Wife is 5' and 95 lbs: Can you guys help me shorten the shopping list?

[Glockorama]

For small hands I would say the Kahr line of 9mm's are hard to beat. The steel framed models will help with recoil as well.

 

[BrianB]

Thanks all.

Yemen, she's got SUPERtiny hands. Really thin fingers. Think 12-13 yr old. We got lots of strange looks in church when she was pregnant with our first!

 

[the naked prophet]

Oh, you've got a BIG wife. My wife would be looking up your wife's nose. Her hands are very tiny as well - think 4 year old.

The guns that work for her are a 1911 with slim grips and short trigger (not that long trigger with three holes in it), and a S&W M&P compact.

 

[BrianB]

LMAO, Prophet!

 

[caseypj]

Perhaps a Glock 19 would be a good fit for her, a bit smaller than a full size Glock 17 so it should fit her better. I don't know about the recoil on the 19s though, I regularly shoot a Glock 22 (.40 version of the 17) but I doubt it'd be a good fit for her due to recoil. But if she's not having problems with the recoil on the Sigs I don't believe she'll have a problem with a Glock 19.

 

[TMann]

Since the original post seems to imply that your wife has small hands, I would stay away from most of the double-stack, DA/SA semi-autos. I am a small-handed guy. I had a CZ 75bd and sold it, because the trigger reach was just a bit too long when shooting in DA mode. The trigger reach on my Glock 19 isn't much shorter, but it's easier to control due to the lighter trigger pull.

I have two Kahrs, a P9 and a K9, and would recommend either of them to a small-handed shooter. Another gun that worked well for me was the Bersa Thunder .380.

Good luck with your search!

TMann

 

[Tomcat47]

I suggest a Gun Store/Shooting Range.....we have one here in coastal SC. Can pick from a variety of guns and go into the range. She will find something she likes.

I will put in a plug for a Taurus PT58HC and IMO nice ....I carry one and my wife has one.

.380 good slide action...all steel....19 rounds!
and least but definately not last...VERY accurate. And if you say oh! not a Taurus... I dare you to shoot one!

Made my brother sell his .40 within an hour of shooting mine. Groups were awesome.

If you need something thinner for her hand aso try a LLamma Micro Max .380, these are single stack miniature 1911's and they really do great job. not as accurate as my Taurus but not bad and easily concealed. (Note: this is the only LLamma I reccommend)

 

[searcher451]

Don't automatically assume that she can't handle a larger round. My wife isn't a whole lot bigger. We were both at the range a week ago with her .32 Beretta Tomcat, which she shoots very well. I also had a Walther P1 out, and she gave it a try and thought after a couple of magazines that the felt recoil was less severe with the Walther than it was with the Beretta. Bottom line: Let your wife shoot a number of firearms and select the one that she likes the best. The worst thing you can do is try to make the selection for her.

 

[Chem Geek]

Perhaps a Glock 19 would be a good fit for her, a bit smaller than a full size Glock 17 so it should fit her better. I don't know about the recoil on the 19s though, I regularly shoot a Glock 22 (.40 version of the 17) but I doubt it'd be a good fit for her due to recoil. But if she's not having problems with the recoil on the Sigs I don't believe she'll have a problem with a Glock 19.

G19 has a shorter grip, but not a thinner grip.

BrianB,
My fiancee's hands sound like they're similar in size. She can still wear kids shoes (women's size 5). While small framed revolvers will certainly fit, what you have to be careful of is when you have a hand that small, it can be hard to manage a heavy DA trigger. While some revolvers are easy, make sure she can easily pull the trigger. If she has to struggle, accuracy will suffer, and so will her motivation to practice.

I have two Kahrs, a P9 and a K9, and would recommend either of them to a small-handed shooter. Another gun that worked well for me was the Bersa Thunder .380.

Yea, the Bersa is a really good suggestion as well as the Kahrs!

 

[MachIVshooter]

3913
M&P Compact
Kahr

My thoughts exactly.

 

[easyrider604]

My wife, at 4'11", 110 lbs., small hands, had no problem handling a Springfield Armory 1911A1 .45 ACP that was set-up for 'minor" power factor ammo, i.e. 12 lb mainspring. With the stock 16 lb spring, she lacked the physical strength to rack the slide to clear jams etc. BTW, once she overcame her initial uneasiness with the big 1911, she was a decent shot and even joined a few club shoots.

However, now that we are an all-revolver family, she has a slicked-up SW 686 6" with rubber Hogues. The 686 looks humongous in her hands but she has no problem with DA pull.

At a gun rental range, have your wife try several revolvers, from SW J-frames to Ruger SP101 to SW K-frames to L-frames and Ruger GP100, with barrels from 2.5 - 6 inches. The only limit I would place would be that she fire only .38 spl +P. Let her decide which piece to take home.

