First off I don't have any revolvers yet........

I am a semi auto type of guy.  I carry a G19 and love it.

Bought my wife one(without thinking if it was good for her) and she can not pull the slide back to chamber a round.

Besides a 22 she cannot use a semi auto.  So this brings me here.  What revolver do you guys recommend?

She is 5 foot nothing and 98 pounds.  She has small hands but she likes to shoot.

Could you recommend me a pistol for her?  I plan on having it as her CCW piece as well as home protection.

Thanks,

max

Last summer my wife finally decided she wanted to learn to shoot. She tried my Glock, Hi-Power and 1911 and didn't like any of them. What she did like was my 3-inch Model 65 S&W revolver (good taste, that woman . . . )

It's my experience that women like the simplicity of the revolver. They're easy to understand and use and they go bang almost every time. When they don't you simply pull the trigger again.

I suspect that most men buying a revolver for their wife will buy one of the newer J-frame .357 magnums. These guns certainly are appealing but I don't think they're the best choice for a woman. With effective ammo (+p .38 or hotter) they're quite a handful, recoil-wise. Also, their triggers will never be as slick as you can make a k-frame trigger.

My first suggestion would be for a short-barreled K-frame Smith and Wesson like a 10/64, 15/67, 13/65 or 19/66* . I think the L frames are too large for most women. The Ruger Sp101 is another good option.

*If you're willing to consider a used Smith and Wesson K-frame, here's a little primer on the model numbers:

.38 Spl -- fixed sights: 10 = blue/ 64=stainless
.38 Spl -- adjustable sights: 15=blue/ 67=stainless
.357 mag -- fixed sights: 13 = blue/ 65=stainless
.357 mag -- adjustable sights: 19 = blue/ 66=stainless

Thanks guys.

I appreciate it.

Max

My wife claimed my Ruger Security Six with a 4 inch barrel.  It has small grips and decent balance.  My 13 year old daughter likes it to so I bought her one.  They both can play kick the can all day long with it loaded with 38s.  

I figured on the Ruger Sp101 since it is small and has some heft to it.

The S&W airweight is light but the recoil will be a major turn off for her.

Max

Good choice.  I dont think you can do better than a Ruger revolver in the DA area.  Their SA are top of the line also with Freedom Arms being the only one better.

Smith&Wesson Model 60 with a 3" barrel and adjustable sights.

Even though it is chambered in .357 Magnum I would load warmish .38 Specials (Gold Dots) in it for defense.  

Load up a bucket of .38 Special 148gr. Wadcutter rounds.  In the beginning adjust the sights to the wadcutter rounds.

Keep the practice sessions short and concentrate on the basics.  Make an effort to keep things light.  Purchase an MTM backer board that you can hang clay pigeons on as targets:
http://www.mtmcase-gard.com/products/shooting/jmts.html

She will enjoy breaking the pigeons and her desire to hit them will help reinforce the fundamentals.  

 

 

A lady friend of mine shoots a Ruger SP101 and she likes it a lot.

My wife is built like yours. She really dislikes my semi auto pistols. Especially when she has to push the slide back and lock it there. To her, it's setting a mouse trap and she's afraid she'll slip and it'll get her!

She does love her Taurus 85 snubbie in .38 special we got her in Nov. And she can shoot it way better than you'd ever expect someone to shoot that thing in DA with those basic sights. It's perfect for her.

Now I'm looking forward to getting my old Dan Wesson 357 back from the 'smith. That has a 3" barrel and target sights. I'm betting she will really tear up some bullseyes with that!

In my experience, chicks dig revolvers.

You might want to take a look at the Smith & Wesson 36LS (LadySmith).  I purchased one for my wife.  She also has trouble with semi autos.  Very nice revolver.  She really likes it and shoots quite well with it.    

