rwilky78
Member
My wife loves her Ruger LC9s. Decent trigger,she can shoot it and get it on paper (unlike her S&W Bodyguard .380), just right in size, and she can put it in her purse.
Wife thinking about CCW. Looking for suggestions...
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rskent
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Go ahead on, brother
maxxhavoc
Member
Well, my wife likes her Taurus 605 so much she will only briefly shoot anything else. Her review of almost anything else "I like mine better." And she had a lot to choose from. When she picked it, I nudged her to a .38 ...but no, she wanted the option to shoot .357s. She really dislikes 1911's...which shows how little my preferences had on the decision.
Nailed it. My wife is the opposite. She is blue jeans and t shirts all the way. With curves everywhere. If she thought the bra holsters were safe she could probably conceal an AR under there. Maybe a Vickers. As far as belt carry, there is nothing flat enough for a holster except 11:00 to 1:00. Once again, not too safe. So her snubby rides upside-down parallel to the belt. It's literally the only way she can carry in a manner safe to herself.
She hates that I could stick a holster with just about any gun anywhere on my belt with little issues. Really, it sucks for women....they are ALL differently shaped.
She needs a gun she can shoot well that will fit her body shape. I find the .45 ACP shield a good, lightweight match for a 1911. You might want to try it.
Nailed it. My wife is the opposite. She is blue jeans and t shirts all the way. With curves everywhere. If she thought the bra holsters were safe she could probably conceal an AR under there. Maybe a Vickers. As far as belt carry, there is nothing flat enough for a holster except 11:00 to 1:00. Once again, not too safe. So her snubby rides upside-down parallel to the belt. It's literally the only way she can carry in a manner safe to herself.
She hates that I could stick a holster with just about any gun anywhere on my belt with little issues. Really, it sucks for women....they are ALL differently shaped.
She needs a gun she can shoot well that will fit her body shape. I find the .45 ACP shield a good, lightweight match for a 1911. You might want to try it.
Klint Beastwood
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Yeah I really feel there is a market in the women’s “tactical” area. I’ve thought about maybe making up some ideas but ultimately it will be best if more women in the gun community started doing more designing themselves probably.
Yeah me and her both use the shield .45
It’s a good conceal piece.
RecoilRob
Member
CC really exposes the Eternal Conundrum of easy to carry makes it harder to shoot...and vise-versa. When a female friend was wanting to get her carry permit I offered her a worked Taurus 85 snubbie with several boxes of lightly loaded ammo for her class. Her report back was interesting: the Instructor wanted to inspect everyone's gun...and he smiled when looking at her snubbie. It was the ONLY revolver in the class, but after looking it over and commenting on the work that had been done (trimmed hammer, round butt and worked trigger) he said he was relieved and told her that he wouldn't have to worry about her. This proved to be prophetic as all of the other women with semi-auto's experienced failures that constantly had him running from shooter to shooter to help them get running again. Semi's DO have a bit more to the learning curve than a properly made wheelgun. My friend passed the class with flying colors and afterwards bought the 85 from me. It's a little heavier to carry than a lightweight version...but MUCH nicer to shoot. I'd offer the suggestion to get TWO guns if someone wanted/needed to practice their shooting a lot...a full steel version for most of the shooting and the lightweight one for mostly carrying if they're available.
Jeb Stuart
member
My question would be "Does she plan on doing diligent practice and training? Snubbies are great, but they are not the easiest to shoot accurately. I have been training with my LCR9mm ever week for two years. Not easy at all in the beginning. LC9S? I have one and that sure is one very light trigger and not the safest.. So why not get the wife to the range every weekend and let her learn about firearms and then let her come up with which gun to carry?
Funny in all my years shooting I don't think I ever saw the Question. What firearm should I get my Husband for CCW? If anything, get a 22.cal to start the training. Teach her Point and Shoot skills, quick handling of the firearm, quick drawing from the carry position. Why put the Horse behind the carriage?
If she cannot do these skills and hit center mass quickly with a 22.cal, how will she do this with a 38?
Funny in all my years shooting I don't think I ever saw the Question. What firearm should I get my Husband for CCW? If anything, get a 22.cal to start the training. Teach her Point and Shoot skills, quick handling of the firearm, quick drawing from the carry position. Why put the Horse behind the carriage?
