Won't happen JL very often. Put a G26 in the mix and there's not going to be a lick of difference. Open up the range beyond 5 feet and it's not even a contest. It's all about training and weapon retention. I hope you're not teaching her.

For God's sake, I would hope the woman would not be holstered in a conventional holster or spot on body like the hip. Generally if the woman doesn't have the (The best SD gun ever)J-Frame iwb, or in hand...She's DEAD. I don't know how many crooks ask for a wallet or pootang from five feet. I also know five feet distance can be closed by the offender well before a holstered weapon is drawn...Thats a court exhibited fact. Actually (true story) Chuck Norris closed 25' in court.

For her that would be a FN 5.7x28

I bet the FN 5.7 is fun to shoot too.

I have a Five-Seven and its more fun than a barrel of monkeys

You can shoot about 30 monkeys without reloading. Right?

Depends on how they line up.. Loud little devil.

You simply can't compare a subcompact like a G26 to a snubbie. It's superior in almost every respect. Operationally the weapons are the same and a subcompact G will have a better trigger. It's all about presentation and training. If you think a loose snubbie in somebody's purse is going to get the job done you're sadly mistaken. You're still assuming 5 feet to point of contact.

my fiancee has a ruger sr9 compact, but its to big for anywhere except her purse! We went today to check out small .380 for pocket packing! Looked at ruger lcp keltec and taurus tcp! We went with tcp, trigger is bout half weight and smooth compared to the other two! Holds 6 in mag! We are going to run the crap out of it tomorrow to make sure it functions perfect! It also has last round hold open and is a overall nice feeling little pistol! We got it at gander for 299, its stainless and comes with two mags and a little fanny pack holster! She is going to pack it with the hornady ftx loads!

Johnny,

You do realize that the J frame is just as easy to render inoperable as any autoloader right? If the bad guy gets his hand on the cylinder it's locked up tight and completely inoperable. There ain't no magic gun that's going to make up for a lack of situational awareness.

David

You got in one. Length of hammerless Chief's Special revolver is 6.31 inches. Length of Gen 4 G26 is 6.42 inches. I don't know what JL is talking about.

I bet you cant hold the cylinder from turning in a fight for life with a lady.

A million bucks, right now.

I've already agreed on the previous page a compact Glock is a good tool for the job but it does handle differently from the J-Frame.

Good thing is, thats why there are so many flavors of guns. Everybody has to choose.

It does handle differently. It's called not as good. At anything more than contact you're at a decided disadvantage. There is simply no difference in length of the weapons so your argument about size is just not true. The G has a superior cartridge, a capacity of over twice the snubbie and less flash.

if she is going to carry locked and loaded id recomend something with a exposed hammer or decocker revolvers are good too

glocks are junk

Johnny,

That's just silly. Apparently you've never tried it. The hand on the outside of the cylinder has all of the mechanical advantage, the trigger cannot turn the cylinder with a very small outside amount of force is applied.

No cylinder turn = no bang. An autoloader is not terribly difficult to render useless either if the bad guy gets his hand on it, but he does have to actually push the slide out of battery, just grabbing the gun won't disable it.

I've got no beef w/ small revolvers. I own and carry (on occasion) a 442, 642 and 60. None of them are better or worse than a reliable compact auto like the two Ruger LCP's that my wife and I also own and carry. They all have their pluses and minuses.

The idea that a j frame is the one that will get you out of a situation where you've allowed the bad guy to put his hand on your gun where a gun like a subcompact glock, LCP or other popular carry auto's is just silly. If anything the auto has an advantage, but that's hardly the point. A gun isn't a magical talisman, a get out of jail free card for dealing with people with bad intent.

It's one part of a plan from keeping yourself out of harm's way. Man or woman, if you get into a situation where a much more powerful adversary has put his hand on you and your firearm, then you have failed at some key components of situational awareness. Hopefully you will be able to fight your way out of that situation, but the idea that the j frame is a magic bannana there and the carry auto will get you killed - as already stated, that's just silly.

Numerous auto's are made that have no safeties to deactivate. If you (or your wife/girlfriend) are practicing w/ an auto that has a safety and you are not practicing to sweep the safety off as it clears the holster then you are practicing wrong. Safeties are not left on when a defensive handgun is produced, to be deactivated at some point in the future if it is determined that a shot will need to be fired - that will get you killed.