Quoted: My wife is built like yours. She really dislikes my semi auto pistols. Especially when she has to push the slide back and lock it there. To her, it's setting a mouse trap and she's afraid she'll slip and it'll get her! She does love her Taurus 85 snubbie in .38 special we got her in Nov. And she can shoot it way better than you'd ever expect someone to shoot that thing in DA with those basic sights. It's perfect for her. Now I'm looking forward to getting my old Dan Wesson 357 back from the 'smith. That has a 3" barrel and target sights. I'm betting she will really tear up some bullseyes with that! In my experience, chicks dig revolvers.

Our wives must be related somehow.

My wife normally carries a Taurus 85. Otherwise she carries her Dan Wesson 357.

Autopistols can be tricky. Men normally rack the slide by holding the pistol in their right hand and forcing the slide open to the right with their left hand. Or they might hold the pistol in the right and pull the slide back with the left. Either way,  this takes a bit of upper body strength.  

The proper way is to hold it out in front of you, grasp the slide with your left hand, and shove the frame forward with the right.  This takes a lot less strength. Try it and you'll see what I mean.  When I showed this to my wife she could not believe how easy it was to rack the slide on a compact 1911.

As for Glocks, my wife absolutely refuses to carry one. She says having a safety on the trigger is the dumbest thing she's ever heard of. She'll only carry a pistol with a thumb safety like a 1911.  She usually carries a wheelgun though.

Small wife, then I would recommend a Ruger SP-101 2 1/4" or 3" in .357 and shoot standard .38 spl. out of it. Get her than and a bucket of fried chicken!

SP101 357mag

If she don't like the mags, load it up with some Golddot 38spl rounds.  

imo, i'd opt for a std weight revolver--not a lightweight; 2 1/4"-4" bbl, depending on where she plans on carrying it
.357mag rating would be a nice feature to have, to where she can adjust to its handling later; yet, for now, stick to .38spl/.38spl+P

Ruger SP101 and the SW 640 series would be my 1st to look at...

few topics that might help:
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=5&f=4&t=51389
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=5&f=4&t=51052
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=5&f=4&t=50881
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=5&f=4&t=49966

also, FWIW: most avg ladies can manipulate the slides on most autos, IF they train and adapt to it...but for the short and sweet, KISS way, revolver is the way to go in the begining, esp if they can get over the heavier trigger pull weight and reach (sometimes, tese can be deterants just as much as auto slide manipulations)

technique will help also; if your wife is having trouble w/ slide manipulations, allow her to try it by using the palm and 4 fingers of her weak hand over the slide (if she hasnt tried it already) w/ the firearm closer into her body/arms closer

Quoted: SP101 357mag If she don't like the mags, load it up with some Golddot 38spl rounds.

+1

The SP101 handles a lot better than any taurus or smith J frame...

Quoted: My wife is built like yours. She really dislikes my semi auto pistols. Especially when she has to push the slide back and lock it there. To her, it's setting a mouse trap and she's afraid she'll slip and it'll get her! She does love her Taurus 85 snubbie in .38 special we got her in Nov. And she can shoot it way better than you'd ever expect someone to shoot that thing in DA with those basic sights. It's perfect for her. Now I'm looking forward to getting my old Dan Wesson 357 back from the 'smith. That has a 3" barrel and target sights. I'm betting she will really tear up some bullseyes with that! In my experience, chicks dig revolvers.

My wife's Taurus 85 that I bought for her twenty years ago is our bedside pistol.  For carry she likes the Kel-Tec P32.  She had a lot of trouble racking the slide on the P3AT and although she wouldn't really be racking the slide that often she was still more comfortable with the P32.  I'd rather her have a pistol she's comfortable with and will carry than one that gets left at home most of the time.

The SP101 is an excellent choice! What I would do though is goto a shop with a range that rents guns. This was she can look at the brand new ones, hold them and see how they feel and hopfully they will have the gun as a rental or at least something similar. This can also be a good idea to see if she can rack the slide on any of the autos while shes there.

My revolver choice for her would be a Ruger SP101 chambered in .327 Federal Magnum.

