Intuiton Get Your Gun
When the wife and I hit Austin we acquired a Ruger SP101 for her with a deal that was too good to pass up, namely – we bartered for it (cue the exploding heads at the Brady Bunch).
Anyway, she is now thinking of getting one a bit different and with a smaller frame that fits her hand better. To her, the Ruger is just a bit too large and slightly heavier than she likes so while we were over at Charlie’s the other day she started looking at the pistol case while I headed to the gunsmith to find out why my Browning’s slide had jammed up on me. I had been cleaning it and when I put it all back together and attempted to rack the slide it went half way back and stopped which resulted in me using words that are not acceptable around small children, but lucky for me it was his nap time and he was upstairs. (Turns out that there was no reason, they got it working again and charged me nothing for the service).
Once the guys in the gunsmith shop had worked their magic, which took them less than five minutes, I met up with her and our son Insight near the revolvers and had a very nice talk with the man behind the counter who showed us a number of very sweet pistols. He talked to the wife about calibers, safety features, and how to see if a gun fit the hand and took his time to talk to her instead of the common mistake I have seen (mostly with buying cars) where they talk to the guy like you are making the decisions for her. As he showed her a S&W Model 60 he mentioned on of the nice things about it is that if you crack it upside someone’s head they WILL feel it, which I thought was a good side note on that particular weapon.
In the end, she has narrowed it down to two weapons, though I might point out a third one to her.
The two she like are the S&W Model 60
I like the 60, it’s a good solid pistol without too many frills and has a very comfortable grip to it. Since it’s a .38 and she is a new shooter the recoil would be manageable while still giving her some stopping power.
Plus, the J frame would give me a tax write off since I would be using it to fit for grips.
The other one is the S&W Bodyguard .380
The nice thing about this one is the size. I have never shot a .380 but since Breda uses one I will not make the common mistake of saying something stupid like “That’s too small of a round to stop a mouse!” Mainly because Breda would shove a boot up my ass, but also because any bullet can kill you if you know how to shoot.
The one I would add to the list is the Sig P290
This one is pretty much just like the .380 when it comes to appearance, but the 290 shoots 9mm which fits me just fine, one less type of ammo to buy.
In the end though, it’s her choice so I’m just going to shut up and hand the guy the money.
October 22nd, 2011 at 16:54
Has she looked at any .38′s on a .41 frame? Aside from the recoil absorption there is the psychological factor of the threat seeming to loom larger for the fool facing the business end.
October 22nd, 2011 at 17:46
Not yet, we just started the hunt so I am sure we have quite a few gun counters to go through still
October 25th, 2011 at 04:53
[...] the interwebtron to find a forum thread discussing what gun to buy for the wife. My buddy, Instinct is doing it right. He discusses pros and cons of several guns that he and his wife are looking at for her to carry [...]
October 25th, 2011 at 08:10
Nicely done Instinct. It’s so important for the shooter to be comfortable with the gun she/he buys. The other day Lu and I went shooting. I have 2 Sig 226s, her 9mm and my .40. She shot my .40 and pronounced it felt better than her 9mm. Same gun different feel. She just liked it better. It’s now her gun. If they like it, if it feels good in the hand and it’s theirs, they’ll shoot better.
October 25th, 2011 at 08:28
Agreed. I figure if she starts out liking it and changes her mind later, well that just means I get to buy more guns.
Win all the way around
October 26th, 2011 at 06:34
I don’t know why men feel compelled to pick a gun for their wives/girlfriends. A gun has to fit your hand the way shoe fits your foot.
And the old geezers who think women can’t handle anything as complicated as a semiautomatic never saw a 5-thread overlock-serger.
Sure most women don’t have the arm strength to control a .44 magnum snubbie. But who cares. (and just because “most” can’t doesn’t mean that none can.)
As for the 9mm Kurz, or the .380, it will more than get the job done. But with the small frame 9X19 choices available, why not look at them? Though I really did love my Bersa Series 95, before I dropped it in the salt water. (It was never the same after that.)
October 26th, 2011 at 06:51
Probably because they operate under the misconception that since the wife/girlfriend/significant other has never owned a gun they don’t know enough to ask an intelligent question. So, rather than stand back and let them learn, they jump in to save the day.
Most of them don’t remember that there was a time they knew nothing about guns and learned everything by asking questions. They hurt the cause by taking away that learning experience in their desire to ‘help’.