will have more than enough gun.

 

[jbcap]

Anything airweight will do in 38. The 357 will have to much recoil for her to shoot comfortable. Nothing better than wadcutters for damage with low recoil.