Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns CCW Gun For Daughter

I like'm too. But, I would never give those two as an option without giving the options of similar pistols with different grip angles. There are a lot of people who early on started with and liked Glocks only to find out years later there were much better options for them. I know you aren't saying "only try those two" jeeper. So many people have been caught up in that "give'm a Glock" mentality to the detriment of the end user. And I'm a Glock lover.

I told my daughter when she got her permit I'd buy her a carry gun. We went to the range to try some of mine. I thought she'd like my M642 but after three rounds she handed it back and said no. She fired my Hi-power, M&P 45 compact, Shield 9mm and Bodyguard .380 with no problems. Of those she preferred the Shield, however the slide was to hard for her to operate. She had no problems with the Bodyguard and because she plans on carrying on her person chose the .380. I bought her that one for Christmas along with 500 rounds of ammo.

You were smart to let her try different guns. I went through 4 different pistols before my wife settled on a Ruger LCP 2. The Bodyguard had a lousy trigger. The Ruger was 100% better. My wife is 79 and has weak hands, so working the slide is somewhat of a detriment, but I bought a Handi-Racker and she can now rack it with ease. She also liked the Taurus PT 738, but it doesn't have a manual safety, and I'm one of those nut's about safeties, so I sort of steered her away, because these recent models that don't have a manual safety, usually have a long heavy trigger pull. We did sacrifice the Manual safety feature on the Ruger LCP for the better trigger. I don't want to start that discussion, just that my wife liked the .380 cal over the 9mm, which did not surprise me.
There are a lot of posts about letting her pick one out. A few hours at an Indoor range could be your best shot.

I bought a 642 for my wife but the trigger was too stiff for her so I got her a Ruger LCR .38 which had a lighter pull. I loaded some light loads for her. Then I got an LCR in 22LR so she could practice with that and carry the .38 for SD

Tell her to go to a gun store to try some for fit. It HAS to fit HER hand. IMO, that's the only way for a woman, especially one with small hands should decide. they won't like shooting something that they can't handle properly, and wo'n be able to hit Jackshit with it.

That said, my daughter recently bought a Walther CCW 9mm. It fits her very well.

It's been my observation that women like laser sights

That and some heft. By that I mean, we all want our women to shoot a smaller gun because, in general, they are smaller and weaker. Counterintuitively, at first, women tend to be better off by having a pistol with a little more heft to handle the recoil. I know everybody is different; but, starting her off with a mid-size or even full-size can make her a life long and better pistol packer. With comfort and familiarity will also come the ability to, eventually, move to smaller firearms. I acknowledge all women are different and some do just fine with a compact right out of the chute. Just a little food for thought.

My wife had trouble with the slide on a couple of different 9's. I got her a S&W 637 and it will be mostly a house and purse gun. She liked the single / double action 637 rather than the enclosed hammer on the 642. She shoots it well and doesn't mind the recoil. Might pick up a 642 for a pocket gun for winter.

I always add this to this topic:

https://www.corneredcat.com/article/running-the-gun/rack-the-slide/

She probably needs a holster too. Lot's of options

That was impressive.

K9 is a classy little gun. Not too big, and not too light.

It'd make a nice gift.

Takes her a while to get to the point, but otherwise a good article.