LGS purchase and newbe at the range

[mugsie]

One of the woman I work with has been very worried about the state of affairs in this country (and so am I!). She had been after her husband to get her a pistol. He told he "if it'll make you happy, just go buy something". So he did. She went to a LGS and picked up a S&W Shield in 9mm. Great pistol, but far to big for her hands. The LGS told her it would be fine (this really ticked me off).

She asked me if I would take her shooting because her husband did and she couldn't hit anything! I'm a range safety officer and have taught many how to shoot. She did ok, but without question the gun was too big for her small hands. I let her try my concealed carry pistol, the ruger LC9s, which was a lot smaller. She did great!

She is returning the S&W and attempting to exchange it for the 9s. What ticks me off is the store she bought it from has a large indoor range and it would have been prudent of them to let her try several pistols before purchasing one, which she was going to do either way. In my opinion they were only focused on making a sale and not on satisfying a customer.

Bottom line, she loved the range time and is going to continue shooting.

 

[bigfatdave]

The Shield is pretty small, doesn't it have a backstrap that can be changed out, too?

I know a petite slender woman who is 4'11" and she swears by her Shield. Is it perhaps an M&P?

 

[F-111 John]

The Shield isn't much bigger than the LC9. (No adjustable backstrap on the Shield, however. Just the larger M&Ps.)

 

[berettaprofessor]

Length and height isn't so important to small hands. Grip circumference and trigger reach is.

 

[mac66]

Not to defend the gun store but if some guy comes in and wants to buy a pistol they are likely to just sell him one. It is really the husband's responsibility to look out for his wife, not the gun store.

 

[mugsie]

I agree with most of the comments. Yes, it was the shield. I also agree that it was the husbands responsibility. That being said, the LGS guy should have let he handle several different types of guns and let her decide what she felt most comfortable with. Instead he gave her the shield and said "this is what you're going to need". Was it the highest profit gun in the rack? Who knows, but I still feel he did her a disservice by not giving her several to choose from. He also sold her two boxes of 9mm American Eagle ammo for $30 per box. He did well I'm sure.
All in all however, she did love shooting, we were hitting on paper at 9 yards and holding minute of bad guy, which is all that counts.

 

[doubleh]

A responsible salesperson would have helped her pick out a gun that fit. That said, I haven't seen many salespeople for quite some time that are interested in anything but making a sale and getting the money and that is for any product, not just guns.

 

[MedWheeler]

It is really the husband's responsibility to look out for his wife, not the gun store.

More her own, actually, though he should have made an effort to guide her toward exposure and training (and not pick out her gun for her!)

Classic case of not having seen the CorneredCat.com site..

 

[Dr. Sandman]

It is the BUYERS responsibility to make the right choice. That choice should start with some research, checking out some guns at the store, a trip or two to the range with some friends or a rental gun or two, and end with a good decision. The goof up is on her, not the gun salesman! If she doesn't like it, she can either keep it or get rid of it, another choice up to the buyer.

 

[md2lgyk]

Range or not, I've never in 40 years of buying guns seen a gun store that will let someone test fire a NIB gun (I'm assuming that's what hubby bought). But charging $30 a box for America Eagle ammo says a lot to me about that store's business practices. Around here, that stuff in 9mm is barely over half that much.

 

[Sniper66]

Any salesperson should help her find pistol that fits AND her hubby should be helping her. However, even if she had better help she might not follow their advice. I had an experience where my bro-in-law and his wife asked my advice about a deer rifle. Against my advice and following the advice of the salesman, they bought a 'combo' , which is a rifle with a cheap scope. A few weeks later they sheepishly asked my advice about what scope to buy to replace the crap scope sold to them by the salesman. I refrained from doing an I-told-you-so and helped them get a good scope. Ya live and learn.

 

[Hardtarget]

No matter how things have gone to this point...I hope she finds the gun that she is most comfortable with so she will practice and get proficient with it. Its a big step to move into the world of shooting and not one that every lady finds easy. If you do a "good friend/coworker" effort and be the sounding board for her, she'll come along. Maybe you can even get her and hubby to the range more often.

Fun all around!

Mark

 

[captmoto]

The hubby didn't GAS. He wouldn't be any help to her. If she had asked the OP for help things would have gone well.
FWIW my wife shoots a S&W 469. It's basically a compact 59 that had a double stack 12+1 mag. She didn't like a smaller gun but she grew up around firearms and hunting.

 

[burk]

I own a LC9 (not S) and would not trade it straight up for a Shield. It just fits my needs better, BUT:

I doubt that a LC9 would actually fit a petite female customer that much better than a Shield they are very similar in size. Unless she was a tiny woman (4'10" or smaller, I can't imagine it would make a difference in fit. OTOH, the trigger on the LC9S is fairly light for a striker fired gun (lighter than most stock Glocks), and I can see how a new shooter would prefer it to the Shields longer and more inconsistent trigger (it's still a gritty M & P). But that is a subjective issue (how the trigger feels) not an Objective issue (fit). Personally for my use, the LC9S has too light a trigger for a carry gun (objective, not subjective).

I would have a hard time arguing the LGS erred on this one, They may not have had a LC9S in stock for that matter.

 

[hso]

It is her responsibility to learn how to fit a gun and then select the make that fits. I will say that a good LGS would know how to explain fitting to her and walk her through it so they'd have a satisfied customer that would trust them.