Advice for first firearm for a female shooter w/kids at home?

[Glocksmith]

I might be old school (definitely old age wise) but I always recommend a revolver for the ladies. That is unless she is going to go to the range regularly to practice. No worry with a revolver whether there is a round chambered or if the safety is on or off.

Having said that, my wife carries a semi auto but she can shoot it well.

For years my wife got the "little lady" treatment.

"Little lady, you need a revolver"

All she wanted was a semi-auto, but she has nerve damage in one finger and no hand strength and could never rack anything. Plus she always forgot how to do all of the manipulation. I would show her and go over everything at home just before the range. As soon as we got there she forgot EVERYTHING! Plus she is left handed and does everything backwards and upside down! FRUSTRATING!

Finally, I got her a Ruger LCR 38s. She is not a fan but never a problem using it. "Dummy free operation"

Hard to choose for someone with that much going on but had to be done.

I agreed with training and see what she likes and is confident with and there it is.

My wife still has her favorites and will not let go: Walther P22, Bersa thunder "CC" .380 She is very good with her 20g and AR-15.

 

[John Olson]

...I went shooting with a relatively inexperienced adult woman this summer ...she really wanted to learn to use her late father's Smith & Wesson model 10 .
Although she had shot revolvers like that a dozen times over the last 20 years it wasn't a regular enough. She had a lot of trouble keeping the gun steady while pulling that long heavy double action trigger.
She also had trouble rapidly lining up the sights --although we were shooting at a dark gray target in a dimly lit indoor shooting range, with a gun that had all black blued steel sights.

With my 9 mm, given the trigger pull of half the poundage, and a much shorter trigger stroke, and wider sights, and sights with white dots on them, her groups were 1/3 the size during rapid fire.
We're talking a difference of 18 inch groups down to 6 inches groups just due to switching guns .

You can try painting thistle with white enamel paint. Once she get more used to the gun the sites can be cleaned with Hoppies barrel cleaner.

 

[greg vess]

Not all women are strong enough to rack a slide on anything above a 22 LR. I know me and my wife are still looking for a gun in a stronger caliber but so far it has been a no go on every gun we try. She has little bitty hands and can't muster up the strength to manipulate most guns over a 22. Another thing like the a previous member stated is function retention. It's harder to learn a complicated gun if they are not into it 100 percent. Most just want the gun to have which gives a false sense on security.

 

[Bear44]

I have taught a lot of women to shoot and have never had one that could not manipulate the slide of any semi auto pistol once they had learned this technique. It might take them a few tries to get the knack of it, but once they did, no more problems.

 

[Glocksmith]

I have taught a lot of women to shoot and have never had one that could not manipulate the slide of any semi auto pistol once they had learned this technique. It might take them a few tries to get the knack of it, but once they did, no more problems.

This gets to me.

It was NEVER, I mean never going to be a go with my wife to carry a semi-auto. I mean never.
She now has an LCR 38s.

It's been MANsplaned to her over and over. Women have tried too.

"An arrogant man can not convince a woman set in her ways!!!"

 

[Bear44]

This gets me mad!

It was NEVER, I mean never going to be a go with my wife to carry a semi-auto. I mean never.
She now has an LCR 38s.

It's been MANsplaned to her over and over. Women have tried too.

"An arrogant man can not convince a woman set in her ways!!!"

So me posting my experience with this issue makes you mad? Ooookaaaay.

 

[Patronus]

I didn't read the whole thread so this may be a waste of time but....

1 No Glocks. No guns without safeties of ANY kind, revolver or semiautomatic. With kids around you want every layer of safety that you can get without making the gun useless in an emergency.

2. ALL women can learn a technique that allows them to operatethe slide. Glocks are harder, however, due to the slick finish. There are some great youtube videos by women to teah this skill.

3 the gun should provide ergonomics, function, durability and simplicity.

My recommendation is the Ruger SR9. It's omm for a lethal round, low recoil and lesser ammunition cost making practice more affordable. It has an ambidextrous safety and a bold red loaded chamber indicator. It has very aggressive slide serrations for easier grip when racking it. It is a Ruger so it is a quality firearm backed by an awesome company. And if she later desides to carry in her purse or on her person, the Ruger LC9S has the same manual of arms, ammunition and similar, if obviously slimmer, ergonomics.

My wife can shoot my Glocks just fine, but for purse carry she wanted a lightweight gun with a safety. We went with the LC9S and put SR40Cs in the house so she would always have the familiar feel of Ruger in both places even though we are a 40 cal home gun family. Besides, the 9mm in the single stack LC9S, recoils as stoutly as the 40 in the SR40C.

My 2 cents.

 

[cmshoot]

Is this crapfest up to 13 pages so far? My how time flies!