Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The Glock 23 And the Armed Woman

recently picked up a ruger LCR snubbie, i would recommend giving it a serious look. light weight / no brainer to use. very controllable with the hogue grips.

if she could shoot both and compare that would make good sense, I have had both 23's and 19's do not have any 23's left, too many stories about 40's for some of them not to be true, the 40 seems snappier to me personally, 9mm less expensive, good bullets make them about equal.

The test to destruction for the original glocks were on Glock 17's if someone has seen a Glock 40 cal test with over 30,000 rounds could they post it please?

Most of my women friends have 3 guns or more.Women need 3 guns,one to pack, one to target shoot with and one for game.Maybe the Ruger 357 SS security 6 in a short barrel would work best,I swapped out the grips to hogues.I also have several cowgirl friends that pack a Ruger GP100 SS.I also pack this,and it is SS with hogue grips.The heavy rubber grips,fit better in my hand and easy to keep a hold of,when firing.I pack 3 pistols,one on the dash, one on the seat,and one in my camera bag.I travel a lot alone.
There are a lot of manufactures now making guns for the women in mind.Smith and Wesson is one of the company's that cater to women.I don't care for the Glock it does not fit a ladies hand right,and there is no safety feature,if one has kids.Take your mate to a gun shop that lets you rent guns and fire in their target range,that's the best way to figure out what fits her needs.Life is of learning.

If it's YOU and not SHE whose done all that shooting, your first step is to get her out to the range and let her shoot a variety of handguns...then let her pick what she likes.

We hairy-chested nutscratchers tend to think those huevos make us the repository of all knowledge about firearms and best able to pick what "the little lady" needs.

First she needs training, preferably given by someone besides a husband (too many issues can crop up during the lessons). Then she needs to shoot a bunch of pistols and revolvers to decide what she feels best meets her needs and abilities.

How do I know this? These days I help train hundreds of police and civilians shooting every year and have learned the hard way.

One of my first trainees was my wife to be and back then I thought it'd be cute to let her first shot with a handgun be from a Ruger Super Blackhawk. Took her years to want to go shooting again. She's finally getting a CCW and is still trying to decide what suits her best.

That said, I think a G19 _ possibly with a grip reduction _ might be the ideal defense pistol for 98 percent of the population (that ought to be carrying).

My wife and I decided a few months back that it was time for her to get a handgun she can conceal. She had shot my glock 23 in the past and didn't like the snappy recoil. Also, the slide was a bit tough for her to pull back to chamber a round.

Now, she is not a little woman. She's about 5'6" and built very solidly and is surprisingly strong. Sure she can rack the slide but it does test her grip. She also does not feel she has the familiarity with autos to feel confident with handling one. She shoots a bit but not enough to gain a lot of familiarity with different types of guns.

I have to commend her for her decision making on the subject of choosing a carry gun. She puts ease of use and simplicity above all else. She chose a Ruger SP101 in .357 with a 2.25" barrel and conventional hammer. It recoils a bit more than she likes with full 158 gr. loads but finds +P 38 specials very comfortable.

Oh yeah. She can flat out shoot the thing. She showed me how she can put 5 shots in a coffee can sized group at 20 yds. I have to work pretty hard to do that.

In the end, it's all up to the user of the gun. Trying different styles, calibers and sizes of handguns is the best way for her to pick the one she likes best. If the SHTF, the user of any gun must be comfortable and confident with their hardware to achieve best results.

FWIW

Do a search on the firearms forum at kifaru.net for member name of Steelworker and read his dissertations on handgun and ammunition choices (among them 9mm Gold Dot 124 gr +P). His reasoning seems sound and he appears to have personal experience. I have yet to regret acquiring an M&P 45 and then a M&P 9C. If/When the hysteria dies down, I intend to acquire another M&P 45. Note I am not touting the 45 (full-size frame) as a choice for a lady, but the 9C certainly is an option and I have been lead to believe the M&P was engineered to handle 40 pressures from the ground up, unlike the Glock.

If what local police forces in towns of 22,000 people do counts, our local force just decided to arm the force with the M&P 45. There are, of course, female members of the force, and I do not know what allowances are to be made for them. I'll say I don't believe the smallest grip insert provided with the M&P 45 will work for a small hand.

You bring up a great point. I would use a 9mm, instead of a .40, if I had to buy my own ammo for it.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Very true.