Good budget entry level handgun for my wife

[kcchiefs6465]

I have a .380 semi.

Bersa Thunder (.380) runs around $300. Seven shot plus one in the chamber if I remember correctly. I put a few hundred rounds down range with one (rented from the range) and never had a malfunction. I'd say that's a lot better for your wife than a .357, .44, or .45. IMO, those will be too high of recoil to have a reliable shot. If she unloaded a magazine in rapid succession she very well might only hit her first shot. I'd go for the .380, or .32. .32 ammunition costs an arm and a leg though. (35.00-40.00 dollars a box of 50, so getting her familiar with it might not be worth it)

 

[kcchiefs6465]

I like Walther PPK's in 380...

The Bersa Thunder looks exactly like this, and IMO performs like a Walther. It just doesn't have the name to back it up. It's a plus how compact they are.

 

[kcchiefs6465]

A dealer my uncle knows said he could sell me a Keltec 9mm for $349. I don't remember what the model was buy my uncle has one and really likes it.

I've never had a problem with Kel-tec. I've only shot one a handful of times and thought it performed good. Whatever gun you decide on, I would recommend spending some time at the range with it. Rapid fire, etc. and see if anything fails.

 

[kcchiefs6465]

I don't understand those who are saying a 9mm is better than a .380. The .380 if measured in mm is 9.652mm so it's even a larger caliber. I love my Kel-Tec P3AT. It's so light, I hardly know I have it on me.
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/15229

.380 is a 9 x 17 mm round. Or 9mm Kurz. 9mm parabellum is a 9 x 19 mm round. Little bit more bang for your buck. I like a few guns that are a .380. I like most guns that shoot a 9mm. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[fisharmor]

Not one single GLOCK fanboy yet?

So let me tell ya... I am NOT a glock fanboy. I don't like 'em.
However, when I leave the house, the gun that comes with me is a GLOCK 26.

When you have your wife try out different guns, make sure the GLOCK 19 is on the list. Any place that rents handguns will have one. Period. And that says something.

When I was looking for my EDC I listed my priorities.

1) Has to be able to stop a man. 9x19 will stop a man. As already stated earlier, 38 spcl will stop a man too, and 38 has less ass behind it than 9 luger. These rounds may not be able to instakill a large, determined attacker with one shot to the toenail. However, this is an economic exercise. The likelihood that you'll be attacked is very low. The likelihood that five shots of 38spcl not ending the attack is (provided you hit) also very low. Remember, it's possible to jump out of a plane at 30,000 feet without a parachute and live. That doesn't mean we necessarily plan for it.

2) I wanted to be able to double-tap easily. That mandated 9x19. True, I could practice with 40 or 45 and get to the point of being able to do it, but I'm not made of money, which brings us to...

3) I needed to be able to practice with it. You may be looking at firing 3-4 boxes of ammo before getting to the point of being able to reliably hit a pie plate at 7 feet. Do you want that to cost $50, or do you want it to cost $200?

4) I needed a round I would be likely to find, no matter what happens with supply chains, laws, or economic conditions, for the duration of my life. The round that practically every military on the planet carries in their sidearms seemed to be a good choice.

5) I needed to be able to find holsters, sights, extra magazines, extended slide stops, reduced trigger pull kits, repair parts, etc. Go buy a gun nobody's heard of like a Steyr M and fall totally in love with it, and then try to find a holster, and you'll understand the importance of aftermarket support.

6) It needed a good body of online tutorials and youtube videos showing how to use it, how to trick it out, etc.

7) May be unrelated to your requirements, but I had to be able to conceal it easily, and be able to put it in the front pocket of baggy pants.


Now back on topic, this is not what's next to my bed. That's a stainless 4" barrel S&W 681 6-shot 357 magnum revolver. The reason is my wife has rheumatoid arthritis and has actual physical trouble with slides. With her it's a medical issue: most women can adopt different techniques and rack a slide easily, but if you don't have a whole lot of cartilage in your wrist those techniques don't matter.
Nevertheless, a lot of people like shooting medium/full frame revolvers because there's a big damn fireball coming out of the front and it doesn't kick as much as semi-autos.

Last thought: before I had the Smith I had a 4" Ruger GP-100 which, coincidentally, I picked up used for exactly $300, and which I regret trading for the Smith at this point. The Smiths have MUCH better triggers, it's true. But not nearly good enough to make up for the lack of cusion on the backstrap.

 

[pcosmar]

I ran across a site a while back.. Great info. Humor. and written by a woman.
http://www.corneredcat.com/
She covers nearly everything, including Buying a gun for your Wife
http://www.corneredcat.com/article/for-the-men/buying-a-gun-for-your-wife/

 

[Pericles]

Sticking with the OP's price range, I suggest this:

View attachment 1702

CZ 82. Czech army surplus. Czechs make GREAT guns and this is one of them. You can get them for just over $200 last I looked. It shoots the 9 x 18 Makarov round that is a bit hotter than .380. It holds 12 rounds and one in the pipe. It can be carried cocked and locked or fired double action/single action. I have two and they both have great triggers and are very accurate and reliable. One of mine is worn so much that the slide rattles but I swear I cannot miss with it.

