This shocked me frankly, but since i've gotten my Kimber for Christmas my Mother has shown great interest in a gun of her own. I'm still baffled by this. It has to be a small caliber and have a safety function. She really likes Derringers but to my knowledge there are no safties on them and I told her no way, i'm afraid she'd accidentally shoot herself. She says she would carry it in her purse and in her nightstand. It's funny becuase she is the last person in the universe that I thought would show interest in a gun, let alone own one. We are supposed to even go to the range together sometime soon!

Anyway I was thinking either a Beretta Tomcat



Or a Walther PPK



What are your suggestions? BTW she is 55 this year and I was considering this as her present. She had a major kidney transplant years ago and it can make her weak so that is why a lower caliber and recoil is suggested.

Bulgarian Makarov.  Small, Extremely rugged and reliable, accurate, easy to shoot , easy to clean with the chrome lined barrel and only runs around $150.00. Shoots the 9x18 cartridge which is called the 9 millimeter makarov. It is slightly more powerful than the .380 and much cheaper to shoot. Best bang for the buck in the handgun world as far as I am concerned.

Another choice for a little more money is either the Keltec p32 or the Keltec p3AT. Have shot both and I actually prefer the .32 version, the .380 version seemed to buck around a little too much. My p32 has been extremely reliable and if there are any problems with the gun, Keltec has great customer service. Plus, they only weigh 7oz. The only problem is the lack of a manual safety, but it should'nt be that much of a problem as the gun should be kept in a holster anyway, even inside of a purse. Good luck!

get yourself a used medium frame .38 spcl S&W.  Handsdown the best bang for the buck.  Most women have a hard time pulling the slides into action on the little semi-autos.  Get a revolver and call it a day knowing you did good.

Quoted: This shocked me frankly, but since i've gotten my Kimber for Christmas my Mother has shown great interest in a gun of her own. I'm still baffled by this. It has to be a small caliber and have a safety function. She really likes Derringers but to my knowledge there are no safties on them and I told her no way, i'm afraid she'd accidentally shoot herself. She says she would carry it in her purse and in her nightstand. It's funny becuase she is the last person in the universe that I thought would show interest in a gun, let alone own one. We are supposed to even go to the range together sometime soon! Anyway I was thinking either a Beretta Tomcat products.berettausa.com/images/immagini_maxi/3032_S_maxi.jpg Or a Walther PPK www.a-shield.ru/Catalog_oruzh/pics/umarex_gaz/Walther_PPK_big.jpg What are your suggestions? BTW she is 55 this year and I was considering this as her present. She had a major kidney transplant years ago and it can make her weak so that is why a lower caliber and recoil is suggested.

My wife had trouble racking the slide on every .32 she tried, shes a small girl and it was almost impossible to chamber a round. This is why she picked out the Beretta Tomcat .32. The front of the barrel tips open with the flick of the switch, so chambering a round wasnt an issue. I found the wepon to be better than the NAA guardian, and more steady than the kel-tec models. It feels like you are holding a solid pistol.

Check out my post if you are interested in picking up a p3at or tomcat on a trade - good luck -
Josh
tomcat & p3at 4 trade

Quoted: get yourself a used medium frame .38 spcl S&W.  Handsdown the best bang for the buck.  Most women have a hard time pulling the slides into action on the little semi-autos.  Get a revolver and call it a day knowing you did good.

Yes!

Definitely get a good medium framed (not a snubbie) DA .38 Special revolver for her. While she is, I am certain, intellectually more than capable of operating the auto, you must realize that she may have to use a defensive handgun under conditions of extreme stress and within time frames of only a few seconds. The question, then, becomes not "can" she operate the auto, but rather one of "if" she will train with it on a regular basis so that its operation is second nature to her under worst case conditions. Truthfully, she most likely will not. The revolver is very straightforwatrd in operation and while it does, indeed, have several safties, they are all internal...and all deactivated if / when the trigger is pulled and held to the rear.

True, there are several autopistols that operate in similar fashion nowadays, but they all use detachable magazines and must first have a round chambered manually in order to fire...the revolver is less expensive, extremely reliable, and more effective than some .22 caliber derringer, for sure! If it really bothers her to keep the gun loaded, get her a speedloader and have her practice loading quickly.

and ALWAYS ALWAYS remind her to treat every gun as if it were loaded.  I can not stress this enough, especially people who are a.)new to firearms or b.) so experienced they get complacent.

As Ikor stated she may have to use said gun in a situation of the uptmost duress.  It would be wise to use the simplest application possible.  Such is the case with a DA revolver.  All you have to do is pull the trigger.  I am firm believer that everyone new to shooting should start with the basics and with a firearm that easily controlled and handled.  I have seen very few individuals who start with a large caliber round and maintan good handgun basics.
Ass always...
Practice Practice Practice.