If you have decided to pull your carry weapon, then you are in a potential shooting situation and the safety should be off. If it's not a potential shooting situation then you had no business pulling your firearm. Practice deactivating the safety as the firearm is drawn and you won't have a problem when the time comes - that's proven.

To the OP,

Getting a firearm for a wife/girlfriend you would be wise to involve her in the process from the beginning. Even if her choice is not the "very BEST choice" if she doesn't like what she's got, she won't carry it or use it. As long as it's reliable and she likes it, it will be world's better than no gun at all (i.e. she doesn't like it and left it at home).

I've never known a man that got his CHL and bought one carry gun and was using the same gun 2 years later. Guys buy carry guns use them for a while, learn from the experience, then trade them off - often going through 4 or 5 different carry guns before they finally settle on 1 or 2 primary carry pieces - why would you pick out the firearm for your wife/girlfriend, hand it to her and say "here, this is what you should be carrying."

Yes your wife/girlfriend will expect recommendations from you, you should help her pick out 3 or 4 applicable auto's and 3 or 4 applicable revolvers to look at (because you did all your research before you went to the gunstore). Rent any that you can and let her try them. If she's not sure give her a few days/multiple rental sessions to make up her mind, but let her pick it. 6 months later revisit the whole discussion, she may want to change or pick up an alternative piece for specific situations.

David

I guess none of you have the balls to try the exercises with the wife as posed in previous post.

Carry what you want.

I did. I didn't use any of my J-frames because I didn't want her forcing the mechanisms, but I was able to keep her from firing a hammerless Taurus M85. Where's my million dollars?

I thought the Bersa was the best weapon you could possibly obtain?

Hey johnny, it might depend upon what she was wearing ( grin )

krazy,
Glocks are such junk that the G26 was chosen by the Scotland Yard female protective service ( essentially their version the Secret Service ) as their main sidearm.

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

I just got her into hunting / shooting this past year and I'm extremely impressed with her and what she's learned. She's soaking info up like a sponge.

I've had her learning the basics with a little .22 pistol I have, but pistol wise she hasn't progressed beyond that because I got rid of my handguns a few years ago to fund a rifle build.

She does not want a revolver. So I guess we will go from there and try to get her hands on as many as we can until we find the right fit. We are both just out of college, moving toward an engagement, and a house so we are on a somewhat limited budget.

"Hey johnny, it might depend upon what she was wearing ( grin )"

That sounds about right. Looks like the G26, SR9C, M&P compact, or LC9 could work in this situation. Build the coffin now and get that insurance payed up.

Johnny, Johnny, Johnny,
Can you explain what advantage that a snubbie is going to give you? I've already shown you that there is basically no difference in length. What kind of scenario are envsioning here?

Respond please

Two final opinions on my part:

1) Show her the proper way to operate the slide and she won't have a problem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbayNc6D9HY

2) Lots of folks get caught up in figuring out which firearm will serve them best in a gun fight while overlooking the #1 rule of a gun fight - namely, bring a gun! If it's the best fighting hand gun ever made, deemed perfect by every woman that has ever carried a concealed handgun for fighting off gangs of armed rapists, it will be of little value if it is left at home because it's too much of a pain to carry.

New CHL holders often have a difficult time becoming accustomed to carrying due to the weight and bulk of the firearms they purchased. I think everyone's 1st concealed carry piece should be a subcompact 380 like the Ruger LCP. Not just trying to hock the Ruger LCP, lots of good stuff available, most perform very well - won't try and list them all 'cause folks will get upset that I left their favorite off the list!

My wife and I each have other handguns we carry as situations allow. There are a lot of times in the winter that I can and do carry either my full size XDm or my 686. But that little LCP is ALWAYS on me. It's so light and compact you can forget it's there. I carry it while watching TV at the house, going for a run in the neighborhood, walking to the corner in shorts and a T-shirt to grab a paper, etc.

Make your 1st purchase a 100% carry option, make the next purchase something that might be a little better combat piece. A pocket 380 that you have with you is far more useful than the glock she couldn't comfortably carry while she is out for a run or a walk.

Just my opinions...

David

You nailed it. Situational awareness. Quite frankly, if I've let my guard down that low, to allow a perp to wrap his hands around the firearm then shame on me.

Back to the original question. Please have her shoot several, of both semi-auto and revolver's. 38 SPL and 9mm are good choices. Low recoil. 9MM in particular is extremely affordable allowing more practice time, and that aspect I cannot stress enough.

Shoot shoot shoot. Then go shoot some more.