Recoil Question....for the wife's sake.

[jreXD9]

For those who have shot both a good bit......how does the recoil of the p380 feel vs. the cw9 and pm9? I have the cw9 and pm9 (and cw45) and find those very manageable. my wife carries the cw9 but I can tell that she'd probably prefer a little less recoil. would the p380 fit that bill?

[xRUSTYx]

NO ... The P380 will NOT have less recoil than her CW9 ...

Anytime you get down that small, recoil WILL be felt. What does she think of your PM9? I would probably stick with that if she is looking for something smaller, but a bit more controllable over a P380.

[Bawanna]

Warning- Personal opinion forthcoming.

I would get your wife a nice 22 to practice basic skills and handling and keep the 9. Shoot it enough to maintain profiency at each range session but shoot the 22 mostly. Since she will no doubt carry it far more than she will shoot it, I would opt to maintain at least a marginal caliber rather than drop to the much less meaningful 380 round.

380 is sometimes difficult to find and expensive, 9 and 22 are plentiful and cheap.

If your using this scenario to purchase another Kahr and for some reason the 380 is it, ignore all previous words and by all means proceed.

For your wifes benefit the 380 is the finest gun and round ever invented and no home should be without at least one. Reckon she'll buy that or do I need to get really creative.

[jreXD9]

Yep, just bought a new Walther P22 a couple weeks ago just for her to practice with....as long as she lets me, too.

I DO believe, though, that a P380 is a missing piece to my puzzle....along with a first 1911, a Saiga 12 gauge, a Ruger Mini 14 .223, etc.....

[jocko]

the main thing is that most all women and I say most all, cannot operate a kahr 380 other than pulling the trigger. If anythings happes in that process, she is screwed (pardon the pun). Most women could not clear a jamed round or a misfire in the kahr P380. If you don't believe me take her to the gun shop and just ask her to rack the slide even. Most can't do it, let alone do any tap, rack and bang drills.

they think because it is cute and small then that is what they want. YOu have to analyze your own wifes needs and abilities. Hate to say it but basically the best gun for a woman is a 38 revolver in the J frame or the small rugers and even the taurus, be it 5 or 6 shot, #1, she can easily load it, #2 she can easily unload it. #3 if she pulls the trigger and nothing happens she is not screwed, she just pulls again and goes to another cylinder. If there are kids in the home she will be uncomforatble with a loaded semi around (anywhere around) and she basically can't unload it either. NOT so with a revolver, she can do it all. With a Crimson trace grip on these small revolvers she can get very accurate to, You don't need the +P loads in the revolver either. Also corban makes the glaser rounds that is used on by sky marshells in the air for safety,but close up, it will do the job, again she doesn't have to be right on target with a round like that either, nor fear of shooting and going through the wall and hitting one of her kids in another room.

We we think is good for a woman is most of the time not what is right either. Seen this to many times in my 40 years of gun business. If a woman is 1% intimidated in carrying a gun, like a kahr P380 with no safety etc (even though we know it is safe), they will not carry it PERIOD. If it has safety's on it and a woman is not totally gun savvy, then she might not even remember in a paiic situation where the safety is or why when she pulled the trigger on her semi and nothing happened. All of ithis is a no brainer in a revolver. hell even a J frame 22 revolver which most hold about 7 rounds, would be a good gun for a woman, but my choice would be a Model 37 airweight with corbon glaxer rounds in it.. I would buy the corbon glaser silver rounds also which is #6 shot... Excellent protection round..

[Bawanna]

Yep, just bought a new Walther P22 a couple weeks ago just for her to practice with....as long as she lets me, too.

I DO believe, though, that a P380 is a missing piece to my puzzle....along with a first 1911, a Saiga 12 gauge, a Ruger Mini 14 .223, etc.....

Well like I was saying the 1911, the Saiga 12 and the Minir 14's are the finest guns ever invented by man and no home should be without those 3 crucial instruments. I can't believe you've gone and survived this long without those in inventory.

Also everything Jocko said is true. Only you know your wifes mindset and capabilities but generally speaking the little autos are tought to operate for alot of guys and most woman. There are of course exceptions.

