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SOG DonationsSo I’m an M&P fan but don’t want my bias to transfer to my wife when she gets her carry gun. What do you (if you’re a girl) or your wife carry every day?
My wife carries a 38 special. Women tend to have smaller hands. Let her pick out the gun that fits her hands.
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My wife is going to carry a PPQ. But my advice is to have her shoot at least about half a dozen pistols to see what she feels the most comfortable and confident with.
Really it comes down to each individual. I do understand your plight though. Personally I really am not a fan of Glocks, but my wife likes them so I couldn’t be biased when she did her research.
The .38sp snub nose revolver is a nice choice too but only if she likes it and has confidence with it. I hope this helps.
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Saw the picture before I read your reply. For a second there I thought you were going to trot out the old “get her something simple, a revolver is better for women…blah, blah, blah”.
Sorry for jumping to conclusions. And yes, I totally agree with you on letting her choose something that fits her hand well.
To the OP, your best choice is to find a range that rents. While a gun might fit her hand at the counter she really needs to shoot it to make a determination. You’d be surprised at how many woman I know that got small pistols/revolvers(even in mild calibers), on recommendations from guy friends, that actually shot better with larger pistols.
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^ Great point about shooting vs handling. That’s SUPER important people shoot these and not just accept how it feels at the counter. Also don’t forget making sure the person can fully operate the firearm. i.e. Recoil, charging (if auto loader), double action trigger pull, etc.
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I had a co worker who asked me about what gun to get, I made a few suggestions. He picked one up and asked me to train him and his wife. His plan was to share the gun. While he had no problems shooting it, she on the other hand had all kinds of problems. The biggest issue she had was racking the slide. Struggling and fumbling with a gun that doesn’t fit, or is simply to much is not safe. While she was fumbling about she crossed her thumbs. I said wait, but she pulled the trigger. She got stitches for that.
There are lots of good choices, but here are a few: Walther PPS M2 (9 mm); S&W Shield (9 mm); Kimber K6S (.357 mag); Ruger LCR (.357 mag). All of these guns are double action only, but have good trigger pulls. The .357 mag handguns listed are probably best for using .38 special (+p in the Kimber). They are all reliable and easy to use and maintain. The costs range from under $400 (PPS M2 and Shield), to around $800 (K6S). Good luck.
I too agree with folks you believe these are less intimidating and easy to understand for a novice but require a master shooter to perform at a standard suitable for carry. Huge gap in what people think and FEEL vs their actual performance.
I agree with letting her figure it out what best makes her feel comfortable. My wife’s are the following;
Ruger 38 Special - CCW
Ruger LCP .380 - CCW
Ruger SR22 - for fun, target shooting
Mine are the Ruger SP101 357 Mag & the Ruger SR9c for CCW
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My recommendation is the Glock 42 in .380 small compact and most Important for the female gender the recoil is very tolerable, glock weapons are know to absorb recoil well. With the new defensive ammunition being offered on the market now .380 is a very viable defensive round. And you can get them in different colors which is important selling factor to a woman …btw I own a few Glock handguns including the 42 and alternate between it and a M30 in 45 ACP for EDC …the 42 is a sweet shooting accurate little weapon IMHO …
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My wife started with an LCP 2 .380 because it was small and she could rack the slide (that was her primary hurdle when starting). Then she tried a Glock 43 9mm and fell in love. I’m pretty sure she tried it before she got her LCP 2 and wasn’t a good fit, so I think it was a progression thing for her. Getting her to actually carry it is another story though! She was almost pushy with getting me to carry 24x7 as I was easing into it so it’s funny to me that she is so slow to establish the habit herself even though she loves shooting.
I suggest going to a store and letting her figure out what feels good in her hand and make sure she doesn’t have trouble racking the slide.
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Tell her you have to have 100% program compliance. 
Not carrying all the time is bad news.
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Looks like we are heading to a gun store tomorrow and she is going to shoot as many as she likes. She handles an XDM full sized and an M&P 2.0 5" pretty well… but she didn’t like my M&P shield very much.
Thanks for all the amazing feedback! I’ll let you know what she ends up choosing for herself.
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My wife carries a Ruger LCR 38 special . She prefers her Glock 19 she has shot since the late 90s but her hands have weakened through the years so after much searching she settled on the Ruger. Our daughter loves the Smith and Wesson 38 along with my sister-like the fact revolver is easy to operate under pressure. We tried lots gun before each settled on their choice. I believe a shooter should pick the gun they feel most comfortable with and are able to shoot with.
So we went to a local gun store and my wife shot the p320 compact, Glock 19, m&p 2.0 compact, and the XD 3.8". She shot the Glock and M&P the best and so she ended up getting the M&P due to the fact that she loved the aggressive grip.
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Good deal! She’ll be really happy with it.
Congrats on a good choice, Arbaal. The M&P’s are good guns, the 2.0 line, even better than then 1.0’s. How will she carry the M&P 2.0 Compact? A very capable gun, but personally, I would have trouble carrying a gun that big.
Definitely the right way to do it - I fell prey to the “buy her a revolver” crowd, and we went through 4 different wheelguns before she discovered she likes semi-autos…she had ALSO been told that semi auto pistols were harder for women. She carries her CZ 2075 RAMI all the time now and loves it. Good choice and well done sir.
Ya CCW is going to be the tricky part. I’ll have to do research on belly bands and apparently they have underwear for girls that will hold a gun lol.
She just hates those smaller guns and won’t shoot them 