My pisrol choice is a Kel-Tec P3AT in .380 ACP

+1 on the 5 shot 38/357

The 3" barrel is MUCH easier to shoot well than the 2" for the women I have trained.
Avoid the airweight stuff and go with Ruger or S&W

It is very difficult to suggest a gun for someone you've never met.  I can relate some of my own experiences to you given the situation with my wife.  Being small, she accordingly has small hands.  She also has some atrophy in her forearms which has created hand strength issues for her.

I also thought a small revolver would be a logical choice for her, given it's simplicity and ease of altering the grip size.  Perhaps my wife is in the minority, but she does not like revolvers and prefers semi-autos.  She has tried a model 36 2" and a model 65 3".  The k-frames offer a much better trigger, while the j-frame trigger is much stiffer.  For her, the trigger pull of the 36 is difficult and becomes very laborous after about 10 or 15 DA pulls.  As a plus (for revolvers in general), she could use two fingers or cock the hammer if needed, but she dislikes this non-mainstream technique.  She also does not like the recoil impulse of the revolver.  I'm not sure if it is the grip angle or what, but shooting 158 grain L-SWC's at about 850 fps are harsh to her.

She has shot the Glock 19 and 26.  While the grip was too large for her hand (the backstrap lined up with the second knuckle of her thumb in order for her to reach the trigger) she liked the trigger pull and operation of the pistol much better.  The slide of the G26 was tough for her to manipulate, but she was able to work it (the Glock 19 was better).  Ikor's observations about working a slide are correct.  Women -- in general -- have less upper body strength than men.  This can make manipulating a handgun difficult.  If someone with difficulty in cycling a slide follows Ikor's suggestion, they should be better able to work the action.

Due to the ill-fitting grip, I am still on the hunt for a handgun for my wife.  I wish you luck in your search.

If this is not for personal defence, I would recommend getting a seemingly impractically heavy revolver. They absorb most of recoil, which is the most common reason I've found for someone not wanting to shoot a gun. I have a lovely Ruger Redhawk Special in .44 Magnum that has a 12 inch barrel, which has worked really well for me shooting in competition - it's quite heavy, but it is really pointable, and is good fun to shoot as the rubber grip and overall weight means that it hardly seems to kick at all. I wouldn't recommend that for a first timer though, as it can be a bit unwieldy, and it takes quite a bit of strength to hold it up if you aren't used to it. Revolvers are also good because you don't have to spend hours grubbing around the floor picking up cases. I'm sorry not to be of more use, but I don't have very much experience of handguns - hardly surprising as I'm a Brit.

Ruger SP101 3 "barrel,get the trigger rounded and polished and get a trigger job. Often a wolff springs kit is all that is needed.  Has she tried the "hip thrust" to rack the slide on the Glock? I used to work for an older woman of about her size that would do that.

Quoted: Due to the ill-fitting grip, I am still on the hunt for a handgun for my wife.  I wish you luck in your search.

Find someone you know with a Walther P-99 and ask them if they would mind putting the slim back strap on it for her to try. I think the slide might even be a little lighter than a lot of autos (never tried a glock myself to compare it to). My hands are large but not gargantuan and I prefer the medium back strap over the large back strap.

Quoted: First off I don't have any revolvers yet........ I carry a G19 and love it. Bought my wife one(without thinking if it was good for her) and she can not pull the slide back to chamber a round.

Since you now have an extra Glock 19 and I recently gave mine to my son........

Guys a quick update, I found a great deal on a S&W 60LS revolver.

It is chambered in 357 magnum and she held it and loves it.  Now she walks around the house with it.

I feel better now that if I am not home she finally has a pistol she wants to carry.

Max

Quoted: Guys a quick update, I found a great deal on a S&W 60LS revolver. It is chambered in 357 magnum and she held it and loves it.  Now she walks around the house with it. I feel better now that if I am not home she finally has a pistol she wants to carry. Max

pics or it didn't happen