if you were getting a pistol for your wife to learn to shoot which one would you get her and why

depending on hand size glock full size compact or sub compact

the greatest thing about them is that the 9mm 357sig and 40s&w are all on the same frame demensions and can all be shot out of the same gun

9mm would be the better for bulk ammo avalability then 40 then 357

personally i carry 40 preferably then use 9mm for extended range time

Go with the one that she is the most comfortable with. jhunt I didn't know you could shoot .40 out of a 9mm or am I misunderstanding you.

If I could toss in 2 cents worth - for protection, maybe especially for a woman, I would consider a 38 or 357 revolver, light frame (maybe a 5-shot) and perhaps hammer-less. My thought here is; revolvers do not jam like semi-autos do. Last thing you want is for your wife or love one to need to protect themselves to only have the weapon jam. Many of us who have been shooting a lot and have faced similar adversity can manage through that. My wife is an excellent shot but I am sure she couldn't deal with a jam in a life or death situation. 38 or 357 is powerful enough to do the job as wold a 9mm or 40 S&W, and finally as for the hammer-less, that leaves one less thing to get snagged coming out of a holster, purse, or other carrier. They come in all frame sizes so finding a good fit isn't an issue. Hope this made sense.....

J

I would also suggest a good small frame S&W .357 revolver and have her use the +P .38 loads and she can use the regular .38's for practive and when she is ready move her up to the +P .38's. With the revolver all she has to do is pull it out and start pulling the trigger and don't stop till it is out of ammo !!!

.38 Spl double action revolver. But if you have decided to handicap her with a semi-auto to learn with, either caliber you mention is fine. The 9x19mm recoils a tad less than the .40 S&W and both fit the same magazine/grip size and pistol size. The .40 has a tad more "knock-down" power however the 1st rule is to make sure you put bullets into the tillain, caliber and cartridge names are secondary in importance.

A gun to learn to shoot would be 22. A gun for protection and learning would be 9mm. Much cheaper to shoot and a lot less recoil, both of which mean more practice. A semi auto is not a handicap to learning how to shoot poor instruction is the issue.

Posted By cbrown36 on 11 Oct 2012 03:41 AM
Go with the one that she is the most comfortable with. jhunt I didn't know you could shoot .40 out of a 9mm or am I misunderstanding you.

cbrown 36 I should have slightly clarified but hopefully this clears it up - With the Glock 9mm .40 and .357 auto family the frame demensions of the full size, target, compact, subcompact, and longslide models are exactly the same for all 3 calibers.  For example with my full size Glock 22 Gen 4 .40 S&W, I can takedown the slide assembly, remove the .40 S&W barrel and slide in a .357 SIG barrel and bada bing bada boom I now can shoot both calibers out of the same gun.  (While changing back to the appropriate barrel for each caliber of course)  There is no other change necessary unless you want to specifically have the .357 SIG magazines as they fit and function through .40 magazines.  The same process can be applied to switch between 9mm, however this time you do need the caliber specific magazines.  Then the .22lr conversion kit is there, and I'm still trying to research this to see if it would work as well but the possiblity of .380ACP may be there as well since it is very similar to the 9x18mm and the regular 9mm is a 9x19mm.

Hope that helped clarify for you.

In a panic situation the less things to deal with in a handgun the faster you can get in the fight so a revolver is as I said as simple as it gets. Threat assessed and the decision has been made to engage so with the revolver all she needs to do is as I described, pull the handgun, point, pull trigger till empty !!! Some people get flustered when confronted with an agressor and have problems with the safety's and such. KISS !!!

After seeing scores of people that "know" their guns in the stress-shooting scenarios over the years fall apart when confronted by a paper target, and having been in the same scenarios myself, I steer everyone I can to a double action revolver. Almost all police ought to be packing a revolver for the same reason. (I need my 17 round clip and 3 spare 17 round clips! Huh??) Military can stick to autos for the higher magazine capacity, but in reality could and might should go to a heavier caliber 6-shooter. The same guys that gripe about the puny 9s and want mighty .45s often complain that a mere revolver doesn't have the capacity they want. So, a 7-shot 1911 throwing .45 ACP hard-ball is superior to a much more reliable 6-shot .45 ACP revolver or even a .44 Spl or .45 Colt? The real down side to the big caliber revolvers is size and that is about all there is. On my own autos, I do not carry any and have pretty much gone to the "Safe-Action" or Double-action-only versions for simplicity. No added external manual safeties. Not needed! And unless you practice - a lot, not just standing there on a pretty day plinking paper but with cover, someone shouting at you, moving, rolling around, and with an occasional dummy round loaded in a magazine you cannot master the auto. The same stress stuff needs to be used in revolver use, but the monotonous reliability and simplicty of them rules out the jams almost completely making them easier to learn. Not as "sexy" for sure, but like a beat up F-150 I'd trust it over a Corvette for our purposes. When the Zombie Apocolypse starts and we all muster into the militia you fellas will know who I am because I'll be the one packing my 4" Mod-19 .357 Mag nad feeling just fine. Don't fret none as you are frantically trying to clear your jam-o-matic because my revolver will be backing you up. We'll work together and re-kill all the zombies.

