My Mom wants a pistol for Christmas

[ccsniper]

Okay, my Mom wants a conceal carry permit and pistol for Christmas this year, My question is what would be the best gun I could get for under 400? She is not a fan of recoil and would never practice if the thing hurt to shoot it. I know revolvers are great for beginners which she is. The two guns I have in mind are a bersa .380 single stack, and a .38 special revolver (not sure of make yet) but those are the two I have been pondering so what should I get her?

 

[jdub102003]

Take her with you and let her hold and aim some u never know what she might like the feel of..But i definately try to steer her towards a revolver they are easier guns to handle ecspecially in .38spl.

 

[Coltman 77]

Good advice from (give me a moment to copy and paste his name) jdub102003.

Also, since Christmas is sometime away, she'll have plenty of time to try out different handguns.

 

[ByAnyMeans]

Best thing you can do for your mom besides the gun is to investigate and set up an introductory course for her. If you can give her basic familiarity with handguns and drill the four rules and range etiquette then she may be able to go to a introductory CCW class straight out. They usually give some range time and have a variety of handguns to check out. Then take her to a local shop, preferable one that knows you or has a rep for being patient with a newbie, and let her pawn all the pistols. Just let mom know that realistic practice is important if she wants to do this correctly and safely. Happy shopping and plus one for your mom.

 

[SHusky57]

The Bersa .380 is a great buy for the money. Super reliable, accurate, and soft-shooting.

A .38 revolver is a great option too.

Both will require practice and ammunition to practice with.

 

[ChCx2744]

Spend an extra $50 or so dollars and buy her a Glock.

 

[tkopp]

Whatever you get, make sure it's nice and heavy. Don't fall into the hard-kicking snappy airweight .38 girl-gun trap

 

[bigfatdave]

Rental range!
Rental range!
Rental range!

Let her pick out what SHE likes in handguns, and then help her pick out a pistol/revolver with those features.
If you haven't even decided between semi-auto and revolver yet, don't bother asking what model of hardware will solve the software problems.

 

[MedWheeler]

Yeah, it's gonna be up to what she can comfortably hold, shoot, and conceal. Does no good if she can't carry it easily and ends up leaving it at home.
Have her shoot some "standard" weight .38 snub revolvers; Taurus/Rossi models should come in at or under that price range, as do used S&Ws and Charter Arms pieces. Many say that the "lightweight" versions may be a little too snappy for some people. Ditto for the pocket .380 pieces, like the Kel-Tec P3AT. Again, if possible, she shoot get some shoot time with whatever she's considering.
My wife cannot effectively hold and cycle the trigger on my Bersa Thunder. On the P-3AT, she can, but her wrists, barely bigger than a garden hose, likely would not provide the resistance needed to keep the slide functioning normally. She's truly one of the few ladies who is not easily suited by a handgun much bigger in caliber than, say a .32 auto, or bigger in size than a P-AT (or P-32.)
I don't know how petite your mom is, so, as the say, your results may vary.

 

[ccsniper]

sorry, I forgot to mention that we did go to a local gunshop and she liked the bersa in feel, and the smaller .38 snubbies, I don't know of any local rental ranges. I'll take her out with some friends guns plus mine, and see. altogether we will have a variety of .380's, 9mm, .38, and even some .327 federal mag snubbies. sorry I forgot to mention all of this.

 

[bigfatdave]

I'll take her out with some friends guns plus mine, and see

Good plan. Get the biggest pile of pistols you can, and get her reading on Cornered Cat ahead of time.
Pax's first time shooter page should be mandatory reading, for you and her, you probably want to minimize anyone wanting to tag along.
It may be hard for her to accept instruction from offspring, a professional basic pistol course wouldn't be the worst idea, once she has some idea of what she wants.

 

[kanook]

if my mother wanted a firearm, I would not put a limit on the cost. It's your mother, if you have to sell one of yours to get money for her, do it. You buy the best for youself, don't you?

 

[Yo Mama]

You need to see what she's most able with. Case in point, my wife sucks at guns with safeties. A revolver may be the best, but a SN .38 and a pocket .380 are both going to snap quite a bit.

 

[Delaware_Dan]

First, have her read this. http://www.corneredcat.com/ Second let her try a couple to get a feel for what she likes. Third, go shopping.

 

[raskolnikov_22]

If you want to be really nice, get her a Detective Special.

 

[kludge]

1) Spend $100 for her to a NRA Basic Pistol class so she can try a few things out (make sure you get an instructor who will do this).

2) Let her pick her own gun.

I'm a big proponent of no safeties too.

3) Bersa .380 or .380CC (OK to carry with safety off)

4) Used SP101 2.25" .357 Magnum (load with .38 Specials to start). Also look at SP101 in .327 Magnum (can practice with .32H&R Mag, .32 S&W Long, and .32S&W).

 

[searcher451]

+1 on allowing Mom to select her own gun. In fact, she is the only person who can make that call. Give her the chance to try a wide variety of handguns, including semi-automatics. Then let her choose the one that best fits her hand and eye. Making an assumption -- "She won't like anything but a revolver"; "That's too much gun her" -- is a big mistake, IMO.