 

[GRIZ22]

You can adapt to just about any handgun if you try. I knew a 4-10, 85# agent I worked with that had to carry a Glock 17 that she handled and shot well.

As far as working the slide have your wife try to pull it back with her support hand while pushing it forward with her gun hand. It's a lot easier than just trying to use your gun hand to hold the frame stationary while trying to pull the slide back.

My fiancee can't even hold a Glock 19 straight on and reach the trigger, she has to hold is cockeyed just to be able to reach the trigger, and hates it as a result.


This can actually work but may require a bit of windage adjustment. I'm 5-11 and well over 200# but have very short fingers requiring me to hold double stack slightly off center. It's worked for me for years.

 

[Treo]

I'm going to go with the folks that are recomending the CZ line. maybe a CZ-82?

 

[jlh26oo]

B.T.W. poly kahrs have the thinnest grips (p9, tp9). Which is of course irrelevant, as I would never impose my bigoted and misogynistic views on women with small hands.

My wife would be looking up your wife's nose.

No offense, but your wife is kind of weird.

 

[RPCVYemen]

Yemen, she's got SUPERtiny hands.

I have very short fingers, and the AR 24 fits my hand pretty well - the deep beavertail helps. The width of the grip may be critical (maybe not).

The Ruger SR-9 was really thin, and single stack 1911s can be very thin,too.

Revolvers are (in general) much more amenable to smaller grips, because they don't need to store ammo in the grip. My Blackhawk has a very small grip - when compared to autoloaders. And you can buy a wide variety of stocks to tailor the grips to lots of different hands.

Mike

Mike

 

[AirForceShooter]

Here's your shopping list:
What she likes
What she's comfortable with.
What she wants to carry.
She's the shooter, you're the credit card.
My daughter is 5'0" and maybe 90 lbs. she carries and shoots a 1911.
You can't ever tell.

AFS

 

[Josh Aston]

Some of you guys just don't understand small hands. When an EMP is too big for you there's not a whole lot of options.

Colt's .380s (Mustang and Govt model)
Kahr (any model)
Various other 1911 based .380s
Walther P22
J Frame with small grips

S&W Wesson MPc = too big
EMP = trigger reach is fine, but thumb safety is too high
CZ's too big
Browning HP = too big

There really just aren't a lot of options for women (or men for that matter) with really small hands.

 

[dbones]

my daughter has the MP9c. I would say either the MP9c or the MP40c. they are both extremely accurate and with the right round and shot placement all she would really need.

 

[3KillerBs]

In my recent research trip to a gun show I discovered that shape matters as much as size.

My hands are small but have a relatively broad, square palm and short fingers. For my hands the thick-but-round grips on the Berettas and most of the Tauruses fit well. The thin grips of the 1911's are both too long and too narrow -- even that little Kimber Aegis is too much of a reach. I could shoot it if I had too but I can't hit the slide release or eject an empty magazine. And with the wide, rectangular grips on a Glock I can't even reach the trigger.

I'm quite certain that a person with a smaller palm and longer fingers would prefer the 1911 grips over the Beretta/Taurus grips that suit my hand.

So don't just try different sizes of gun/grips. Try different shapes too.

 

[Chem Geek]

This can actually work but may require a bit of windage adjustment. I'm 5-11 and well over 200# but have very short fingers requiring me to hold double stack slightly off center. It's worked for me for years.

Ok, I'm 5'11" ~280lbs. I have thick hands, but not huge by any means. A Sig 226 fills my hands nicely, as is the limit of what I can comfortably hold.



My fiancee's hands are MUCH smaller. A Glock 19 simply will not work for her. She has to move her hand so far off center to reach the trigger, she cannot manage the recoil on it due to her hands barely holding the grip. A Sig 239 is much better for her, because she can fully wrap her hands around it. A Glock 19 does NOT have a compact grip.

Some of you guys just don't understand small hands.

+1

 

[jlh26oo]

Equal Rights Are Not Special Rights!

Some of you guys just don't understand small hands.

How dare you sir. How dare you. What's next? Forcing women with small feet to wear little shoes? Let her try an H.K. Mk.23!

 

[sd]

if this is a ccw/carry gun for her, not a range plinker, you might consider a .380. Buffalo Bore is selling ammo that rivals a .38 spl. ballistically, and a Bersa or new Ruger in .380, among others, might do the job.

 

[Powder_Burn]

I have the same issue. A scandium S&W .38 would work well w/non +P ammunition. Single stack autos to consider would include a Seecamp or Walther PPS.

 

[Seven For Sure]

A Kahr K9 is small in the grip and light in recoil. All Kahrs are small in the grips but the steel 9mm's will have the least recoil.

 

[JN01]

How about a Star BM?