re: The Art of Selecting a Self Defense Weapon for the wife/gf...

Lots of good info.

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.380 is nice as it has little recoil and should be easily handled by most women.

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Although the 380 doesn't have heavy recoil, it is very "snappy" w/ a lot of muzzle flip when shot in a pocket gun like the Kel-Tec 380, Ruger LCP etc. Most of the women I've shot w/ don't like the muzzle flip of the 380. Depending on the gun, a pocket 380 may actually have more muzzle flip than many 9 mm's.

For concealed carry, I think a shrouded hammer revolver (like the pictured LCR and S&W ) is a much better choice than a regular or bobbed hammer (like the pictured Ruger SP101) as it has less to snag on during a draw.

As far as semi-auto's, I many women find it easier to handle and conceal a single stack mag gun (Kel-Tec 9PF, Ruger LC9, Kimber Solo, Beretta Nano, Kahr CW9, Taurus 709 Slim and others) than a double stack mag (Springfield XD, nearly all Glocks, all S&W M&P's). Be sure the woman can reliably operate all the controls and rack the slide on a semi-auto.

Re: women and shotguns, strongly consider a "youth" model. Many women find it easier to handle a "youth" model as opposed to a full size version. Mossberg makes a nice 20 gauge "youth" model.

I agree with that for me, but for the ol lady id go with the 20ga 3" mag 4buck

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The Art of Selecting a Self Defense Weapon for the wife/gf..

I think you missed this part Faxis.

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Nope. I just don't think there's a lot of difference in recoil between a 20Ga with 00 and a 12Ga with #4. And of the two, she's more likely to get on the target with the 12.

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1. Revolvers are easy to operate. They are difficult for a beginner to shoot well (with "well" being defined by most trainers as the ability to fire accurate, reasonably rapid follow-up shots.

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I agree that semi-auto are probably better in the hands of an experienced shooter, but realistically most wives aren't going to spend a couple hours at the range every 6 months to brush up. Revolver is point and shoot. The trigger pull may be a little heavier, but inside the home you'll likely be only a few feet from the intruder.

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2. Taurus, Rossi and Charter do indeed make cheap revolvers. They should be avoided in favor of S&W or Colts.

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I'd recommend the Ruger and S&W revovlers 100 times out of 100 over those, but if they aren't in your budget the Rossi and Taurus is reliable enough for me to trust.

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3. Semi-autos in .380 ACP are almost universally considered (by recognized, world class defensive handgun trainers) to be an inferior caliber for self defense. Service Caliber weapons are defined as .38 SPCL or bigger in revolvers, and 9mm or larger in semi-autos.

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Again, I'd definitely go with the 9mm when possible, but some women can't rack the slide of some 9mms. I feel comfortable with my wife shooting a .380.

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4. Hornady Critical defense ammo is OK stuff. There is far better defense ammo available (with "better" being defined as meeting the FBI minimum penetration criteria, and providing maximum expansion). Federal HST, Winchester Ranger-T and CorBon DPX expand much better (bigger) than the "Critical Defense" stuff (Critical Defense ammo is comparable to the CorBon Powerball ammo)

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Will look into these. When I researched a lot about 2 years ago the Hornady CD was by far the most recommended. I watched a few tests on the internet and was pleased by what I saw. When I run through the remaining rounds of Critical Defense I'll look into other options.

It fits between the seats in my truck easier than my shotgun so I'll keep putting it there for the time being

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I can't see the reasoning behind the 20ga. The gun... yep. But for home defense I can't see why you'd want to step down from the 12ga.

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While the 12 g is the "gold standard" for home/self defense using a shotgun, w/ the right ammo the 20 g is pretty close and certainly more than adequate. The issue is how well the person handles and shoots the gun. The women I've shot w/ had more problems handling a 12 g than they did a youth model 20 g. The 12 g youth models I've seen had longer barrels than did the 20 g youth models. Of course, the 12 g also has more muzzle blast/recoil, sometimes a problem for some people during practice.

LINK

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A hit from a .22 will do more damage than a miss from a .44 mag.

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Time Out... i need to think about that a minute..

If she's going to be shooting it a lot, OK I can see the 20ga. But even if she is, she's not gonna be busting clay pigeons with double aught. She's probably only going to shoot it a couple of times and realize just how much more it kicks than 8's immediately.

But if it's just for home defense, I'm sticking with the 12ga with #4 buckshot. She's not going to be shooting it often so she's probably not even going to notice that there's a difference. And it's not going to be about follow up shots with a shotgun at that range. Boom, fight over. I just think she's better off with a bigger pattern of lethality than the few balls of 00 she'd get from a 20.

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She's not going to be shooting it often so she's probably not even going to notice that there's a difference.

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My experience is based from shooting 12 and 20 gauge shotguns. If they notice a difference between the two and don't like the 12, they will remember that the next time they shoot it. Consequently, they may well flinch the next time they shoot the 12. That next time may be during the act of self defense. Bottom line, the shooter, man or woman, needs to feel comfortable w/ the particular gun, whether it be revolver, semi-auto, shot gun or rifle.

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Perhaps you would be comfortable in sharing a bit about your defensive handgun training experience. We would then be better able to determine how much weight to give to your opinions and advice.

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ooooohhhh.