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

[mad1ben2]

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..

This is SO true! As much as I wanted my wife to like an auto pistol, it just didn't work. Got her the P22 for practice and although the recoil is nothing, she NEVER got comfortable with the operation of a pistol. She has a hammerless taurus and a 'pink lady'... and is totally comfortable with them.

Brief story:
Have some friends in the neighborhood with small kids... they own a G23 and have been to the range multiple times to practice and get comfortable with the gun. Gun stays locked and unloaded with loaded mags stored separate from gun. Husband was traveling on business and something went 'bump in the night' and scared wifey so bad that she grabbed the gun, wouldn't leave her room, and called 911. She loaded it, stayed on the phone with 911, and stayed in her room until them arrived. Dispatcher informed her she could not go to the door with the gun when she was to let the officers in... longer story shortened... she had loaded the gun with an empty magazine rather than the loaded one. She simply was scared and not familiar enough with the function of a pistol to know what she was doing during the high stress time. I highly suspect that even if she'd loaded the gun with a loaded mag she likely did not realize she had to rack the slide to actually load a round...

Bottomline is that she'd have been much better off with a 38spl revolver...

My comments are not directed to the OP necessarily... but more general comments. We can sometimes get our wives into guns long enough to get a gun and practice with it a bit... even got my wife and my Mother to take the CCW class and get their permits... but then it ended... I think it's been almost 2 years since either have been back to the range to shoot their guns... not only are they more comfortable, but so am I that they ended up with revolvers over ANY pistol!

[jocko]

a woman that can make a semi work perfectily is rare, but when you get one that can do it, I think the semi is the way to go then. But with kids in the home a woman will error all the time on caution and keep those semi's unloaded and that is where sh-t hits the fan in an emergency, as things in practice don't always work out in reality.

I thinkk most women can shoot a semi better than most revolvers but again it is the kind of ammo we stick in these revolvers also. A woman doesn't need +p ammo in her revolver and they need to go to the range more than twice a year to, I can say I leave my PM9 loaded in the bookcase all the time but if kids were around my home, my wife would not allow it, nor would I either...

[DKD]

Jocko, you have a point. Most women don't shoot there weapons enough to stay formiliar and be proficient with them. If that is the case a revolver is best suited to the task. If you need a lighter trigger spend a few dollars and have the gun smith put a spring kit in it...it will lighten the pull weight by 25%.
Now if she begins to go and shoot more as my wife did, then you just might consider a semi auto pistol, provided that she can handle the pistol, fits her, is of adequate power for the task at hand. If she doesn' tlike it for any reason she won't carry it nor shoot it.

[onegun]

I went thru this a long time ago. War story forthcoming:

In 1970 I was stationed in Germany. The kids were small and I kept a Walther PP .380 in the govt quarters we lived in. I kept it unchambered and the magazine out on top of the dresser. One night I was in the Ops Center about 2:30 monitoring some things we had going on. My wife called and said that she had the pistol loaded and cocked and didn't know what to do with it. We were on the first floor and someone was banging on the raised balcony glass door. They left but she had the PPK ready to go (she thought). I told her to lay it down, take the kids and go upstairs to a Major's quarters, wake him up, and have him take care of it. Turned out she had jammed the magazine in it and cocked the hammer. No round in the chamber.

She likes to occasionally shoot but will not carry. It's her choice and I respect that. I'm still gone lots at night and this is what she has in her bedside table loaded with standard pressure Federal Nyclad rounds. She knows how to load and unload it and she is a pretty darn good shot.



I also have some DAO SIGs, my new K9, and some DAO Smiths. I have no doubt she could pick any of them up and shoot them accurately. But the only auto she knows how to work is a Rem 1100.