Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Semi-auto or revolver for female ?

im planning on buying my daughter a carry gun for Christmas this year, thinking S&W shield in 9mm or smith 442. Thought or opinions please.

See if your daughter can rack the slide on the shield.

I like the idea of revolvers awfully well. They are easy to load, and unload. They are easy to see if they are loaded. There is no confusion as to whether a round is in the chamber. There is no safety to manipulate before firing.

While the 2 inch barreled J frame Smith and Wesson is not the easiest handgun in the world to shoot accurately at 25 yards, they are accurate at the 7 to 15 yardline and the 38 special chambering is adequate for self defense purposes.

Shield 9mm: easier to shoot and maintain. Snub nose revolvers were the best choice back when reliable small autos were hard to come by. The 442 is an excellent revolver ( I have several) but they are an expert's weapon: harder to shoot and more complex manual of arms.

I fully expect the 442 to be the majority pick in this thread, though. Small revolvers, for all their drawbacks, exert an almost mystical pull on handgunners.

Oregon,
In what way do you find the revolver's manual of arms to be complex?

Try to reload a revolver one handed, or with your weak hand. Jamming in another mag is a heck of a lot easier than working a speed loader or speed strip. The Shield has a loaded chamber indicator, as nearly all modern autos have, and can be had without a safety.

I also like revolvers but I agree that 2" revolvers are harder to shoot accurately than most handguns.

Compare the steps to reload a revolver with the steps to reload an auto, then compare clearing a jam such as a case stuck under the ejector star, or a backed-out ejector rod, or a pulled bullet with the steps for clearing a stovepipe, or FTF in an auto.

reloads are a secondary consideration.

Not being argumentative, but for the sake of discussion, show me a link to a self defense shooting that required a reload. Not counting a police shooting of some kind.

FWIW, I love revolvers and own a few dozen. I'm just not convinced they are the best choice for a beginner's self defense pistol anymore.

I'll leave that to those on the forum who know about such things. My point was a small one: revolvers are more complex to operate than modern semi-autos.

^^^THIS^^^

It don't make a damn how nice of an autoloader you buy them if they can't pull the slide back. Cause if they have a jam, or a stovepipe, they are screwed!

I've had a lot of girls come to take my CHL Class with a new automatic that they're Dad or Husband bought for them and they just didn't have enough hand strength to pull the slide back. They can be trained to do so, but in a stressful life or death situation, all that ShiiTT goes out the window.
Though snub nose revolvers are harder for new shooters to hit with, some quality range time will take care of the accuracy issues.
I've let a lot of women who took my class quailify with my little S&W Bodyguard Relvolver with the Factory Lazer, and they seem to do real well with target wadcutter loads.
They only run around $400 new if you watch for deals on GunBroker. Here's a link to what they look like.
http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/..._757781_757781_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

The new Ruger 3" LCR in .38 spec with adjustable sights would also be well worth taking a look at, IMO.

Age old discussion, Has she shot a bunch before, let her handle a few and see what she picks. In the case of my wife, she shoots my auto's very well but can not rack the slides. She choose a S&W Model 60 3". In a stressful situation simple is better. A re-load is not often ever needed, it is all over well before that time.

Shield.

Shield.

Shield shield shield shield shield.

The original post presents a purely theoretical exercise considering that we know nothing about the intended user. Assuming a total newbie, the answer is revolver. I would start with a .22 LR, something like a Ruger LCR, with a laser.

If a girl/lady has trouble racking a slide, have her hold both arms straight. Grasp the gun with the strong hand normally, and grip the slide with the weak hand and then turn the shoulders. This trick will give her a better mechanical advantage. With practice she will become more used to the task.

But ultimately, let her try several different guns, and let her choose it, unless she picks something wildly unreliable or inappropriate.

It seems similar to a bowling pin match.
If you don't clear the table with the first magazine
you have lost, so there is no point concerning yourself with a fast reload.
whelennut

Revolver revolver revolver revolver. Revolver, squeeze bang, squeeze bang, squeeze no bang................. squeeze again

I got my daughter a semi automatic.