[DKD]

Bawanna & Jocko are dead on. I personally love the little P380 Kahr, but every time I went to the LGS they were out...so I boaught a PM45 instead and followed up with a PM9. The P380's are quite stiff and necessarily so. As was previously stated may not be a practical tool for the job dispite its feel and size.
A very long time ago when I was being shipped over seas, went out and bought a handgun for my wife....yep it was a snubby .38 spl Colt Detective special. She still has that gun, simple to operate, effective man stopper and will handle many different loads for any given purpose. Can't go wrong with a small wheel gun in .38 special for a first weapon. The manual of arms is straight forward, no real thinking required, just load, point and squeeze the trigger. S&W has an extensive line of "Body Guards" in .38 special that will also handle Plus +P loads, which are quite light at 16 oz five shoots. I even own one of them myself. If she was going to carry it on her person or in a hand bag I would recommend the shrouded model 638 or centennial. They are running about $450.00 when on sale and are quite small. Heck they even have those models with the built in lazer grip as well.

Well thats my two cents worth.

[dirty_sanchez]

My 65 year old Mom went from a .38 Airweight to a Glock 26, all carried crossdraw.

After a year of carrying the G26, she saw my PM9 with Crimson Trace, fell in love with it, and now after a few hundred rounds down the tube she can dump a mag all center mass at 10 to 20 feet as fast as she can spit two times. The recoil isn't an issue for her-even for a Granny.

She carries it now all of the time if she's awake with the finger extension and promises to give it back once she starts pushing up the daisy's.

Dirty

[xRUSTYx]

DKD brings up a great point.

Jframes might be her best bet. The 638 both my wife & I felt was quite manageable. If you get any type of light primer strike, etc.... all she has to do is pull the trigger again, and not fiddle around trying to clear a FTF or FTE

I think they even make one with pink grips!

[jocko]

I think they even make one with pink grips!


if not Bawanna can take care of that!!!!

[xRUSTYx]

LOL ....

Here's a pic of a pink 638

[jreXD9]

the wife of a friend has a .327. Not sure what make, though. anybody had experience with one of those?
I've thought some about the jam factor of a semi and if she could clear it. a friend who works at my local range said that he'd be willing to work with her on all that. that could be good since I know that wives don't always take husbands instructions very well.

[OldrSlowrSGT]

I'll agree with several of the posters above... my first carry gun was a j-frame.. my wife would shoot ONE round of .38 spl and hand it back to me. She shoots the Ruger .22lr's all day, but she didn't like the snappy recoil of the j-frame.

We tried 2 .380s and a 9mm at the range: the Sig, the Walther, and the PM9. The Sig was snappy, the Walther was big & clunky (but the slide is VERY easy to rack), and the PM9 felt about the same as the Sig, but without as much SNAP. We decided to get the PM9 for her.

Once we got it, however, she couldn't CONSISTENTLY manipulate the slide because of the heavy recoil springs. The range gun probably had thousands of rounds through it, so it was a bit easier to rack. We couldn't depend on a gun that she can't properly make safe.

We found a K9... the 1/2 inch longer barrel & slide, and the all-metal frame made both the recoil more manageable and made the slide easier to operate. We found our winner!

HER PM9 sits happily in my pocket, and MY K9 sits comfortably in HER purse.

The choice of a lady's gun involves factoring in some additional parameters, but once you find it, it should fit very comfortably.

[Bawanna]

I think the biggest parameter is it has to work for her and be what she wants, not what we think will be best for her and what we think will work.
Basically give them options and let them decide.
Looks like thats what you've done with good success.

[Jeremiah/Az]

My girlfriend is small & a new shooter. She handles my P380 recoil just fine, but an auto is too involved for a new shooter. I bought her,she picked it out, a pink gripped S/W 637 air-weight. It is like the 638, but has an exposed hammer. I reload light 148 grn. wad cutters for her. She loves her "Barbie gun" as she calls it. I open carried it one day @ the gun club. Yep, I got the reaction that I knew I would!!!!!