need your advice

[RyanR]

I have a smith 640 .357. I would not buy another one because it is too heavy for carry in my opinion. The .38 version in the light model is slightly smaller, half the weight  and much cheaper. You are on the right track. I think you can shoot +P ammo in that gun. That's all I put in my .357 for carry for safety reasons. A magnum round travels farther than a non magnum round and you are responsible for where your bullets go even in a self defense situation. IMHO

[jeffhalfrack]

  Darn good  advise  very well spoken D Harma!!!  I  just may print that on a card .  I like revolvers plain and simple,,,  !  BTW  Ruger has some new iron out w\ a lazer and all the goodies  good luck  JeffW

[willie]

I have decided to let her pick the gun.i want her to have one that she will shoot and be comfortable with.if she won't shoot it and become proficient with it,it is no good to her.i want her to enjoy shooting with me and gain confidence in her weapon.she is not going to do it if it is painful.

that is the best decision you can make

take her shooting with a variety of guns
beg borrow or steal all the different ones you can to try, or find a range/shop that has rentals. If you buy first, and she doesn't develop confidence in her ability to shoot, you will have to buy twice. Confidence comes from having fun shooting.

Years ago, after dubious shots with my 357/38, I handed her the ruger 22 autoloader. She shot once and thought it might be too wimpy, so I moved the torso sized cardboard box we had the target pinned to up to about 15 feet and asked her if she could put the rest of the clip into the box with out hesitating. She loved it, and liked to burn ammo whenever we went to the farm.  all the experts will tell you that is not enough gun, but a scared woman emptying the clip in confidence will save the day before one holding a 357 she is obviously afraid of. The confidence paid off one day when she needed to grab the nearest gun when she surprised a thief going thru her handbag in the kitchen. Even though it was the 12ga and she missed, it kinda worked out OK in the end, because when I drove up she was still pissed and arguing with the cop about why he was telling her she was lucky she missed. She had chased him out the door, and he was running fast and not looking back by the time she got the safety off.

[stickbender]

    I am with Dharma.  I bought my Girl Friend a S&W air weight, in .38 .  That is what she wanted for a back up weapon.  Well I bought her one, and she was not happy with it, because after a few cylinders of firing, at the range for qualifying, it would swell, and be tight to open, and eject the shells.  It is mainly made with titanium with steel inserts for the barrel, and cylinder.  So I took it to the gun show, and sold it, and bought her a Ruger LCP in .380.  She loves it.  I bought that for her, because I got real stupid.  I showed her mine, with the laser sights, and she immediately wanted one.  The real stupid part was that we were on the way to a gun show.  Needless to say, she came home with a LCP with laser sights.  I didn't get the laser for shooting, though it is sighted in, but for the psychological effects.  Like Dharma said most threats are up close and personal.  But if you are aware of your surroundings, you can usually spot someone who is acting a little suspicious, and be ready for something they might be ready to do.  The laser is great for the effect, that Hollywood has manufactured for us.  OOOH...uh oh, he has a laser    ..... he can't miss!   Right.   I have an old S&W .38 Air Weight, one of the first ones that came out, that My Brother had, and then I gave it to my Mother, and she loved it.  I had large grips put on it.  It was very accurate.  I carried plus p's in it, with 125 grain hollow points, but never shot them in it much.  It stood up to them.  I normally shot normal .38's in it.  But a revolver for a woman who does not shoot much, is ideal, as it is pretty straight forward.  Some women for some reason, just can't coordinate the push pull of an automatic slide.  Plus the safety is confusing to them.  My Girlfriend is a State Arson Detective, and is quite proficient with automatics.  Unfortunately, she now has quite a few of my guns, I gave her when she first started the academy many years ago.  I wish I had those guns now.  She has a 4 inch S&W .357 which she dearly loves.  You might consider one of those.  You can load them with .38's to practice with, and then move up to plus P's, and then carry the real deal.  A long time ago, I dated a girl who was in the FDLE, and got her to shooting well, by starting off with a .22, then a .38, and then a .357 I bought her an Air Weight, the first type of Air Weights, with the Aluminum alloy, and she liked it a lot. She later traded the .38 Air Weight for a "Jam o matic" Walther ppk!  In .380, any way, good luck, and get her used to shooting, and encourage her, let her know as long as the front of the gun is facing away from her, that it is just noise.   good luck.  Oh, yeah, good hearing and eye protection during practice.
                                                                                Wayne

[seabass]

thanks Wayne.she knows all about eye and ear protection.she scored trap for years.i an going to take her and see what she likes.she really likes the 686 smith 357.i am going to let her choose,but I am going to give my opinion.i have 62 guns,so she has a lot to play with before she buys.thank you guys for all the imput,it has helped my a bunch.

[4dog]

go woth the JUDGE  ... a .410 round at 15' is devastating out of a pistol,,she could fire a round into the roof,, the sound of that cannon going off in a small area would likely give him a heart attack,,if it didnt ,,the muzzle flash alone might do it.   

[Dharma]

Autos gained a reputation for jamming in the beginning because they were originally designed to load FMJ ammo and the feed ramps designed thus. So SPs and HPs would jam. That was on the "classics"; the first-gen autos. Autos today are designed to feed HP and SP reliably. Autos such as Glocks technically don't have what we know as a safety. Just pull the trigger and that's it. DA autos such as Sigs, same thing. Point and shoot.

Don't get me wrong, revolvers are effective weapons. They're a good choice and have settled problems since 1850. And a .22 has done the job, but often, after the wounded person trucked off and died of peritonitis or something. A .22 requires some pretty diligent marksmanship to put the rounds in an area where the shock factor will be effective. The problem with .22 autos is the rimmed cartridge was not designed for an auto. The rim presents a possible jam factor. True auto rounds have no protruding rim.

A woman can fire any weapon a man can. As far as hand size, my hands and wrists are very small, as small as many womens'. (No laughs, hey, this is just me and my genetics.) I weigh 120 pounds boots off. I fire a .45ACP very effectively and better than a lot of guys twice my size. A woman just needs to have the self-confidence she can do it if she trains with the weapon. A .380 is an effective round and a good compromise between stopping power, concealability, and recoil. So is a revolver, but you lose velocity through the short barrel and gap between cylinder and barrel. This is where compact autos have an advantage. No cylinder to barrel gap, so all the pressure is behind the bullet. This increases stopping power behind the bullet a bit.

[Robby101]

Smith & Wesson used to make what was called a Kit gun, I think on their J frame. If you can find one in .32, that would fill the bill!
Robby

[mullet]

I think what everybody is overlooking is the "surprise" factor. Woman is grabbed, threatened, whatever at close range, struggle, fight, get pistol out of purse. Stick it in bad guys chest and pull the trigger till it's empty. Dial, 911.

[chamookman]

Ya beat Me to it Eddy - was going to add the same thing! Bob

[Pappy]

Miss Joanie packs a compack 380 auto,it does have a hammer and she handles it very well I might add,not heavy/fairly small and not a lot of kick. It was mine but she took it away.
 Pappy

[seabass]

I think your right Eddie.she said my super Blackhawk 44 with the 7 1/2 inch barrel is too big to fit in her purse.i told her "you don't keep it in your purse,that's the first thing a robber grabs"