If the OP is not serious about the $300 price ceiling, then I suggest one of the .45 1911s coming out of the Phillipines. I have a Rock Island and it is very nice. I think you can get them bare bones for about $350. the 1911 is easy to shoot and .45 is really a great defense round.

CZ is a good alternative to the .380, but I always have concerns about supply of ammo that is/was not a US military standard.

 

[presence]

The caliber does not matter.
[]
Rather a confident and capable shooter of a .22 than a flinching self conscience shooter of a .45 any day of the week.

Its not a weapon if you can't march eyes wide open wielding it.

 

[opal]

Lots of good info here.. been looking into a hand gun myself.. the 12ga is good for home but....

 

[osan]

I like Walther PPK's in 380...

Do NOT ever trust your life to a PPK if you can avoid it. I had a PPK/S and even has a gunsmith all through it. It is NOT a reliable pistol AT ALL. I have heard countless other stories of poor reliability. Mine was so bad I gave it to one of my friends - he has hundreds of firearms and this would not be used for anything important.

If you want that sort of 380, the Mauser HSc or SIG 230 are far and away more reliable. My father has a beautiful HSc and its reliability is sterling.

That all said, if you insist on going with 380, a choice I am strongly against, then you should roll your own ammo and load right up to SAAMI maximums... or at high as the gun will reliably feed. A super hot 380 will perform somewhere in the 9mm Parabellum range - very anemic.

If you are going for a semi, then I strongly recommend 38 Super, 40 Smith loaded as hot as it will go, or .45 ACP. The Super has ballistics very comparable to 357 mag. If you have a 10mm frame, you can put a .40 slide and barrel on, say, a 1911, load the 40 "long" and get 1560 fps with a 130 gr. slug - that is SMOKIN' hot. The 40 Smith brass is actually stronger than that of 10mm and will take the pressures.

Also, when looking for a gun for self-defense, look for one that has a very low barrel centerline. High centerline pistols will roll more when recoiling. The H&K P7 is perhaps the lowest centerline pistol out there and it is noticeable when shooting. One of the highest is the lousy Beretta 92, which is nothing more than a re-styled Walther P-38. Lousy gun and $$ to boot. They roll like crazy and are therefore harder to get back on target - a VERY bad characteristic in a self-defense weapon. I am no fan of Glocks, but in this respect they are well designed with a very low centerline.

 

[osan]

You might have her try a double action revolver also, you don't need to cock it to fire it, so accidental discharge is not an issue. Depends on whether a slide action cock would suit her in a nervous emergency (1911 style).

I agree with Sailingaway, gun range a good option to try different cals and styles.

1911s are a whole other kettle of fish. Best design going, but carrying one as a defensive weapon requires a whole other mindset, and that is no joke.

I have no problem with starting someone out on a 1911, but if you do, they should be practicing at least twice a week for a full year, no less than 200 rounds each session. Those are the absolute minimums and IMO they should shoot twice that many times and twice that many rounds per session. At the end of a year the habit has become strong - second nature even, and that is EXACTLY what you want because unlike guns like the Glock, which were designed for dilletante handlers and other idiots, the 1911 is a design of the ultimate functional purity. Being so, it can be rather unforgiving of unmindful handling.

I carried a 1911 for years but it was too big, so I picked up an XD-40 subcompact which is a point and shoot weapon, much like the Glocks. At this point I would not feel particularly comfortable carrying a 1911 in condition 1 as I used to for fear of absent-mindedly ventilating myself, now that I have had this XD for about 2 years.

Personally, I think starting your wife out on a 1911 is a good idea. If she can manage that well, all other guns are a piece of cake. It is like the Japanese approach to the martial arts v. the American. Americans have it all wrong. I have heard countless times how you begin with "empty hand" techniques for a couple of years before every letting a student so much as lay a finger on a weapon. Ignorant claptrap.

The Japanese - the bushi in particular (samurai) started their children's training with LIVE BLADES. Most Americans blanch at this to strains of "the children... the children..." What the poor ignorant bastards do not know is that virtually ALL hand techniques in Japanese martial arts derive from the sword. Therefore, if you do not know how to wield the sword you are most likely to learn the hand techniques incorrectly and that could cost you your life one day. Also, learning from day 1 with a live weapon brings the child to immediate respect and mindfulness of that which he is doing. Few things are more nail-bitingly dangerous than putting a live blade into the hands of some clod who, for the previous 3 years, has been doing it wrong. A real live blade slices through flesh more easily than most people would think. Getting one into the right habits to begin with is a whole lot easier and safer than trying to break them of bad habits already learned. The same with the gun.

 

[shane77m]

You might have her try a double action revolver also, you don't need to cock it to fire it, so accidental discharge is not an issue. Depends on whether a slide action cock would suit her in a nervous emergency (1911 style).

I agree with Sailingaway, gun range a good option to try different cals and styles.

I have been thinking about a double action revolver. It would be the least complicated and probably safest for her. She really doesn't have much experience with firearms. Planning on looking in some pawn shops this weekend and see what we can find.