Get a S&W586 with a 4in barrel stuff with 38's until she can handle the gun and shoot it comfortably and then try some 357mags.

Again, without being redundant, I firmly believe the revolver is the right answer. As for the issue of having problems with the safety on a semi auto, interestingly enough, the last three semi auto pistols I have purchased do not have a safety on them. What's up with that? Trying to make them cheaper?

J

Bought my other half a s&w 686 and also the m&p 40 (no safety) she loves them both.

Good grief, whats all this nonesense about " Whats the best gun for my poor lil puny wife"? I have everything from Pop Guns to Canons!, my wife shoots'um all!
Regardless of what guns I take to the shootin' pit, if I don't bring a whole durn truck load of ammo with me, she durn well lets me know about it! She is a shootaholic!
I had 3 daughters, two were very petite, but owned there own .357s, before they were 12. One became a career military. peaked out at 5'1', 105 lbs, yet qualified expert with the .45acp!

My wife's first gun was a Ruger Mark 3 .22 caliber. It was good and heavy and it really helped her build up the strength in her hands and wrist. Plus it was much cheaper to put the rounds through than a 9mm or .40. By the time she upgraded to a 9mm glock, she was much more comfortable and, knock on wood, hasn't had any jams due to "limp wristing" yet! I would recommend starting with a .22 because they are cheap and fun to shoot and they give you good experience clearing jammed casings.

Lady Smith .357 Mag. Good luck.

again i would go with a revolver though i have and do carry and cocked and locked 1911 there is still a revolver close by. everyone can say they can clear a jam or take off the saftey or even pull the trigger if ever need be but the reality is not very many people actually can. if it's for home protection strongly consider a shotgun nothing says get the **** out like a shotgun pump being racked its a universal language

20ga pump loaded with #4 birdshot will completely ruin a crminal's day everytime.

Start her with a .22. If you're planning on going to a semi-auto try a Ruger MkIII, Browning Buckmark, Sig 1911-22, or Beretta Neos. If going with a revolver, try something like a Ruger Single Six, Heritage Rough Rider, or some other Western Style single action revolver.
Let her build her confidence and abilities with a .22 first before advancing to something a little more intimidating.

She all ready has a s&w 357 6 inch barrel and knows how to shoot as for home big dawg I have 3 12 gauges dbl oo buck in them and told her just point and pump till empty. just wanted to know if the 9 0r 40 had any big differences as for as shooting. I have taught all 3 of my daughters to shoot and hunt they know the difference in protection get the stove pipes first and shoot till they are empty then get the handguns to check when they are down. Thanks for the advice guys.

Since this is for personal protection, and I will guess in the home... things you need to consider. Ease of shooting, accuracy, knockdown ability, and capacity. Revolvers are more simple I agree so they score high in ease of shooting. But after six shots, most are out of the fight. Revolvers are simple.. point and pull the trigger. Again true. But if you practice with a pistol as you should if you intend to be proficient with it.. you'd be surprised how you automatically handle them. Even under stress. Also the double action pistols are easy to use, and handle well.

Accuracy is also an issue. Your no threat if you can not hit what you aim at. Now maybe its me, but I can point and shoot a pistol much more accurately then a revolver. Especially with a revolver in double action mode. I know people that when they had to shoot revolvers double action.. their accuracy really failed. While with a pistol, after the first shot.. its single action. And it is deadly then. Accuracy I believe in a stress situation the pistol has the advantage only because of speed of second shot, and following shots. As I told a female friend of mine that I helped teach a simple .22 caliber pistol.. should the time come to use that on someone.. keep shooting until they go down, go away, or your out of bullets. Never let them take a loaded weapon away from you. Just keep shooting at them.

