Ala Dan said;
That is where many mistakes are made. As we all know, for the very
much untrained female most members that frequent here would
recommend a revolver as the first choice of a
defensive handgun for a female; including myself. But, that male
accomplice again steps up and says, " she thinks revolvers are butt
ugly". As an example, put yourself in our shoes for a minute; what do
you do? Give in, and sell her the Kel-Tec; or talk more and try to use
your best instincts and direct her towards a revolver?
A friend of mine, female small of stature, and I went to a highly recomended gun shop in the area. We walked up to the counter and the clerk, I won't call him a salesman-salesmen usually listen to their customers, anyway the clerk looks at us and asks me how he can help.
I tell him that my friend is going to buy her first handgun. He looks at me and asks "what kind of revolver does she want?". I said "why don't you ask her?"
He looks at her and says "what you need is a revolver".
Her, "no, I want to look at semi-auto's in .45acp, specifically Ed Brown Cobra Carry".
Him, "you don't want a semi for your first gun, you're a woman and probably don't have the hand strength to cycle the slide. Besides, revolvers are easier to shoot and much easier to clean."
Her, "I want to look at semi-auto .45's."
Him, "well, if you're sure you want a semi-auto, we have some .32's and .380"s that I'm sure will suit you just fine."
Her, "no I want to look at .45's."
Him, "you should take a look at these 9mm's"
her, "see ya."
Two weeks later she bought a loaded Springfield Target, from another dealer, and is going to her first match next weekend.
Before we met the idiot at the gun shop, she had fired probably 30 different handguns in probably 8 different calibers, most of them several times. When she would return from the range, I would ask her what she shot and she would show me the targets. I could always tell which was the .45, the holes were much closer together.
Then there were the people who said she should get a revolver. "women like revolvers better, they are easier to operate and less complicated", being some of the comments. These people are like the folks who think everyone should learn to drive a stickshift before going on to an automatic transmission.
Well she could cycle the slide on every auto she tried, the hardest was on a Para Ordnance .45. But she didn't have the hand strength to use a DA revolver, my grand daughter is the same way as are several other people I know.
She kept trying other calibers, and platforms and when I asked why, she said that people were telling her that she should get a 9mm because the .45 would be too much gun for her. I asked her which caliber she shot the best, she said .45. I asked her what platform she shot it the best from, she said 1911. I asked what gun she should get, she said, everyone tells me I should get a 9mm.
I asked her what gun
SHE thought she should buy and she said, "1911 in .45".
Dang this is getting long, so I'll stop now, with this.
There is no right handgun for everyone, telling someone new to the sport what they should have is the easiest way too turn them off. Before you make a recomendation as to what handgun a person should buy, you should at least ask them what experience they have, just because it's their first handgun doesn't mean they haven't shot a lot of handguns.
Some people prefer revo's, some semi's, I personally like them all, but prefer semi's for sd and SA's for fun.
To each his own.
DM