To bad there is an issue with having to go through hoops to legally own a short barreled shotgun. Some of here purses are big enough to hide one.

Thanks for everyone's responses. A lot to think about.

 

[osan]

I got my girlfriend a model 60 smith and wesson 5 shot revolver in .357 magnum with a 2 inch barrel. She shoots it better than most of the cops I worked with shot their full size Sig p226 9mm handguns. She is 5'11 and weighs 145 (skinny as a twig).

Photos please.

The disadvantages are small capacity (5 shots), and it takes longer to reload than a semi-auto.

Practice, practice, practice. Get her speed loaders... good ones and not shit ones. Have her do Bill drills. Draw, empty the weapon on target, reload, three more rounds into target with two left in case another target appears. With practice she should be able to do this in 5 seconds or less. keep at it until she excels.

I got her a smith and wesson, but knowing what I know now, I would have gotten a similar model Ruger. Rossi's are cheaper. You can probable get a little 5 shot Rossi for 300-$350. I paid $500 for her S&W.

The Smith is the best choice IMO. Rossis and Tauruses are built with inferior steels. Bob Munden will NOT work on those guns for that very reason. He works pistols for Cowboy Action events and limits himself to Colt and Ruger, categorically refusing to work on Taurus and Rossi. You get what you pay for.

Never cheap out on a gun if you can reasonably afford not to. It's like foolish people who drive a Ferrari and eat at McDonald's. Which is more important, the car you drive or the food you put into your body? Hello.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

they do, but a revolver will never have as much capacity as say a 17+1 glock. The advantage of revolvers is ability to use longer, and more powerful rounds (like for hunting), reliability etc.

Some States already limit handguns to 10 round capacity. With 8, you are only two from the max allowed.

 

[nobody's_hero]

That's my concealed carry revolver. S&W 431pd. 6 shots.

Some say a 32 mag is a little on the smallish side. I've never been shot or shot anyone with it so I can't really say for sure. One of my favorite things to do when letting the ladies shoot it, is load up .32 cowboy rounds in the first five and sneak in a magnum round for the last round. THey hear 'magnum' and they think "oh I can't handle that." --- Well ya just did! lol.

 

[Acala]

CZ is a good alternative to the .380, but I always have concerns about supply of ammo that is/was not a US military standard.

Good point. You can get the cz83, which is essentially the same gun in .380, but it costs a lot more, being the commercial variant. Might not be under the $300 mark.

I think 9mm and .45 are much better choices, but the $300 price limit is tough to get under in those calibers.

 

[aloneinthewilderness]

The Smith is the best choice IMO. Rossis and Tauruses are built with inferior steels. Bob Munden will NOT work on those guns for that very reason. He works pistols for Cowboy Action events and limits himself to Colt and Ruger, categorically refusing to work on Taurus and Rossi. You get what you pay for.

Bob died last month.

 

[fisharmor]

The Japanese - the bushi in particular (samurai) started their children's training with LIVE BLADES. Most Americans blanch at this to strains of "the children... the children..." What the poor ignorant bastards do not know is that virtually ALL hand techniques in Japanese martial arts derive from the sword. Therefore, if you do not know how to wield the sword you are most likely to learn the hand techniques incorrectly and that could cost you your life one day. Also, learning from day 1 with a live weapon brings the child to immediate respect and mindfulness of that which he is doing. Few things are more nail-bitingly dangerous than putting a live blade into the hands of some clod who, for the previous 3 years, has been doing it wrong. A real live blade slices through flesh more easily than most people would think. Getting one into the right habits to begin with is a whole lot easier and safer than trying to break them of bad habits already learned. The same with the gun.

I sometimes hear representatives of the older generation grousing about the new-fangled guns with "no safety" on them.
I also have seen some pretty gruesome pics of people who put holes in their hands with their Glocks while field-stripping.
If there's one thing I think osan's words here applies to, it's the safety switch.
Glocks didn't shoot holes in those people's hands. The owner did.

 

[ClydeCoulter]

I have been thinking about a double action revolver. It would be the least complicated and probably safest for her. She really doesn't have much experience with firearms. Planning on looking in some pawn shops this weekend and see what we can find.

To bad there is an issue with having to go through hoops to legally own a short barreled shotgun. Some of here purses are big enough to hide one.

Thanks for everyone's responses. A lot to think about.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, no purse carry....first thing a guy will do is disarm ladies of their purses, since they may carry pepper spray, gun, etc....and heavy purses are weapons too

 

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

Ahhhhhhhhhh, no purse carry....first thing a guy will do is disarm ladies of their purses, since they may carry pepper spray, gun, etc....and heavy purses are weapons too

So 45 seconds into the video, she's saying I dress frumpy? lol

Very good video, I think. Thanks for posting. Seems like those inside thigh holsters would rub the way she wears them, though.

I personally don't like ankle holsters since I think running fast could come in quite handy, but if you're a girl wearing heels, I guess that skill is already out the window. I will definitely show this vid to girls thinking about carrying.