Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns For the wife.... 380 vs 9mm

A CZ82/83 in .380 or 9Mak would make a lot of sense as well, but not as much as the LCR in .327.

If you're going to go for an 84, they are all over GunBroker as turn-ins (many Isreali military) for a heck of a lot less than $700. CDI Sales is considered the go-to, and a great seller. Starting price doesn't always correlate with condition, so if you don't mind spending some time looking at every single auction, you may pick out some good ones at low to mid range prices. There are enough of them out there that any bidding competition is likely to be minimal.

bought my wife the LCP 380 with crimson trace grips. She shoots well with it and it serves it's purpose as a CCW but its not a fun gun for her to shoot.

Nor is it a fun gun for anyone to shoot. I wish they made the LC-380 in the S-Pro variation. They make it only in the hammer fired, thumb safety variation, which in my opinion is generally unsuitable for defensive carry. If they made it in the S-Pro variation, that would have been ideal for your wife, I believe. Lower recoil than the LC-9, striker fired, no thumb safety, and large enough (unlike the LCP) not to be a problem for extended range sessions. I wonder why Ruger isn't moving on this, considering how wildly popular the S-Pro variation of the LC-9 is.

I agree, I did not care to shoot it much either. I have the Sig 238 and she really likes to shoot that one. The weight helps with recoil. I can shoot a nice group at 25 yrds. One of my favorite guns to shoot, CZ RAMI BD is first.

The RAMI is cool. I have the CZ P-01, which is the next size up from the RAMI. The RAMI is the subcompact, while the P-01 is the compact. I also think the P-238 is a nice range gun. I have one, but don't consider it ideal for personal protection carry, due to the single action design, which requires depending on deactivation of the thumb safety in the moment of the gravest extreme.

Very, very few guns are more difficult to shoot well, in terms of felt recoil, and practical accuracy, than a J Frame .38.

As far as I am concerned these are guns best reserved for dedicated people who are willing to practice on a semi regular basis, in order to stay proficient.

You often hear inexperienced people say such things like:

"Nobody notices the recoil in an emergency situation".

The reality is that people do not all of the sudden become proficient with a gun they are scared to shoot, because they are in a high stress situation. From my observations and experience,Just the opposite happens.

They hesitate. They flinch badly, and/or they are so completely overwhelmed from the stress of both the dynamic, and rapidly evolving high stress situation, and trying to use a tool they are not confident in/competent with, that they simply panic and do nothing at all.

The fact is that even those who are fairly well trained (unless they have been in a couple of shootings before) , when thrown into a very high stress situation, usually only perform at a fraction of their normal "range" ability.

My suggestion would be to start with a very light recoiling handgun, with easy to see sights. If you have the ability to minimize noise from the equation (think suppressed .22), then that is even better.

When they enjoy shooting a mild recoiling, quiet handgun, that is easy to shoot well with, they generally are more receptive to trying more challenging handguns later, as their skill and confidence increases.

BTW, your basic Browning Buckmark/Ruger MKII, Colt Woodsman types are all guns that almost any person can shoot with ease.

If a non enthusiast has a few bricks of .22s through a Colt Woodsman, and are not in the least bit intimidated by it, then that might be a better choice for a nightstand/on top of the fridge gun, than a J Frame snubby they dread shooting.

Why, exactly, is a hammer fired pistol unsuitable for defensive carry?

This should be good.

Have her quit pulling the slide back then, and have her push it instead.