If she cannot do these skills and hit center mass quickly with a 22.cal, how will she do this with a 38?
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chaim
Member
She doesn't like small guns and she does well with the 1911...Add me to the 1911 list then...
There really isn't a difference between a man's gun and a woman's gun. It is a very individual choice for everyone. So, is her grip size small, or her grip strength weak? If neither is particularly limiting, she can look at anything so you have a pretty wide level of choices. You say that she doesn't like small guns, how small are you looking for CCW? Some of the suggestions are quite small.
For a bigger carry gun, I'd suggest:
-Commander sized (4.25" barrel) 1911. Go Scandium or aluminum if you want to cut some weight. I'm definitely a fan of my Commander sized 1st gen S&W 1911SC.
-Officer sized (3.5" barrel) 1911. I love my all steel RIA 1911 Rock Compact (3.5").
-3" barrel 1911 (easier to find these days than a true officer size)
-4" barrel 1911. Somewhere between the Officer sized and Commander sized and a lot of options these days.
-4" Springfield Armory EMP. A nice little 1911, bigger than the regular EMP, but sized right for the 9mm and .40S&W
Aside from 1911s, the Glock 19/23 and 26/27 are pretty popular not-too-big and not-too-small CCW guns. Pretty much everyone makes something in that size range. I love my S&W M&P40c (roughly the size of a G27, just a tad bigger) and find it a near perfect CCW. It is now discontinued but the slightly larger, G19/23 size M&P 2.0 Compact is a good carry size as well.
For revolvers, I'd stay away from lightweight snubs. They are very hard to master, uncomfortable to shoot, and I'm not a fan of a 5 shot handgun that is hard to reload quickly. Go for at least a 6 shot revolver (20% greater capacity) and if she can handle the size and weight I'd say a 7-shot S&W 686 Plus (2-3") is ideal. For a 6 shot, I'm personally thinking about adding a Kimber K6S to my collection (maybe two, one 2" to replace all of my 2" snubs, and a 3").
There really isn't a difference between a man's gun and a woman's gun. It is a very individual choice for everyone. So, is her grip size small, or her grip strength weak? If neither is particularly limiting, she can look at anything so you have a pretty wide level of choices. You say that she doesn't like small guns, how small are you looking for CCW? Some of the suggestions are quite small.
For a bigger carry gun, I'd suggest:
-Commander sized (4.25" barrel) 1911. Go Scandium or aluminum if you want to cut some weight. I'm definitely a fan of my Commander sized 1st gen S&W 1911SC.
-Officer sized (3.5" barrel) 1911. I love my all steel RIA 1911 Rock Compact (3.5").
-3" barrel 1911 (easier to find these days than a true officer size)
-4" barrel 1911. Somewhere between the Officer sized and Commander sized and a lot of options these days.
-4" Springfield Armory EMP. A nice little 1911, bigger than the regular EMP, but sized right for the 9mm and .40S&W
Aside from 1911s, the Glock 19/23 and 26/27 are pretty popular not-too-big and not-too-small CCW guns. Pretty much everyone makes something in that size range. I love my S&W M&P40c (roughly the size of a G27, just a tad bigger) and find it a near perfect CCW. It is now discontinued but the slightly larger, G19/23 size M&P 2.0 Compact is a good carry size as well.
For revolvers, I'd stay away from lightweight snubs. They are very hard to master, uncomfortable to shoot, and I'm not a fan of a 5 shot handgun that is hard to reload quickly. Go for at least a 6 shot revolver (20% greater capacity) and if she can handle the size and weight I'd say a 7-shot S&W 686 Plus (2-3") is ideal. For a 6 shot, I'm personally thinking about adding a Kimber K6S to my collection (maybe two, one 2" to replace all of my 2" snubs, and a 3").
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chaim
Member
OK, I just read the middle of the thread (I had read the beginning and end) and see you added to your original post...