S&W 642.


simplest, easiest thing to use on the market.

The Beretta`s with the tip up barrels are nice.  You dont have to rack the slide to load them.   My wife liked shooting my PPK/S but had trouble racking the slide so we got her the Beretta 86 in 380.  She enjoys it and shoots it a lot.  

what about that little kahr pm9 with a grip/mag extension?  7+1, extremely small and my wife has no trouble racking the slide on a friends.  nice little gun, ableit a little bit of a handful since it is 9mm in such a tiny package.

Quoted: This shocked me frankly, but since i've gotten my Kimber for Christmas my Mother has shown great interest in a gun of her own. I'm still baffled by this. It has to be a small caliber and have a safety function. She really likes Derringers but to my knowledge there are no safties on them and I told her no way, i'm afraid she'd accidentally shoot herself. She says she would carry it in her purse and in her nightstand. It's funny becuase she is the last person in the universe that I thought would show interest in a gun, let alone own one. We are supposed to even go to the range together sometime soon! Anyway I was thinking either a Beretta Tomcat products.berettausa.com/images/immagini_maxi/3032_S_maxi.jpg

Derringers are definitely NOT for your mom. At one time, Beretta made small gun that has a tip up barrel/chamber so that you don't have to rack the slide to chamber a round, all you have to do is push the latch and the chamber will pop, and you load round and close.

A gun for your mom? Depends on how much she wants to practice. Zero practice, the get a S&W snubbie revolver, if she wants to practice then an autopistol, such as 32ACP.

Don't laugh folks, what caliber did James Bond have? and he had a license to kill.

4" K-frame .38spl.- The older tapered barrel model 10 would be my first choice.

Simple to use

Long DA trigger eliminates the need for an external safty

No worries about dropping the magazine and forgetting the round in the chamber

Reliable

Good sights with enough sight radius for a new shooter to hit something

Enough power for serious use - start with wadcutters if she can handle more than go to the 135gr. +P Gold Dot or the old 158gr. LSWHP +P

Light recoil - if she can only handle shooting target wadcutters thats fine, they're still more lethal than anything in .32 or .380

Ability to change grips to fit Mom's hand

Yo Mamma rocks.

Quoted: what about that little kahr pm9 with a grip/mag extension?  7+1, extremely small and my wife has no trouble racking the slide on a friends.  nice little gun, ableit a little bit of a handful since it is 9mm in such a tiny package.

My wife is a girly girl. Dont get me wrong, if her life was in danger, she wouldnt hesitate to smoke somebody. She has no problems shooting my .45 at the range.  But again, she's small, skinny, not a powerhouse. She just could not muster the strength to rack the slide on her Gaurdian. We almost had to set her up with a revolver.  When I say she coudnt rack the slide, I should elaborate that she couldnt do it with a comfort level I felt was nessesary. The last thing we want our special women doing is fumbling if they were to be confronted.

Bring mom to the gunstore, let her try on as many possible, and let her make the choice.

Swank

Quoted: We almost had to set her up with a revolver.   Swank

You say this like they're a bad thing??

Colt SAA Peacemaker in 45LC, now that's a real mom's gun!

Quoted: Quoted: We almost had to set her up with a revolver.   Swank You say this like they're a bad thing??

haha, You know, it did come off like that.  The wife made it clear she didnt want a revolver, the nagging must have seeped into my post.

Nothing wrong with revolvers at all. Not for her though.

www.firearms.smith-wesson.com/store/index.php3?cat=293602&sw_activeTab=1

Go with a revolver. Older women generally have trouble doing things with their hands, like opening bottle caps, etc. (my mom does anyway. She's ditching her new cell phone because of the tiny buttons). I don't need to give a lecture about osteoarthritis, so I think a revolver would be easier to handle than a small pistol with tiny grip and slide controls.

themao

Your mom's cool!!!

Quoted: Your mom's cool!!!

My mom found a clay pigeon launcher i left in her trunk, she  threw it in the garbage because she thought I was launching  live pigeons from it and blowing them away.

I wish I was joking....

I keep a loaded .38 revolver in the house just for my wife.  It's the only gun she's comfortable with.  Even if could rack the slide on an auto, she thinks they kick like a mule.  If it has to be auto,  little .22's are comparable to .25's or .32's .  Little .380's can jump around a little bit more than wife likes.  

Quoted: Quoted: Your mom's cool!!! My mom found a clay pigeon launcher i left in her trunk, she  threw it in the garbage because she thought I was launching  live pigeons from it and blowing them away. I wish I was joking....

Just tell her the truth, you were actually shooting them in the trunk