Knockdown power.. while a .40 or .357 are hard to argue with. A 9mm is no slouch at putting people down. Also because of their light recoil people, especially women, tend to shoot them very accurate. If the intruder is under the influence or built like a mountain..spme people can soak up an unusual amount of fire power. But normally one or two rounds in them make them either fall down, or go away. Which is what you want.

The last important point is capacity. Here the pistol has it all over the revolver. They make a nice smaller size pistols for women. Also it is much easier to load a pistol quickly. This is the in the case of the person having the weapon UNLOADED in the home and suddenly needing it. And this happens all the time. Because of children in the home the pistol is stored without a magazine. Or the revolver with the chambers loaded. A pistol, you slam in the magazine and rack the chamber. Its ready. A revolver, even with a speed loader.. is not as fast as a pistol.

So I would recommend a high capacity (more then 9 shots) 9mm pistol. Do not become cheap. Do your homework and get a high end pistol. A Glock, or Smith and Wesson. Ruger is another good one. You want a pistol that will load, point, and fire over and over and over. Also a 9 mm is cheaper to practice with when you purchase ammo.

Interesting..for one i thought any handgun was known as a "pistol" be it a revolver or a semi-automatic (i could be wrong).Hmmm the ladies..yeah okay maybe a .380 or maybe a .40...but dont tell that to my mother..she shoots a.45 1911..she dont miss much..The 9mm is okay though i remember after the army switched from the .45 to the 9mm..in desert storm.. i remember a couple of infantry guys who told me that after emptying their magazines into a would be attacker the guy was still moving forward...accuracy,was great...no knock down power....im guessing that you have the manufactures magazine.I always go with after market magazines that are extended.In my house there is no second guessing on defense...cause as it has been said before .."the best defense is a good offense"Im not one to shoot warning shots above your head, my warning shot is to the chest and then i walk it up to the head..after all dead people cant sue you later.By the way..if your "proficient" it shouldnt take more than 2 shots anyway... a human target is huge..aim center mass and work your way up

Technically, a "pistol" is ahandgun with a fixed chamber such as the single-shooters and semi-automatic pistols while revolvers are classified as revolvers or handgun-revolver. That item was drilled into our heads at gunsmithing school and heaven-help the shlub who mis-identified one to the instructor with a burr under his sadle that day.

Especially if you handload, the .40 is more versitle.

 

I just bought a NIB Springfield Armory model XDS in .45acp and the only saftety's it has are the one on the grip backstrap and the trigger with both having to be engaged for the handgun to fire which I really like as I always carry with one on the chamber. With these type safety's it makes for the perfect carry as all I have to do is pull and start firing. With it being a sub compact the clips only hold 5 rounds ( with one on the chamber makes 6 ) which is more than enough for me to stop any threat. It comes with 2 of these 5 round mags. I along with many of my Army friends both retired and active duty do not like the 9MM at all and some even provide their own .45acp's and ammo. When confronted by the insurgents of whom a great number are doped up they can and have soaked up good htis from the 9MM and kept coming whereas the .45acp with a couple of good hits will take them out of the fight.

Between the 9mm and the 40, I would lean towards the 40 for a heavier slug option. As far as realiability? the reason most law enforcment use the autos are the close quarter engagments where a subject can get their hands on your weapon, to lock up a revolver it just needs to be held tightly on the cylinder. An auto slide can conversely held as well, but not without one shot going off first. I have even had a small twig get under the cylinder on my sp101 and lock it. Good housekeeping can prevent that stuff though. Another reason for the 40 over 9 is the tendency to not over penetrate, walls, innocent neighbors ect. My 2cts.

papa58 the reason I use and suggest #4 shot is no over penetration fears ! My family knows that IF someone has broken into our house ( unlikely with my dogs ) that they are to get out of bed and on the floor so when I start shooting there is no chance of them being hit. At in home distances the #4 shot will do the job and as noted over penetration is not a concern as I know that I can hit a man at these distances with the whole load of shot. I always advise to get and use the largest caliber that the person can shoot accuartely. I am a frim believer in the bigger is better thought when it comes to caliber and bullets.

Take her to the range rent one gun in 40 and one in 9 and let her decide.

"Learn to shoot" equals a 22. She can consider a larger caliber after 5000 rounds. By which time she will probably outshoot everyone you know.
mwalton7 - The generic term in the US is "handgun," encompassing revolvers, autos and single shots(which are lumped together, a Shiloh mentioned). In Britain, the generic term is "pistol," a corruption of Pistoia, an Italian city known for early firearms production.