In that case, ignore my 1911 based suggestions. In the first post you say she doesn't like a small pistol, now you say that full size is too big, so I'm going to assume that the larger service pistol based carry guns that were the standard about a decade ago will probably be best (the traditional compact or maybe a double stack subcompact). DAO is always an option (or similarly simple striker fired pistols), but also consider traditional DA/SA with a decocker using the heavy DA 1st shot as your safety.
Look at guns like the Glock 19/23 and similar size guns from other makers. If those are too big, try the smaller (but still double stack) G26/27 and similar sized guns from other makers. If she wants metal, something like the aluminum CZ P01 or PCR would be nice, and if she doesn't mind some weight the all steel CZ 75 Compact is a very nice pistol. If she wants to go even smaller, check out the CZ RAMI. The classic SIG lines have a nice classic all metal feel, they are aluminum alloy for a little less weight, and the traditional DA/SA with decocker make for very simple operation.
If those are still too big, but she wants as much of the feel of a larger gun, there are some good single stack models out there. If she likes traditional metal, check out the Kahr K9/K40 or the smaller MK9/MK40. I'm a fan of my SIG P290RS. Many people like the polymer Kahrs of various sizes, both the older, more expensive P/PM version or the value series CM/CW versions. The Shield and the newer Glock single stacks have a good reputation for feeling like/shooting like a larger gun while concealing like the small single stack it is as well. Even SIG's classic line has an option in the very nice P239.
In that case, ignore my 1911 based suggestions. In the first post you say she doesn't like a small pistol, now you say that full size is too big, so I'm going to assume that the larger service pistol based carry guns that were the standard about a decade ago will probably be best (the traditional compact or maybe a double stack subcompact). DAO is always an option (or similarly simple striker fired pistols), but also consider traditional DA/SA with a decocker using the heavy DA 1st shot as your safety.
Look at guns like the Glock 19/23 and similar size guns from other makers. If those are too big, try the smaller (but still double stack) G26/27 and similar sized guns from other makers. If she wants metal, something like the aluminum CZ P01 or PCR would be nice, and if she doesn't mind some weight the all steel CZ 75 Compact is a very nice pistol. If she wants to go even smaller, check out the CZ RAMI. The classic SIG lines have a nice classic all metal feel, they are aluminum alloy for a little less weight, and the traditional DA/SA with decocker make for very simple operation.
If those are still too big, but she wants as much of the feel of a larger gun, there are some good single stack models out there. If she likes traditional metal, check out the Kahr K9/K40 or the smaller MK9/MK40. I'm a fan of my SIG P290RS. Many people like the polymer Kahrs of various sizes, both the older, more expensive P/PM version or the value series CM/CW versions. The Shield and the newer Glock single stacks have a good reputation for feeling like/shooting like a larger gun while concealing like the small single stack it is as well. Even SIG's classic line has an option in the very nice P239.
IMHO, first on my list would be the new Sig p365 loaded with 115gr. Speer Gold Dot. I seriously doubt you can beat that for men or women. I carry the 115 Speer Gold Dot in my 'smaller' pistols. The US Army has selected the 124 gr. Gold Dot for their ammo.
https://www.sigsauer.com/products/firearms/pistols/p365/
https://gunnewsdaily.com/10-best-handguns-women/
https://thewellarmedwoman.com/concealed-carry/
https://www.gungoddess.com/collections/holsters
Skylerbone
Member
I’m not here to advocate specific models, only to caution that buying for someone else can be a real crapshoot. What you see below are the 3 M&P pistols I bought; one for me, one for my (then) wife, and another to replace the first one she didn’t like. Despite her considerable strength she could not easily cycle the slide of the compact model, you know, the “small” one “meant” for women. I got yet another pistol out of the deal but I’d have preferred not making the mistake to begin with.
I’ve also learned over the years to never choose a purse or shoes for women as they seem to be choosy on those items as well. Best of luck (TO HER) on the search.
I’ve also learned over the years to never choose a purse or shoes for women as they seem to be choosy on those items as well. Best of luck (TO HER) on the search.
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PaFrank
Member
My GF and daughter both handle my 1911 proficiently and enjoy shooting it, but neither wants to carry "that heavy thing" They both like either a Walther PPK/s or a Bersa Thunder in 380... small enough, light enough and flat enough.. I kinda like the Bersa too for summertime carry..
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